Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities. NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. Please save the dates for our Fourth Annual Native Hawaiian Conference from August 30 - September 2 2005, at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.
April 13, 2005
· Council Opens Registration for Native Hawaiian Conference
· OHA pitches plan for $32M cultural center
· Kamehameha Schools’ 2004 revenue and enrollment up
· Finding aloha for Hawaiian language
· Hawaii-grown noni poised to grow with the industry
· Akaka Bill workshop brings out outspoken opponents – advocates of independence
· Tougher laws sought on iwi
· BIA offers construction scholarships
· Ceremony marks anniversary of Harvard's Indian College
· Newman program encourages American Indians to stay in school
· Military found lax in snake program
· Kanaka'ole updates the family tradition
· American Indian museum featured in electronic field trip
· Kumu hula offers free cultural healing in Waimanalo
· Lawmakers to study lease process for Chamorros
· State to catalog native species
· Senators block $40M sought by Superferry
· Native Americans Criticize Bush's Silence
· Young American Indians strive to maintain traditional culture
April 13, 2005
Council Opens Registration for Native Hawaiian Conference
(Honolulu, HI) – The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) will hold its 4th Annual Native Hawaiian Conference from August 30th to September 2nd at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel in Honolulu. The 4-day gathering brings more than 500 conferees together to focus on community development issues from healthcare to affordable housing to economic development and education.
“This conference provides an opportunity each year for individuals working in our communities to come together, check in with each other and identify our most critical challenges, as well as celebrate the successes generated all year round by so many great community organizations,” said Robin Puanani Danner, CNHA CEO and President. “Over a few days in Honolulu, more than 50 presenters will share their mana`o, from best practices to new innovations, whether created in the South Pacific, right here in Hawaii or somewhere else in the country.”
The 4th Annual Native Hawaiian Conference theme given by Kumu Hula Leina`ala Kalama Heine – Na Wai Ke Kuleana? Na Kakou! – Who is Responsible? We All Are! – builds upon the mantra practiced daily by grassroots community organizations working all across the state to support quality of life and cultural knowledge in Native communities.
In addition to Native Hawaiian representatives and leaders, the 38-member Board of Directors of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), representing hundreds of Native nonprofits, governments and communities, has confirmed to join the conference. Members of the Inter-Tribal Economic Alliance, a coalition of tribal leaders focused on business development and creating economies in their Native homelands, have also confirmed their participation in the 4th Annual Native Hawaiian Conference.
A special 2-for-1 registration rate is available for participants of the 3rd Annual Native Hawaiian Conference! Register for this year’s conference and be eligible to win a free 7-day cruise for two compliments of Norwegian Cruise Line, a strong supporter of the Native Hawaiian Conference. Special hotel room rates are also available, so reserve your room today! For more information, please call 521.5011 or visit www.hawaiiancouncil.org.
Posted on: Thursday, April 7, 2005
OHA pitches plan for $32M cultural center
Also seen as possible seat of government for Native
Hawaiians
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser
Staff Writer
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs proposed yesterday to build a $32 million Hawaiian cultural center — the first of its kind in the state — and office complex in Kaka'ako that could one day serve as the headquarters for a Native Hawaiian government.
OHA's envisioned center would showcase Native Hawaiian culture through events and exhibitions. Indoor facilities would include a community center for performances and meetings, as well as a kitchen and food-service area.
Outside areas would include taro fields, canoe hale, classrooms, a place for the practice of celestial navigation, an imu and a hula-performance area.
The connected office facilities would provide 60,000 square feet of space for OHA and other users in a three-story building next to a 180-stall parking area.
"We are the host culture, yet we have no cultural center that we can call our own," said Clyde Namuo, OHA's administrator, who announced the plan yesterday.
The proposal comes just as the "Akaka bill" for federal recognition of Native Hawaiians is gaining traction in Congress. If the bill becomes law, it could eventually lead to the establishment of a Native Hawaiian government, which could take over the Kaka'ako facility from OHA.
OHA plans to finance the project mostly with its own money and is looking at a variety of options to do that, including issuing bonds. OHA initially requested the state help to pay for half of the project, but settled on a $6 million request. "The trustees felt that because we are looking at a community center, there should be a state contribution," Namuo said.
Namuo presented the plan yesterday to directors of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency that controls the 5.2-acre state-owned parcel on which OHA wants to build.
OHA, which spends about $1 million a year to lease office space in a commercial building at 711 Kapi'olani Blvd., has been looking for several years for a permanent headquarters for itself and a range of private groups that assist Hawaiians.
Previous searches resulted in consideration to buy the historic downtown post office and federal building, and integrating an office complex with the historic Ala Moana sewage pump station building in Kaka'ako.
No offer was made on the federal building, and density requirements on the pump station property would have required OHA to build a 200,000-square-foot building costing $200 million, which Namuo said was more than the agency was willing to spend.
The new Kaka'ako site, because of its low-density requirement and location fronting the ocean, was seen as an opportunity to add the cultural center to the office headquarters plan.
Kumu hula Vicky Holt Takamine said she has been advocating creation of a Hawaiian cultural center for years.
"It's about time that OHA and the state took some action on that," she said.
"Hawai'i is one of many sand-and-sea destinations and tourist attractions, but the unique thing is the Hawaiian culture and spirit," Takamine said. "There is no showcase and cultural center to meet the needs of our Hawaiian community."
Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of OHA's trustee board, said trustees are excited about the plan.
"We don't want to just put up bricks and mortar for something the trustees and business part of OHA would use, but also something the community would gain from by visiting the site — a site where people will come to find renewal."
Wesley Yoon, an architect with Architects Hawaii representing OHA in conceptualizing the plan, said the center would be a perfect cultural "bookend" to the state's redevelopment effort along the Kaka'ako waterfront between Kewalo and Honolulu harbors.
"It would enhance the site and the development of Kaka'ako," he said.
The development agency is reviewing proposals to develop mainly commercial elements including retail, entertainment and residential condominiums on 36 acres fronting Kewalo Harbor on the diamondhead side of Kaka'ako Waterfront Park.
Other projects in the area include the recently opened University of Hawai'i medical school and a planned cancer research center.
The site sought by OHA is at the 'ewa edge of the park and makai of the cancer research center site. The parcel is occupied by a warehouse leased to tenants on a month-to-month basis mainly for storage, which generates about $50,000 a month in rental revenue.
Under the Hawaii Community Development Authority's long-range plan for the property, the warehouse is identified to be knocked down and redeveloped for commercial use.
At yesterday's meeting, development agency board members did not raise any concerns about OHA's proposed use. Namuo said he was encouraged by the initial response, and that OHA will proceed with a more detailed feasibility study on the site.
Then OHA would come back to the development agency to seek approval for the project and to negotiate terms to lease or acquire the property.
Namuo said that if plans progress smoothly, it would take 2 1/2 years before the project could be completed.
Two bills introduced in the Legislature seeking state general obligation bond financing for the project did not advance earlier this session.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
April 4, 2005
Kamehameha Schools’ 2004 revenue and enrollment up
By Rick
Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com
Kamehameha Schools' revenues increased nearly $295 million during its 2004 fiscal year as the charitable trust served a record number of native Hawaiian students.
The $6.2 billion charitable trust said its overall revenues for the 12 months ending June 30 rose to $838.8 million from $544.4 million in its fiscal year 2003.
The trust said it reached a record amount of native Hawaiians during the same period, as enrollment from preschool through the 12th grade rose 1,397 to 4,854 children.
The trust said spending on educational programs was up by $1 million, to $221 million in its 2004 fiscal year.
"We made substantial progress in fiscal year 2004 in fulfilling Pauahi's vision to create educational opportunities to improve the capability and well-being of Hawaiians," said Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Dee Jay Mailer.
The trust -- which is in the fifth year of a 15-year strategic plan to serve more Hawaiians -- said its 2004 expenditures included new funding for campus- and community-based outreach programs and expanded educational partnerships.
The largest increase in student enrollment came in the school's extension education programs, which grew by 1,500 students, to 27,345.
The estate also said that it provided funding and administrative support for the start-up and conversion of 12 public charter schools through its Ho'okako'o Corp. and Ho'olako Like program.
Founded by the 1884 will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the estate is a tax-exempt charitable trust that educates native Hawaiians. It is also the state's largest private landowner, with more than 365,000 acres.
Kamehameha Schools said its 2004 financial performance benefited from an improved U.S. stock market, which began to rebound in the second half of 2003 after several lean years. The trust said its overall asset value dropped by $213 million between 2002 and 2003.
Kamehameha Schools said that its commercial real estate holdings generated nearly $109 million in revenues during the 2004 fiscal year.
"Extending our educational reach to Pauahi's children can only happen if these assets are managed wisely," said Michael Loo, Kamehameha Schools' vice president of finance and administration.
"We never want to be a victim of fickle markets or bad economic times, as our mission must go on."
April 2, 2005, 6:29PM
Finding aloha for Hawaiian language
Resurgence has come only in the past 20 years
By RON STATON
Associated
Press
HONOLULU - "E heluhelu kakou," Nako'olani Warrington tells her third-graders — let's read together. But there's no need to translate at Ke Kula Kaipuni o Anuenue, a public immersion school where all instruction for the 350 students is in the Hawaiian language. The school represents a turnaround for the native language, which appeared to be fading away 20 years ago. A 1983 survey estimated that only 1,500 people remained in Hawaii who could speak it, most of them elderly.
Today there are probably 6,000 to 8,000 Hawaiian language speakers throughout the state, most of them under 30, said Kalena Silva, professor of Hawaiian studies at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.
Everyone knows a little bit of Hawaiian, even visiting mainlanders. Aloha has become an almost universally recognized greeting and expression of love. Mahalo often subs for "thank you."
But there's less understanding of the state motto — Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono (the life of the land is preserved in righteousness) — or the name of the state fish — humuhumunukunukuapua'a.
"Before, people would hear me speaking Hawaiian to someone and ask what language I was speaking," said Leilani Basham, coordinator of the Hawaiian language program at the University of Hawaii's flagship Manoa campus. "I don't get that anymore."
When Silva joined the UH-Hilo faculty 20 years ago, only 10 students were majoring in Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian language. That number has grown to more than 100, he said, with some students from the mainland and from Germany and Japan. Silva, who also is director of UH-Hilo's Ka Haka 'Ula Ke'eliikolani College of Hawaiian Language, attributes the greater interest in learning Hawaiian to community efforts dating to the early 1980s. He said parents and Hawaiian language instructors wanted to make sure the language remained strong on Niihau, a privately owned island populated exclusively by Native Hawaiians.
As a result, Hawaiian is the only indigenous language in the United States that showed growth in the 2000 census, said Verlieann Leimomi Malina-Wright, vice principal of Anuenue school.
About 200,000 of Hawaii's 1.2 million people are of Native Hawaiian ancestry.
Hawaiian is recognized, along with English, in the state constitution as an official state language.
Some lawmakers want to require that Hawaiian be used on government signs and in government documents, although two bills on the matter have stalled. The language already is spoken in the islands in a variety of ways. Ceremonies usually include a chant or prayer in Hawaiian, and Hawaiian music with lyrics in the native language are making people more aware. There even is a new Hawaiian music category for the Grammy Awards.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin publishes a Sunday column in Hawaiian, and a Honolulu radio station has a daily newscast in Hawaiian and a "Hawaiian word of the day" segment.
Most U.S. colleges recognize Hawaiian and allow it to fulfill students' language requirements, Basham said.
The public school immersion programs began in 1987 with 16 students at two sites in Honolulu and Hilo.
"We now have 19 sites, not including four public charter immersion schools," said Keoni Inciong, the state Department of Education's specialist for the Hawaiian language immersion program.
Instruction from kindergarten through fourth grade is in Hawaiian, with English introduced in fifth grade. And while some secondary texts are in English, instruction is in Hawaiian, Inciong said.
Most of the students are of Hawaiian ancestry, but it's not a requirement, and the majority come from English-speaking homes, he said.
"When we started in 1987, the main focus was on perpetuating the Hawaiian language," Inciong said. "Now we have the equal goal of a quality education, with emphasis on culture, traditions and values."
Monday, April 4, 2005
Hawaii-grown noni poised to grow with the industry
By Tara Godvin
Associated
Press
For centuries, residents of the South Pacific have used the noni plant to treat a host of ills, from joint to breathing problems or just plain pain. Now some farmers and business developers are looking to this traditional healing plant to expand Hawaii's agricultural market.
What sounds like an obscure niche market is actually big business.
In just eight years, Utah-based Tahitian Noni International has expanded to sell noni products across the globe, reporting $500 million in sales last year alone.
"We've also spawned an industry. There are probably 250 companies around the world that make noni products," said Andre Peterson, spokesman for the company, which exclusively uses noni plants grown in French Polynesia.
Just about every part of the noni plant has some claimed medicinal properties. But the most popular form is the distinctive-tasting -- some fans even say "nasty" -- juice of the noni plant's odd-looking, whitish fruit.
The noni industry in Hawaii is just beginning to take off, said Spencer Kamauoha, vice president of the Kamauoha Foundation, which works with economic development, including small farmers, on Oahu.
In 2003 the foundation was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Administration for Native Americans to develop an 80-acre noni farm in Waialua and fruit-processing plant at Wahiawa. Those funds just began to flow this fall.
And the foundation was notified last month it would be receiving another $84,000 from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and $75,000 from Honolulu's community investment fund, he said.
"It's one of those indigenous things of Hawaii that the market is sitting there. It's being developed all over the Pacific," Kamauoha said.
The project has quickly become a major player in the local noni market after discovering 22 small farmers on the Big Island who were growing the plants and needed a processor.
Kamauoha Farms now receives 16,000 pounds of the fruit from Hilo each week, and will be opening up a collection warehouse in Kona for local farmers this weekend.
While it ships most of its product to a distributor on the mainland, the company plans to put its own brand of noni fruit juice on shelves next month, labeling it North Shore Noni.
"So what I think needs to be developed, too, is the Hawaii brand and the Hawaii source as a source of noni in its own right," Kamauoha said.
That idea has caught the attention of House Speaker Calvin Say (D, St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise) and Rep. Helene Hale (D, Pahoa-Kalapana), who co-sponsored a resolution this session in support of the local noni industry and small-scale noni growers.
"The problem is that we need some help with this industry to really show people what it really can do," Hale told the House Agriculture Committee during a hearing on the resolution Wednesday.
Hale also offered her own testimonial. After a recent fall, she found herself with a black eye, which a native Hawaiian friend suggested could be cured with a heated noni leaf.
After applying the leaf, the eye cleared up in a day, Hale said.
While most of the support behind the noni plant's medicinal value is similarly anecdotal, there are some scientific studies under way.
The University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center has been conducting human trials using capsules of powdered noni extract since 2001.
While there have been no adverse effects on patients, there also has not been anything positive attributable to the plant, said Dr. Brian Issell, director of clinical trials at the center.
Originally funded by the National Institutes of Health, the center is looking for local funding to continue the work, "because I think we need some answers on it. I would hate to not get some answers about noni," Issell said.
Patrick Walsh, founder of the Big Island company Estate Noni and the constituent of Hale's who inspired the House resolution, said he hopes an approved measure will mean more support from the state for his industry.
Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi said she was not aware of any state agriculture programs targeting noni cultivation.
Murphy said he would like to see the formation of a state noni council to help bolster and maintain quality in the industry -- a sentiment shared by other farmers.
David Backstrom, president and chief executive officer of Noni Maui in Kula, said he would also like to see state-funded research on the benefits of the noni plant, which could reap the economic benefits of greater agricultural diversity.
"The potential is there. ... It'd be good to organize and work as an ohana, a Hawaiian family," Backstrom said.
Akaka Bill workshop brings
out outspoken opponents – advocates of independence
LAHAINA – While a bill to federally recognize Native Hawaiians has advanced in the U.S. Senate and lawsuits challenging Hawaiian-only programs pose threats in the courts, a workshop on the Akaka Bill brought out some of its most outspoken opponents – Native Hawaiians who advocate independence.
Representatives of the Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement held a workshop on the Akaka Bill attended by about 20 people Tuesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center. Another workshop was held Wednesday in Wailuku.
At the Lahaina meeting, audience members who favor an independent Hawaii lashed out that the federal recognition bill only provided Hawaiians self-governance within the confines of U.S. powers and controls.
They also said that the U.S. government has had a history of making agreements and then breaking them, and that there was no guarantee the Akaka Bill would make things right.
“I’m never going to say the United States has never wronged native peoples,” said Jade Leialoha Danner, the council’s director of government affairs and community consultation. But she said federal recognition is a start for Native Hawaiians to have a say in their future and take charge of issues involving their health, education and welfare.
“It’s about the federal government saying to Native Hawaiians: ’I see you as your are. I know who you are.’”
During the workshop, Danner and council Vice President Brandi Lau dissected and explained the 11 sections of the Akaka Bill, named after its author, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka. The bill is formally called the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005.
On March 9, the bill, first introduced in 2000, was recommended for approval by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The full Senate as well as the U.S. House of Representatives also must still give their approval. The measure has not been scheduled for a public hearing by the House Committee on Resources.
The current session of Congress doesn’t end until November 2006.
Section 7 of the Akaka Bill outlines the process in which a new Native Hawaiian government would be organized.
Within 180 days of passage, for example, a nine-member commission must be established and include nine Native Hawaiians.
The commission’s task will be to lay the groundwork for a base roll of adult Native Hawaiians who want to participate in the new government. An appeals process must be provided for people who are not included on the roll.
In response to an audience question, Danner said no one would be required to be listed on the roll.
“Those Native Hawaiians who do not want to participate do not have to participate,” she said.
When asked whether nonparticipants would still be afforded the same benefits of those on the roll, Danner said “generally not.”
“I encourage you not to participate if you don’t want to participate,” she said.
Under Section 8 is a protection clause that reads: “Nothing in this act serves as a settlement of claims against the United States.” Danner said claims against the U.S. government would have to be filed within 20 years from the date of federal recognition.
Danner said in other federal recognition scenarios, native people only get one to six years to file claims. She said that if Native Hawaiians aren’t able to state their claims within 20 years “then we have a real serious issue in our community.”
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement estimates it would take approximately five years to develop a membership process and base roll for those who will be given federal recognition.
Federal recognition will not guarantee good government, only self-governance and the participation of citizens, Danner said.
While the federal recognition bill awaits action by Congress, the council is compiling a list of resumes and biographies of people interested in being appointed to the nine-member commission. Individuals must be Native Hawaiian and have knowledge and experience in ancestry verification and lineal descendancy.
Federal recognition and the establishment of dual citizenship for Native Hawaiians has been urgent in part because of two lawsuits, according to Danner. One is Arakaki vs. Lingle, and the other is Doe vs. Kamehameha Schools. (Doe stands for the unnamed plaintiff in the case.)
The Arakaki lawsuit, named for lead plaintiff Earl Arakaki, was filed in federal court in March 2002 on behalf of 16 plaintiffs. It claims that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by using taxpayer money to unequally serve one group of people, those of Hawaiian ancestry.
The lawsuit seeks to end state homestead leases, grants, loans and other benefits administered by OHA and DHHL.
The Akaka Bill was first introduced five years ago after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated OHA’s Hawaiians-only voting restriction. The measure is intended to help Native Hawaiians gain political status similar to that of more than 500 American Indian and native Alaskan tribes.
It would protect federal money for Hawaiian programs and help Hawaiians form a governing entity. Hawaiian independence advocates contend the bill threatens to forfeit Native Hawaiians’ full claims to land and other entitlements.
Doe vs. Kamehameha Schools challenges the private school’s admissions policy that gives preference to Native Hawaiian students. The mother of a boy who was denied admission claims the admissions policy is racial discrimination and unlawful.
Although the lawsuits are on different tracks, Danner said they affect Native Hawaiians and their status with the federal government.
Tony Sang, chairman of the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, said his group has debated the issue for three years and decided to support the Akaka Bill.
Sang, who grew up on homestead land on Molokai but now resides on a Hawaiian homestead in Waimanalo, Oahu, said he sees the Akaka Bill as a means of protection from people who want to take programs and benefits away from Native Hawaiians.
He said previous cases challenging benefits for Native Hawaiians have prevailed, and he worries the same could happen in the Arakaki case.
Danner said she’s yet to hear from supporters of an independent Hawaii about what process Native Hawaiians could follow to achieve independence.
She supports passage of the federal recognition bill for Native Hawaiians, but she doesn’t stand in the way of those seeking independence.
“I’m not trying to make you go one way,” Danner said.
Sang said he also respects those fighting for an independent Hawaii.
“It’s your choice,” he told them.
Danner said that if people want to support the Akaka Bill, they can send letters to members of Congress. She said her office can provide samples of letters seeking support for the measure.
The phone number for the council’s Oahu office is 521-5011. Its Web site can be found at www.hawaiiancouncil.org.
Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
Posted on: Monday, April 4, 2005
Tougher laws sought on iwi
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Troubled that a Hawai'i law protecting historic burial sites may be inadequate, state lawmakers are working on new criminal penalties for disturbing or destroying human remains or artifacts.
The targets are not people who inadvertently come across remains while clearing land or doing construction, but people who knowingly damage burial sites or who discover remains and then fail to stop work and report their findings.
State lawmakers hope that stronger penalties might deter what has become a sensitive cultural issue. "This law may keep people more aware of preservation and act as a deterrent," said state Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku).
The discovery of 61 sets of iwi, or bones, during construction of a new Wal-Mart on Ke'eaumoku Street has caused more than two years of acrimony between the contractors and the state and Hawaiian families with ancestral ties to the remains.
The state has postponed the reburial while the attorney general's office investigates possible damage caused during archaeological work. A Hawaiian cultural group has also filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart, the state, the city and contractors over the dispute.
Edward Halealoha Ayau, the po'o of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, the cultural group that brought the suit, said new penalties could help make people more aware.
"We want to make it clear when a person has crossed over from inadvertent to intentional disturbance," Ayau said.
While lawmakers agree that many of the disturbances are accidental, they say that giving the law more bite would put people on notice that careless behavior will not be tolerated. "I've seen some atrocious things happen," said state Sen. J. Kalani English, D-6th (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i).
People would risk a $25,000 fine and a year in jail and could also have to pay $10,000 in separate civil and administrative penalties. The fines would be for each offense and for each day of violation, so the punishment could quickly multiply.
The state House has passed a bill that would change the law and it is now being considered by the state Senate.
In reaction to potential claims in the Wal-Mart case, senators on Friday added new civil penalties against gluing together or using a marking pen to label remains or conducting tests that damage remains without state approval.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources already has the power to pursue $10,000 civil fines for each offense. But state prosecutors have to go to a different section of law that covers grave desecration to get criminal penalties: a $2,000 fine and one year in jail. The department believes that process is subjective and lacks deterrence value.
Peter Young, the director of the department, said the proposed changes would place both the criminal and civil penalties in the historic preservation law. "That closer link makes it easier for us to deal with prosecution," he said.
The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, in testimony to the Senate, predicted that adding criminal penalties would deter people who may factor in civil fines as part of the overall costs of a project.
The public defender's office opposes the new penalties, in part because of the chance that a construction worker who disturbs or removes an artifact may be held responsible instead of the contractor or developer that controls the property.
Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
LATEST NEWS
BIA offers construction scholarships
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - 10:04 AM HST Wednesday
Hawaii builders are looking for more skilled labor, and that will mean scholarships for young people who want to get into construction.
The Construction Training Center of the Pacific, through a partnership with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, is offering the Project Aloha Scholarship Program for Native Hawaiians. Full scholarships are available to attend the pre-apprenticeship and continuing education courses for the construction industry that are provided by the center.
The center is a nonprofit established by the Hawaii Building Industry Foundation to develop the local work force. For information: (808) 847-4666. The BIA offices are at 1727 Dillingham Blvd. in Iwilei.
April 9, 2005
Ceremony marks anniversary of Harvard's Indian College
Speakers urge more recruiting
By Peter DeMarco,
Boston Globe
Three Native American men, one cradling a baby, another tapping methodically on a simple rawhide drum, stood inside one of Harvard University's conference rooms yesterday and chanted a song in a language that hasn't been heard on campus in at least three centuries.
Members of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, the singers were asked to perform at a ceremony marking the 350th anniversary of the university's long-lost Indian College, which produced Harvard's first Native American graduate in 1665. Native American alumni from as far as California flew in to attend, and the men's voices, pitched high as they chanted for nearly 10 minutes, were strong and proud.
But just as their song enveloped the room, so did a sense of longing and regret that was repeated throughout the two-hour ceremony. While Harvard has made strides in recruiting Native Americans -- it has invited a Wampanoag graduate to give this year's commencement invocation and has committed permanent funding for its small Native American Program -- the school's overall history with Native Americans has not been a good one.
The Indian College, created to educate Native Americans under mandate of the college's 1650 charter, produced only one graduate, Wampanoag Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, historians say. Some 300 years passed before Harvard bestowed a degree on another Native American.
''I have mixed feelings about today," said singer Jason Baird, who held his 9-month-old daughter, Mae Alice, one of the newest members of the 1,100-member tribe. ''I do think that it's very good that people are willing to provide recognition to our fathers in this way, but history has really proven itself to be quite difficult for native folks. I hesitate to put much stock in it."
The ceremony, part of a two-day conference on Harvard's relationship with Native Americans that concludes today, was wrought with emotion for many attendees. Glen Marshall, tribal chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, spoke with fervor about the mistreatment of his people -- first by settlers, then by the US government. Carmen Lopez, executive director of Harvard's Native American Program and a Navajo, shed tears as she spoke of the colonization of native lands and the relegation of tribes to reservations.
Erica Scott, president of Harvard's Native American student group, contended that the university still lacks a viable Native American community -- 49 undergraduates identify themselves as Native American -- and needs to increase recruitment as other major universities have done.
But as speakers and attendees acknowledged their frustrations about the past, they also took heart that Harvard is changing its ways.
Though few Native Americans attended the Indian College, their presence helped save the then-struggling school from bankruptcy, as pious benefactors donated heavily to Harvard in the name of Christianizing ''the heathens," said Harvard historian Lisa Brooks.
Yesterday's ceremony was only the second of its kind honoring those first Native American students, following a smaller ceremony held in 1997 when a plaque was put up in Harvard Yard marking the site near Matthews Hall where the Indian College once stood.
For the first time, the university has offered teaching positions to two Native Americans who are specialists in Native American studies. The Native American Program, meanwhile, which this spring was awarded permanent funding, is attempting to become a model for other universities by attracting professors and students from all of Harvard's various departments to discuss the many issues Native Americans face today.
Harvard alumni from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s said the school is far more supportive of Native American students and studies now than when they attended. Lopez, who spoke of making ''a new story for our Harvard future," and others said Harvard will both teach and learn from Native Americans.
Sophomore Leah Lussier, of the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe of Minnesota, said she hoped more Native Americans would follow not only her example by attending Harvard, but also that of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck.
''I want to offer my humility and my thanks and my respect to the people who came before me, to the people whose land we are standing on, to my ancestors," she told the audience while fighting back tears.
''It is all of those things that give me the ability to say: 'I am here. I am here.' "
April 8, 2005
Newman program encourages American Indians to stay in school
BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
The Wichita Eagle
Surendra Singh, a biology professor at Newman University, decided to fight the high dropout rate among minority high school students by opening college doors. Singh created a semester-long program four years ago to expose high school students to the sciences and the college experience.
More than 70 Hispanic students have participated. This year, Singh expanded the program to American Indian students thanks to grants from the Wichita Community Foundation and Newman.
Now 16 American Indians are working on science projects, hearing from medical professionals and experiencing college through Newman University's Native American Scholars Program.
"Part of our mission is to provide for students the knowledge and skills to succeed personally and professionally," Newman president Aidan Dunleavy said. "These programs inspire young people to explore the world around them and hopefully instill in them a desire to reach for learning beyond high school."
Last year, the Wichita school district reported a 4.1 percent dropout rate for Hispanics and a 5.5 percent dropout rate for American Indians in grades seven through 12. Their rates exceeded the 3.8 percent overall dropout rate.
"I knew if I could just get them motivated knowing that learning is fun and exciting," Singh said, "I could show them what kind of opportunities they can have."
Since January, the group has met weekly. Students hear from medical professionals. They work on projects that answer everyday questions like: Does the fruity-smelling antibacterial handsoap really work? How do smoking and drinking really affect the body's organs?
The program concludes May 2 with a recognition ceremony.
Participants receive free tuition for the program, a $100 stipend, two hours of college credit and a university ID card, which allows them to participate in extracurricular activities or use the school's library.
Singh said some parents may prefer that their children work rather than participate in such a class. He tells them that access to higher education outweighs a dollar earned at this crucial point in students' lives.
"We're trying to get the message to parents that your sons and daughters can't do it without your support," he said.
Singh is seeking funding for next year's course, which costs more than $30,000 to offer. Newman offered $22,000 in-kind money, and an $8,400 grant from the Wichita Community Foundation covered the current course expenses.
The program has inspired students such as Reanna Bruner, whose once fleeting thoughts about college have now become concrete plans.
Bruner, who is a member of the Creek tribe and attends Metro-Midtown Alternative High School in Wichita, will be among the first -- and youngest-- in her family to graduate from high school.
Bruner, 16, said other schools should "take the chance" and reach out like Newman.
Her mother, Deanna Bruner, said her daughter has persevered even when other relatives told her that attending school was optional.
"She's faced a lot of criticism for wanting to pursue her education," Deanna Bruner said. "I told her, 'No matter what you do, I want you to be better than me.' "
Posted on: Thursday, April 7, 2005
Military found lax in snake program
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mandatory cargo inspections, more money and better inter-agency coordination are needed to prevent the dreaded brown tree snake from invading Hawai'i and other Pacific islands, an independent panel of experts has concluded.
The snake tops Hawai'i's list of most feared alien invaders because of its threat to native species and electrical power lines. On Guam, where there are an estimated 40 brown tree snakes per acre, the reptile caused the extinction of nine of the territory's 12 native forest birds and is responsible for millions of dollars in losses from power failures.
The panel's report, commissioned by the Department of the Interior, was presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the Brown Treesnake Technical Committee meeting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The meeting continues today and tomorrow.
The report said that parts of the snake-control program are struggling or limited because of short-term planning and unstable funding and that a quick fix is needed.
"This is not a future need, it is an immediate priority given the significant threat to regional natural resources and economics that the brown tree snake poses," the report said.
The report urges the federal government to impose mandatory inspections of all cargo leaving Guam, which is home to a number of military bases. The report faults senior leadership in the Department of Defense, in particular, for lacking "a sense of ownership to the problem and solutions." These leaders haven't come through with their share of funding, the report said.
Inspectors turn up between 6,000 and 7,000 snakes annually on Guam from military and civilian aircraft and ships. At least eight brown tree snakes have been found, alive or dead, in Hawai'i, all in association with shipments from Guam.
Peter Egan, Defense Department environmental biologist and invasive species coordinator, acknowledged that the department hasn't been doing as much as it can. He said that perhaps he hasn't effectively communicated the severity of the problem to his superiors.
On the other hand, he said, the attention of military leaders has been diverted by the war in Iraq. "I wish I could meet with Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld, but he has other problems to worry about," he said.
The state Department of Agriculture also was dinged by the report, for inadequate cargo inspections and the need to better coordinate with programs on Guam.
Neil Reimer, Plant Quarantine Branch manager with the Department of Agriculture, said that since the report was compiled, more canine inspectors have been put on the job and nearly 100 percent of the military, private and commercial jets coming from Guam are being inspected.
Reimer conceded that the state is lagging when it comes to harbor inspections. A bill that would have required that ship cargo be inspected on Guam before it is accepted here was defeated in the Hawai'i Legislature both this year and last.
Brown tree snakes are believed to have been introduced to Guam in the late 1940s or early 1950s as a stowaway on military cargo. In addition to devastating the bird population, they have caused the extinction of two of 11 native lizards and contributed to the decline of the native fruit bats.
The environment isn't the only victim. Snakebites are the cause of about one in every 1,200 emergency room visits, many of them infants, and the reptiles, by coiling around electric lines, cause nearly 200 power failures a year.
A University of Hawai'i economic study estimated that if the brown tree snake were to establish itself in Hawai'i, the cost to the state would be $28 million to $405 million annually.
The Interior Department commissioned the latest study to assess brown tree snake interdiction, control and research programs.
The review panel consisted of four people from the private and public sectors with expertise in applied ecology and public policy, with specializations in environmental management, herpetology, invasive species biology, plant and animal quarantine and pest control. The only member from Hawai'i was Lloyd Loope, U.S. Geological Services biologist stationed at Haleakala National Park.
Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
Posted on: Sunday, March 27, 2005
Kanaka'ole updates the family tradition
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser
Entertainment Writer
Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole, from the creative and prolific Big Island family, carries on the family legacy with an impressive new collection of chants and mele, steeped in tradition but with enough contemporary juice to suit all appetites of Hawaiiana.
Two other compilations assemble artists and tunes from the Big Island and Maui.
"WELO" by Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole; Mountain Apple Co.
• Genre: Traditional Hawaiian, with elements of contemporary Hawaiian.
• Distinguishing notes: Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole carries the banner of family matriarch Edith Kanaka'ole with pride; he is the great-grandson of Edith, the son of Kekuhi Kanahele and Kaipo Frias, and grandson of Pualani Kanaka'ole. (The lineage goes back further: Kaumakaiwa is the great-great-grandson of Mary Keali'ikekuewa). Clearly, "Welo" will be a beacon for others to admire, adopt and follow; it's loaded with exquisite chants, mele and stories, all told in the native Hawaiian tongue. This is an inspired primer on preserving and perpetuating things and themes Hawaiian. There is a lot to embrace: "Hilo Song," a tribute to the Big Island town, is a hoot, a blend of customary Hawaiian with contemporary rhythms; "Mele Hi'i Pepe" is an exquisite lullaby; "E o Kupu'eu Na Pae Moku" is a frisky and fun outing, set aboard the Hokule'a and as bouncy and carefree as a glide over the ocean waves; "Hilihia Ke Kauna O Ka Moku" — with snare-drum rhythms — marches to an evolutionary beat.
• The outlook: This will be a pioneering album, a youth mining the rituals of his ancestors and parents, yet finding his own groove as a young artist of today. It is the Hawaiian music of tomorrow.
• Our take: One that requires special handling, for discriminating audiences; one that will stand the test of time for Hawaiiana purists.
Posted: April 12, 2005 by:
American Indian museum featured in electronic field trip
Staff Reports / Indian Country
Today 
MUNCIE, Ind. - Students across the country were among the
first visitors to the recently-opened National Museum of the American Indian
during Ball State University's March 22 electronic field trip.
The
''Sharing Perspectives at the National Museum of the American Indian'' broadcast
was the first distance-learning event from the Smithsonian's newest museum. Its
purpose was to demonstrate how the museum is a Native place and home to diverse,
contemporary Native people from throughout the Americas.
Native music
and dance were demonstrated and discussed by museum staff. Several students from
the Milwaukee Indian Community School in Milwaukee, the Irving Middle School in
Norman, Okla. and the Hardy Middle School in Washington, D.C. were on the show,
answering questions and participating in activities. Students watching the
broadcast or Web cast could call in and ask questions to American Indian museum
staff.
The show's hosts shared stories from their own communities, said
Mark Kornmann, director of Teachers College outreach services.
''Families everywhere collect and pass on stories to preserve their
traditions. For many Native American communities these stories represent a
unique perspective on history and culture,'' he said.
''Through these
stories, students will experience the diverse cultures among Native Americans
and have a better understanding of how many indigenous people preserve, share
and practice their traditions today.''
The live, interactive field trip,
sponsored by Best Buy Children's Foundation, was expected to reach more than 15
million viewers in 49 states and included captioning funded through a National
Captioning Institute federal grant.
Throughout the broadcast, viewers
were encouraged to call in with questions or submit them online in a live
discussion forum. Videotaped questions could also be submitted to be aired
during the broadcast.
''The Web site is also an integral part of the
field trip,'' Kornmann said. Before the broadcast, teachers could download
lesson plans focusing on how a Native place is defined and how traditions carry
Native American cultureand students, and preview the museum's exhibits.
IN DEPTH: HEALTH & PERSONAL FITNESS
From the April 8, 2005 print edition
Kumu hula offers free cultural healing in Waimanalo
Nina Wu
Pacific Business News
Kumu hula Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett runs a cultural healing center in a small trailer near the parking lot of the Waimanalo Health Center.
The center, named Ai Kupele, offers everything from prayer to spiritual counseling, lomi lomi massage and a pharmacy of Native Hawaiian plants and herbs that come straight from the garden next door.
Services are offered free, although monetary donations are accepted because traditionally they were paid to the kahuna in ancient times.
Though funds are dwindling, the administration of Waimanalo Health Center is determined to keep a service it started in response to its community survey.
The healing center was launched five years ago with a federal grant that provided about $200,000 a year for three years, according to finance director David Kula. The trailer was donated and renovated at a cost of about $50,000.
But the grants ended in 2002, and Waimanalo Health Center is now paying the costs of operating the center -- about $80,000 a year, including overhead and utilities -- from its general fund.
Looking for funding
"The cultural healing center was always identified as a top priority for the community," Kula said. "Our plan is to keep it going indefinitely and to increase the scope. The board is looking at other sources of funding."
Whereas there used to be three to four staff members running the cultural healing center, Hewett is now the only full-time staff member.
He mans the center three days a week -- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. In the afternoons, the trailer doubles as an after-school program for teens.
As a nonprofit that runs on a budget of about $3.5 million a year, the Waimanalo Health Center offers primary care services along with several outreach workers, a psychologist and a visiting gynecologist.
The center serves about 3,500 clients, many of whom prefer not to leave Waimanalo.
About half of the center's income is generated from medical services, another quarter from the state and the rest from federal funds.
Hewett, also a kumu hula, composer and judge for the Merrie Monarch Festival, provides counseling -- as a Hawaiian spiritual leader -- for people suffering from family strife, drug abuse, divorce or death.
But he also sees patients with physical ailments, ranging from diabetes to cancer, migraine headaches, muscle cramps and backaches. Other conditions include depression and schizophrenia.
He sees an average of about five to 10 patients a day.
Reaching the people
Wilson Ho, chairman of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board, said Ai Kupele is now an integral part of the community.
"It's important to have the center because we're a Hawaiian community," he said. "It's to reach the people."
For Hawaiians, there is no separation between the health of the spirit, mind and physical body.
"In the Hawaiian culture, we are spirit first, mind second, body third," Hewett said. "If we want to assist a person in their healing, we have to start with the first component, which is spiritual."
A half-acre garden tended by staff members and volunteers offers medicinal herbs -- from ti leaf plants to kukui nuts, lemon grass, taro and banana.
"This is my pharmacy," said Hewett, who knows each plant by name and what it's used for -- for example, lemon grass is good for diabetes and ti leaf helps combat fever. "This is basically grown by the community for the community."
The clinic's mainstream doctors will refer patients to Hewett if they want to try teas instead of a drug for a certain ailment. He will take them into the garden and gather the proper herbs for them.
Instead of the mainstream concept of doctors prescribing pills, Hewett said alternative healing encourages the individuals to take an active participation in their own healing.
Kula estimates the garden costs about $7,500 a year to maintain, and says it is one of the center's greatest assets.
Reach Nina Wu at 955-8038 or nwu@bizjournals.com.
Article published Apr 5, 2005
Lawmakers to study lease process for Chamorros
By Steve Limtiaco
Pacific
Daily News
Thousands of Guam's indigenous people have been waiting years for the opportunity to lease residential lots from the Chamorro Land Trust, and lawmakers yesterday met with representatives from the government's land agencies to find ways to improve the process.
Speaker Mark Forbes' Committee on General and Omnibus Matters held a round-table discussion with: the Chamorro Land Trust Commission, which administers land held in trust for Chamorros; the Ancestral Lands Commission, which transfers excess federal property back to its original owners and their descendants; and the Department of Land Management, which administers all land use on Guam.
The meeting was called after strong testimony last week against Sen. Benjamin Cruz's Bill 50, which would allow Chamorros to buy Land Trust land instead of leasing it and which would have reduced lot sizes in order to provide enough land for everyone. The purpose of the bill is to make it easier for Chamorros to get land and the financing necessary to build adequate, safe housing.
Lawmakers spent most of yesterday's meeting asking agencies to provide detailed information about the status of the Land Trust and the Ancestral Lands Commission, including an inventory of the land and the amount of any leases, commercial, residential and agricultural. They also asked how the land is being used, including the number of concrete homes versus wood-and-tin ranches.
"It's going to open up the dialogue," Cruz said of the round-table meeting. "It's been 10 years since the Chamorro Land Trust accepted applications. I think the members of the Legislature will be shocked to find out that less than a third of the people have been given their land and that the ones who have been given land haven't been able to use it. We need to find out why."
A government finance official last week told the Pacific Daily News that many Land Trust recipients cannot get loans to build homes because the land has not been surveyed to identify property boundaries and easements and because much of the Chamorro Land Trust property does not have easy access to power and water lines.
"I think it's great we've started to talk about it. It can't just be out of sight, out of mind," Cruz, D-Piti, said. "It's now in our face, so let's start talking about it ."
Forbes, R-Sinajana, said the first goal is take a look at what kind of legislation will allow the mandate of the Chamorro Land Trust as well as the Ancestral Lands Commission to be more successfully achieved.
Posted on: Monday, April 4, 2005
State to catalog native species
By Jan
TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has a six-month deadline to complete an ambitious project, a statewide strategy that outlines what is known about Hawai'i's native wildlife and identifies what's needed and how to do it.
The Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, which must be completed by Oct. 1, is mandated by Congress if states hope to receive money under the State Wildlife Grant Program. The strategy is to be updated at least every 10 years.
One of the concerns of wildlife managers is that much of the conservation work being performed in the state is done on a crisis-management basis — like spending large sums of money trying to save critically endangered forest birds. It is not clear that kind of response is always the best way to spend limited resources.
The project hopes to list native species of all kinds — plants, birds, insects and others — and to rank them to identify those in the greatest need of help.
The Hawai'i land department is researching existing data, but is also asking the public to participate — both to provide information about species and to make recommendations about strategies. One goal is to identify partnerships that can help improve response to help species.
There will be meetings and workshops, starting with a series of statewide sessions in late May, said Christen Mitchell, the state's project coordinator for the program.
As information is developed, it will be published online at www.dofaw.net/cwcs. The Web site is operating and has a considerable bank of information already available.
"The Web site is going to be the primary means of providing information" as it develops, Mitchell said.
For specific information, to identify existing plans or sources of information, or to make recommendations, e-mail wildlife.strategy@hawaii.gov, or call Mitchell or project planner Christine Ogura at (808) 587-0051.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
Posted on: Thursday, April 7, 2005
Senators block $40M sought by Superferry
Associated Press
A plan to link Hawai'i's islands by ferry ran into trouble this week at the Legislature.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee blocked a move to provide $40 million in state harbor improvements requested by Hawaii Superferry.
Committee Vice Chairman Shan Tsutsui, D-4th (Kahului), said Monday that he doubted the measure would pass this legislative session. But committee Chairman Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), said he thought the project still had potential.
John Garibaldi, chief executive of Hawaii Superferry Inc., said the $40 million was an "absolute requirement" to begin ferry service in two years.
The company plans to run two passenger and car ferries between O'ahu, Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island.
Tsutsui said the $40 million was taken out of the budget because the state has not given the Senate enough information about "infrastructure, parking and other logistics."
Tsutsui said he also had concerns about competing uses for Maui's Kahului Harbor.
Taniguchi said his concerns were about the specific funding for the $40 million.
The state's $5 million ferry terminal near downtown Honolulu opened nearly two years ago. Garibaldi asked the Legislature to approve the $40 million to pay for harbor improvements on the other islands.
Friday, March 25, 2005; Page A06
Native Americans Criticize
Bush's Silence
Response to School Shooting Is Contrasted With
President's Intervention in Schiavo Case
By Ceci
Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
MINNEAPOLIS, March 24 -- Native Americans across the country -- including tribal leaders, academics and rank-and-file tribe members -- voiced anger and frustration Thursday that President Bush has responded to the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with silence.
Three days after 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed nine members of his Red Lake tribe before taking his own life, grief-stricken American Indians complained that the White House has offered little in the way of sympathy for the tribe situated in the uppermost region of Minnesota.
">From all over the world we are getting letters of condolence, the Red Cross has come, but the so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn't said or done a thing," said Clyde Bellecourt, a Chippewa Indian who is the founder and national director of the American Indian Movement here. "When people's children are murdered and others are in the hospital hanging on to life, he should be the first one to offer his condolences. . . . If this was a white community, I don't think he'd have any problem doing that."
Weise's victims included his grandfather and five teenagers; seven other students were wounded, and two of them remain in serious condition in a hospital in Fargo, N.D.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, in an informal discussion with reporters Tuesday, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who were killed."
"I hope that he would say something," said Victoria Graves, a cultural educator at Red Lake Elementary School on the reservation. "It's important that there's acknowledgment of the tragedy. It's important he sees the tribes are out here. We need help."
The reaction to Bush's silence was particularly bitter given his high-profile, late-night intervention on behalf of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman caught in a legal battle over whether her feeding tube should be reinserted.
"The fact that Bush preempted his vacation to say something about Ms. Schiavo and here you have 10 native people gunned down and he can't take time to speak is very telling," said David Wilkins, interim chairman of the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the North Carolina-based Lumbee tribe.
"He has not been real visible in Indian country," said former senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.). "He's got a lot of irons in the fire, but this is important."
Even more alarming than Bush's silence, he said, is the president's proposal to cut $100 million from several Indian programs next year.
After hearing grumbling from tribal leaders, Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, called the White House on Thursday to inquire about Bush's silence. "I wanted to make sure the White House is paying attention to this issue," she said. "I wasn't sure."
Asked Thursday about Bush's silence, spokeswoman Dana Perino said that he plans to dedicate part of his Saturday radio address to the Red Lake tragedy and that he is following the case closely through the FBI and the Justice Department.
In the hours after the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, President Bill Clinton publicly expressed his condolences and followed up a few days later with a radio address in which he proposed new gun control measures and school safety projects.
At the Red Lake Urban Indian Office here, volunteer Marilyn Westbrook said she was disappointed but not surprised.
"I don't feel he cares about the American Indian people," said Westbrook, as she collected donations of gas cards and money to enable fellow Red Lake members to make the 260-mile journey to the reservation. "Why hasn't he made any statements about what happened with this shooting?"
Staff writers Dana Hedgpeth in Red Lake and Peter Baker in Waco, Tex., and research editor Lucy Shackelford in Washington contributed to this report.
Date posted online: Monday, April 11, 2005
Young American Indians strive to maintain traditional culture
Sioux City Journal
Associated Press
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. (AP) -- When Emanuel Red Bear and his
friends wanted to learn the traditional songs of the Lakota Sioux, they turned
to 76-year-old Burdell Blue Arm and his extensive knowledge of Lakota
culture.
"We were thinking about singing some songs, and Burdell said,
'Let's sing some old songs, traditional songs,"' said Red Bear, who lives in
Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.
Along with Blue Arm
and his nephews, Red Bear began a traditional drum group called "Wakpa Waste,"
pronounced WALK-pah WASH-tay, Lakota for "Good River." That is also how the
tribe refers to its namesake, the Cheyenne River.
"We try to sing the older songs (so) that the people will
hear," Red Bear said.
But preserving those songs, and American Indian
culture in general, is becoming increasingly difficult as tribal elders pass
away. For example, Blue Arm lives in a nursing home in Mobridge, more than 80
miles from Eagle Butte. He is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease and is
beginning to lose his memory.
"That's the way my mind is -- I forget now
and then," Blue Arm said.
As his memory fades, the tribe loses one of its
most important resources.
"Burdell is a living library of Lakota music,"
said his nephew, Steve Emery, a member of Wakpa Waste and a lawyer for the
Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
For Red Bear, who teaches Lakota language and
culture to students in Eagle Butte, keeping younger Indians interested in the
ways of their people is a challenge. Many just don't care to learn the ways of
their ancestors because of the allure of contemporary American culture, he
said.
"We have more influences of the modern society. Gangs, television,
alcohol and drugs -- everything's right here," Red Bear said.
"We live in two worlds, the Lakota world and the non-Indian
world."
The Cheyenne River tribe passed an ordinance in 1993 requiring that Lakota language and culture be taught in reservation classrooms. But it is a struggle to capture students' interest, Red Bear said.
"We have people, our own tribal members, who are ashamed to
be (Lakota), and they don't want to learn the language," he said. "It's sad to
see."
Another problem are the differences in dialects between tribes, Red Bear said. The Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Standing Rock and Cheyenne River tribes all have different ways of referring to things and there are specific endings indicating the gender of the speaker. That means it's nearly impossible to reach a consensus on what needs to be taught, he said.
"We're standing in one place spinning our wheels, arguing about who's right and who's wrong, and in the meantime we're losing our language," Red Bear said.
But there is hope.
Red Bear grew up speaking Lakota at home, and said learning such everyday phrases as "brush your teeth" and "go play" is crucial to saving the language. In outlying areas of the reservation, away from towns such as Eagle Butte, there are still families that speak Lakota at home, he said. Encouraging them to keep that up will help preserve the Lakota way, Red Bear said.
"We still have a chance if we get the ones that live in the
outlying districts," he said.
In addition, Red Bear and others are spearheading projects such as a Lakota language immersion camp at the Cheyenne River reservation, which will be held for the second time this summer. Sponsored by the tribe, Si Tanka University and a bilingual education program, it involves language classes and instruction in such cultural activities as erecting tipis. The campers, mainly college students, are taught by members of the Cheyenne River tribe.
Drum groups like Wakpa Waste also help by keeping people familiar with the older songs and exposing new people to them, Red Bear said. During the 2005 legislative session, Wakpa Waste took a drum to Pierre and sang in the South Dakota Capitol rotunda before a crowd that included lawmakers and Gov. Mike Rounds.
For Blue Arm, the efforts of people like Red Bear and his nephews to learn -- and preserve -- the Lakota way are a beacon of hope.
"It means something that they can speak the language. Maybe God is helping us," Blue Arm said.
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