From: CNHA Mailing List [mailinglist@hawaiiancouncil.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 8:02 PM
To: annie@hawaiiancouncil.org
Subject: CNHA's NewsClips- May 18, 2005

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.

 

 

May 18, 2005

 

 

 

May 13, 2005

 

Hawaii impact of base closure and realignment recommendations

 

WASHINGTON DC- Proposed military base closures and realignments would result in the net gain of one civilian job and net loss of 299 uniformed military jobs in Hawaii, according recommendations released by the Department of Defense (DoD) today.

 

An economic impact analysis accompanying the recommendations estimates the changes will have an impact of less than one-tenth of one percent on total employment on Oahu.

 

The Pentagon recommended the closure of one military installation in the state: an Army National Guard Reserve Center on the Big Island.

 

The closure would entail the loss of 118 uniformed military positions, but the report also recommends construction of a new Armed Forces Reserve center in Keaukaha which could accommodate the functions of the facility recommended for closure.

 

The report also recommends realignments which would result in a net gain of 82 military and civilian jobs at Pearl Harbor and a net loss of 262 military and civilian jobs at Hickam Air Force Base.

 

Abercrombie stated, “Hawaii’s military presence will remain relatively stable if these recommendations are adopted.  This validates the work of our Congressional delegation over the years.  We’ve worked to add value, increase capacity and enhance the flexibility of Hawaii installations. This approach has resulted in a military infrastructure that justifies itself in terms of the national security interests of the United States. That’s the criterion which should- and does- guide these decisions on base closure and realignment.”

 

Abercrombie is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over military spending, programs and policies.

 

The full text of today’s Pentagon base closure and realignment recommendations can be found at www.defenselink.mil/brac.

 

 

 

 

May 14, 2005

 

Land Trust may be sued over Ypao deal

 

By Katie Worth
Pacific Daily News
kworth@guampdn.com

The company that wants to put a multimillion-dollar development on Ypao Point has offered to lease the valuable land from the government for $672,000 annually.

The Chamorro Land Trust Commission will present its counteroffer to the Taiwan-based developer in a public meeting next Friday, said the commission's chairman, Delfin R. Damian.

But all these negotiations could be derailed because of a threatened lawsuit by Guam resident Thomas Sheldon, who has argued that the entire deal is unconstitutional because the Chamorro Land Trust benefits a racially exclusive group.

These were a few of the facts that came to light yesterday in the first ever public meeting on the proposed development after a year and a half of negotiations behind closed doors.

The commission decided not to allow public comment at the meeting, much to the chagrin of a handful of residents who had come to the meeting in order to ask questions and make comments about the proposed deal.

Yesterday's public meeting came about only after several other meetings had been scheduled and then canceled, and after a local attorney complained that the commission's secretive attitude about the negotiations was improper and unnecessary.

Present at the meeting on behalf of the Taiwan-based developing company Himalaya Holding Group was their attorney, Jerry Tang, and their spokesman on island, Harry Chang. Himalaya is an affiliate of Yeu Tzang Tcheng Enterprises.

Potential lawsuit

Tang told committee members that Sheldon had called him when the developers were on island recently. Sheldon told him that if they signed the deal with the Land Trust Commission, he would sue the commission and the developers could lose everything that had been invested in the project, he said.

Though Tang said the developers believe the commission is legal, he said they also want to avoid legal complications.

"My client, the developer, is very concerned about that," he said. "We really want a good, sound lease without any potential lawsuits."

Himalaya has presented designs of a multimillion-dollar hotel and condo complex, complete with a museum and cultural center. The project is hoped to stimulate the island's economy.

A major concern, he said, is that if the deal is signed, the developer will likely pay $500,000 to the commission in advance rent. However, if the lawsuit is somehow successful, he said, the developer would be concerned about losing all that money.

Sheldon was one member of a group that last year threatened to sue the Chamorro Land Trust Commission because he said the commission only benefits the indigenous people of the island.

The land trust was originally created in 1975, with the intention to hand out land to the descendants of the indigenous population of the island. The trust was created in part to amend the fact that many Chamorro families lost their land when the U.S. military condemned and took over much of the island after World War II.

However, Sheldon has pointed to other parts of the country, such as Hawaii where similar arguments have not held up in court. He has said that he feels the entire island should reap the benefit of government-owned property.

Local indigenous rights leader Trini Torres, who attended yesterday's commission meeting, said Guam is not like other parts of the country. She said that the only part of the constitution Sheldon wants to apply to Guam is the part that might benefit him, and not the parts that could empower the Chamorro people.

"We are just a colony -- we are not even a state. The Constitution doesn't even fully apply to us," she said.

Another concern raised by Tang was that when the Ypao Point land was originally deeded to the government of Guam from the Perez family, the deed included a stipulation that the land be used for a hospital.

The land was, in the past, used for a hospital, but that old hospital has since been torn down. He said the developer is worried whether that stipulation still has any legal bearing on the case.

The commission asked Deputy Attorney General Charles Troutman, who is their legal counsel, to work on developing opinions on both of the legal concerns raised by the developer.

Commission chairman Damian said yesterday's meeting was held in order to iron out some legal concerns with the developer's first proposal, as well as lay the groundwork for what he said will come next week: the final negotiations for the deal. He encouraged residents to submit written testimony to the commission on the issue by next Wednesday.

In yesterday's meeting, a member of the public asked to be able to make a comment during the meeting, but the commission instead adjourned the meeting. The woman then asked why she couldn't comment and the commission said it wasn't legal to have a public comment period after the meeting had adjourned.

When asked why the commission had chosen not to have a public comment period in the meeting, Damian said the public was welcome and encouraged to submit written comments.

"It's a matter of chairman's prerogative, and I just feel that this is probably the best way of moving the meeting along," he said.

 

 

 

 

May 15, 2005

 

Greatest need is new housing, Indians say

 

PETER HARRIMAN
pharrima@argusleader.com


Money is at the core of any discussion of housing on South Dakota's nine Indian reservations, and a proposal by President Bush to cut spending next year is sharpening that debate.

Tribal officials also are fighting a black mold infestation in many homes. While that is a necessary effort, tribal officials say it takes money from the core challenge of building new houses to ease crowding for the growing population in Indian Country.

There's not enough housing on reservations in many cases, and what does exist often isn't up to minimum standards - particularly on the Pine Ridge reservation, says Sen. Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat.

 

Federal money slashed

 

In President Bush's 2006 budget, the tribal public housing programs face a $107 million cut. Johnson, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and Appropriations Committee, has criticized those cuts.


"The best thing the federal government can do to help the situation is to live up to its treaty and trust obligations. Funding for housing needs, whether on or off reservation, should be a priority, not an afterthought," Johnson said.  The other members of South Dakota's congressional delegation agree black mold is an increasing problem born of substandard housing and overcrowding.

Spokesmen for Sen. John Thune and Rep. Stephanie Herseth say their bosses recognize mold contamination in Indian Country housing is a growing problem.

Herseth, on the House floor, has spoken in favor of increasing federal money to reduce crowding on reservations.  Another congressional response to mold in dwellings under the aegis of Housing and Urban Development comes from Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.

He has introduced the U.S. Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act that calls for new inspection standards for HUD homes and research into mold abatement and construction techniques that discourage mold growth.  Since 1996, when the Native American Housing and Self Determination Act replaced the 1937 Public Housing Act, most federal housing money comes to tribes as block grants from the self-determination act and from grants set aside for Indians in the Community Development Block Grant program. In the past three years, $630 million has been disbursed to tribal housing authorities through those programs, says Donna White, a HUD spokeswoman. In theory, tribes decide how to allocate those funds.

A housing director for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, though, points out that tribes with federally subsidized rental housing are legally obliged to maintain it. Amos Prue says tribes with large numbers of mold-infested homes are in a Catch 22. Dollars spent renovating those houses can't be spent building new ones, which would alleviate the crowding that is the major cause of mold problems.

 

Undercounted, underfunded

 

It costs a minimum $20,000 to completely renovate a home, says Lester Lone Hill, head of building inspections for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and it costs about $100,000 to build a new one, according to Ric Palmier, superintendent of the eastern district of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Housing Authority.

Now, tribal housing officials face an additional challenge with Bush's budget. Because the federal grants to tribes are based on population as determined by the 2000 Census, South Dakota tribes are at a further disadvantage, say Prue and Rhonda Two Eagle, Oglala Sioux Tribe secretary. They contend Indians living on the state's reservations were undercounted.

"Someone comes knocking at your door, there may be three or four households in there. You're not going to be filling out no census form. They're all panicked," Two Eagle says.

At a burly, 6-foot-4 or so, Ric Palmier, looks capable of crushing softballs in the summer tournaments sponsored by tribal casinos in which he plays.  Palmier, superintendent of the eastern district of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Housing Authority, attacks mold with similar zeal. But too often, Palmier is armed with little more than belief in a noble cause. Tribal housing officials nationwide are frustrated that money never goes far enough.

"We could sit here and talk mold for two days," Palmier sighs.  He understands mold. He's been to seminars and participated in studies. He has argued for funding with members of Congress.

Palmier is built to block a doorway, and at a meeting in Washington, D.C., a couple of years ago, "I didn't let a couple of senators out," he says. "(Former Sen. Minority Leader Tom) Daschle was one of them, until they heard what I had to say."

In a letter to former Oglala Sioux Tribal Council member Valerie Janis last year, Daschle wrote, "It is the federal government's moral and legal obligation to meet the housing needs of Indian country. Those obligations are not being met and current problems are being exacerbated by the Administration's inaction."  Reach reporter Peter Harriman at 575-3615.

 

 

 

 

Published: May 11, 2005

 

Chickaloon tribe has new classroom to continue 'ancient teachings'

 

Rooted

 

By S.J. KOMARNITSKY
Anchorage Daily News

 

SUTTON -- The tiny Ya Ne Dah Ah School of Chickaloon put itself on the map in 2002 when Harvard University selected it as one of eight outstanding tribal programs in the country and awarded the school a $10,000 grant.

 

Last week, the school marked another milestone by moving out of a cramped portable-size building without running water, used for the past six years, and into a new 2,400-square-foot school with flush toilets and a kitchen.

 

It was a big move for the small school, which despite the national recognition has struggled to keep its doors open at times during its 13 years.

 

The event was celebrated with a private ceremony and a public grand opening. But the school's real success is the tribe's commitment to the school and focus on using it to revitalize Chickaloon's Athabascan culture, according to parents and administrators.

 

"If we're not doing that, then there's no reason to do (the school)," said Kari Johns, education director for Ya Ne Dah Ah.

 

The Chickaloon tribe, with headquarters near Sutton, is small, with only about 200 members. But it's a vocal advocate for tribal sovereignty and in recent years has capitalized on its tribal status to leverage grants and other money to fund multiple projects in the Sutton area, including a new health clinic and an ongoing effort to restore salmon runs in a nearby Moose Creek.

 

The $150,000 needed for the new school was raised through a combination of individual donations and loans from private organizations, Johns said. The school's roughly $150,000 annual operating cost is also funded through grants and private donations, Johns said.

 

Tribe matriarch Katie Wade started the school in 1992 as a way to pass on Athabascan ways and beliefs to the younger generation, Johns said. Ya Ne Dah Ah means "ancient teachings" in Ahtna Athabascan, the dialect spoken by the Chickaloon tribe.

 

While it's called a school, Ya Ne Dah Ah is not officially recognized as such by any federal or state agency. The students are considered home schooled, which gives the school flexibility in what is taught, Johns said.

 

Students learn basics, such as math and science, and take state standardized tests, but drumming, singing, basket weaving and learning the Ahtna Athabascan language are all part of the curriculum.

 

The students also participate in the Ya Ne Dah Ah dance group, which has performed all over the state, most recently at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Johns said.

 

It's easy to see the appeal of the school. The classes, or rather, class, is tiny. The eight students, in first through eighth grade, share a single room.

 

There are no bells signaling the end of a period. Instead, the lessons flow from one to the next.

 

On a recent morning, teacher Sondra Stuart, whose three sons attend the school, led the students through an exercise on the Ahtna Athabascan language using a computer program designed by the tribe.

 

She also had them play charades in Athabascan and do stretching exercises counting in Athabascan. For recess, she led the children outside to play traditional Athabascan games, including the seal hop, in which students hop while lying on the ground resting only on their toes and knuckles of their hands, and a limbo-like exercise that involves holding a long pole diagonally across one's body and bending underneath without moving the pole.

 

An Athabascan elder from Tazlina -- one of many visitors to the school -- taught the children the latter game, Stuart said.

 

Exercise is a big part of the school, and even in winter the students have to go outside and run. Katie Wade has insisted on it, Stuart said.

 

Wade also requires that students sometimes run with water in their mouths, then spit it out at the end to show they didn't swallow it as a way to teach mental toughness, Stuart said.

 

The students seem to respond to the teaching style even if at times they don't seem to be paying attention.

 

During the morning language exercise, two students sat on top of their desks, while another, a young girl, twirled a pink shirt in front of her. But even though they seemed distracted, the students quickly answered when called on by Stuart, pronouncing tongue twisters like kuggaedi -- Ahtna Athabascan for mosquito --with ease.

 

While most students are tribal members, the school is open to anyone -- Native or non-Native -- willing to pay the $50 tuition fee and meet requirements for volunteering in the school, Johns said.

 

The philosophy is to teach anyone who is interested in the culture, she said.

 

Brian Hirsch, a non-Native who has worked for the tribe, said he brought his daughter Aviva, now 11, to the school four years ago when he moved to Palmer.

 

He has since moved to Homer, but he liked the school's unique approach to learning from starting the day with a prayer to teaching respect for others, especially elders.

 

"There's not many places where students for lunch would walk to an elder's house for a bowl of moose stew," he said.

 

Hirsch was also pleased with the academics, noting his daughter recently scored in the 90th percentile on the standardized state tests.

 

While visitors typically concentrate on the school's more visible differences, such as teaching birch-bark basket weaving, Johns said the emphasis on Athabascan values, such as respecting elders, is important to her.

 

Johns, whose father is Athabascan, said she missed those values attending public schools on the Kenai Peninsula. She also felt lost growing up because she knew she was different from non-Natives but knew little about her heritage, she said. She hopes the same will not be true for her two children, who are enrolled in Ya Ne Dah Ah.

 

"That's the greatest gift, to know where they came from," she said.

 

Johns said the tribe hopes to expand the school, possibly adding a gymnasium. But for now the focus is on raising $5 million for an endowment to provide a stable funding source for the school's operation.

 

Reporter S.J. Komarnitsky can be reached at skomarnitsky@adn.com or 352-6714.

 

 

 

 

May 15, 2005

 

‘Blessed’ Mother Cope

 

The Kalaupapa nun reaches the second step to sainthood

 

By Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.com

She's beyond just a Kalaupapa icon now, and more than the Franciscan Sisters' role model.

She was officially deemed "Blessed Marianne Cope," and her Jan. 23 birthday will be a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church around the globe.

Cope's decision to serve leprosy victims in Hawaii "was a wonderful work of divine grace," said Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, who presided at the beatification celebration in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City yesterday. "She saw in them the suffering face of Jesus Christ."

Muumuus and leis worn by some Hawaii pilgrims fit the cosmopolitan character of the crowd of nearly 2,000 people, the majority of whom were fans of a Spanish nun who was beatified along with Cope. People in the national costumes of several countries touched by Mother Ascension del Corazon de Jesus paraded forward with gifts at the offertory. Scriptural readings and prayers were done in Spanish and English to reflect the two honorees.

The cardinal praised Blessed Ascension, founder of the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary, as "one of the greatest missionaries of the past century." She died in 1940.

"It was thrilling just to be in that setting, under the chair of St. Peter, with the artwork and the history," said Patrick Downes, who represented the Honolulu diocese. He and Sister Patricia Burkhard, head of the Syracuse, N.Y.-based Sisters of St. Francis, presented a set of vestments among gifts that also included a maile lei given to Martins by Norman Nakamoto of the Royal Order of Kamehameha.

"Hearing 'Makalapua' sung there was chicken skin," Downes said. The song that was Cope's favorite was sung before the Mass by a choir of the Hawaii and Syracuse pilgrims.

They stood near the Sistine Chapel choir, who "sounded just perfect, like you see on TV," said choir member Agatha Leighnor of Pearl City. "We never thought we'd sound that way, but I felt we did. It was just awesome. I would never have thought it could have happen, yet I was part of that." She said the singers had an unplanned dress rehearsal Friday while on tour in St. Francis' hometown of Assisi. A priest arranged a mass for them in St. Francis Basilica, and the choir sang the peace prayer of St. Francis and "How Great Thou Art" in Hawaiian.

"I was very exhilarated and blessed by it," said Sister Grace Anne Dillenschneider of Syracuse, a leader of the religious order. "We've waited for so long, it really is wonderful. I thought it was beautifully done."

As the crowd filed out of the basilica, the Franciscan sisters "went back to where they had unveiled the banner," Dillenschneider said. "Her sisters sang that song, 'Makalapua,' to her again. Then we came home and had a celebration at the hotel."

Daisy Galura of Aiea said: "The ceremony was very inspiring. It uplifted us to look at them and how they lived their life to follow Christ. It motivates us to be like them. Even though we cannot accomplish what they did, we can improve ourselves day to day."

The excitement isn't over for the travelers to Rome. They have an audience with Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow.

The sainthood cause for Blessed Marianne was launched in 1983, spearheaded by Sister Mary Laurence Hanley of Syracuse, a retired teacher. Hanley and the late O. A. "Ozzy" Bushnell co-authored a Cope biography, "The Song of Pilgrimage and Exile," which they presented to Pope John Paul II that year.

After perusing volumes of material on her life, Vatican theologians found Cope to be of "heroic virtue" and she was declared "venerable" in April 2004, the first of three steps to sainthood.

For the next step, theologians must confirm that the candidate posthumously brought about a miracle. Vatican officials in December accepted a 1992 medical cure as the miracle. It involved a 14-year-old New York girl who recovered from multiple organ failure after friends and family prayed for Cope's intercession and a bookmark on which Cope had written "Sweet Jesus Mercy" was held to her forehead.

A second miracle must be verified before any candidate is eligible to be declared a saint.

By turning the beatification ceremony over to Martins, head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Benedict signaled a return to a past tradition. Only since 1971 have popes gotten involved in beatifications. Pope Benedict will preside only at the final step of canonization.

 

 

 

 

Pacific News Service, May 11, 2005

 

American Indian Youths Preserve the Past, One Word at a Time

 

Youth News Feature, Shadi Rahimi

Editor's Note: Though only a few elders of the Big Valley band of Pomo Indians are still fluent in their language, young tribal members are picking up words and phrases with the help of technology.

Eighteen-year-old Kristin Amparo, a tribal member of the Big Valley band of Pomo Indians, lives with her parents and five siblings in a large house on their reservation in Clear Lake, about three hours north of San Francisco. She likes bouncing on a trampoline to slam-dunk a basketball in her back yard, zooming past the creamy white Konocti Vista Casino in a yellow all-terrain vehicle and, now, speaking Bahtssal with her 14-year-old sister Felicia.

The flat and green Big Valley reservation sits two miles from tiny downtown Lakeport on 153 acres encircling the banks of Clear Lake, whose blue-green waters host international bass-fishing tournaments and traditional Pomo tule boat races. On sunny days, kids fish for bluegill and catfish from the dock near the tribe's Konocti Vista Casino.

Only a few elders of the Big Valley tribe are fluent in Bahtssal, a tribal dialect that began to fade after settlers forced Northern California Pomos off their lands. Today, Amparo and her sister are among a small group of young people on the 470-member reservation who are learning to speak the dialect as part of a newly formed language program.

"We tell our mom stuff in Bahtssal, like, 'I have to go,'" says Amparo, who had never heard the language spoken before she began studying it under the new initiative. "It's really fun to learn."

According to tribal historians, the decline in fluency in Bahtssal dates back to 1852, when the United States Senate refused to ratify a federal treaty that had promised the Big Valley tribe 72 square miles of land on the south side of Clear Lake. Settlers began claiming plots of land the following year, making private property of the areas where Big Valley ancestors had gathered food for more than 11,000 years. As tribal members began working in fields and on ranches owned by settlers, and their children began learning English in white schools, Bahtssal began to fade.

James Bluewolf, who directs the language program, sees it as an exercise not just in cultural preservation, but also in healing. "People are still suffering from post-traumatic stress after being forced to give up everything they had," he says. "But every culture comes to a point where they are ready to make a change."

In Clear Lake, the epicenter of that change sits among piles of scrap metal, wood and rusty cars, in a building that looks like it has dropped from the sky. It is tiny and tidy, and painted a bright swimming-pool blue. Inside this building, which houses the tribal language program, young mothers watch their chubby-cheeked toddlers play in a preschool class held by the nonprofit Lake County Tribal Health Consortium.

In a cramped office past the play area, James Bluewolf smiles at the children's squeals. A stocky, soft-spoken man who once ran a landscaping business, Bluewolf has been using technology tribal ancestors could not have imagined to preserve and promote the tribal language. Bluewolf records hours of Bahtssal spoken by elders, which he edits into half-hour audio segments that air on the community radio station, and are available free on CD to tribal members. Bluewolf is also writing a curriculum for a 15-week course in Bahtssal.

In a program Bluewolf directs, local teenagers perform skits that teach words and phrases such as "Chiin the'a 'eh" ("How are you?") and "Q'odii" ("Good"). Bluewolf videotapes the skits and makes them into videos that are played on the Lake County television station, and made available on DVD.

In the play area, Alisha Salguero, 21, rocks her 5-month-old daughter to sleep while her 3-year-old son Brian plays. Brian has learned several words in Bahtssal in the preschool class, where Bluewolf uses hand puppets to teach the language.

"He's really picked it up," Salguero says with a smile. "I don't really know it, so I think it's good for him to learn his language."

While traditional song, dance, and tule boat races have always been part of the cultural life of Big Valley children, holding on to their tribal language has been more difficult, says Marilyn Ellis, 21. "That's why this language program is important," says Ellis, whose father, Ray, was the spiritual leader of the tribe.

Before he died several years ago, Ray Ellis revived the tribe's "Big Time" spiritual celebration. The gathering, held every September on the grassy banks of Clear Lake, includes prayer, dancing and singing -- and now, perhaps, the sound of children trying out their ancestral tongue.

"Our language is part of us," says Ellis, who does not speak the tribal dialect herself, but whose daughters can now name their cat and dog in Bahtssal. "If we don't know it, we're pretty much dead."

PNS contributor Shadi Rahimi, 24, is the co-founder and an editor of Seventh Native American Generation (SNAG) magazine, and an associate editor of YO! Youth Outlook, www.youthoutlook.org.

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, May 14, 2005

H-3 route cultural facilities proposed

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

A federally funded group is planning to develop at least $11 million in cultural and educational facilities along the H-3 Freeway corridor to mitigate damage caused by the road's controversial construction.

The plan, developed by the Halawa Luluku Interpretive Development Project, calls for four distinct areas between Halawa and Ha'iku Valley to be used for cultural healing, preservation, education and religious purposes, said project coordinator Kahikina Akana.

Based on years of discussion and public input, the four areas would have distinct themes linked to different areas along the path of the trans-Ko'olau route, he said.

Federal highway money was set aside almost 18 years ago to be used after the freeway construction damaged or destroyed a number of significant cultural areas.

The agency's mission is to make sure the areas are recognized and respected, Akana said.

To that end, the group put together a draft plan that identified four areas to be preserved and developed, he said.

The areas include:

• North Halawa Valley, where a healing and learning center would be developed to help preserve traditional cultural practices.

• Ha'iku Valley, where a former Coast Guard Omega navigation station would be transformed into a Hawaiian cultural preserve, possibly including a museum that would house many of the artifacts found during the H-3 construction.

• Luluku, where ancient agricultural terraces would be preserved and used to demonstrate planting techniques, water resource management and conservation practices.

• Kukui O Kane Heiau, the largest known heiau in the Ko'olaupoko District, could be used by traditional religious and modern-day cultural practitioners.

Group members have not yet developed a timetable for implementing the plan, but said they are anxious to get started.

"We're ready to go. We could have people visiting within six months once we get the approval from all the agencies involved," said Mahealani Cypher, part of a 12-member working group that developed the plan based on dozens of suggestions from interested people and groups on both side of the Ko'olaus. "We want people to come and participate in the cultural heritage of the area as soon as possible."

The freeway, built at a cost of more than $100 million per mile, caused decades of anger, fighting and legal confrontations before it was constructed, including clashes that forced the road to be realigned several times to avoid historic sites.

Even so, the route chosen destroyed or damaged many historic areas, opponents said.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, several other state agencies and the Federal Highway Administration all agreed in 1987 to help mitigate the adverse impacts of construction of the freeway, which opened to traffic in December 1997.

"It would have been better if they had done all this before the highway was built, but at least we're doing something now," Cypher said.

All the agencies will have to approve the plan before an implementation program can begin, Akana said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, May 14, 2005

 

Marine refuge proposed for NW islands

 

Advertiser Staff

 

The Board of Land and Natural Resources yesterday approved a plan to create a marine refuge in waters three miles around each of the islands in the 1,200-mile-long Northwestern Hawaiian Islands chain.

 

The plan would prohibit all commercial and recreational fishing and require an entry permit for all other uses including for Native Hawaiian practices.

 

More than a dozen people testified in support of the measure at the Land Board meeting.

 

Peter Young, chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the proposed rules emerged from two rounds of public hearings held statewide over the last three and a half years. More than 25,000 public comments were received.

 

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are surrounded by some of the most extensive and healthy coral reefs in the world and are home to more then 7,000 species of marine plants and animals including the endangered monk seal and green sea turtle which find a refuge in the remote archipelago.

 

Young said the rules set in motion the most significant marine conservation initiative in the history of the state by creating the state's largest marine refuge.

 

The refuge would include all state waters from Nihoa, the tiny island beyond Ni'ihau and Kaua'i, to Kure Atoll, the northernmost land mass in the Hawaiian chain except Midway. The rules would prohibit extractive uses in state refuge waters, including commercial and recreational fishing and require an entry permit for all other activities.

 

Native Hawaiian practices will be allowed in the refuge.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, May 16, 2005

 

Sam Aiona among new GOP leaders

 

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

New Hawai'i Republican Party chairman Sam Aiona is a Big Island native who has been involved in local politics since he was 17.

Aiona, the first cousin of Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, was named party chairman yesterday and will serve for two years. Other officers named yesterday at the Hawai'i Republican Party state convention at the Kaua'i Marriott Resort were: vice chairs Micah Kane, Mell Felipe, Kitty Lagareta and Willie Gacutan; secretary Adele Rigg; and treasurer Doug Fairhurst.

"I'm excited to be the chair and excited about the elections next year," said Aiona, executive director of the state's Office of Community Services who will celebrate his 40th birthday in August.

The primary goals of the party will be to re-elect Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. Aiona, and gain seats in the state Legislature, Sam Aiona said.

"We know it's going to be a tough race but we have the people to make it happen," said Aiona, who succeeds Brennon Morioka as party chairman. "We have a lot of people expressing interest in running and at the convention, we saw more young people, high school and college Republicans, getting involved."

Republicans plan to send a message that Democrats are responsible for government that is a burden on small business in Hawai'i, especially from the lack of workers' compensation reform, the new party chairman said.

"We have the best candidates we can ask for (in the state's top offices), the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and an economy that's booming," Aiona said. "We're going to send the message that when Gov. Lingle said she would open the door to businesses in Hawai'i, she meant it."

Aiona, who has a degree in political science, said his involvement in politics dates back to 1982 when he worked on the unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of the Andy Anderson-Pat Saiki ticket. The St. Joseph High School and University of Hawai'i-Manoa graduate was elected in 1996 to the state House and served one term.

"We're going to work harder than ever and the great showing at this year's convention is a good indication of support," Aiona said.

Reach Rod Ohira at 5354-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

May 14, 2005

 

DVD uses isle images, music as nature lesson

 

By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com

 

Listen, attend
to the songs of the birds
to the voice of the wind
to the lyrics of the ancestors
The knowledge of Hawaiian nature
lives in song, chant and dance

THIS VERSE by Hawaiian specialist Sam Ohukaniohia Gon sums up the call behind a new, free DVD being distributed by the Nature Conservancy that uses Hawaiian music as a way to teach about culture and the native environment.

Stunning images of nature and beloved classics, such as Israel Kamakawiwoole singing "Opae E," entice listeners to learn more about what inspired the music.

"Many of the songs will be familiar to lovers of Hawaiian music," said Jon de Mello, of the Mountain Apple Co., which produced the DVD as a labor of love. "What may be new, however, is to learn the stories behind the songs. A lot of people will find themselves saying, 'I love that song -- I didn't know that's what it's about!'"

Opae, for example, are native shrimp -- the first sea creature called upon for help in the melody composed by Irmgard Aluli and Pilahi Paki. The song illustrates how every creature has a role to play in its ecosystem.

The DVD, called "Maoli No: Truly Native," released this week, takes viewers on a musical and visual journey from Hawaii's forests to the ocean, with interludes offering nuggets of environmental knowledge narrated by Robert Cazimero. It includes lyrics in Hawaiian and English, as well as notes about the meaning behind the songs.

"We thought it would be a great way to learn about our native environment from the cultural perspective, because music is such a powerful way to move people and Hawaiian songs are so rooted in our native Hawaiian environment," said Suzanne Case, executive director of the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii.

"It's set up so you can study it and learn a lot, and you can also just enjoy it and have your own personal experience with the forest," she said.

"Maoli No" is being given away to schools, environmental education organizations, hula halaus, cultural groups and others for use in conservation education. Some 10,000 copies will be distributed.

"Our hope is to reach as broad an audience as possible, but a special emphasis is being given to our keiki," Case said. "The hope is that all who listen to it will answer the call to malama aina, to care for the land."

Musicians, composers, chanters, hula teachers, photographers, conservationists, scientists and educators all donated their work. Among the featured artists are Keola Beamer, Richard Hoopii, the Brothers Cazimero and Genoa Keawe.

Case and Leokane Pryor, who together wrote one of the songs on the collection, created a Web site (www.hoolono.org) featuring songs that honor Hawaii's native plants and animals. Case later approached de Mello with the idea of a CD, and he suggested a video would have more impact.

Environmental educators from across the state will meet later this month to develop lesson plans for the DVD, which should be available to teachers in the fall.

"There is an intimacy between Hawaiians and the natural world that has largely been lost but maintained tenuously through hula and chant," Gon said. "'Maoli No' is a call to strengthen those connections so that an intimacy between people and land is rebuilt."

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

 

Indianz.Com. In Print.
URL: http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/008212.asp

 

Atlas details heart disease, stroke in Indian Country

Heart disease is now the leading cause of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives, federal health officials reported on Monday.

Native Americans suffer from coronary heart disease at nearly twice the rate of the general population, according to the Indian Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, the rates for early cardiovascular disease appear to be higher than any other racial or ethnic group in the country.

Stroke also has become the sixth major killer of Native Americans, the two health agencies said. By the end of the 1990s, stroke deaths were 14 percent higher among American Indians and Alaska Natives than for the rest of the population.

 

Highlighting the disparities, heart disease and stroke deaths have declined in the United States. The same can't be said for Indian Country, officials warned.

 

"These alarming trends underscore the importance of enhancing our efforts to support innovative, community-based strategies for reducing the risk for heart disease and stroke among American Indians and Alaska Natives," said Darwin R. Laberthe, the acting chief of the Cardiovascular Health Branch at the CDC.

 

The publication of the "Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke Among American Indians and Alaska Natives," is part of that effort, added Dr. Charles Grim, a member of the Cherokee Nation and the director of the IHS. He said the dissemination of information will give greater insight into where heart disease and stroke occur in Indian Country and, perhaps more importantly, how they might be prevented.

 

The atlas provides county-by-county maps of heart disease and stroke deaths among Native Americans. It also provides state-specific rates of eight major risk factors -- including diabetes, which has reached epidemic levels in Indian Country -- for these two problems.

 

Nationally, the age-adjusted death rate for heart disease was 278 per 100,000 for Native women and 445 per 100,000 for Native men during 1996-2000. Native people in certain parts of the country, however, are more prone to heart disease deaths, according to the data.

 

"The map indicates that the highest heart disease death rates were located primarily in South and North Dakota, Wisconsin and Michigan," the report stated. The Plains and the Great Lakes are home to dozens of tribes.

 

The map also shows high heart disease death rates in counties along the North Carolina-South Carolina border, where the Eastern Cherokee Band and the Lumbee Tribe are located, and in Mississippi and Oklahoma, where dozens more tribes are based.

 

On the other hand, low rates were seen mostly in California, home to the largest number of Native Americans, and Florida, home to two tribes. Deaths were also lower than average in the Southwest, home to dozens of tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the country.

 

For strokes, the nationally age-adjusted death for Native women was 77 per 10,000 and for Native men, it was 80 per 100,000 from 1991-1998. Again, Natives in certain areas were more prone to stroke deaths but the pattern differed somewhat from the heart disease death analysis.

 

"Counties with high rates were reported primarily in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota," the report stated, with the North Carolina-South Carolina border making a reappearance. On the other hand, low stroke death rates were reported in central Oklahoma and southern California.

 

The risk factors associated with heart disease and stroke, not surprisingly, can be correlated to counties with high and low death rates. The atlas shows state-by-state prevalence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cholesterol screening, diabetes, cigarette smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and poor health.

 

For example, Natives in New Mexico and southern California suffered fewer heart disease and stroke death rates than other Native Americans. They also were less likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, more likely to have cholesterol screening, less likely to smoke cigarettes and more likely to exercise on a regular basis.

 

But Natives who suffered from high heart disease and stroke death rates were more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, less likely to have cholesterol screening, more likely to smoke and less likely to exercise.

 

However, there was one common risk factor across Indian Country. In nearly every county and state, American Indians and Alaska Natives suffered from high rates of diabetes and obesity, which both contribute to heart disease and stroke.

 

The atlas is the latest government report to show disparities in health among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Data shows that Native people suffer from the highest rates of certain chronic diseases, infant mortality, certain sexually transmitted diseases and unintentional injuries.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

 

Anchorage fights Fairbanks in battle over AFN

By DIANA CAMPBELL - , Staff Writer

 

The wooing has begun.

 

Fairbanks and Anchorage officials made proposals to lure the annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention to their towns in 2006. At stake is the financial boon of the state's largest gathering with an estimated $5 million impact.

 

That's quite a dowry, but AFN's board of directors won't likely pick a suitor until the convention comes to Fairbanks this October for the first time in 17 years.

 

"The board was impressed with both pitches," said Tim Towarak, AFN board co-chairman and president of Bering Straits Regional Corp. "Both sides are offering good points to drawing the convention."

 

AFN's board wants to see how well-attended the Fairbanks convention will be, Towarak said. Fairbanks has a lot to prove. When Fairbanks won the bid last year to host AFN's meeting this October, it caught Anchorage representatives by surprise. Detractors said the Golden Heart City was too small, not as centrally located as Anchorage and lacking shopping opportunities.

 

During their pitch last week to AFN's board, Fairbanksans asked the board to look at what they've accomplished to date.

 

The Golden Heart Greeter program was inspired by AFN's anticipated presence, said Deb Hickok, Fairbanks Convention & Visitor Bureau's president and chief executive officer. The program will consist of volunteer greeters who will help delegates navigate Fairbanks, she said. It will be a permanent program after the convention.

 

Also, FCVB helped establish a housing authority, a one-stop hotel reservation system that will keep track of all Fairbanks vicinity hotel, motel and bed space and book rooms, she said.

 

"People are booking now," Hickok said.

 

FCVB, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole, Doyon Ltd. and Tanana Chiefs Conference have spearheaded convention efforts by forming committees and subcommittees. They and other businesses have raised more than $84,000 to be paid to AFN directly and close to $100,000 to cover convention costs, Hickok said. They've also raised $350,000 of in-kind support.

 

With upwards of 3,000 people on average attending, the convention will have an estimated $4.5 million impact.

 

The board was impressed that local governments have banded together and pledged support for the convention, Towarak said.

 

Anchorage has hosted the convention since 1966 when AFN was created, with the exception of 1988 when it came to Fairbanks.

 

AFN delegates voted in 2003 to look for an alternative location for the convention. Some delegates complained Anchorage took the convention for granted while others said it was time to bring the convention to other Alaska Native communities.

 

Anchorage representatives said in their 2006 bid that they learned their lesson, Towarak said. They promised a better convention experience and more business involvement, like Fairbanks has done.

 

"It has opened their eyes," Towarak said.

 

Anchorage's appeal is shopping, location and convenience, Towarak said, but he thought delegates would find everything they need in Fairbanks these days.

 

"That's a big draw for people in rural Alaska," he said. "I think there are almost as many shops in Fairbanks now."

 

Anchorage's location offers the city an advantage over Fairbanks, however. Southeastern and Western Alaskans, who normally pack the house in Anchorage, may be reluctant to add another leg in their journey to come to Fairbanks, Towarak said.

 

Hickok speculated that perhaps Alaska Natives from the Interior and the North Slope would make up the difference.

 

FCVB is trying to find travel packages that would make Fairbanks attractive, she said.

"Who's going to attend and how many are going to attend are open-ended questions," she said.

 

Diana Campbell can be reached at 459-7523 or dcampbell@newsminer.com .

 

 

 

 

Sunday, May 15, 2005

 

Maui cultural festival tells it straight

 

By Stephanie Schorow

Daily News Tribune

 

MAUI - Those hoping for an ``authentic'' Hawaiian experience may find it during the three-day Celebration of the Arts held annually in the spring at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, here. And you don't have to be a guest at the posh resort to participate.

 

But take heed. Authenticity has a price. To experience Hawaiian culture at this festival is to learn about its near extinction and the bitter legacy of the Americanization of the islands.

 

We will continue to tell the story,'' said Charles Ka'upu, a native Hawaiian cultural adviser and a celebration organizer. ``Not all the story is pretty. But that's what life is.''

 

At first glance, the Celebration of the Arts seems no more controversial than a county fair. Artists demonstrating feather art, lei-making, quilt-sewing and basket-weaving crowd the hotel's halls and meeting rooms. There are hula dances, concerts of popular Hawaiian music, lectures, workshops, poetry readings, theater - all capped by a sumptuous luau and show.

 

Scratch the surface, however, and you'll find unresolved questions of how best to showcase sacred traditions for sometimes clueless tourists.

 

“This does not happen often in a hotel lobby,'' Ka'upu said, during the opening ceremonies for the 13th annual celebration, which included drumming, chanting and the blowing of a conch shell. ``It is who we are. We have not let go of traditions that have been handed down by generations and generations and generations.''

 

Cultural politics, of course, mean little to kids who tackled crafts projects with unchecked gusto. They created feather paintings, wove baskets, drew Hawaiian symbols and even attempted to play the Hawaiian nose flute. As they carved images of turtles, they got a lesson in Hawaiian culture that may linger long after the temporary tattoo fades or the feather painting crumbles.

 

But a sign that this celebration is not your parents' happy hula dance comes at a screening of the documentary ``Then There Were None,'' a hard look at how Hawaiian culture and language was nearly snuffed out. The Ritz-Carlton shows the documentary weekly, although it's tough fare for visitors. Still, you only have to look at the faces of native Hawaiians watching the film to see the emotional impact.

 

Hula teacher Pualani Kanaka'ole-Kanahele was among those weeping when describing how, while growing up, she was punished and told she was ``stupid'' for speaking Hawaiian.

 

Yet the celebration also made this clear: Hawaiian culture is being revitalized. Hawaiian immersion programs, for instance, have increased the number of native speakers from a low of 1,500 to as many as 8,000. ``We can teach our children; they can have it all,'' Kanaka'ole-Kanahele said.

 

They also can teach tourists willing to forgo the beach or golf course for a lecture hall. For example, I got a lesson in the meaning of hula, a dance that ``touches on every single aspect of Hawaiian culture,'' said Kanaka'ole-Kanahele. ``Take 14 classes - you will not know hula; you will not learn hula.''

 

I heard classic Hawaiian legends, learned a chant to the goddess Laka and sipped a bitter, tongue-numbing drink made from ``awa'' (or kava root), in a ceremony with ``kapuna,'' or elders.

 

At 5:30 a.m., with the moon still bright, I joined about 100 others on the beach for a ``hi'uwai'' or renewal exercise of chanting and immersion in the ocean. Under the water, I could hear the eerie sound of whales singing; humpbacks were just off shore.

 

Later, I chatted with women from the privately owned and still mysterious island of Niihau about their highly prized (and extremely expensive) shell leis. Niihua women gather the tiny shells ``only two to three times a year,'' said Ilei Beniamina. The shells are sorted and strung and ``there's a pattern for each family. There's a pattern for each person.''

 

I pointed to a strand (costing several thousand dollars) and asked how long it took to make. Beniamina gave me an amused, exasperated look as if to say this was one of those typical haole (non-Hawaiian) questions. ``Time is not the essence here. Time is not what we're into. Tradition is what we're into,'' she said. ``I could finish it in a day. A year. A month.''

 

For all the mystery, however, the women graciously showed haoles how to string the delicate shells.

 

Native organizers lavished praise on The Ritz-Carlton for hosting the arts festival, which loses money for the hotel. General Manager Javier Canon said, however, the hotel is committed to the event. ``We are steward of a very important place.''

 

Indeed, in the 1980s, the Ritz caved in to native pressure and built the hotel some distance from the ocean, rather than disrupt a native burial ground.

 

And during a ceremony at the site, Ka'upu noted, ``Herein lies the lesson you can have both worlds coexist.''

 

For information on upcoming Maui arts festivals, go to www.celebrationofthearts.org. The 2006 Celebration of the Arts will be held April 13 to 16. For reservations at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua (rates from $365 per night) call 800-669-6200 or go to www.ritzcarlton.com.

 

For a less-expensive, family-friendly alternative there's the nearby Napili Kai Beach Resort, 808-669-9502, www.napilikai.com (rates begin at $200 per night with the fifth night free).

 

 

 

 

Thu May 12 10:26:20 2005 Pacific Time

 

Top Health Groups Organize First National Conference on Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives

 

Press Release

 

DENVER, May 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- A coalition of leading health organizations today announced the first national conference to address cardiovascular disease and diabetes within the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. The AI/AN conference will focus on increasing the knowledge of healthcare providers, tribal community members and leaders, and urban community health leaders on the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and how to integrate treatment and prevention of these closely related diseases.

 

More than 700 healthcare providers, tribal community members/leaders, federal and state health policy makers, and urban and community health leaders will attend the conference which will be held May 16-19, 2005 at the Adam's Mark Hotel, 1550 Court Place in Denver.

 

CVD has become a leading health issue among AI/AN over the past several decades. According to the Strong Heart Study, in these populations CVD occurs at rates almost twice that of the general U.S. population. In addition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes has been a major public health concern among AI/AN communities in the United States for the past 50 years. On average, AI/AN adults are 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites of similar age. A recent report by the Indian Health Service (IHS) revealed a 106 percent increase in diabetes among adolescent AI/AN measured over an 11 year period, raising concerns about the impact of diabetes on future generations and highlighting the urgent need for immediate preventive interventions.

 

"Cardiovascular disease has become the leading cause of death of American Indians and Alaska Natives," said James M. Galloway, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.C., Director of the Native American Cardiology Program and senior cardiologist for the IHS. "Diabetes is the most important risk factor. In addition, the roles of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and tobacco abuse must be addressed both in those with diabetes and others."

 

"Cardiovascular disease is one of the most serious complications of diabetes," said Kelly Acton, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., Director of the IHS Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention. "The meeting will assist Tribes in their efforts to effectively prevent these problems, as well as to treat them in people already diagnosed with them."

 

"This conference offers the opportunity not only for healthcare professionals to discuss the latest diabetes and CVD prevention and treatment methods but also to work together with tribal leaders to spread the word among the American Indian and Alaska Native populations about ways to curb the epidemics of type 2 diabetes and CVD," said Richard S. Beaser, M.D., Medical Executive Director of Joslin Diabetes Center's Professional Education Program (in Boston) and a co-chair of the conference steering committee.

 

"American Indians and Alaska Natives appear to have developed the highest rates of cardiovascular disease within the U.S.," said Alice K. Jacobs, M.D., F.A.H.A., President, American Heart Association. "Culturally competent and appropriate interventions are needed to overcome these healthcare burdens and disparities. At this conference the American Heart Association and the Indian Health Service will solidify our mutual partnership and support for the prevention of heart disease and stroke through the signing of an official Memorandum of Understanding between our two organizations."

 

"As tribal leaders, we must take a proactive stand and provide interventions that will help to combat the devastating effects of cardiovascular disease. No longer can we look at diabetes as being the single most significant health enemy of our people," said Judy Goforth Parker, R.N., Ph.D., Alternate Chair of the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee and Professor, East Central University. "Cardiovascular disease and the other risk factors associated with it also cannot be ignored."

 

Almost all cases of diabetes among AI/AN people are type 2, the most common form of the disease, and are associated with modifiable risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity. Therefore, prevention has become an increasingly important goal for these communities. Although there are significant challenges in dealing with the related epidemics of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, there are many new tools and strategies that can strengthen clinical, public health, and community approaches to solving the problem of diabetes.

 

The four-day conference will highlight some of these tools and strategies including using nutrition and physical activity approaches, smoking cessation strategies, behavioral adaptations, the latest medications and evidence-based treatments. The conference also will provide practitioners with an overview of the latest scientific, clinical, laboratory and public health findings related to CVD and diabetes prevention and treatment.

 

Additionally, cultural disparities in CVD and diabetes prevention among AI/AN populations will be documented in a new publication titled, the Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke Among American Indians and Alaska Natives. This CDC and IHS collaboration documents geographic disparities in the burden of heart disease and stroke mortality and risk factors among AI/AN. This publication is the fourth in a series of CDC atlases related to heart disease and stroke and the first to focus on geographic patterns of heart disease and stroke mortality and risk factors for a specific racial/ethnic group in the United States.

 

"The serious geographic disparities in heart disease and stroke mortality and risk factors among American Indians and Alaska Natives documented in this Atlas highlight the need for prevention programs and policies to be tailored to the social, cultural and physical characteristics of local communities," stated Michele Casper, Ph.D., lead author of the Atlas, and Epidemiologist, Cardiovascular Health Program, CDC.

 

 

 

 

May 10, 2005

 

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to Conduct a Technical Assistance Forum and Site Visit in Houston, Texas

 

Press Release

 

On Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21, 2005, the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, in coordination with Councilman Gordon Quan’s office, will conduct a research visit and technical assistance forum in Houston, Texas.  The Commission members who will be in attendance are Betty Wu, Chair (NY), Joseph Melookaran (MO), and Derrick Nguyen (CA).

 

On Friday, May 20, in preparation for their Report to the President, Commissioners will conduct a series of visits with selected non-profit organizations and AAPI businesses.

 

On Saturday, May 21, the Commission will host a Technical Assistance Forum where federal government agencies and private sector representatives have been invited to make presentations on their programs and services that are eligible to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Additionally, other federal agencies will have representatives available throughout the day to share program information and answer individual questions. The meeting is free of charge and is designed for the benefit of the general public.

 

Date:  Saturday, May 21, 2005

 

Time:  9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

 

Location:   New Hilton Garden Inn Hotel

6855 W. Sam Houston Parkway S.

Houston, Texas, 77072

 

Tel:  713-270-6100

 

Tentative Schedule:    

9:00 a.m. – 10:05 a.m.              Access to Capital

 

10:10 a.m. – 11:10 a.m.            Counseling Services for Entrepreneurs & Business Owners

 

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.           Procurement and Contracting Opportunities

 

12:20 p.m. – 1:20 p.m. Community Development and Social Service Programs

 

 

 

 

 

Posted: May 13, 2005

 

Low water brings artifacts to surface

 

by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today

 

LAKE OAHE, S.D. - Centuries ago, the inhabitants of central North and South Dakota buried their relatives on riverbanks, near their low-lying villages and the river that sustained life.

Now, however, intense drought conditions in the region are causing those ancestors' remains, possessions and tools to resurface.

Extreme drought has left the Missouri River and its reservoirs at dangerously low water levels. Each inch they lower means more of the ancient inhabitants' remains become exposed.

Ancient villages that for some 40 years have been hidden are rising from their watery graves. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, hydropower dams along the upper Missouri River flooded vast amounts of land to create reservoirs to prevent flooding and provide hydroelectric power. Ancient villages and prime bottom land were flooded, and some towns had to be moved to higher ground.

Today, arrowheads, pottery shards and personal items that were buried with the ancestors are surfacing and becoming prime targets for looters. Historic sites are found at all levels of the river banks. More artifacts show up each spring as runoff and spring rains erode the riverbanks.

''We have people out there who are collectors and don't know it is illegal to pick things off the beach on [U.S. Army Corps or Engineers] and tribal lands,'' said Albert LeBeau, archaeologist for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The Cheyenne River Reservation is located on the western shores of Lake Oahe on the Missouri River.

''Some people bring artifacts to us and there are full-blown looters out there for money. They are collecting and selling on eBay and at swap meets,'' LeBeau said.

Tribes affected by the drought include the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Three Affiliated Tribes at Fort Berthold in North Dakota.

The Cheyenne River Sioux and the Corps patrol the shorelines to educate and deter potential looters. ''When you pick up an artifact and take it, it is not right, it is not yours; leave it there. Take a picture if you want,'' LeBeau said.

With the drought at its worst stage in decades and predicted to worsen, protecting cultural property and funerary objects could become difficult. Federal laws prevail on Corps and tribal land, but for the most part artifacts seem to be fair game on state or private lands: South Dakota does not have any laws in effect that properly protect against the looting of sacred sites.

Discussions between the tribes and the Corps over the protection of cultural property along the river are still underway. An agreement between all parties involved that would set guidelines for enforcement and protection is close to approval.

The Cheyenne River Sioux will hire three people with boats to patrol the reservation's shoreline - a justified expense, LeBeau said.

''It's worth it to protect the resources. We are out there, so we are noticeable to thwart any looting activities and to educate. Part of what we do is an education component,'' he said.

The village sites are definitely ancient and probably belong to the Arikara, Mandan and Hidatsa tribes now located in North Dakota on the Missouri River. The Lakota moved through the region later, and some of the human remains could be Lakota.

LeBeau said when any items are found, tribes that may have a claim are notified. Most of the time, if the remains are not human, the items are left alone. It is a traditional belief that any artifacts are to remain where they are found and that human remains should be reburied in a traditional manner.

Presently some reservoirs are two feet above their lowest-ever levels, and with dry weather forecasted for the summer the levels could reach more than two feet below what they are now. This offers looters hunting grounds that have not been seen for at least four decades.

''It is uncharted ground that these guys now have access to,'' said Tim Mentz, tribal historic preservation officer for the Standing Rock Sioux. The looters, he said, know the value of what they are finding and are picking up everything they can - the older, the more valuable.

What the looters might not know is that the FBI can be called into service and arrest them and, if convicted, they could face jail time and up to a $10,000 fine for each offense. Visibility on eBay has brought about some prosecutions in the past.

LeBeau asked people who find human remains to contact local authorities so they can notify the tribes.

''We don't want human remains out there for everyone to look at or take and put ... on a shelf. They are our ancestors; we share stewardship to take care of them and the river as respectful as we can,'' LeBeau said.

On Standing Rock, the northernmost reaches of Lake Oahe, the water level is at the old high-flood mark prior to the addition of the earthen dams: the lake is now reduced to just a river. What presents problems for protecting cultural sites also presents water shortages for much of the population on the reservation.

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, May 13, 2005

Big Island royal site to be added to state park

Advertiser Staff

HILO, Hawai'i — Gov. Linda Lingle has released $600,000 and approved the expenditure of an equal amount in matching federal funds to acquire 1.25 acres in North Kona to expand Keolonahihi State Historical Park.

The parcel was once part of the Holualoa Royal Center, a significant archaeological area that includes temple sites, stone walls, platforms and other features, including one believed to have been the personal residence of Keakealaniwahine, who ruled the Big Island in the mid-1600s. Keakealaniwahine was the great-great-grandmother of Kamehameha I. She and her mother were the only women to have ruled the island.

The area was split by the construction of Ali'i Drive in the 1800s. The 12-acre Keolonahihi complex on the makai side of Ali'i Drive was acquired by the state in 1980 to preserve and manage the archaeological and historical sites. The administration of Gov. Ben Cayetano arranged for the donation of the 16-acre Keakealaniwahine complex on the mauka side of the highway in 1998 as part of his vision of a statewide collection of parks he dubbed Hawai'i's "string of pearls."

In 2003, the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, developed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, identified acquisition of the 1.25-acre parcel as a high priority. Big Island Mayor Harry Kim also supported the acquisition as another step toward preserving the significant cultural site in North Kona.

"It was the Hawaiian community that first brought this parcel of land to our attention nearly three years ago, and the state and county have been working together since then to ensure that this culturally significant property is saved from development," Kim said in a statement.

Kim thanked landowner Wayne H. Blasman for giving officials time to come up with the money to buy the property. The parcel is zoned for high-density residential development, and Blasman had proposed a condominium project before deciding to sell the land to the state.

The DLNR will work with the National Park Service and the county to preserve the site.

The matching federal funds are from the National Park Service and the Department of Interior's Land and Water Conservation Fund.

 

 

 

May 4, 2005

 

Swains will celebrate US flag raising on May 13

 

by Fili Sagapolutele

 

Samoa News Correspondent

 

Some 200 Swains islanders residing in Tutuila are planning to celebrate their 80th anniversary since the raising of the US Flag on Swains Island, on May 13.

 

Swains Island delegate Alexander Eli Jennings said the one day celebration will be held at the Veterans Memorial Stadium, and will include well-known Swains Islanders, such as Hawai'i businessman and entertainer Papali'itele Jack "Tihati" Thompson.

 

"We are doing very well with preparations for the celebration, along with the help of the Governor's Office," said Jennings yesterday. "We are looking forward to a very good day for us."

 

Arrangements are also being made for a group from the Samoa Tokelau Community in Apia to attend the local celebration.

 

The Fono has already passed a concurrent resolution recognizing May 13, as the 80th anniversary of the union of Swains Island and the United States.

 

"Further, the Legislature pays tribute to the long and proud history of Swains Island and the many contributions of her people to the Territory," it states and wishes the people of Swains "well" in celebrating this milestone in the Territory's history.

 

According to the resolution, it was on March 4, 1925 that a Joint Resolution of the US Congress was proposed to bring Swains under the US Flag and on May 13, 1925 "American sovereignty was officially extended to Swains placing her under the jurisdiction of the American Samoa government.

 

Gov. Togiola has announced he intends to declare May 13 a holiday in American Samoa to commemorate Swains Island's flag day.

 

This will be the first time such a celebration is held to mark Swains Island becoming part of American Samoa and a program, currently being put together for the commemoration, is expected to be released soon with the proclamation, Togiola said.

 

He also said there is talk about a boat race, but it could be a canoe race instead of a fautasi race.

 

Swains, a privately owned remote atoll located about 200 miles north of Tutuila, makes up the seventh island of American Samoa in accordance with federal documents.

Reach the reporter at fili@samoanews.com.

 

 

 

In an effort to increase the usefulness of this service to our subscribers, CNHA is now including a section for Quiet Title Notices at the end of each NewsClips.

 

 

CIVIL NO. 04-01-116K THIRD CIRCUIT COURT STATE OF HAWAI`I NOTICE OF ACTION TO QUIET TITLE TO REAL PROPERTY STATE OF HAWAI`I TO: HAO (k), BEATRICE LEHUA WAIAU, JOHN KEALA ESTATE, THE HEIRS AND SUCCESSORS OF BERNICE LINCOLN, THE HEIRS AND SUCCESSORS OF GEORGE ALANI, THE HEIRS AND SUCCESSORS OF JOHN MAKUAKANE and THE HEIRS AND SUCCESSORS OF DANIEL H. NAHINU; and the SPOUSES, HEIRS, ASSIGNS, SUCCESSORS, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES, EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND/OR TRUSTEES OF ALL THE ABOVE, and all other persons or entities claiming any right, title and interest in the real property described in Plaintiff's Complaint, adverse to Plaintiff's ownership, and TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff, ANDREW DALE LAFAYETTE, claim ownership in fee simple to the following described property. All of that certain parcel of land being Land Commission Award 7500 to Hao, situate at Hookena, District of South Kona, Island, County and State of Hawaii identified with Tax Map Key parcel number (3) 8-6-002-006, and containing 1.570 acres, more or less. You are further notified that Plaintiff has filed his Complaint in the Third Circuit Court, Kealakekua, Island, County and State of Hawai`i, praying that title to the above-described real property to be determined to be in said Plaintiff in fee simple, free and clear of all encumbrances and that his title to said real property be determined quieted regarding any adverse claims thereto. You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon VAN PERNIS - VANCIL, attorneys for Plaintiff, whose address is 75-167F Hualalai Road, Suite B, Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, 96740 and to file in the above-entitled Court, an Answer to said Complaint To Quiet Title before 8:00 o'clock a.m. on the 16th day of June, 2005, and if you fail to answer, you are hereby cited to appear before the Presiding Judge in said Court in Kealakekua, Hawai`i, at 8:00 o'clock a.m., on the 16th day of June, 2005, to show cause, if any you have, why the prayer of the Complaint should not be granted. And unless you file an Answer before the time aforesaid or appear at said Court at the time and place aforesaid, your default will be recorded, and the Complaint will be taken as confessed and a Judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint and you will be forever barred from contesting said Complaint or Decree entered thereon. DATED: Kealakekua, Hawai`i, April 13, 2005. L. KITAOKA CLERK OF THE ABOVE-ENTITLED COURT VAN PERNIS - VANCIL Attorneys for Plaintiff (Hon. Adv.: May 2, 9, 16, 23, 2005) (A-72853) Posted on 5/2/2005

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For More Information on the CNHA Family of Programs & Services, Visit Us

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annual Native Hawaiian Conference

http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/Conference

 

Pacific Region Training and Technical Assistance

for the Administration for Native Americans

http://anapacific.org

 

DHHL’s Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP)

http://dhhlhoap.org

 

Full Service Document Digitization

http://hhtech.net

 

Supporting 1,000 Years of Good Ideas!

http://hawaiianwayfund.org

 

 

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

33 South King Street, Suite 513

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Phone: 808.521.5011 Fax: 808.521.4111

 

To Unsubscribe

Please send an e-mail to: info@hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

To Subscribe

Please click this link: http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/signupdatabasehj030104.htm

 

Please do not respond to this email as responses will go into an unmonitored mailbox.  To comment on NewsClips, please e-mail info@hawaiiancouncil.org.

In recognizing that ka olelo makuahine o Hawaii nei was an oral language and that there were varying dialects among the islands, CNHA has adopted a policy of excluding diacritical markings in our publications.

This project is an initiative under the Office of Innovation and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education. Education through Cultural & Historical Organizations, also known as ECHO, provides educational enrichment to Native and non-Native children and lifelong learners.