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July 27, 2005

 

 

July 27, 2005

 

Akaka enlists GOP leader’s help on native Hawaiian bill

 

By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka appears to be running out of time to get a Senate vote on the native Hawaiian sovereignty bill.

But he hasn't given up. Yesterday he announced that he had enlisted the help of Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., the majority leader, to get the bill to a vote.

Akaka has little time left before the Senate starts a one-month recess on Friday.

Yesterday he persuaded Frist to file a motion to force a floor vote on Senate Bill 147, the native Hawaiian recognition bill that is commonly known as the Akaka Bill.

"I am grateful that the majority leader has agreed to file the petition to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 147. While there is a long procedural road ahead of us, I am glad that this bill will finally be brought to action," Akaka said.

Akaka had previously said he would file the motion himself, but with Frist weighing in, the GOP leader's motion carries more political significance.

Another bill is up for a cloture vote today, so it is still unclear whether Frist will fulfill his earlier pledge to bring the Akaka Bill to a vote before Congress adjourns.

Frist's involvement was announced after Akaka met with Hawaii's Sen. Dan Inouye and Sens. Jon Kyl, R- Ariz., Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Frist.

"I am pleased at the outcome of our meeting with the majority leader. However, right now I am examining various strategies to be considered in order to get my bill the votes it needs for passage," Akaka said.

The Akaka Bill was supposed to be up for a vote last week, but objections by other GOP senators have prevented a full Senate hearing.

Akaka and Inouye maintain that the bill will pass if it makes it to the floor for a vote.

The Hawaii senators said they believed early agreements with the GOP majority would have allowed the bill to come up for debate and passage last week. But Republican senators have held up the bill, saying they are concerned it would lead to gambling on land controlled by any native government.

Akaka has been working for nearly six years to get a Senate vote on his bill, which would lead to federal recognition of a governing entity for native Hawaiians.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, July 23, 2005

 

Bigger wargames planned for Makua

 

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Army would like to use 2.75-caliber rockets, flares and inert missiles, and train with air assaults, snipers, convoys and demolitions in Makua Valley, according to a draft Environmental Impact Statement written by the Army.

Also, a little extra space on which to conduct the live fire exercises would be useful, said the draft EIS, completed as part of ongoing litigation between the military and community groups concerned about Makua's environment and cultural resources.

"Makua Military Reservation is vital to the training of our men and women," Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks said in a statement. "And we need to ensure our solders are properly trained before we send them into combat."

The EIS was ordered after a settlement was reached following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. That settlement allowed the military to conduct a limited number of training exercises.

The valley, where the military has conducted live-fire training for more than 50 years, includes more than 100 archeological features and 40 endangered species, causing concern among environmental and cultural groups.

A number of fires caused by mortar rounds and "controlled burns" have raged in the valley. In July 2003, a controlled burn scorched 2,100 acres of the 4,190-acre Wai'anae Coast valley that many Hawaiians consider sacred.

The draft EIS, which was released this week, includes four options for the valley.

Given its preferences, the Army would use the valley for air assaults, sniper training, convoy training, demolitions training and up to 50 company-level training exercises involving tracer ammunition, tube-launched inert missiles, and 2.75-caliber rockets.

If necessary, the Army wrote in its draft EIS statement, it could nix some of the rockets and missiles. Also, if a third option becomes necessary, it could cut back the number of company-level exercises from the preferred number of 50 to between 19 and 28, using the same 1,136 acres it has used in the past.

The fourth option listed in the statement would halt live-fire training for military troops at Makua. All alternatives except halting training could result in "significant and unmitigable adverse impacts" on the land and its biological and cultural resources, according to the Army's statement.

The statement is available for review online and at several public libraries. Meetings will be held in August to obtain public input before issuing a final environmental impact statement.

Opponents to live-fire training at Makua had hoped the Army would list alternative sites for training — such as Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island, Schofield Barracks or the Mainland — and weren't happy with the options listed in the draft EIS.

"The only options the Army is considering," said David Henkin of Earthjustice, "are training at Makua, more training at Makua and even more training at Makua."

Training for a new Stryker vehicle brigade, Henkin said, seems to have precluded alternative sites on O'ahu. The plan to bring 291 eight-wheeled armored Stryker vehicles to the state as part of a new fast-strike concept would mean $693 million in construction, the acquisition of 1,400 acres on O'ahu and 23,000 acres on the Big Island, networks of private trails for the 20-ton Strykers, and significant effects on the environment and cultural resources.

Henkin, a lawyer with Earthjustice, represents Malama Makua, a preservation group dedicated to caring for Makua Valley, in litigation against the military that dates back to 1998. That was the year mortar fire in the valley sparked a series of wildfires.

Henkin said the Army's statement also does not include a comprehensive survey of culturally important archeological sites.

Large areas, particularly near the southern firebreak road, he said, were left unsurveyed, partially because the Army failed to apply for a waiver to search areas that could contain specific types of unexploded ordinance.

A settlement reached between the Army and Malama Makua in 2001 required a comprehensive search of those areas, he said. He said he believes the Army is violating that settlement.

"If we don't find a way to settle our differences," he said, "we could find ourselves back in front of (U.S. District) Judge (Susan Oki) Mollway."

Army officials refused to comment specifically on Henkin's allegations or in more detail on the EIS.

"The Army welcomes public comment on the draft EIS," Troy Griffin, an Army spokes-man, said in a statement. "That is the purpose of the draft — to gain input from the public. The intent is to make the draft document available to the public, gather input and determine the changes needed for the final EIS."

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Monday, July 25, 2005

 

Wind farm proposal available for review

 

Star-Bulletin staff'
citydesk@starbulletin.com

A company's plan to minimize the effect of a proposed Maui wind farm on native birds is available for public review and will be the topic of a public hearing next month.

Kaheawa Wind Power LLC proposes putting 20 General Electric wind turbines at Kaheawa Pastures in the West Maui mountains.

A public hearing on the company's habitat conservation plan will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 10, at the Velma "McWayne" Santos Community Center in Wailuku.

The plan focuses on mitigating potential impacts to four threatened or endangered species: the Hawaiian petrel ('ua'u), Newell's shearwater ('a'o), Hawaiian goose (nene) and Hawaiian hoary bat ('ope'ape'a). These species are known to be in the vicinity and could be injured or killed if they collide with one of the wind turbines.

"This plan implements one of the most extensive efforts to reduce impacts to endangered species in the state, and the research conducted will help our department in its efforts to recover these species in other areas as well," said Peter Young, Department of Land and Natural Resources director.

The wind farm would sell 30 megawatts of power to Maui Electric Co. Using wind to generate that much electricity is estimated to save 200,000 barrels of oil annually.

"This project promises to alleviate some of Hawaii's dependency on oil for electricity while also considering the welfare of endangered and threatened species," said Patrick Leonard, field supervisor for the Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office.

The plan proposes research and management measures that will help compensate for the possibility of killing or hurting some listed birds during the next 20 years. It also will fund study of bat habitats.

The habitat conservation plan can be reviewed at the Wailuku, Lahaina and Kihei libraries on Maui; the main state library in Honolulu; and the DLNR-Forestry office in Wailuku. It is also available for review on the Internet at www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/ pubs/index.html.

Written comments should be submitted to Conservation Initiatives Coordinator, DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl St., Room 325, Honolulu, HI 96813, and must be received by Sept. 6.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Sunday, July 24, 2005

 

State has shortage of top-rank teachers

 

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Education Writer

Meeting the required goal of having a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom has been a daunting task for schools across the nation.

For some, it likely will be impossible, and there are strong indications that Hawai'i won't meet an upcoming federally imposed deadline.

Most Hawai'i teachers are fully licensed, but more than one in five classes were not taught by highly qualified teachers in 2004, the last year for which comprehensive data are available.

Sixteen of the state's 256 regular public schools met the 100-percent-qualified goal that year, but many more schools fell further from from that target — sometimes dramatically — according to state Department of Education records.

At 162 schools, the number of classes taught by teachers who weren't highly qualified increased in 2004, those records show. Officials say they believe most schools have made progress since then, but that a detailed breakdown is not yet available.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act calls for all core academic subjects, such as math, science and English, to be taught by highly qualified teachers by the end of next school year.

That means their state license must certify them for the specific subjects they teach, or they must have completed certain university coursework or state-approved training.

Well-educated teachers are crucial to student achievement, most education experts agree. But some say factors that aren't measured by the formula — such as the ability to motivate students and communicate with them effectively — can be even more important.

Suzanne Mulcahy knows all too well how Hawai'i's public schools must often scramble to hire and retain good teachers.

Upon becoming principal of Kailua Intermediate School last year, one of Mulcahy's first tasks was to replace 30 teachers who had recently retired or otherwise left. That's nearly half the school's faculty.

"When there's a national shortage of teachers, it's even greater in Hawai'i because we're so geographically isolated," she said.

Hawai'i has long had difficulty attracting and retaining teachers, as have school systems in many other states. It can be especially hard to staff schools here that are geographically remote or located where housing is most expensive, state officials say.

LABEL CONFUSING

Still, Hawai'i may have more qualified teachers than records indicate. More than half of the 1,600 teachers Hawai'i hires every year are from the Mainland, and many were considered highly qualified when they taught in another state. They aren't automatically recognized as such here, but can often gain that status within one year.

Mulcahy was in a similar situation several years ago. In California, she was a tenured teacher, a mentor for her school district and the state, and later a principal.

"I was highly, highly qualified," she said. "And when I came here, I was like any other brand new university graduate. I had to start totally and completely over. I was considered somebody who was not highly qualified, because I had not yet taken the (certification test)."

Other teachers were considered highly qualified in one subject here, but lost that status when they switched subjects to meet a school's needs or to try something new.

Among them is Kailua Intermediate science teacher Toni Childers. She was highly qualified as a social studies teacher, but has yet to take a test that would add a state certification for science teaching. Childers is confident that she'll pass.

"It's kind of a drag, just because I know I'm qualified," she said. "But for someone on the outside looking in, if it were me and it were my child in the school, at least if they show me they have some kind of proof that they know what they're doing, I'd feel a lot more confident. I don't like that I have to do it, but I understand why it is that way."

Science teachers are in short supply here, and the demand for them is increasing nationwide because a new student-testing requirement for science will soon kick in under No Child Left Behind, state schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto said.

"Science and math are some of the hardest subjects to recruit for," she said.

One reason is that people who pursue those fields in college can earn much more in other professions, she said.

The federal law already requires that students meet specific achievement goals for reading and math. Schools that fail to make "adequate yearly progress" for several years face state intervention and "restructuring" that includes intensive teacher training. Twenty-four Hawai'i schools are now undergoing such remedies, and others are likely to face similar changes each year as benchmarks for progress are raised.

A lack of highly qualified teachers won't by itself place a school on the path to restructuring, but could correlate closely with student test scores, said Rene Islas, a special assistant in the federal Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

"The highly qualified teacher provisions in No Child Left Behind are not directly tied to the 'sanctions' for not making adequate yearly progress," Islas said. "However, teachers are the most important in-school factor in raising student achievement. One can make an educated guess that schools with poor teachers are not likely to make adequate yearly progress."

The U.S. Department of Education has not made any public projections regarding the percentage of schools nationwide that are expected to meet the "highly qualified" requirement.

"The department is hopeful," said Islas. "We see many states making significant progress in reaching their teacher quality goals. States have increased recruiting efforts to attract high-quality teacher candidates to the classroom and are working hard to support existing teachers with training to become highly qualified."

Schools and school districts that don't meet the goal for two consecutive years "will be held accountable and must develop an improvement plan to attain their goals," Islas said.

STATE 'VERY CHALLENGED'

Bruce Shimomoto, a personnel specialist in Hawai'i's Department of Education, said it is doubtful that all the state's schools will be fully staffed with highly qualified teachers by the end of the coming school year.

"There are teacher shortages all across the nation, and there are lots of places where there are not enough teachers to hire, period," he said. "If everyone has to be compliant, with 100 percent highly qualified teachers in every class across the nation, we might need to have more teachers. That's the case in Hawai'i already. It's going to be exacerbated when the baby boom teachers start to retire, because there's going to be large numbers of them that retire, and there won't be enough teachers graduating to take their place."

State Board of Education Chairman Breene Harimoto said the federal requirements should be more flexible for remote schools, and small ones where teachers handle multiple subjects. It's unlikely that Hawai'i will meet the 100 percent goal on time, he said.

"I would love to be proven wrong," he said. "But I would say that we're very challenged, especially in the remote rural areas. The supply of teachers is very limited."

SOME SKILLS INTANGIBLE

Some education experts say the 100 percent goal is unrealistic, and predict that many Mainland schools won't meet it.

"The whole No Child Left Behind Act is riddled with impossible goals," said David C. Berliner, regents' professor of education at Arizona State University.

It's good to have high standards for teachers, but such requirements don't necessarily gauge their quality and effectiveness accurately, said Berliner, past president of the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association's Division of Educational Psychology.

"I know of no paper-and-pencil tests that do anything but say they've mastered a curriculum about teaching," he said. "One of the biggest issues, certainly with older kids past fourth grade, is motivation. If you've got them engaged on stuff that's related to the outcomes that you value, you've got a marker of a teacher who's pretty effective."

Other skills, such as the ability to manage a classroom and hold students' attention, are also crucial, said Berliner.

Adapting lessons to students' environment and culture can be a key to holding their attention and making them comfortable, he said.

"You have to make kids feel part of it, and you don't get that on a paper-and-pencil test," said Berliner. "You contextualize the subject matter in a culturally sensitive way."

For 2003 and 2004, the Hawai'i school with the highest rate of classes not taught by highly qualified teachers — 100 percent — was the sole school on Ni'ihau.

But the two teachers at Ni'ihau High and Elementary are respected members of the community who speak the Niihauan dialect of Hawaiian, the island's primary language, officials say.

The federal requirement presents a tough challenge, given Ni'ihau's remote location and unique setting, said school principal Bill Arakaki.

"That's a big question: What are we going to do when the deadline comes?" he said. "We're trying to figure something out so that we meet the No Child Left Behind regulations."

Mulcahy, who's been interviewing teachers for additional positions at Kailua Intermediate, said it's very important for those who move here from the Mainland to recognize and respect cultural differences.

"It is definitely a culture shock for some — not all, but many — and they're just not used to it," Mulcahy said. "And for some local parents, they aren't very receptive to the style or the manner of the Mainland teacher."

That's a generalization that doesn't apply to all Mainland transplants, however, she stressed.

"There are many who have come and who have stayed, and Hawai'i truly has become their home and they are definitely doing a great job," Mulcahy said.

Classroom experience is extremely important, she said.

"I'm asking straight up, 'How would you manage this classroom?' " she said. "Because it's not just keeping the kids under control, it's keeping them under control and engaged in learning. People who come to me who have teacher training and who've done student teaching are going to have a difficult time even with all that training, because there are some things you just don't learn until you've been a teacher a couple of years."

Studies indicate that it generally takes new teachers seven years to reach their peak effectiveness, Berliner said.

"We have hard data saying that every year for the first seven years, class scores go up with teachers, and then level off," he said. "So a teacher is really gaining skills to produce an achievement gain for the first seven years."

Windward schools superintendent Lea Albert said good teachers must genuinely believe in what they're doing.

"I think the very first quality that a good teacher has is that they care deeply for children and they want to see them learn; they want to see all children learn and succeed and realize their potential," she said. "They have to have the heart, the caring."

Good teachers must also know their curriculum, have effective teaching strategies and understand children, she said.

"You have to have awareness of developmental milestones, and you have to like young people," Albert said. "Young people know when you care about them. You can go into a school and you can see and feel the environment in a school where the education's personalized and teachers are very caring and there's a lot of support for young people so they can achieve. That's just a basic principle of teaching, and I don't know if you can discern that on paper."

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 23, 2005

 

Charter school helps Indian students succeed

By Cheryl Walker


UNION-TRIBUNE COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER

 

RINCON INDIAN RESERVATION – Luis&etildeno Indian Michelle Parada is a teacher at the All Tribe American Indian Charter School.

 

She's also a counselor and a bus driver.

 

Whatever is needed, she's does it.

 

The school was co-founded in 2001 by Parada and principal Mary Ann Donohue, starting with sixth through eighth grades. Each year a grade level has been added.

 

"We had 19 students the first year, and this year we started with 72," said Donohue, who helps with the bus driving and teaches language arts and driver's education.

 

Having grown up on the reservation, Parada knows the challenges and cultural differences that American Indian students face. She and Donohue felt the charter school was something the community needed.

 

When Parada went to Orange Glen High School, she had 13 American Indian classmates. She and two others graduated, she said.

 

"I was amazed at the dropout rate," said Parada, 38. "Kids are dropping out of school younger and younger. Before it was in high school; now they're dropping out in middle school. We really needed to do something."

 

A few years ago, Donohue, a former police officer, decided to get out of law enforcement. She went back to school to get her teaching credential. It was while writing her term paper on dropout rates that she found that Rincon had one of the highest percentage rates of students not finishing school.

 

"Most of the parents of these students dropped out of school and they don't feel comfortable attempting to help their children," Donohue said. "We're on a block schedule where we can give them a lot of help, and their homework gets done here where we can help them if they have questions."

 

Student success has showed in testing and grades.

 

"Next year, we'll have our first graduating class and it's pretty exciting," Donohue said. "The kids come here and we've seen them gain self-confidence and feel successful."

 

All Tribe American Indian Charter School is under the supervision of the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District, but not actually a part of the district.

 

There are students from five North County reservations – Pauma-Yuima, Rincon, Pala, La Jolla and San Pasqual. Two students are from reservations outside the state and live in San Marcos, and there are some students from the Mesa Grande Reservation.

 

The charter school receives the same type of funding as other public schools. It was started with the charter school revolving state loan for $250,000, which has been repaid. Money was also raised through private and corporate donations.

 

The school has three full-time and two part-time teachers and a full-time physical education specialist. It offers the same subjects as other schools, with six classrooms and five to be added. It also has a 4-H program, a wrestling program and an eight-man football team. They're hoping to soon add basketball and baseball.

 

Students are given opportunities to learn more about their culture, including American Indian law and dancing.

 

Luis&etildeno student April Kolb, 15, will be a sophomore in the fall. She started at the school in sixth grade.

 

"I really feel like I belong," April said. "I'm so many things. I'm Luis&etildeno, German and Hispanic. I feel more open. I used to be really shy and I've finally been able to express myself and that's a good feeling."

 

April has straight A's and wants to continue her education at Harvard and become a lawyer. She said she likes the small school.

 

"Everybody knows everybody and that's really nice," she said.

 

Jay Warren, 15, also will be a sophomore in the fall. He's hoping to go into law enforcement, like his grandfather, who was a sheriff.

 

"It's an awesome school," he said. "You get a lot of individual attention if you need it."

 

Parada believes it's important to know the families as well as the students.

 

"We're really committed to this school and the students," Parada said. "We're seeing more success all the time and the school has been a perfect fit for the community."

 

 

 

 

Posted: July 25, 2005

 

Navajo grandmother defies odds for youth center

 

by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

 

CHINLE, Ariz. - When Marjorie Thomas began her 12th Annual Walk-a-Thon from Chinle to Window Rock to raise funds for a Navajo youth center, she defied age, ill health and heat to raise funds for the dreamed-of center in the heart of the Navajo Nation.

A trip to the hospital almost ended this year's 80-mile journey prematurely and her dream of a center. Thomas arrived at the finish line in a wheelchair, assisted by Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.

Thomas said of the hoped-for $24 million youth center: ''My main concern is the youth. I want to see it before I leave this world. I want to see this center so bad before I get called back to the next world.''

Shirley told Thomas that he would look into creating a nonprofit organization so the youth center can be built within her lifetime.

This came as good news to Thomas after receiving a boost from electrolytes during a night stay at a Fort Defiance hospital.

''I have been waiting for the Navajo tribe to help,'' Thomas said. ''It means a lot what Joe Shirley has said. This may be my last one. If something happens to me, the walk needs to be completed.''

Telephone calls poured in to cheer on Thomas, who has become affectionately known to Navajos as ''Grandma Thomas.''

Karen Francis, public information officer for the Navajo Nation Council, was among those on the walk. Francis recalled being with Thomas when she began the walk.

''Twelve years ago when Grandma Thomas started this walk-a-thon, I was a junior at Chinle High School. At that time, like many teenagers, I didn't have much respect for authority figures, but Grandma Thomas commanded that respect through her actions.

''She is willing to take action to realize her dream. Even as young people, we respected that and we followed her. Wherever she goes, when someone who grew up near Chinle sees her, they run up to her. They shake her hand. They give her a hug. It has always been that way and I am happy to see that it still is.''

Navajo Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan joined Thomas on the second day of her annual walk on June 30.

While his staff collected donations from those on the route, Morgan helped push Thomas' wheelchair on the highway east of Ganado. Navajo Council delegate Tom M. White Jr., who also serves as Apache County supervisor, provided lunch for the walkers at the Ganado Apache County Office. Morgan provided dinner on that stretch.

Thomas thanked Morgan and said support from tribal officials has been a long time coming. She said during her 12 years of walking, tribal leaders previously did not come out to join her.

''This is the first time a high-level tribal official has joined us. It was an honor to have the speaker push me along the way.''

On the walk for the first time, college intern Fern Spencer said, ''It was cool to be a part of history. The blisters were worth it.''

Apache County Sheriff Brian Hounshell was among those who helped. The sheriff's office provided an escort along the way, as has been done for the past six years. Hounshell, who has been criticized by non-Indians in the southern part of the county for his support of Navajos, said his office committed 15 personnel over the four days at an estimated cost of about $25,000.

Thomas' walk and cause has continued to be an uphill battle for the past 12 years. This year, Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, District 1, donated $2,000 worth of food for walkers and volunteers.

Although this year's walk brought in $968 in donations for a current total of nearly $100,000, organizer and volunteer Edison Becenti said there is still a long way to go to reach the $24 million mark to build the center for Navajo young people.

 

 

 

 

Posted: July 15, 2005

 

Bittersweet experiences foster cultural renaissance

 

by: Jim Adams / Indian Country Today

 

Analysis

 

NEW YORK - Stereotypes of Indians as hunters on the Plains and in the forests don't leave room for those who dwell in cities and suburbs, but far more American Indians live in urban areas than on reservations.

The experience has not been altogether a happy one. Many urban Indians were forced to move by government relocation programs, and suffered sudden disruption of their culture and the social ills that followed. But this too is a stereotype.

The range of Indian experience in the city is as broad and diverse as Indian country itself. There might be drunken derelicts on Skid Row, but there are also family- and clan-centered ironworkers, proud of the skylines they helped erect. For the coerced relocation of past generations, there is now an eager migration of talented youth looking for the opportunities that rural people have long sought in the city.

This population has its own problems, often overlooked in the emphasis on tribal sovereignty. Many are denied tribal services and even membership. In response, community centers have grown up in many cities, struggling to provide health care and social life and to preserve Native culture. They have done noble work, often in the face of constant financial pressure and even threats of eviction.

This issue will give a sample of the urban experience across the country, the least visible side of a world that is itself so often invisible to the dominant culture.

To start with some figures, compiled by the National Urban Indian Family Coalition in a report to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 66 percent of all American Indians and Alaska Natives now live in metropolitan areas. This excellent report, entitled ''Urban Indian America,'' was written by Monica Tsethlikai, Ph.D.

This ''sea change'' started just 15 years ago, when the 1990 Census reported that a bare majority of Natives no longer lived on reservations and trust lands. The migration has accelerated ever since.

(The 2000 Census figures also reflect a change in counting. For the first time, respondents were allowed to self-identify as Native and another race, boosting Indian numbers past 4.3 million. A large number of urban Indians have mixed heritage, said the Family Coalition report.)

According to 2000 Census figures, New York City is now home to the largest Native population: 87,241, far surpassing Los Angeles, with 53,092. But the tables reverse when counting percentages. Smaller cities like Anchorage (10 percent), Tulsa (7.7 percent), Oklahoma City (5.7 percent), Albuquerque (4.9 percent) and Green Bay, Wis. (4.1 percent) have higher percentages of Natives.

Urban Indians have more serious health problems than the general population. Accidental deaths run 38 percent higher, cirrhosis and other liver diseases 126 percent higher, diabetes 54 percent higher and alcohol-related deaths 176 percent higher. Their poverty rate is 3.9 times, unemployment rate 2.4 times and homelessness rate three times that of urban whites. Pregnant, urban, Native women had less prenatal care and a higher rate of infant mortality than reservation counterparts in the same state.

Yet federal Indian services historically have ignored the urban population and have even pitted reservation governments against the expatriates in a struggle for scarce resources. This issue is sure to be featured in the current debate on restructuring the IHS.

Urban Indians have responded by creating their own services, supported by a trickle of state and federal grants. The first urban Indian center opened in Phoenix in 1947, followed in 1953 by centers in Chicago and Oakland, Calif. In 1970, the federal government provided funding for a total of 58 around the country, and their numbers and range of services have grown. But their existence has been peril-laden.

The handsome brick building in Boston run by the North American Indian Center of Boston includes a large lawn that was the scene of one of the Native highlights of last summer's Democratic National Convention, a clambake hosted jointly by NAICPOB and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head. But the prime real estate has been too tempting to state and local authorities, who have been trying to repossess it. At last report, NAICOB has managed to negotiate a compromise, ceding the lawn for a condo development while retaining and upgrading its building.

The American Indian Community House in New York City faces relocation from its current lower East Side home across from the New York Public Theater and near Cooper Union and New York University. The new owner of the building wants to convert it to residential units.

The Baltimore American Indian Center, serving many Lumbee immigrants from North Carolina, fell on hard times several years ago, losing grants in a financial crisis and sharply curtailing its services.

But crises have historically seemed to generate fresh energy. When the Oakland community center burned down in 1970, the ferment led to the occupation of Alcatraz and an historic wave of nationwide activism.

Many of these centers have now joined in the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, which is bidding to be a rising voice in Indian affairs. Its aim, concludes its report, is ''to build positive and mutually supportive relationships with tribes and tribal governments for the betterment of American Indian/Alaska Native children and families who live in urban communities'' and ''to create, through dialogue, a shared understanding of the barriers, issues and unique opportunities facing urban Indian organizations and families.''

 

 

 

 

July 22, 2005

 

Traditional tourism

 

By SHANNON SHAW | The New Mexican

 

Cultural tourism and not casinos is the future of economic development for tribes in Indian Country, former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell said Thursday at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

"Indian tourism has a long way to go," said Campbell, a Republican who was a senator in Colorado from 1993 to 2005 and is a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. "Either we do it or someone else is going to do it."

One idea that's catching on -- recreational-vehicle parks.

A cheaper way for people to travel these days is by RV, and RV parks have provided new developments for reservations. In California, six tribes have built lucrative RV parks, Campbell said, adding he knows of eight more in development.

"Indian Country has a more stable land base for RV parks," Campbell said to a group of more than

40 people who attended a workshop on cultural tourism.

This has a lot of appeal in the Southwest because of the national parks and monuments, he said. According to Motor Home magazine, a family spends 74 percent less to travel by RV than to book a flight or travel by car and pay for lodging, Campbell said.

Among the 19 pueblos in New Mexico, San Juan Pueblo's Ohkay RV Park is the only such park currently operating; Tesuque Pueblo's park is under repair, said Travis Suazo, the Indian tourism-program manager with the state Tourism Department. Laguna, Isleta, San Felipe and Nambé pueblos all have RV sites, but they aren't in operation.

Campbell also pointed out that another big draw for tourism in New Mexico is Santa Fe Indian Market.

"There were some very enterprising folks out there who began to realize even if there was no financial award for being Indian, certainly their images and their lifestyles could be marketed to a majority population," Campbell said.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida is the country's leading tribe in tourism development and has built a casino on each of its six reservations after starting slowly, said Tina Osceola, executive director of the tribe's two museums. Business success with the casinos led to the tribe building its first commercial airport.

"Seminoles have made a living by doing what the public wants us to do, and we've faced a lot of criticism for it," Osceola said.

"But it enables the (Seminole Tribe of Florida) to talk about who they are. It also fortified cultural tourism as a mainstay."

Lorentino Lalio, a Zuni Pueblo member and New Mexico tourism director under former Gov. Gary Johnson, said Bernalillo is a direct example of how cultural tourism from nearby Santa Ana Star Casino has benefited neighboring communities.

He said Bernalillo continues to grow, add new businesses and gain more revenue from lodging and gross-receipts taxes.

"The city of Bernalillo and Santa Ana Pueblo have a partnership for developing infrastructure that will accommodate growth," Lalio said. "The future looks great."

 

 

 

 

July 25, 2005

 

Outsourcing is boon to American Indians

 

Associated Press

 

KYLE, S.D. (AP) — The Oglala Lakota Sioux were among the last tribes to battle the U.S. cavalry, and their vast Pine Ridge reservation was ground zero in the American Indian Movement's 1970s clashes with federal agents.

 

But proud resistance to outsiders hasn't been good for business. Here in the Badlands, economic opportunity has been as barren as the flora-thin hills. Unemployment is near 80 percent. Substance abuse is rampant.

 

Tradition-bound, the Lakota Sioux want to be close to family and resist leaving the reservation. Tribal and business leaders are hoping that in an increasingly globalized economy, where information-processing work can be done nearly anywhere, they won't need to.

 

The tribal leaders' bet: outsourcing. Their first big client: A Chinese-U.S. joint venture.

 

Increasingly, American Indians are looking to outsourcing as a way of boosting economic opportunity without having to stray from their lands.

 

On the Pine Ridge reservation, a local Indian-owned marketing and Web design startup, Lakota Express, can thank sloppy handwriting for its outsourcing fortunes.

 

"We're people that have really been left out of the opportunities of the Industrial Revolution and now are being welcomed into the world economy in the Information Revolution," said Mark Tilsen, a Lakota Express executive.

 

Eight Lakota Express employees vet the accuracy of electronic documents that are transcribed in China by workers who, while understanding English, often have difficulty deciphering Americans' handwriting.

 

The work amounts to reverse outsourcing (work performed for a foreign company that has itself in the employ of a U.S. business). And experts expect plenty more of such work to become available.

 

"There's nothing better than watching a reservation community thrive. You're seeing newer cars in the parking lot. They're buying homes. And I've watched that happen," said Carey Wold, a consultant who helped set up tribally owned companies on Northern Ute reservations in Utah.

 

On four Utah reservations, 150 to 180 full-time jobs have been created through outsourcing, most of it government work but also commercial contracts, he said.

 

One venture, owned by members of the Cedar Band of Paiutes, did $14 million in business last year, said Wold, whom it employs as a vice president of business development.

 

Wold said the business, Suh'dutsing Technologies, expects to generate some $40 million in revenues this year. Jobs include data entry, call center, help desk and info-tech work, Wold said.

 

U.S. companies are increasingly looking to Indian reservations as an alternative to going abroad for outsourced labor, said Doug Brown and Scott Wilson, authors of "The Black Book of Outsourcing."

 

Among Indian nations trying to draw outsourcing work are the Navajo, he said, while corporations including Ford Motor Co., Dell Inc. and Capital One all are interested in working with Native American tribes instead of sending work to such countries as India, Ireland and the Philippines.

 

Mary Underbaggage, 40, is one beneficiary.

 

The college-educated Lakota Express employee, whose six children range in age from three to 21, grew up on the Pine Ridge reservation and lives on her family's land.

 

"Our life is comfortable because I can pretty much take care of our day-to-day needs, compared to a lot of other families around me," said the soft-spoken Underbaggage.

 

On the reservation, most jobs are in the public sector — either through the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the tribe. Private sector jobs are limited mostly to the tribe's casino and tourism-related businesses.

 

Karlene Hunter, Lakota Express' founder and CEO, said her employees make an above-average income that starts at $7 an hour and increasing to $12/hour as skills increase.

 

"They might be doing quality control with China and answering a phone for another contract and working on data entry work at the same time," said Tilsen, whose company got its first outsourcing contract two years ago.

 

The Chinese outsourcing venture marries Lakota Express with USE Limited, of Dallas and Hong Kong, and a Choctaw-owned company, Native American Management Services of McLean, Va., said Linda Crider, vice president of global strategies for USE.

 

In an around-the-clock process typical of outsourcing, USE workers in China will enter data into computers from handwritten cards scanned at a job far in, say, Kansas City. The next morning, a Lakota Express employee here in Kyle will compare the scanned image of the original card with the data the Chinese entered to ensure its accuracy. The client often gets the vetted data within 24 hours.

 

Labor in China is far cheaper than on this reservation, said Crider, whose company's clients include Daimler-Chrysler, United Van Lines, various global banks and newspapers.

 

But the Chinese workers simply can't match the cultural affinity of Americans for certain work.

 

And who knows, Pine Ridge may offer unexpected business opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs.

 

In a recent visit, USE executives and partners discussed ways to expand their dealings with the Lakota Sioux. One visitor, USE partner Simon Tam of Hong Kong, was taken by the idea of exporting buffalo meat.

 

"When 1.3 billion Chinese start eating bison," he joked, "I think the problem to worry about is extinction."

 

 

 

 

Published: July 26th, 2005

 

Nenana conference takes on suicide and prevention

 

The Associated Press

 

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - People are meeting in Nenana this week to explore solutions to an epidemic of self-inflicted deaths that has long plagued Alaska's smallest communities.

 

The state's suicide rate is twice the national average, and the rate in certain rural areas is five times the state average, according to a study released last year by the Alaska Suicide Prevention Council.

 

And while suicide is a statewide problem, the rate of self-inflicted deaths among Alaska Natives is far higher. They make up 19 percent of the Alaska's population, but account for 41 percent of the state's suicides. The suicide rate for Alaska Native men is nearly 69 deaths per 100,000 people, more than six times the national average.

 

Monday was the first day of the 2005 Choose to Live conference, a three-day suicide awareness and prevention gathering in the community of 594 located 55 miles southwest of Fairbanks.

 

"When we put this together, we wanted to bring together survivors, people who had lost loved ones and prevention professionals," said Kat McElroy, one of the event's organizers. "It's not a conference just for professionals."

 

Alaska Native youth and young adults are at the greatest risk of committing suicide, said Keggulluk Polk, a suicide-prevention consultant from Bethel.

 

"It seems to start at about 14 and go all the way to about 27," he said.

 

Helping youth reconnect with their Native heritage is one of the best ways villages can reduce the rate of suicides, Polk said.

 

Solving the problems associated with suicide will require a communitywide effort including elders, schools, city and tribal governments, medical professionals and others, presenters at the gathering said.

 

"We need to draw out the resources and strengths from the community," said Elizabeth Sunnyboy, behavioral health coordinator at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. based in Bethel. "They are the ones with the ability to address these issues."

 

Shirley Demientieff was instrumental in helping organize the gathering, which was funded with a grant from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.

 

Demientieff, an Athabascan Indian from Fairbanks, decided to act after the spring suicide of a teenage boy in the Koyukuk River village of Hughes. The boy's death came only months after his uncle in Tanana killed himself.

 

To drum up interest, Demientieff flew to the village of Allakaket, 190 miles northwest of Fairbanks, and took a skiff downriver to the mouth of the Koyukuk River, stopping in villages along the way to talk about suicide prevention and the upcoming gathering.

 

Information from: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com

 

 

 

 

Posted: July 19, 2005

 

Oldest Native women's shelter seeks help

 

by: Kay Humphrey / Indian Country Today

 

The shelter, the first Native shelter in Alaska was funded by the state of Alaska and the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: but its grant has run out.

The Emmonak shelter is one of just two Native-run shelters in Alaska.

''Our fiscal year begins July 1 [and ends] June 30 of each year and we apply for a two-year grant every other year,'' said Shelter Director Lynn Hootch.

The staff has been laid off and the shelter's executive director has been working on a volunteer basis until funding can be optained.

''We have not been able to service victims in need of safety. An elder sat in our front steps, fleeing from violence at her home, hoping the doors would open. No one was at the shelter,'' she said.

Messages are left on the shelter's crisis line from women in need of a safe place to go. Calls made to the shelter on June 27 were sent to an answering machine. Women in crisis were instructed to call local law enforcement.

''With so much work to be done, this is devastating to our organization,'' she said.

The shelter has requested donations from other shelters and domestic violence programs to reopen its doors.

Sacred Circle, a national resource to end violence against Native women, has challenged its staff and the staff at Cangleska Inc. to pledge at least $20 each to help the shelter reopen. Sacred Circle is hoping others will follow its example.

''We are asking for any donations to assist us in covering our office expenses, staffing, so that we may continue this difficult but important work to end violence against Alaska Native and American Indian women, children, elders and girls. We are a tax-exempt organization, and therefore, any contributions will be tax-deductible,'' she said.

Our membership consists of Alaska Native and American Indian women advocates and others who are working to address this epidemic,'' she said.

''We believe we can and have been addressing [these] violent acts of hurting our women, which is not our natural way of life, by education using our values, customs and traditions,'' the shelter director said.

The financially strapped shelter was discussed at the National Congress of American Indians in Green Bay earlier in June as tribal leaders supported domestic violence programs and shelters.

A domestic violence task force made up of members from across the country talked about the fight to keep the tribal set-asides which are part of the 2005 Violence Against Women Act reauthorization. The act provides federal money to existing Native shelter programs and aids in the expansion of Native programs under a tribal set-aside.

American Indian and Alaska Native leaders said the federal set-asides for the programs are at risk because of key congressmen who oppose the funding of tribal programs and look more favorably at funding state-run programs. However, the Native shelters - which are small in number in comparison to state-run programs - provide cultural and traditional help to victims that the states do not.

Geri Simon, a member of the Alaska Native Women's Coalition, said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has opposed federal funding for the shelter.

Domestic violence against Alaska Natives is the same rate as for American Indian women, which is more than twice the average of other women across the nation.

Anyone wishing to help the shelter may send donations to the Emmonak Woman's Shelter, P.O. Box 207, Emmonak, AK 99581.

 

 

 

 

July 26, 2005

 

Red Lake kids form youth council to improve life on reservation

by Tom Robertson, Minnesota Public Radio

Some of the Red Lake Indian Reservation's brightest young people are coming together to do what they can to tackle the tribe's problems.

Many people on the reservation say life is tough for kids. Poverty and unemployment are rampant. Drug and alcohol abuse is common, and the school's dropout rate is among the highest in the state.

Now, a group of kids has formed the Red Lake Nation Youth Council. Their goal is to make a better life for tribal youth.

 

Red Lake, Minn. — In a house outside the remote tribal village of Ponemah, two young men huddle around an Xbox playing a video game. Kirby Perkins, 16, and Jerrell Martin, 18, are typical teenagers. They're into sports, music and computers.

 

But Perkins and Martin are also worried about the future of their tribe. Martin says many kids are headed down the wrong path. He says the biggest problem is drugs and alcohol.

 

"I just want to help kids succeed in life, other than following the wrong peers," said Martin. "Even just so they can get a good appearance on Indians, too. Everyone says Indians are drunks and bad people. But we can't blame them for saying that about us, because the kids are the ones doing it to themselves."

 

Martin just graduated from high school. But he didn't go to school in Red Lake. Instead, his family sent him to school in Kelliher, 20 miles off the reservation. Martin says that's because Red Lake schools have a bad reputation.

 

Perkins will be a senior this year at Red Lake High School. He says education at Red Lake is often chaotic -- he says kids misbehave with few consequences.

 

"Students, like, would swear and yell at their teachers because they can't go to a certain place," said Perkins. "All they do is just send them to detention, and they'll be back the next day pretty much doing the same thing."

 

Kirby Perkins and Jerrell Martin say they're tired of the turmoil. They decided to get involved in a fledgling organization called the Red Lake Nation Youth Council. The group's goal is to make life better for kids.

 

The Red Lake Nation Youth Council is a work in progress. The kids have barely settled on a name, and they're still working on bylaws and organizational structure. The group meets around a large wooden conference table at tribal headquarters, the same one used by tribal government leaders.

 

The council is the idea of Tribal Chairman Buck Jourdain. Planning began before the March 21 school shootings at Red Lake that left 10 people dead.

 

Tim Sumner, Jourdain's personal assistant, is also adviser to the youth council.

 

"We're trying to develop leaders, you know, upcoming leaders, whether it be in tribal government or anything that they do," Sumner said. "It's always good to prepare and teach yourself things for the life ahead of you."

 

Sumner, 20, is also from Ponemah. He says initially the idea was that the youth council would serve as advisers to tribal government. The group has since taken on a life of its own. Sumner says members are motivated to make real changes on the reservation.

 

"I think one of our main goals is just get out there and listen to them, see what they want, and what's helping them, and what we can do and what they can do to make things better for the youth on the Red Lake Reservation," Sumner said.

 

Kids join the youth council for a variety of reasons. Jim King, who will be a junior at Red Lake High School this fall, says one thing he'd like to see is for the youth council to bring in motivational speakers to talk with kids. He says many kids have no drive to succeed.

 

"I think that comes from the parents not having jobs and have no will to get up in the morning. So then their kids sleep right in with them. Then they wake up, get high with them, you know, then they're content with that," said King. "So I think if there are more jobs on the reservation, in the community, the parents would have more responsibility. Then it would trickle down to their kids."

 

Youth council member Tom Barrett agrees the economic situation at Red Lake is a big part of the problem.

 

"The employment rate is very high and that's where it starts," said Barrett. "That's where a person's personality in life starts, is at home. The probability is that if you didn't see your parents do anything or working, you know, it will make you think that you don't have to either."

 

Not every youth council member lives on the reservation. Debra Goodwin, 18, is a tribal member and lives in Bemidji. She just graduated from Bemidji High School.

 

But Goodwin says her heart has always been with her tribal community. She's the tribe's current Miss Red Lake Nation princess. Goodwin works as a certified nursing assistant at the elderly care facility in Red Lake.

 

Goodwin says she loves working with tribal elders, but she also cares for tribal youth. Goodwin says the March 21 school shootings broke her heart.

 

"It was just unbelievable," said Goodwin. "Words can't even say it, you know. My heart was just hurting because all these families had to deal with this. The thing that hurt me the most was that we did it to our own people, like Natives against Natives. This person did it to his own people."

 

Goodwin says it wasn't the shootings that motivated her to get involved in the youth council. She says the main problem at Red Lake is a breakdown in family structure. She says some parents need to do a better job with their kids.

 

"A lot of it has to do with them having kids at such young ages and not being ready to be parents themselves, so their kids end up failing," said Goodwin. "So, yeah, I believe that the parents did fail the kids. A lot of the parents don't ... care where they're going, they don't care what they're doing. So in a sense, when you don't have that, it's harder to succeed. It's harder to do good when you don't have those influences."

 

Goodwin credits Tribal Chairman Buck Jourdain with bringing a renewed focus on the well-being of kids. Jourdain is said to be the youngest chairman in the tribe's history. Goodwin says that helps him relate to the needs of young people.

 

"I strongly believe our former chairmen, they didn't give a sh** about our youth," she said. "They're like, 'Whatever, they're just disrespectful, blah, blah, blah, blah.' So that's why I'm so happy that he's our chairman."

 

Jourdain declined to be interviewed for this story. The chairman has been preoccupied with his own personal problems. His son Louis Jourdain, 17, is suspected of conspiracy in the high school shootings. The boy appeared before a federal judge in a closed hearing last week in St. Paul. Federal authorities have refused to talk about the case.

 

Goodwin has lots of ideas to help Red Lake kids. She'd like to see walking and biking trails along Red Lake, and maybe boat rentals. She'd like the youth council to set up and operate an ice cream shop to raise money. And since there are no band or choir programs at Red Lake High School, she'd like to find grant money to purchase musical instruments for kids.

 

Goodwin's mother, Sherry, works with Debra at the nursing home in Red Lake. Sherry Goodwin is excited about the youth council. She says there are plans to create a parents' advisory group to work with the kids.

 

Sherry Goodwin says she believes the youth council could potentially be much more effective at reaching out to kids than adults have been.

 

"I think just the peer pressure is there for them. I could go in there and say, 'Do this! Do that! And do this!' which they ain't going to listen to me," said Goodwin. "But when they get their own peers, their own age group, it's more apt to work for them. They can say, 'Hey, I know what it's like, I did it, I know it, but this is a better way and let's do it this way instead of that way.'"

 

Youth council members say the biggest challenge may be to get kids involved and engaged. The council is open to all youth on the reservation ages 15-24, but so far the meetings have attracted just a small core group. The kids plan to use flyers and the Internet to attract more members.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, July 21, 2005

 

Maori actress, 15, has a message

 

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The young woman who became a cultural and feminist icon playing the prophesied leader of a Maori village in the groundbreaking independent film "Whale Rider" had a confession to make.

"I can't swim," said 15-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes, who is in Honolulu this week for appearances on behalf of Pacific Islanders in Communication and the Girl Scouts Council of Hawai'i. She is also promoting the national PBS broadcast of "Whale Rider," which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. in Hawai'i.

"I've never been much of a water person," Castle-Hughes said. "I'm more of a lay-on-the-beach-and-get-a-tan girl."

In fact, while Hughes' climactic scene in the film found her character, Paikea, plunging beneath the waves on the back of a whale, the real-life Castle-Hughes had her hands full this week just trying to stay afloat on a surfboard.

"I was just hanging out when a wave flipped the board over," she said, laughing. "The instructor told me to let go of the board or it could snap, but I said, 'No.' I was holding on for dear life upside-down in the water."

Of course, Castle-Hughes isn't here to show off her water skills.

The youngest actress ever to be nominated for an Oscar for best actress in a lead role (she was 13 at the time), Castle-Hughes has become a role model for young indigenous people in the creative arts.

Castle-Hughes met with more than 100 local Girl Scouts yesterday as part of a national community outreach campaign developed by Pacific Islanders in Communication and local and national Girl Scout programs.

"It's a weird sort of thing to be considered a role model," she said. "I'm just humbled by the fact that I've done something to make people happy.

"The best part of the movie is that it got a story out there, and stories like that aren't told or haven't been told," she said. "It's good to get stories that need to be told out there to people who connect to them."

In the film, Castle-Hughes played an adolescent girl who had to overcome social and cultural barriers to fulfill her destiny as a leader of her people.

A surprise commercial success, "Whale Rider" (directed by Niki Caro and based on a novel by Sir Witi Ihimaera) has been considered a milestone in indigenous filmmaking and a sensitive but powerful feminist affirmation.

Ruth Bolan, executive director of Pacific Islanders in Communication, said the film — and Castle-Hughes — could not have come at a better time.

"Right now the world really needs Pacific islander storytelling," said Bolan, who studied folklore and mythology at Harvard. "It's time for Pacific islanders to start telling their stories, otherwise people of Keisha's generation will spend the next 20 years correcting all the misrepresentations of the past.

"Keisha, maybe unwittingly, has come to represent this for this generation of kids," she said.

Castle Hughes said the success of "Whale Rider" is connected to the universality of its themes and the story's integrity.

"In most cultures, the males dominate and the females are constantly trying to be accepted," she said. "There are young girls everywhere who relate to this. The relationship was the same with my father, with me trying to be accepted because I'm a girl.

"The thing I loved about 'Whale Rider' was that it was real," she continued. "We didn't change the dialogue so that Americans could understand us better or tone it down so that the English wouldn't be offended. Maybe that's why it was accepted so well. People who come from other cultures and who have lost their culture as they've become more European or more American, they're searching for that."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 24, 2005

 

Noni shows cancer promise

 

A study by UH researchers explores the plant's possible pain-relieving benefits to patients

 

By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

Cancer Research Center of Hawaii researchers are getting reports from patients taking noni that they have less pain that interferes with activities.

"That is exciting to us. It may be reducing the pain people experience, but we can't say. It's too early for a definitive conclusion," said Carolyn Gotay about the center's study of the fruit's medical value.

Dr. Brian Issell, internist, oncologist and clinical sciences program director at the University of Hawaii cancer center, is principal investigator of the study, which began in 2001.

The noni plant was used in traditional healing throughout Polynesia and is being promoted worldwide for all kinds of health problems and diseases.

"It's a $2 billion product with incredible commercialization," Issell said. "We need to know if it helps more than harms people."

His study is the first to look at the effects of noni on people and see if it does what ads claim.

"We've seen pretty much improvements across the board when we look statistically, but these are early days," Issell said. "It's not telling us it's going to help more than harm people, but what dose we will test in the future."

The team, including Faith Inoshita, clinical research nurse, is trying to complete the first phase of the study to find the right dose that will be effective for people, Issell said. Then the researchers will move to the next phase comparing that dose of noni a placebo.

Different doses of freeze-dried extract of ripe noni from the Indian mulberry plant are given to groups of five patients. Participants have advanced cancer that no other treatment would help.

Capsules are increased gradually from four a day to 24 and the patients are followed to see the effects.

"We have been seeing increasing improvement in quality of life measures," Issell said. "It's very interesting. We're getting improvement at higher dose levels compared to a lower dose."

Dr. Adrian Franke, associate specialist, and Laurie Custer, research associate, are analyzing the ingredients of noni, as well as blood and urine samples from patients, to see what chemicals may have anti-cancer activity.

"We're measuring different markers," Issell said. "Once we have something we can feel confident about, we will use it to standardize noni because there are hundreds of different products now from juice, with additional things to mask the dose."

Noni Maui is providing fruit grown on the Big Island for the study, which requires a consistent supply, Issell said: "We have quite a lot of capsules and will continue up to 40 (per day) if we need to."

The first phase of the study began with National Institutes of Health funding and it is continuing with support from the Hawaii Community Foundation, Issell said.

He said the issue with cancer drugs is to find the maximum tolerated dose that's most likely to have an anti-cancer effect.

"Here, we haven't found the maximum-tolerated dose," he said. "We have to find the optimal quality of life sustaining dose. It's a complex question."

Patients fill out questionnaires about how they're feeling, how their pain is, their fatigue and how they function.

Gotay said patients are still tolerating the doses with no side effects. "We haven't observed any worsening of the quality of life. In fact, even though these patients tend to have advanced disease, their quality of life has pretty much maintained steady or gotten better in some cases."

She said they're looking at the well-being of the patients from many aspects and "people are holding their own."

The participants "are amazingly committed," Gotay said. "They have serious conditions and high hopes for treatment and they're very eager to take their pills. They're very conscientious about it. They're trying to help us and themselves, too, and future patients.

"It's a long ways from even identifying, say it were to work, why it works, what are the active ingredients," Gotay said.

Noni is a substance that hasn't followed drug lab development, so it isn't known exactly what's in it, how it works on the body or what kind of patients it would make a difference in, she said.

For instance, she asked, "Would it be effective in people with earlier stage disease? We can't test that in the (present) study."

Issell gets inquiries about noni from all over the world, Gotay pointed out: "That's partly why we are so cautious. We want to make sure (of the results)."

Franke and his team is looking at how the ingredients affect different systems of the body, Gotay said. "There are so many different possibilities of what might be going on."

He gave different doses of noni to healthy volunteers -- Cancer Research Center employees -- and drew their blood over an eight-hour period to see how noni processed in healthy people to compare with cancer patients.

For more information about the noni study, call the clinical trials unit, 586-2979.

 

 

 

 

July 24, 2005

 

Thrill ride

 

Tom "Pohaku" Stone works to revive the ancient Hawaiian tradition of he‘e holua, or lava sledding

 

By Alexandre Da Silva
Associated Press

As a boy growing up in a poor family on the Big Island, Tom "Pohaku" Stone found entertainment barreling down grassy slopes aboard ti leafs and banana stumps.

But for Stone, what began as childhood fun on a natural roller coaster ride has evolved into an academic and cultural journey aimed at reviving the 2,000-year Hawaiian tradition of he'e holua, or Hawaiian lava sledding.

He has the scars to show for it.

Wearing just a tank top and shorts and reaching speeds of up to 70 mph on a sled standing only four inches above ground, Stone once ran into a steel post sticking up from the grass during a demonstration in a slope on Maui, tearing an 18-inch gash in his left thigh.

In another crash, Stone broke his neck. It hasn't stopped him.

"You can't even imagine what it's like to be head first, four inches off the ground, doing 30, 40, 50 miles an hour on rock," Stone said. "It looks like you are riding just fluid lava. It's death-defying ... but it's a lot of fun."

It wasn't quite as dangerous when Stone was a kid.

"You would break off a bunch of ti leaves, sit down on it and skid down the mountain all covered in mud," said Stone, now a 54-year-old community college professor who teaches the ancient Hawaiian sport and gives classes on sled building and riding. "That just became my cultural passion because of the similarities with surfing, but it also became my academic passion."

Traditionally, he'e holua served both as a sport and as a vehicle for native Hawaiians to honor their gods, especially Pele, the goddess of fire. After reaching the top of a slope, Hawaiians would stand up, lie down, or kneel atop hardwood sleds -- often carved from Kauila or Ohia and measuring 12 feet long by 6 inches wide -- and speed down the man-made courses of hardened lava rocks sprinkled with grass.

But missionaries who brought Christianity to Hawaii saw the sport as "a frivolous waste of time," Stone said, and its practice ended in 1825, when the last he'e holua racing event was documented.

"They wanted us to work, stop being happy," Stone said.

Stone first heard about the practice, which also took place in other islands in the Pacific such as Tahiti and New Zealand, through stories told by his grandfather. His interest in reviving the sport came in 1993, when he wrote a term paper on the tradition for a college class. A year later he had built his first sled and soon he began teaching people how to ride and craft the sleds, which are hand lashed with coconut fiber and weigh between 40 and 60 pounds.

It takes Stone about two weeks, or 24 hours of nonstop work, to finish a sled, and his prices start at $3,000. He is currently carving a sled for an exposition and another for a restaurant in Kona.

Stone said his solid wood sleds "last forever," unlike today's snowboards and surfboards built on more high-tech, yet less durable materials like fiberglass and foam. For example, the Bishop Museum, the state's largest museum, has an 800-year-old sled on display, he said.

A retired lifeguard and champion surfer, Stone has discovered some 57 rock slides of various lengths across the state, and spent three days with a crew of seven to make a 200-foot repair on a 700-foot course. The only remaining course on Oahu is at Kaena Point, he said, and only two courses are in rideable conditions, both on the Big Island.

Stone said there are only about a couple dozen regular riders, and he is unaware of any deaths or serious injuries among those trying the sport.

Clifford "Pake" Ah Mow got hooked on the sport three years ago as he sped down a trail on the Big Island.

"It's great, unbelievable," said Ah Mow, a lifeguard who patrols Oahu's east and south shores and has sustained "little bumps and bruises" while sledding. "You get the chills."

The upkeep of centuries-old courses and hand carving the sleds from scratch are only some of the sport's challenges.

By the end of 2005, Stone wants to complete a mile-long rock slide on the Big Island and hold the first he'e holua event there in more than 100 years.

He said the biggest challenge is to find a sponsor who would be willing to back the dangerous event, whose judging criteria will include "style, length of ride, and survival ability."

Stone said safety measures like nearby medical care centers are being considered for the tournament the same way Jet Skis assist surfers who run into danger while competing in big waves.

"There's people across the world that want to ride," he said. "Once you do it, you never look back. You want to do it all the time."

 

 

 

 

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