Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities. NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site at: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.
February 22, 2006
- Court to rehear Kamehameha admissions case
- Letter to the Editor: Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl speaks about Native issues
- Tavares: Make 80% affordable
- House committee OKs revenue share from ceded lands
- Indian-specific reductions draw criticism
- Akaka Remains Concerned VA Budget Leaves Veterans to Struggle
- NaHHA Holding Community Meetings on the Impact of Tourism
- Census report offers insight into Native American life today
- Democrats back Akaka in race with Case
- Urban health program funding euthanized
- Mauna 'Ala showing its age
- Touching Spirit Bear - Cultural immersion
- Women's Fund awards grants
- Vandals desecrate Iolani Palace shrine
- Vandals strike Hawaiian altar at Mauna Kea summit
- Foundation helps three tribes fight poverty
- Museum tries to bridge culture gap
- Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., receives tribal leadership technology award at 20th RES 2006
- U.N. negotiations on indigenous rights wrap up, for now
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Court to rehear Kamehameha admissions case
By Ken Kobayashi and Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writers
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rehear the case involving a non-Hawaiian student seeking to enroll at Kamehameha Schools.
The ruling today is a blow to the hopes of the unnamed non-Hawaiian student seeking to gain entrance to the school whose policy is aimed at admitting only students with Hawaiian blood.
The decision essentially sets aside for now a 2-1 decision by a three-member panel of the court that ruled in favor of the non-Hawaiian student on Aug. 2. The majority opinion in that panel's ruling declared that the school admission policy violated federal civil rights law.
Lawyers for the student had argued the admission policy violates federal laws, while school supporters said the policy is necessary to address social, educational and economic disadvantages faced by Native Hawaiians.
In a brief order, the appeals court said the decision to rehear the case was based on a vote by a majority of the active 9th Circuit judges who did not disqualify themselves from the case.
The non-Hawaiian student, who has not been identified, is currently a senior attending another school. He wanted to enroll at Kamehameha before he graduates this year.
Because Kamehameha Schools challenged the ruling and asked for a rehearing, the enforcement of the 2-1 decision was stayed and the student was not permitted to enroll at Kamehameha.
By granting the rehearing request, a panel of 15 appeals judges will be rehearing the case, according to Kamehameha spokesman Kekoa Paulsen.
Today's order said the 2-1 decision cannot be cited as precedent pending the ruling by the larger panel.
It was not immediately clear when the larger panel will rehear the case or when it will issue a decision.
Kamehameha officials were pleased with the development.
Robert Kihune, chairman of the Kamehameha Board of Trustees, said the decision "signals that the appeals court agrees that this lawsuit raises unique issues of exceptional importance to Native Hawaiians."
Kihune added: "We are hopeful that when the case is reheard the court will reverse the panel decision and allow Kamehameha to continue to direct our resources to those children who are in need of our programs and are the intended beneficiaries of this trust."
Kamehameha chief executive officer Dee Jay Mailer said the preference policy is critical to fulfilling the school's educational mission as spelled out by its founder, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, as it endeavors to extend its reach further into Hawaiian communities.
"Pauahi felt a kuleana (responsibility) to provide educational opportunities for the Hawaiian people," Mailer said. "She entrusted that kuleana to the leadership of Kamehameha Schools. We will not let her down."
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl speaks about Native issues
Letter to the Editor of Indian Country Today, Sent on February 13, 2006
On February 10, 2006, Indian Country Today posted a story, “Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl speaks about Native issues,” http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412452 by freelance writer and guest columnist Debra White in which the Senator “[o]ffers opinions from natural resource allocation to the Akaka Bill.” Kyl is seeking re-election this year. Ms. White’s story cites Senator Kyl’s “notable contributions to Arizona's Indian community” and notes that the senator sidesteps or declines to comment on a few issues which revolve around Native sovereignty, and opposes federal recognition for Native Hawaiians as described in the Akaka Bill.
The article prompted the following Letter to the Editor from Robin Danner, CEO & President of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. Danner is native Hawaiian, raised on the reservations of northern Arizona and spent 25 years in Alaska. She is a former banker and executive of an Indian Housing Authority for 8 federally recognized tribes.
Letter to the Editor of Indian Country Today, Sent on February 13, 2006
Aloha,
Senator Kyl is no friend to Native peoples. He has been outright hostile toward Native Hawaiians and the truth that we are indeed indigenous peoples of the 50th state with trust rights. His opposition to the Akaka Bill, legislation that would extend the federal policy of self-governance and self-determination, indicates his true colors on tribal rights. If he had a chance, he would terminate sovereign governments in this country, just as he has put his strength against the recognition of my people’s right to govern ourselves as the tribes do. In fact, Senator Kyl is solely responsible for denying the state of Hawaii, its Governor, its Legislature and our Congressional delegation, all who support the Akaka bill, from being heard on the floor of the Senate. Let democracy happen. Senator Kyl, release your holds on our bill and allow an up or down vote on the Akaka bill. We have waited 100 years, only to have an Arizona Senator who knows nothing of our people, of our homelands, holding a bill that would once and for all enable our people to decide for ourselves, manage our resources and care for our communities – no different than what every tribe in this country is striving for.
Robin Puanani Danner, CEO & President
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
February 17, 2006
Tavares: Make 80% affordable
By VALERIE MONSON, Staff Writer
The Maui News
WAILUKU – The number of affordable units required in future housing developments might not be resolved without a showdown.
Council Members Charmaine Tavares and Jo Anne Johnson drew a line in the sod Thursday, saying they would demand that 80 percent of units be designated for various levels of affordable housing for Maui’s work force – a far cry above the 30 percent favored by developers and included in the current draft of a bill to establish a housing policy for the county.
Tavares and Johnson reaffirmed their positions during the Housing and Human Services Committee meeting, where members have been grappling with how to craft an ordinance that would serve the Maui community earning working-class wages – and not Mainland newcomers.
“I’m not going to give up on this,” declared Tavares, who recently announced her plans to run for mayor and could make the 80 percent requirement a campaign issue. “To me, it is not satisfactory to our community to have only 30 percent of affordable housing. . . . We’re saying that 70 out of 100 homes can be market value. Market is what? It’s out of reach, out of sight.”
Chairman Danny Mateo said he hoped the bill would have consensus by the next meeting on March 2 so it could be forwarded to the three planning commissions before the council begins annual budget deliberations later in the month. Mateo said Planning Director Mike Foley indicated he thought the bill could be reviewed by the commissions and returned to the committee by the time the county budget is finalized by the end of May when the council schedule returns to normal.
Four months ago, Tavares proposed that 80 percent of all housing projects be earmarked as affordable to families in a range of 50 percent to 160 percent of median income ($31,180 to $99,760 for a family of four). The county’s policy for affordable housing now is for households earning between 80 percent and 120 percent ($49,880 to $74,820) of median income.
That policy leaves out the very low income and the “gap group” of working families – those who make more than 120 percent of median but who still are not able to buy a house on the open market, where the median price of a single family house in 2005 ranged from $613,500 to $679,000.
Tavares noted that the current draft of the bill includes her recommendation that some units be reserved for those earning 160 percent of median income, but ignores her call for raising the overall number of affordables to 80 percent.
“If we don’t put out a housing policy that supports our diversity, we’re going to become lopsided,” she warned.
Last month, Tavares’ idea was essentially endorsed by Foley, who pointed out there was little chance that market-priced houses would wind up in the hands of current Maui residents.
But developers haven’t been as eager to jump on the bandwagon, complaining about increasing prices of building materials and the costly length of time it takes to get permits processed by the county. Until recently, projects were required to set aside 15 percent as affordable housing. Lately, the assessment has risen to 20 percent or 25 percent. During discussions on the bill, industry leaders have said they would support the 30 percent levy.
Tavares told Mateo that she supports the bill as a whole, but added that she has a “real problem” with the 30 percent obligation.
“From 25 to 30 – big deal,” she said.
The meeting included a panel discussion that featured loan officers and a mortgage broker on what incomes are needed to qualify for a mortgage, along with Tavares’ proclamation that she intended to take a stand to get the percentage of affordable units in a project significantly raised.
Johnson joined Tavares and said it’s “just not right” to let most of the houses to be built sell for market rates. Johnson noted that Tavares’ original recommendation had left the door open to raise the qualifying income for affordable units to as high as 200 percent of median income.
In the current bill, the 30 percent of affordable housing for sale would be directed at those earning between 100 percent and 160 percent of median income (the previous draft aimed the housing at those earning between 80 percent and 140 percent). Rental units would focus on those earning 120 percent and below.
In their testimony, developers worried that the bill’s proposed 25-year buy-back restrictions could hurt financing of projects, but the loan officers in attendance told Mateo that they didn’t see that as a problem.
The question of whether or not families earning 80 percent of the median income could qualify for a mortgage of $200,000 or so also surprised some.
Ray A. Pascua, assistant loan manager for the Maui County Employees Federal Credit Union, said that qualified applicants with lower incomes could tap into different programs to reduce their payments.
Barbara J. Estrella-Franco, senior loan officer at American Savings Bank, and Elena Walker, a mortgage broker with Trans-Pacific Mortgage Group on Oahu, agreed with Pascua that those families would need to have clean credit reports and no other big debts.
If families don’t qualify at first, Estrella-Franco said she works with them to improve their financial standing so they might eventually qualify for a mortgage. Pascua said creative financing – such as short-term adjustable rate mortgages that can be refinanced to long-term loans at a later date – can help a family that might need a few years to be able to make higher monthly payments.
Estrella-Franco said if families do lose their homes, it would be helpful to have a wait list of other applicants “like Hawaiian Home Lands” so the homes would remain at affordable prices.
The current draft of the bill addresses that, establishing wait lists for those who hope to buy as well as for those who want to rent.
Valerie Manoa can be reached at vmonson@mauinews.com.
Posted on: Thursday, February 16, 2006
House committee OKs revenue share from ceded lands
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer
The House Hawaiian Affairs Committee yesterday voted to back a temporary agreement reached by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Lingle administration on ceded-land revenues.
Under the agreement, the state would pay OHA, a state agency, $15.1 million annually as its share of revenues derived from ceded lands as well as a one-time $17.5 million sum in back payments. The annual payments are seen as an interim arrangement because members of Gov. Linda Lingle's administration and OHA leaders continue to negotiate over "disputed" ceded-land revenues.
OHA has been receiving about $10 million annually in recent years.
The proposed agreement, which was backed by OHA's board of trustees earlier this month, also must be approved by the Legislature.
House Bill 2204, which now needs to go through the House Finance Committee, is similar in language to Senate Bill 2948, which was approved by the Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Monday. House Hawaiian Affairs chairman Scott Saiki, D-22nd (McCully, Pawa'a), inserted language into the House bill requiring the Department of Land and Natural Resources to provide an annual "accounting of all receipts" from ceded lands.
"Nobody really knows what amounts of revenues are being generated," Saiki said. "The information is dispersed throughout multiple agencies, and there isn't one central depository for that information. It's important for us to centralize the information so that parties won't be second-guessing the amounts that are being paid every year."
Two senators have maintained that the figures proposed are too low, but there was no dissent at yesterday's House hearing. Native Hawaiian agencies that benefit from OHA funding favor the agreement.
Ceded lands are former crown and Hawaiian kingdom government lands held in trust by the state. The state constitution requires earmarking a share of the revenues derived from those lands to benefit Native Hawaiians. The Legislature determines how much OHA should receive.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Posted: February 17, 2006
Indian-specific reductions draw criticism
by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today
WASHINGTON - For all the criticism sure to be leveled at President Bush for the proposed Indian-specific budget cuts in his federal budget request for fiscal year 2007, a close look also shows that someone in the White House is listening somewhat closely to the major concerns of Indian country.
Three of the leading concerns of tribal leaders in recent years have been contract support costs, health care and land consolidation. Contract support costs pay the bill for a range of management and administrative cost centers such as utilities, repair and maintenance, audits and insurance; the Supreme Court has ruled the self-determination contracts between tribes and federal agencies fully enforceable, even down to these indirect costs, leading one longtime attorney in Indian country to call self-determination contracts ''the new treaties.'' The health care needs in Indian country are well-known and funding them has been an ongoing campaign for a loose consortium of tribes nationwide. As for land consolidation, it is a critical step in restoring tribal land ''fractionated'' by inheritance policy into miniscule holdings to economically productive use.
It's worth noting that in a budget with plenty to complain about for everyone outside the military ''defense'' establishment, the Department of Homeland Security and the usual healthy handful of special interests, the administration remembered tribal contract support costs with a proposed increase of $19 million to fully fund indirect costs in BIA-tribal self-determination contracts at $151.7 million; the IHS, with an increase of $124.5 million to a total budget of $4 billion; and land consolidation, with an increase of $25.4 million over the appropriation for FY '06.
Of course, whether it's Indian country or anywhere else, funding is seldom enough; and 2007 is shaping up as one of the tightest fiscal years in memory. The National Congress of American Indians called for a $75 million increase to fully fund IHS contract support costs, and one of the trade-offs for the overall IHS increase was the zeroing-out of last year's $32.74 million appropriation for urban Indian health clinics, a move that met with an outpouring of skepticism and outright scorn at a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs budget hearing Feb. 14.
The zeroed-out urban Indian health care budget repeated a pattern that showed up more than once in the president's proposals - justification of the goose eggs on grounds the services were duplicated by other programs that could accommodate the de-budgeted services.
Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the committee vice chairman, seized upon the pattern as it recurred for tribal courts, prison facilities construction, the Johnson O'Malley education program, the National American Indian Housing Council's technical assistance and training in homeownership, and others. ''That's not streamlining. That's pretty significant ... It appears to me that you're taking these programs, zeroing them out and calling it streamlining,'' he said to Regina Schofield, assistant attorney general with the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice. Schofield had just met Sen. John McCain's assertion of a crisis in Indian detention facilities with the statement that $7 million remained in that particular till for architectural design, but more money would be needed for detention facility construction. In view of the president's budget request, the implication here was that Congress will have to intervene to appropriate funding for Indian detention facilities if Congress wants them built.
McCain, the committee chairman, quietly replied, ''I would hope that you would request that money, Ms. Schofield.''
For those with some sense of what to look for, the exchange brought the budget process's several elements of Japanese kabuki theater - ritualistic, stylized, impassive yet intense - into the open. Year after year, agency heads admit to Congress that they need more funding. But under the 43rd president at least, they've given little indication of going toe-to-toe with the president for those increases, something former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell complained about regularly. Year after year, when zeroed-out budgets come over from the White House, Congress expresses some measure of displeasure with the administration, decries the cuts as an affront to constituents and sets about restoring them. The administration then expresses some measure of displeasure with Congress, and often goes on to accuse it of running up the budget once the cuts are restored.
McCain, the Arizona Republican, and Dorgan the Democrat more or less acknowledged all this when they agreed that the administration can be counted on to propose budget cuts knowing full well Congress will restore them. For that matter, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., said the same thing at a later stage of the hearing. ''It's a game as old as there is, as long as we've been doing business,'' McCain said.
But as a reminder that there's nothing theatrical about it in the last analysis, there's no rehearsal and no certain ending can ever be scripted. If Congress ever once fails to rise to the occasion and restore cuts, the lost services in Indian country alone would be monumental. By the same token, if the president and his Republican majority in Congress overreach in their campaign of program rollbacks, a great many of their gains in Congress since winning control of the House of Representatives in 1994 could be lost at the polls in the upcoming mid-term elections.
Another major Indian program that suffers a setback in the president's plans for FY '07 is health care facilities construction, down $20.1 million from FY '06. That's enough to cancel facilities at the top of the IHS priority construction list in Barrow and Nome, Alaska, to the alarm of Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a committee member. She said the vastness of Alaska's geography means Native people typically find themselves far away from the infrastructures of health care, a condition the Nome and Barrow facilities will help to mitigate. IHS Director Charles Grim said the facilities came with too big a price tag for this year's tough budget, but remain priorities - a continuation of the hiatus in funding that began in 2006 as a supposed ''one-year pause,'' as the administration characterized it then. Murkowski replied that a timeline for the construction is needed ''and, truly, a commitment to move forward with these important projects.'' Grim couldn't give that commitment, but repeated that the projects are priorities.
Murkowski also brought up rural sanitation, a vital concern for Alaska Native communities built on permafrost. ''That's a strong component of our program,'' Grim said, noting an increase in the proposed budget for it, as well as its exceptional performance rating under the administration's assessment system. ''We're making some headway,'' Murkowski acknowledged, ''but we still need that commitment.''
The BIA budget will dwindle by $52.4 million to $2.2 billion in FY '07 if the president's budget is enacted. Indian school construction funding would fall by almost $50 million. The Indian Child Welfare Act would lose almost three-quarters of a million dollars in implementation funding. A commodity foods supplemental program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture would be eliminated. Environmental Protection Agency programs in Alaska Native villages would decline by $19 million in FY '06 to $15 million. A Community Oriented Policing Services grants program is poised to lose $128 million in funding, potentially costing tribal governments 759 law enforcement positions.
Even level funding from FY '06 will wreak havoc on some programs, among them the Native American Housing Block Grant program authorized by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act. The program's success is reflected in the level funding request of $625.7 million for FY '07, relatively generous in the nation's straitened budgetary circumstances. But energy-related inflation, spiraling construction costs and the growing American Indian population mean that many fewer Native families will find their way into homes despite the same funding.
At the hearing's end, Dorgan emphasized that Indian people should be in touch with their representatives as the budget evolves, and that tribes and Indian organizations should come forward with their information, perspectives and advocacy, as they did at the hearing. ''This budget process goes on for a long time here,'' he said.
February 16, 2006
Akaka Remains Concerned VA Budget Leaves Veterans to Struggle
Washington, D.C. -- Today U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) began his work to increase the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care budget. At a Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing, Senator Akaka told VA Secretary Nicholson, "This budget is much more robust than last year's. But let there be no mistake: The budget is merely a starting point. It requires our work to add funding to ensure that VA has the financial tools to make it work."
"I have a number of concerns that I will work on in the weeks ahead as we seek to shape the Department's budget for next year," added Senator Akaka. "Rather than providing sufficient funding, this budget calls upon veterans to shoulder the costs. We are presented with recycled proposals to double the drug copayment and to charge a yearly enrollment fee for veterans who simply want to use VA care."
Toward the end of the hearing, Senator Akaka also heard from a middle-income veteran who would have to shoulder these new additional costs proposed by the Administration. Louis Green, of New Jersey, told Senator Akaka that the new fees -- while considered by some to be modest -- would devastate his family's already tight budget. Green's out-of-pocket costs would go up by $670 a year if the President's proposals became law.
Green said, "This increase would create a very serious hardship for me to choose what monthly expenses I have to reduce. I ask Congress and our citizens to recognize that all our veterans deserve and are entitled to veterans health care; therefore, we should not be driven out of VA."
Senator Akaka also told the VA Secretary, "Let me set the record straight about the types of veterans who would be shouldering these costs. These veterans are not "affluent," as they have been described. They are veterans living in states like Hawaii -- where the cost of living is one of America's highest. We are talking about veterans making as little as $26,902 a year."
The next step for Senator Akaka is to ensure the FY07 Budget Resolution contains enough funding to completely reject the increased copayments and new enrollment fee.
NaHHA Holding Community Meetings on the Impact of Tourism
What: The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) is holding community meetings statewide through mid-April regarding the impact of tourism on Native Hawaiians. Come share your concerns and propose solutions at these community meetings, then shape them into key strategies at the NaHHA Tourism Conference on the future of tourism from May 2nd through May 4th at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko Olina, O‘ahu.
Community meetings are planned for the dates and locations listed below, with weekday meetings running from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, and Saturday meetings running from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. These meetings are facilitated by CNHA.
Register for a community meeting and sign up for the NaHHA Tourism Conference mailing list at www.hawaiiancouncil.org\docs\events\forms\nahharegformspring06.html.
Pre-registration for the community meetings is encouraged, but you may also register on-site at any meeting. If you are unable to attend a meeting, request an input form from CNHA and provide your mana‘o by fax or mail.
| Meeting dates and locations:
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| A project funded by
Office of Hawaiian Affairs |
February 22, 2006
Census report offers insight into Native American life today
Contains stats on tribal membership, education, marriage, employment
Sam Lewin
NativeTimes.com
A new report by census officials shows that more people claiming American Indian heritage identify with the Cherokees compared to any other tribe.
The study also reveals other data about modern-day Native Americans, including hard numbers.
“In Census 2000, 4.3 million people, or 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population, reported that they were American Indian and Alaska Native. This number included 2.4 million people, or 1 percent, who reported only American Indian and Alaska,” the report states.
Of the respondents queried, 302,569 people classifying themselves as Indian and no other ethnicity reported they are Cherokee, with 276,775 in that category saying they are Navajo and 40,487 identifying as Creek. There are a total of 2,447,989 people that identify as solely Native American.
A separate category for people characterizing themselves as Native and another ethnic group shows 875,000 part Cherokees and 310,000 part-Navajos.
Other statistics contained in the report:
-About 33 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population was under age 18, compared with 26 percent of the total population. In the older age group, 5.6 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population, compared with 12.4 percent of the total population, was 65 and older.
-Less than 10 percent of all American Indian tribal groupings were 65 and older.
-The median age of 29 years for American Indians and Alaska Natives was about 6 years younger than the national median of 35 years.
-American Indians and Alaska Natives had a higher percentage of family households maintained by a woman with no husband present and a higher percentage of family households maintained by a man with no wife present than the total population.
-Household type varied among the American Indian tribal groupings. The percentage of family households ranged from 68 percent to 80 percent.
-Twenty-five percent or more of Sioux, Pueblo, and Navajo households were family households maintained by women with no husband present.
-Among the Alaska Native tribal groupings, the percentage of family households ranged from about 65 percent to 76 percent. Forty-two percent of Eskimo households were married-couple families, which exceeded the 31 percent of Alaskan Athabascan households.
-Seventy-two percent of individuals 5 years and older who reported their race as American Indian and Alaska Native spoke only English at home; 18 percent spoke a language other than English at home, yet spoke English “very well”; 10 percent spoke a language other than English at home and spoke English less than “very well.”
-Ninety percent or more of Cherokee, Chippewa, Creek, Iroquois, Lumbee, and Tlingit- Haida spoke only English at home.
-The Navajo had the highest percentage that spoke a language other than English at home and reported they spoke English less than “very well” (25 percent).
-Ninety-one percent of Tlingit- Haida spoke only English at home, compared with 53 percent of Eskimo.
-Seventy-one percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives 25 and older had at least a high school education, compared with 80 percent of the total population. Eleven percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 24 percent of all people.
-The labor force participation rate for American Indian and Alaska Native men (66 percent) was lower than that of all men (71 percent), while the rate for American Indian and Alaska Native women (57 percent) was slightly lower than for all women (58 percent).
You can reach Sam Lewin at sam@okit.com
Posted on: Sunday, February 19, 2006
Democrats back Akaka in race with Case
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — In his 16 years in the U.S. Senate, Daniel Akaka has developed a reputation and relationship with some of his Democratic colleagues that could pay huge dividends in his re-election bid this year.
It could mean big money, political ads, campaign workers, personal appearances and more.
"Friends in high places, as you might say, are important to voters as well as the politicians, and Akaka can claim having friends in high places — most Democrats in the U.S. Senate, for example," said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst.
One supporter, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said he already contributed the maximum allowed to Akaka's campaign through his leadership political action committee and is willing to do whatever the senator needs.
"Obviously, if he needs me, I'll be there," said Obama, who was born in Hawai'i, attended Punahou School and is sometimes called "Hawai'i's third senator" by his supporters in the state.
Akaka, 81, seeking his third full six-year term in the Senate, is being challenged by 43-year-old Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, serving his second two-year term in the House.
Neither candidate has an overwhelming amount in the bank, so outside support is important. At the end of the year, Akaka had $648,000 in cash to Case's $147,000. In his 2004 re-election campaign Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, the state's senior senator, spent about $1.8 million.
When Case announced his challenge on Jan. 20, some Democratic senators, such as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Charles Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, rushed to support Akaka.
Reid, Schumer and other Senate Democrats already have taped a video testimonial talking about Akaka's value in the Senate.
Akaka said he welcomes the help and whatever way his Senate supporters can pitch in "would certainly make a difference."
"For me, it means they value my service here in the U.S. Senate and that I do make a difference not only for the Senate but for Hawai'i," he said. "What is important is to convey to the people of Hawai'i what I can do here for the people of Hawai'i with this kind of support from the leadership."
Inouye, D-Hawai'i, and Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, also are solid Akaka supporters.
Abercrombie said he was supporting Akaka "with both fists."
Asked if he will stump with Akaka in the Islands, Abercrombie said he would wait to see how it all develops.
"At this stage, things are just getting under way," he said.
Inouye said he was unsure how much time he would be able to spend in Hawai'i to help Akaka because his wife is undergoing treatment for cancer.
"I'm going to do what I can," he said.
Case, who plans to raise $1 million for his Senate campaign, said he also wants to tap into the Washington fundraising network and has started making calls to supporters in the area.
"The reception has been very favorable," he said. "Obviously there are some people that have contributed to me in the past that probably will not this time around because they will simply choose to contribute to Sen. Akaka."
Case said many people in the Washington area who have contributed to him in the past did so in part because they view him as somebody who will be in Washington politics for a long time "up to and including the Senate."
"I will be fundraising inside the Beltway, as well as the rest of the country including Hawai'i," he said.
Washington support can translate quickly into cash.
Senators, as individuals, can contribute $4,200 to a candidate, evenly split between the primary and general elections. They also can contribute another $4,000 — $2,000 for each election — from their own campaign committees.
Those senators with leadership PACs, such as Obama and Reid, can put an additional $5,000 into each election.
The heavy hitter is the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which also is backing Akaka.
The organization, which helps incumbent senators in their re-election, can make contributions to Akaka's primary campaign of up to $37,300, according to the Federal Election Commission.
The senatorial committee also can spend an unlimited amount of money in the primary battle if they don't coordinate it with Akaka's campaign committee.
"This can include television ads, phone banks and other things," said Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the commission. "Sometimes what the party will do is set up a separate office to handle uncoordinated activities."
The senatorial committee also can contribute $79,200 to the party nominee's campaign for the general election.
Rothenberg said the committee's involvement in Akaka's primary is similar to Senate Republicans' involvement in Sen. Lincoln Chafee's primary campaign in Rhode Island.
Chafee, a moderate Republican seeking a second term, is facing conservative Stephen Laffey, the Republican mayor of Cranston, R.I.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the White House and the Senate Republican leadership have all jumped to Chafee's support in the belief he is the only Republican candidate who can carry the Democratic leaning state.
Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.
Posted: February 17, 2006
Urban health program funding euthanized
by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today
WASHINGTON - Under President Bush's proposed fiscal year 2007 debt reduction budget, urban Indian health funding would be terminated and patients would have to seek health care through other federally funded health facilities.
More than 60 percent of all American Indians who live in urban areas use urban Indian health facilities, according to the president's budget information. Those patients could find themselves looking for other health providers, mostly at their own expense.
The Bush budget would cut the entire $33 million from urban Indian health. Federal dollars comprise the majority of funding for urban Indian health organizations and clinics.
It was explained in the budget that ''urban Indians can often access other publicly funded health programs designed to address health disparities in urban areas, such as Community Health Centers.''
Those centers are primarily designed to accommodate homeless, migrant and seasonal workers. The American Indian population is not the primary target group.
Daniel Hawkins Jr., vice president of the National Association for Community Health Centers, expressed his concern to the president in a Feb. 10 letter.
In the letter, Hawkins stated that the two organizations serve complimentary rolls and that the elimination of the urban Indian health program would be detrimental to operations of the health centers in those cities.
He said the two organizations serve different populations in the communities and any increase in the FY '07 budget for the community health centers would allow for only one million American Indian patients.
Urban Indian health clinics and programs do more than provide primary health care. They are sources of education on diabetes, heart disease, alcohol and drugs and provide personal services.
A diabetic patient who asked for transportation from an Omaha, Neb., urban Indian health clinic was taken to an emergency room instead. The clinic employee assigned to transport the patient knew her and realized the woman was in distress and needed emergency care. That comes from knowing the patients, said Dr. Donna Polk-Primm, executive director of the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition. She said employees at the clinic were familiar with the culture and also knew the patients and their needs very well.
American Indian patients in Sioux City, Iowa, which does not have its own urban Indian health clinic, receive support from the Omaha clinic with transportation to and from the facility. Transportation is financed by the Nebraska coalition.
''We spend two to three thousand dollars a month, what is going to happen to that?'' Polk-Primm asked. The tribes served in that area are the Winnebago and the Omaha. Polk-Primm said she asked the tribes for money to finance the transportation, but the tribes have no money.
The $33 million cut is to be used, as the budget stated, to improve the health status of an increasing population of American Indians and Alaska Natives who live in rural areas and on reservations. The budget report did not provide details as to how the funds would help or be spent.
A large American Indian population resides in the South Dakota capital city of Pierre, where an urban Indian health center is located. A federally funded health center is also located in Pierre, but according to Alan DenOuden, finance director, it is not clear if that clinic will be funded after March 1.
The Pierre health center cooperates with the UIHO facility and they share many of the same patients, but DenOuden did not know how many clients would potentially use the health center facility.
The Minneapolis Indian health clinic also functions as the community health center. If the proposed budget is passed, about 25 percent of the funds for that clinic would be cut and would mean a loss of 12 to 13 full-time employees, said Dr. Terril Hart, CEO of the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis Inc. He said he was working on contingency plans.
Cutting the budget for urban Indian health would undercut the patients' ability to access health centers, Hart said. Of the some 6,000 patients treated at the Minneapolis clinic, approximately one-half are American Indian.
Urban Indian health programs provide culturally based health services from medicine men, and the health centers do not, Polk-Primm said.
''There are important differences in what we do. We are culturally sensitive. If one of our patients would benefit from having a medicine man or shaman or minister, we understand and will facilitate that need,'' said Polk-Primm.
The Omaha clinic provides services to the Aberdeen Area tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa; it also assists the Prairie Band Potawatomi in Kansas.
''The ramifications [of no funding] are incomprehensible,'' Polk-Primm said.
Patients may return to their reservations for health care if they have adequate transportation and finances. That would put an extra burden on the reservation-based IHS service units, tribal officials said.
Ron Johnson, IHS coordinator for the Urban Indian Health Program in Billings, Mont., would not comment other than to say he was made aware of top-level UIHO officers who were working on efforts to keep the funding.
''As a government employee I have to support the president's budget.''
In past budgets, programs were zeroed out, only to be resurrected by congressional action. Urban Indian officials are also hopeful that FY '07 will be the same.
Hart said he was not so optimistic because of the political climate and the Republican control of both houses of Congress, even though Congress is usually reluctant to cut programs in election years.
An additional $120 million has been budgeted for IHS and will be used for rural and reservation health care. Hart said urban Indian health clinics don't want those funds: ''we just want what we had.
''The part that outrages me is there is an abdication of the government's obligations,'' Hart said.
As part of the opening comments made during the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs budget hearing on Feb. 14, Sen. John McCain, chairman of the committee, expressed concern about the lack of information, data and statistics to support ''such a drastic change in the public policy,'' such as zeroing out the urban Indian health budget.
Posted on: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Mauna 'Ala showing its age
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer
The resting place for Hawaiian royalty would get a dedicated source of state revenues under a bill moving through the state Legislature.
A number of Hawaiian organizations and individuals are supporting the plan to designate a funding source for repair and maintenance at Mauna 'Ala, the Royal Mausoleum, in Nu'uanu. But officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Parks Division, which operates the site, counter that the bill is unnecessary and could siphon funding from other upgrade efforts.
For many Hawaiians, Mauna 'Ala is hallowed ground. Initiated by Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma, the 3.5-acre site overlooking downtown Honolulu includes the tombs of every member of Hawaiian royalty with the exception of Kamehameha the Great and King William Charles Lunalilo.
The birthdays of royalty are still celebrated at Mauna 'Ala by Hawaiian civic clubs and other organizations. Civic club members and boarding students from Kamehameha Schools also go there on weekends to clean the chapel or clear fallen branches.
An annexation resolution adopted by Congress in 1899 stipulates that Mauna 'Ala must be kept as a mausoleum for Hawaiian royalty and never be considered "for sale, lease or other disposition."
"Mauna 'Ala's such a special place," said Stacy Rezentes, director for the Charles R. Bishop Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides some support to the landmark site. "It's important to Hawaiian people, and to people that call Hawai'i home. The ali'i who left so much to us are buried there. We really need to take care of them."
Last summer, more than 10,000 people who gathered at 'Iolani Palace in support of Kamehameha Schools' admissions policies that offer preference to students of Hawaiian heritage marched two miles to the site to pay respects to the schools' founder, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
DETERIORATING CHAPEL
Queen Lili'uokalani converted the original mausoleum building, completed in 1865, into a chapel after the caskets were moved into tombs and crypts below ground. Nearly 150 years later, despite a decade of extensive state-funded renovations that began in the mid-1970s, the chapel building is showing its age.
Among other things, there are cracks in both the interior and exterior plaster, and the drainage system on the chapel roof needs to be replaced.
There's also a public restroom facility, constructed during the 1950s, that needs upgrades to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
Toni Lee, president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, compared the restroom area to an outhouse. "You would never put an ali'i in one of those restrooms," Lee said.
A March 2005 study funded by the Charles Reed Bishop Trust concluded about $1 million is needed for capital improvements, major repairs and landscaping over the next three years.
Among other major projects identified by consultant DLR Group: repaving of a circular road through the site, restoration of the perimeter rock wall, and replacement of the roof of the Kalakaua Crypt. Also, a large kamani tree that looms prominently over Mauna 'Ala that was planted by Queen Emma in honor of her husband is in need of a support system for its lower branches.
MORE LANDSCAPING CARE
William Mai'oho, Mauna 'Ala's curator since 1995, said the site's last full-time groundskeeper retired in 2000. The upkeep is now covered about three mornings a week by two groundskeepers based out of Kaka'ako Regional Park, he said.
Mai'oho is descended from a secession of Mauna 'Ala curators who trace their genealogy to one of the two keepers of Kamehameha the Great's secret burial site. He said while the regular state maintenance coupled with the volunteer work is keeping the site passable in appearance, it would be nice if Mauna 'Ala once again had a dedicated groundskeeper.
Mai'oho said he understands the state's ongoing budget constraints, but noted more attention and care must be given to landscaping — beyond sweeping and mowing — and he hopes additional funding can be tapped for those needs.
Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), chairwoman of the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, said that's why she introduced Senate Bill 1294, which seeks to designate a percentage share of all ceded land revenues to repair and maintenance at Mauna 'Ala.
The bill specifies that the share is not to come from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' portion of ceded land revenues, but from the overall amount received by the state.
Hanabusa said Mauna 'Ala supporters are tired of going before state lawmakers to ask for one-time capital improvement projects and competing with other DLNR funding priorities. If the bill gets the Legislature's backing, responsibility over Mauna 'Ala could be shifted to OHA or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Hanabusa said.
"The problem with it being under DLNR is it has to wait in line with everybody else," she said.
Hanabusa said she left the amount blank in the bill because DLNR has not responded to requests about operational costs for the site.
DLNR said annual expenses are about $90,000. The amount includes the salaries for Mai'oho and groundskeepers, utilities and related maintenance fees.
DLNR officials oppose the Senate bill, contending that it is unnecessary and could gobble up funding needed for other more pressing upgrades.
"Obviously, this is an important place that we need to make sure is protected and maintained," said DLNR Director and Land Board Chairman Peter Young. But, he added, "The process may not need the dedicated funding. It may need the continued effort on our part as well as our partners in making sure the area is protected."
Dan Quinn, DLNR parks administrator, defended the upkeep of the site.
"There's certainly work to be done, but it's not like it's been neglected," Quinn said.
In addition to the decade-long renovation to the chapel that wrapped up in the mid-1980s, the state replaced the curator's residence in 2000 and renovated the Kalakaua Crypt in 1992-93, according to DLNR information.
The Bishop trust, which is related to Kamehameha Schools but is funded by a separate endowment, restored the wrought-iron front gate in 1985 and paid for repairs to the chapel and three monuments in 1993. Four years later, the Queen Lili'uokalani Trust restored the John Young Crypt.
DLNR, Peter Young said, is now working with the Bishop trust, civic clubs and others to draft a priority list for the projects identified in the recent study.
$1.4M FUNDRAISING GOAL
A private fundraising effort called Malama Mauna'ala has started under the leadership of the Bishop trust; Kamehameha Schools; and Hawai'i Maoli, an arm of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. Its goal is to raise $1.4 million, according to Rezentes of the Bishop trust.
Rezentes said the combination of dedicated state funding and private-source funding would help ensure the aging Mauna 'Ala is never in disrepair.
Hanabusa said she does not buy the argument that Mauna 'Ala is not in top condition because state officials are coping with budget constraints.
"It shouldn't be like that, not for who's resting in that place," she said. "It just seems like such a sacrilege for it not to have been kept in pristine condition. And it's not a Hawaiian issue, it's just an issue of respect for the history of this state."
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Article Last Updated: 2/15/2006 06:49 PM
Touching Spirit Bear - Cultural immersion
By Andrea Gusty, CBS 11 News Reporter
KTVA One Anchorage school is bringing Western teaching and Native traditions together for one educational experience. Students at Romig Middle School got a chance to act out some of the cultural issues in Touching Spirit Bear, a book they read in class about a modern-day struggle between Western and Native cultures.
But this isn't only about a book, it's about cultural immersion, awareness and support. And in a time when Native cultures are being lost, these Indian education programs are some of the only ways Native kids get to embrace the past--and make it their present.
Romig Middle School and Willow Crest Elementary are the two pilot schools for the Anchorage School District's culturally relevant programs. At Romig, a four-person team works with kids, a teacher, assistant teacher, counselor and family advocate. They work together to provide Native kids with as much cultural support as possible.
“Our program offers wrap around support. So we not only help them in our specific classroom, but also with other classes. And I think when we discuss specific topics in class, there is a lot of them that relate to that," said Chandra Falnnery, CIRC Language Arts.
"Everybody else might have the same culture as you. So, you can talk to them about different things and you might learn new things," said Aaron Gallahorn, Native student.
The ASD is hoping that with programs like this, and a little help from the community, they will be able to increase Alaska Native student achievement.
“We are really working with those two schools and we just developed a draft continuum so that schools can develop and grow and be culturally responsive-- looking specifically at Alaska Native students, and the community and the population,” said Doreen Brown, Indian education supervisor.
Romig Middle School and Willow Crest Elementary aren't the only two schools in Anchorage that have these culturally relevant programs. Both East and West have Native language courses and even Native math classes, combining Native kids' life experiences and traditional math instruction.
There are more than 95 languages spoken across the district, and it has immersion programs in Japanese, Spanish, and Russian.
Pretty diverse for a population of less than 300 thousand people!
To contact Andrea, call 907-273-3146
February 20, 2006
Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
Women's Fund awards grants
The Women's Fund of Hawaii has made its second round of grants.
The nonprofit raises money and gives grants to organizations that help women and girls.
"We are a start-up organization that is focusing not only on helping the organizations that effectively serve women and girls, but also on tapping into the enormous potential that women have to make a difference with their pocketbooks," said Gwen Pacarro, chairwoman of the fund's board of directors.
The following are the 2006 grant recipients:
- $5,000 for The Girls Group project at the Kekaha Elementary School, a school in a rural plantation community serving civilian and military families.
- $4,500 for the Baby Hui on Oahu, Maui and Kauai. The Baby Hui supports teen-age mothers by providing training in parenting and leadership skills and academic assistance.
- $500 for Maui Economic Opportunity Inc.'s B.E.S.T. Reintegration Program, which provides comprehensive transitional assistance to inmates and ex-inmates in Maui County.
February 20, 2006
Vandals desecrate Iolani Palace shrine
More than 20 stones are scattered up to 75 feet from where they were set in 1993
By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.com
Vandals partly dismantled an ahu on the grounds of Iolani Palac e this weekend, scattering more than 20 sacred stones around the grassy area and leaving one atop the site's gated burial mound.
The desecration comes less than a week after a native Hawaiian altar at the summit of Mauna Kea was knocked down.
"It's akin to burning down a black church," said Ikaika Hussey, a native Hawaiian activist. "I think it was a cowardly act of barbarism. The person who did this clearly knew that it was a significant site."
The Iolani Palace ahu was built in 1993 on the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. After the desecration was discovered at about noon yesterday, a group of native Hawaiians gathered at the site to see the damage. Halau Lokahi charter school high school students started the work of putting the ahu back together at around 4 p.m.
The desecration apparently happened sometime late Saturday or early yesterday. No witnesses have come forward.
But Hussey said an unknown man knocked on the door of Iolani Palace at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday and told security guards to "come outside to look at something." The guards told the man they could not leave the palace, according to a mention in the guards' log.
Hussey believes the man might have been a witness or noted something had happened to the ahu.
In addition to scattering stones up to 75 feet from the ahu, vandals also placed one in a tree and a second on the nearby burial mound. In the gated mound area, plants were disrupted and one ti plant was unearthed.
"It becomes a kind of hate speech," said Lynette Cruz, who has placed a stone on the ahu. "Definitely, there's a feeling that it's OK to do this. I think it's just a kind of general disrespect."
Melvin Kalahiki, who helped build the ahu, said there will be a gathering sometime this afternoon to pray at the site.
"Perhaps whoever did this had no idea what they were doing," said Kalahiki as his eyes welled with tears.
The shrine has hundreds of stones, some of which were hand-carried from Hawaiians on the mainland or other islands. Over the years, the ahu has grown as more stones are added.
This is the first time it has been desecrated.
"This ahu was put here. It belongs to the people," Kalahiki said, adding that many feel "a kinship" around the shrine, a regular gathering place for native Hawaiian ceremonies. Some families have even scattered the ashes of their loved ones on the altar, Cruz said.
James Nakapaahu, who has a family stone in the ahu, said the desecration could be some of sort of retaliation -- though he did not know for what.
"This is sacred to all of us," Nakapaahu said. "It's unthinkable."
On Tuesday an alter built in 1997 atop Mauna Kea was vandalized with what appeared to be a machete.
The altar was used for spiritual purposes and also housed the personal items of two soldiers from Hawaii who were killed in Iraq.
Vandals struck two sacred stones in Hilo within a nine-day period in 2003, spray-painting them with Hawaiian words and the dates "1893-2004."
February 17, 2006
Vandals strike Hawaiian altar at Mauna Kea summit
The memorial held items of 2 soldiers from Hawaii who were killed in Iraq
By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com
HILO » A Hawaiian altar at the summit of Mauna Kea used for spiritual purposes since 1997 was knocked down Tuesday by unknown vandals, according to a Big Island activist.
The altar also had been used as a resting place for personal items of two soldiers from Hawaii killed in Iraq.
"It's customary practice to place things of the deceased in high places," said Kealoha Pisciotta, who has criticized observatory expansion on Mauna Kea.
Breaking into tears, she added, "They lost their sons. It's obviously hurtful and disrespectful."
Honolulu attorney Allen Hoe, whose son Nainoa was killed by a sniper in Mosul, Iraq, last year, said he felt "blown away" by the desecration. "Talk about hateful acts," he said.
Amid the rocks of the altar, Hoe had placed a written version of his son's genealogy, his son's Army "Ranger tab," a kind of badge, and other items.
The family of the second man with items in the altar did not want to be identified.
Pisciotta said people should try to avoid anger at the desecration. "We have to remember that Mauna Kea is for peace," she said.
The altar was erected in 1997 by the Royal Order of Kamehameha "to help provide a focus of reverence," Pisciotta said.
It was a time when old plans for astronomy on Mauna Kea were ending, new plans were being proposed and some people were angered by feelings that the biological and cultural resources of the summit were mismanaged.
The Royal Order built a "lele," a wooden skeleton of an altar 6 feet high with posts in four corners, Pisciotta said. To anchor it, rocks were placed at the base, beginning an "ahu," or stone altar. More stones were added by visitors over time.
The lele stands barely a yard from a U.S. Geological Survey marker showing the true summit of the mountain, which is a few hundred feet from the closest observatories.
The day after it was built, 115-mph winds raked the summit, but the lele was undamaged, Pisciotta said.
On Tuesday a patrolling Mauna Kea ranger saw the lele still standing in the morning but knocked down in the afternoon, said Bill Stormont, director of the Office of Mauna Kea Management of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
A machete might have been used, Pisciotta said. "It looks like it was hacked down," she said.
Stormont said he has five rangers under his command, but only two at a time are on duty and they have no enforcement powers. A bill to give them that power failed in the Legislature last year and is pending this year, he said.
There might be no law to enforce, since the lele is not a historic structure, and there might be no law protecting a new religious structure, Stormont suggested.
Rangers count cars going to the summit area but do not take license plate numbers, he said.
The Mauna Kea management structure calls for Stormont to be guided by a group of Hawaiians called the Kahu Ku Mauna Advisory Council.
Some members feel that a lele is traditionally built to serve for a specific purpose and time and then should be removed, he said. After more than eight years, some felt that the time to remove it had come, he said. But there is no information on who knocked it down.
Hoe said the nature of the structure has changed with time from a temporary lele to a permanent ahu. It "absolutely" has a right to remain, he said.
"A lot of other Hawaiians have adopted that as a kind of special place for tributes to their ancestors," he said. "It is the highest point of our cultural being."
Posted: February 20, 2006
Foundation helps three tribes fight poverty
by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today
MINNEAPOLIS - The Northwest Area Foundation partnered with three tribes to help alleviate economic conditions and reduce their poverty levels with a nearly $30 million grant award.
Each tribe will receive from $6 million to $10 million over a 10-year grant period to assist in the implementation of strategic plans to improve economic development, housing, infrastructure and self-sufficiency.
The three tribes partnered with the NWA Foundation are the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota and the Lummi Nation in Washington state.
Each is located in states crossed by the Northwest Railroad in the 19th century while opening the West to settlement. The Northwest Railroad was owned by James J. Hill. Hill's son, Louis, organized the foundation, which contributes funds to assist areas that are high in unemployment and poverty.
''We are very honored and very excited to form this unique relationship with three distinct American Indian nations,'' stated Karl Stauber, president and CEO of the NWA Foundation, in a prepared statement.
''We are eager to join each reservation community in implementing strategies that will go long and deep in an effort to reduce poverty for the long term.''
The strategy is to gather information on the lessons learned from the three tribes' efforts so that more work to end poverty throughout Indian country will be possible.
''This project represents a long-term commitment to address the symptoms of poverty our people face. It lies at the root of many of Lummi's problems, and we see this funding as a chance to help our people become self-sufficient,'' said Darrell Hillaire, chairman of the Lummi Nation.
The Lummi plan's main focus is to encourage economic development by creating an employable work force by way of education, child care and transportation. Those areas will help people overcome barriers to employment, said Rena Priest, public relations director for the Lummi Nation.
''Largely we want to maintain and sustain community without giving up our cultural identity or as much as we can hold on to, and create an employable workforce and exist as a thriving people,'' Priest said.
The Lummi Nation has long historic connections to the fishing industry, but outside forces have created an atmosphere that has nearly devastated Lummi fishing and impacted their cultural inheritance.
''It [fishing] doesn't look like a reality that will be revitalized,'' Priest said.
Micro-enterprises, with the aid of a revolving loan fund to assist individual entrepreneurs succeed in business, are also part of the Lummi plan.
Of the 3,900 people who live on the Lummi reservation, 28 percent live below the poverty level and the average individual income is $10,785. The Lummi Nation will receive up to $5 million in the 10-year project.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has more people living below the poverty level - 46 percent - with the average individual income level at $7,026. The tribe will receive $2.5 million in the first year and, if goals are met, could receive up to $7 million for the 10-year grant period. Cheyenne River will work on a plan that will create jobs at remote villages and promote economic development throughout the reservation.
''The tribe is looking forward to strengthening our families, our communities and our partnerships as we implement our Tribal Ventures 10-Year Poverty Reduction Plan,'' said Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
The plans Cheyenne River has in store focus on developing job skills, with an emphasis on the culture. Reservation-wide community learning centers will provide entrepreneurial training. The learning centers will be a location for community gathering that will also serve to include more community-based services.
''When we have a skilled work force, then they can compete for jobs and have an opportunity to impact the regional economy,'' said Sharon Vogel, program administrator.
Vogel said three phases of their plan are grounded in cultural values.
''One thing we appreciated about the foundation is they let us develop tribally designed initiatives that will allow us to become who we are. We will incorporate that into the plan; that's who we are and who we want to remain,'' Vogel said.
Cheyenne River has a buffalo ranch with a processing facility that has expanded to beef and pork. Vogel said with more skilled workers, the plant can expand further.
''It is a collective wisdom that put this plan together. We are excited about it. There were a lot of good thoughts that came forward, and we will build on the recommendations,'' Vogel said.
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, on the northernmost border of North Dakota, plans to include the people who live in poverty in the decision-making and creative processes to help reduce the level of poverty.
Currently, most jobs for the roughly 8,000 residents on the reservation are light industry in nearby towns, a few local businesses and a small casino. Government contracts dictate many of the jobs, which are sporadic.
The average income of a resident of Turtle Mountain reservation is $8,855. At least 36 percent of the residents live beneath the poverty level.
Economic development, the revitalization of downtown, a revolving loan fund and expanded tourism are part of the pathways Turtle Mountain expects to accomplish.
A revolving loan fund will assist people who have traditionally been discriminated against by the banking and loan industry to acquire housing and startup funds for businesses.
''Anyone with a business idea will go through business training,'' said Jeremy Laducer, project manager for the loan.
New Markets Tax Credits and low- and earned-income credits will fit into the plan to develop businesses and create housing.
''We will come up with a marketing scheme to show what we have,'' Laducer said.
''We definitely want to see the unemployment rate go down. We would like to meet housing needs; we are 600 houses short of the demand. We want to create a stable economy in the community.
''We want a self-sustained community,'' Laducer said.
Integral to the entire economic plan is the establishment of a privately owned bank on the reservation. Construction for the building is set for this year.
''I have always thought that American Indian tribes needed the equivalent of the Marshall Plan, in which the United States rebuilt Europe after World War II. I see this project as that type of effort,'' said Ken Davis, Turtle Mountain tribal chairman.
''We look forward to planting the seeds necessary for us to grow and build not only a self-sustaining economy, but also our most valuable resource: the members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa,'' Davis said.
Posted on: Monday, February 20, 2006
Museum tries to bridge culture gap
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — 'Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai'i is literally shiny and new, a museum of stargazing and Hawaiian culture, housed in a building designed to be a landmark with its three high-tech titanium cones. 
The museum and planetarium opens on a 9-acre site overlooking Hilo Bay next week with a complex mission, at a time when Hawaiian culture and astronomy sometimes seem to be on opposite sides of a deep rift.
On one level, the $28 million Astronomy Center of Hawai'i was built to showcase Mauna Kea and its world-class observatories, to draw Hawai'i's children into the mind-expanding possibilities of the cosmos, and to provide a new tourism draw in rainy Hilo.
Underlying that is a more complicated mission, and perhaps it is more a hope than a mission.
'Imiloa is also meant to dramatize the common ground the two sides share in the disputes over the development of Mauna Kea, a mountain that is sacred to Hawaiians and absolutely essential to Hawai'i's astronomers. 
In the weeks leading up to the museum and planetarium opening, the strains in the community were exposed and looking raw.
NASA recently announced it cut funding for the long-delayed Outrigger telescopes project, which was designed to sharpen the images from the most powerful telescopes in the world at the W.M. Keck Observatory.
The Outrigger project was supposed to help in the search for new planets, and astronomers said its loss was a loss for science. What the scientists didn't say was this: The project might have been finished and operating already if not for years of resistance by Native Hawaiians and environmentalists who fought the project in court.
Then this week Hawaiian cultural and religious practitioners were angered after someone toppled a 3-foot wood and stone religious shrine at the mountain summit, an act Hawaiians consider a desecration.
Kealoha Pisciotta, a cultural practitioner whose family has long worshiped on the mountain, said the incident marks the seventh recent case of desecration of a mountain shrine.
SEEKING THE TRUTH
" 'Imiloa," which means "explorer" or "seeker of profound truth," was conceived with that tension in mind.
Its displays on the telescope, the greatest tool of modern space discovery, are deliberately laid out alongside dramatic presentations on the canoe, the essential tool of discovery for the ancient Hawaiians.
The entrance to the planetarium is next to the entrance to an indoor mock forest trail that leads to a model of the summit, with displays along the trail describing some of the history and cultural significance of Mauna Kea.
'MUTUAL RESPECT'
Displays on the science being done at the powerful Subaru and Gemini telescopes are offered near presentations on Hawaiian immersion education. Every display is explained in both English and Hawaiian.
"I think part of what 'Imiloa offers is a forum and a gathering opportunity to develop mutual respect, and maybe a broader shared understanding of the concerns of the Hawaiian culture and language representatives, and the astronomers," said Peter Giles, executive director of 'Imiloa.
"Our programming direction and outreach activities will hopefully provide a base for better understanding on both sides."
Giles said about 100,000 visitors are expected at 'Imiloa the first year, with about 65 percent of those projected to be tourists.
Among those invited to speak at the blessing for the center today is Paul Neves, ali'i 'aimoku, or high chief, of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, an organization founded in 1865 by Kamehameha V to bring together people loyal to the Hawaiian monarchy.
Neves' organization is among those that resisted the Outrigger project. He said he will measure the success of 'Imiloa by what happens in the community and by how it affects development on Mauna Kea, the site of the origin legend of the Hawaiian people.
"It is being built to mitigate, and to show that Hawaiians and astronomy can come together," Neves said of the center. "We've never been against astronomy. We're astronomers ourselves; we came to this place by the guidance of our stars.
"It's not that we don't want astronomy, but the technology that they use today means desecration of sacred sites, and we can never change that footprint of our ancestor. It has been changed already, terribly. We're saying: Enough, no more."
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.
February 12, 2006
Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., receives tribal leadership technology award at 20th RES 2006
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – In recognition of his efforts to promote information, communications and technology among indigenous nations around the world, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., was presented with the 2006 American Indian Tribal Leadership Award at the RES2006 conference here last week.
The President received the ICT Leadership award for groundbreaking achievements and international relations from the National Center on American Indian Enterprise Development at the 20th annual Reservation Economic Summit & American Indian Business Trade Fair here on Feb. 8.
The week-long conference attracted approximately 2,500 participants and 340 trade fair exhibitors representing tribes, Native businesses, government agencies and corporations.
Among the dozens of government and tribal speakers was U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas Dorr. Also appearing was Ohkay Owingeh Governor Joe Garcia, who is the new president of the National Congress of American Indians, Tex Hall, chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and former NCAI president, and Ernest L. Stevens, Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association.
“The world is changing,” Under Secretary Dorr said in a keynote address. “New technologies, new opportunities are transforming rural America, making it a land of opportunity. IT is producing the most radical decentralization of information in human history. Today, data can be shared easily across great distances.”
President Shirley was presented with the leadership award by NCAIED Chairman Ronald J. Solimon, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, and NCAIED President Kenneth E. Robbins, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
“ICT is a reality for us,” the President said in a keynote following the presentation. “I’ve seen and know that the availability of information, communication and technology will advance the quality of life for all of our people. We are now the largest wireless communications network in the world by far.”
The President said that when the Navajo Nation’s wireless, satellite-based project began in 2002, only 22 percent of Navajo families had telephones, only 15 percent had computers and only 10 percent had Internet access.
Today, any Navajo who wants an e-mail address can have one for free, and free wireless access is available at all 110 Navajo chapters.
“Everywhere across our lands people are using this technology to take distance education classes, e-commerce, communicate with family and friends,” he said. “Many of my people are getting bachelor degrees, even masters degrees, at home.”
He said degrees and education are the means to independence and sustaining oneself. That’s what the Internet has done for Navajos, he said.
Companies like Overstock.com and Worldstock.com have more than 600 Navajo artists who sell their jewelry, Navajo rugs, pottery and other wares online, Dr. Shirley said.
“The Navajo Nation has demonstrated to the world that a people who value culture, language, and tradition can use satellite and wireless technology to help maintain their way of life,” he said.
Last November, President Shirley was invited to Tunis, Tunisia, by the Observatory for Cultural and Audiovisual Communications. There he and Navajo Nation Council delegates Ervin Keeswood, chairman of the Navajo Government
Services Committee, and George Arthur, chairman of the Navajo Resources Committee, signed two MOUs with OCCAM and the International Telecommunication Union.
This established the Navajo Nation as the first indigenous nation to become a formal member of the ITU, which is a United Nations organization.
In addition, the World Summit on the Information Society Indigenous Steering Committee asked President Shirley to represent the world’s 370 million indigenous people at the summit before the UN General Assembly.
“The MOUs between OCCAM and Navajo Nation is an important step toward partnering with others to replicate our experience with the rest of the world,” Dr. Shirley said.
Both he and First Lady Vikki Shirley spoke on a panel titled “Technologies to Build Stronger Communities.” The panel discussed how tribal communities deliver these technologies to their people through wireless broadband applications, highlighting the projects discussed in the previous sessions.
“My vision, my hope, is simply this: that many world leaders will come to see the primary role of Indigenous people, with the Navajo Nation as the example, as the incubators of the human spirit, rather than factories for the production of more material goods and services.” Mrs. Shirley said. “This is true self-sustainability and sovereignty.”
Coordinating the conference’s Communication Technologies session was Nancy Plon, who has worked for the Federal Communications Commission for more than 20 years. She is the FCC’s Project Coordinator for the Federal Rural Wireless Outreach Initiative. This is a partnership between the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture rural Utilities Service and the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
Her efforts to expedite the development of wireless communications throughout rural areas will benefit Native nations who currently lack access to the Internet and the economic and social opportunities they provide.
Because of her work, she was presented with the RES2006 NCAIED Board of Directors Appreciation Award. She has been the recipient of the National Center’s Volunteer of the Year Award for three year in a row.
The RES 2006 Information and Communications Technologies sessions also included:
• Technologies that Empower Business Success: This panel discussed how Native American enterprises have kept their competitive edge by adapting technologies to their business needs, how they financed these technologies, and how the technologies produce returns on their investments through increased productivity.
• Technologies to Promote Education and Preserve Tribal Culture: The panel discussed how tribal schools and colleges use technology to bring teachers into the classroom, provide technical training and facilitate on-line research, and how tribal museums, language programs and cultural preservation initiatives use technology to preserve tribal cultural traditions.
• Technologies to Support Tribal Self Governance: This panel showed how tribal justice systems, emergency response services, healthcare systems, e-government, resource management and environmental protection are strengthened through technology.
Posted: February 17, 2006
U.N. negotiations on indigenous rights wrap up, for now
by: Valerie Taliman / Indian Country Today
GENEVA - The current round of negotiations on the U.N. Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples came to a close Feb. 3 with nearly two-thirds of the provisions agreed upon by the member states of the U.N. Human Rights Commission.
The Human Rights Commission's Working Group on the Draft Declaration, including member countries as well as many indigenous participants, wrapped up its final week of negotiations after some 11 years of work.
''We were able to reach agreement with member countries on a number of articles that protect individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, and that was an important accomplishment. However, there were several areas where we could not reach consensus, even though there was agreement on basic issues,'' said Robert T. Coulter, director of the Indian Law Resource Center in Helena, Mont., and Washington, D.C.
Articles regarding indigenous peoples' right of self-determination and rights to lands and natural resources continued to be controversial in negotiations between indigenous delegates and several nation states.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand, among others, sought changes in the articles on self-determination for indigenous peoples. Some indigenous participants sought rights to all the lands and territories that they had ever traditionally owned.
Lacking consensus on the articles dealing with these major issues, Working Group Chairman Luis Enrique Chavez, of Peru, will now prepare his version of a text that includes the agreed-upon provisions and his recommendation for the remaining articles that he believes are most likely to achieve consensus among the member-states of the Human Rights Commission. He will submit his proposed text to the commission before its meeting begins in mid-March.
If the commission adopts Chavez's text, the draft declaration would then be forwarded to the Economic and Social Council for approval before being sent to the U.N. General Assembly for final adoption.
However, the United Nations is currently reorganizing its human rights bodies, creating uncertainty over whether the declaration will be adopted by the Human Rights Commission or passed along to the proposed Human Rights Council, which will replace the commission. If the draft declaration is forwarded to the Human Rights Council, the council would not consider it before its first session beginning in mid-June.
Though the negotiations did not result in consensus on all provisions, the advancement of the declaration represents a major development in the rights of indigenous peoples in international law. The term ''consensus'' in the United Nations means that no country openly objects to adoption.
''There is a good chance we could get the declaration adopted within a year or two,'' said Coulter. ''If consensus is reached in the commission or the council, it could probably be adopted by the General Assembly next fall.''
Coulter said the reason the ILRC and many Native leaders began working in the international arena was that the rights of Indian nations and other indigenous peoples are not spelled in the U.S. Constitution.
By creating a set of legal standards and rules at the international level that have a healthy influence on domestic law, Coulter hopes that Congress will see that there is something fundamentally wrong with terminating tribes and violating their rights in other ways.
''Once the U.N. has adopted the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, we will have a formal legal statement on the rights of indigenous peoples that is accepted by every country in the world. After countries demonstrate over a period of time that they regard the law as binding, it becomes a part of customary international law,'' he said.
When Native leaders first went to the United Nations, many countries did not know much about indigenous peoples. ''Country representatives sometimes said they didn't have any indigenous peoples, and these were countries that today acknowledge huge indigenous populations,'' said Coulter.
''There was a lot of disbelief that indigenous peoples had or ought to have specific rights. It has taken a long time to educate people about who we are. So when we first spoke of self-determination for indigenous peoples, many countries thought that was absurd. Now nearly all countries support the idea that indigenous peoples should have the right of self-determination, to be self-governing within the countries where they live.''
Coulter said advancement of indigenous rights in the international arena is a backstop against unfair law within the American legal system, where Indian and Alaska Native nations are often denied equality before the law.
''Indian nations have particular rights, and we are fighting for justice and equality before the law. It is about time we stopped termination and the fear of it. Reforming these laws and putting to rest these old injustices is way overdue.''
Because the declaration sets standards on how countries should treat indigenous peoples, it may be effective in influencing federal laws and policies regarding Indian nations and tribes.
Coulter believes the declaration will eventually have an influence on court decisions. The Supreme Court at times turns to international law in deciding cases, including four or five in the past four years in which it looked at international law concerning the death penalty, equal protection of the law and other issues.
''We now have the support of most if not all the countries in the U.N. Human Rights Commission for provisions in the declaration stating that we have a right of self-determination as distinct groups within the countries where we live. We are unique in the world that way. No other category of peoples has such a right,'' he said.
In some countries, the declaration will be especially important - particularly where the rights of indigenous peoples have been barely acknowledged in the past.
''In some countries, indigenous people are killed, shot, driven from the land,'' said Coulter. ''The official acknowledgment of their legal rights could mean [the] survival of peoples and communities that might otherwise perish.''
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. 05-1-0415 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT STATE OF HAWAII SECOND SUMMONS TO: HEIRS OF NAIWIELUA (K); also known as J.M. NAIWIELUA; CHITARO NAIWIELUA; HEIRS OF E. VON HAO (K), also known as E. VAN HAO; WRIGHT VAN HAO; HEIRS OF KAHANA (K); HEIRS OF L. KAMAKA (W); HEIRS OF PUHULULU KEAWE (W), also known as PUHULULU; HEIRS OF KEAWE (K); HEIRS OF WAH CHONG SUN (K); HEIRS OF MEHEULA (K); HEIRS OF J.K. MEHEULA (K); HEIRS OF KEAHI; HEIRS OF KIMO KEAHI (K), also known as JAMES KEAHI; HEIRS OF HALEKEALOHA (W); HEIRS OF NUINUIMAKUA (K); HEIRS OF KAUAINA (K), also known as KAUWAINA, also known as S.B. KAUAINA, also known as S.B. KAUWAINA, also known as KAUAINA PALEA; KAMALIIKANE (K); KAMALIIWAHINE (W); KAAIHUE (K); and Heirs of persons named above who are deceased, or persons holding under said Heirs, and spouses, assigns, successors, personal representatives, executors, administrators, and trustees of persons named above who are deceased; DOES 1 through 100; and all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, lien or interest in the real property described and TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiff EWM INVESTMENTS, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company, claims fee simple ownership to the land described as: Portion of Land Commission Award Number 8786:2 to Kuaana; all of Land Commission Award Number 9112:2 to Kahana; portion of Land Commission Award Number 9225-B to Keawe; all of Land Commission Award Number 10170 to Meheula; portion of Land Commission Award Number 10886 to Nuinuimakua; all at Poupouwela, Island and County of Hawaii, State of Hawaii, bearing Tax Key (3) 9-5-008-portion 010. YOU ARE HEREBY FURTHER NOTIFIED that Plaintiff EWM INVESTMENTS, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company, has filed a Complaint to Quiet Title in the Third Circuit Court, Hilo, Hawaii, requesting that title to the above-described real property be determined as to any and all adverse claims not presented and/or adjudicated in this action. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear in the courtroom of the HONORABLE GLENN S. HARA, Judge of the above-entitled Court, 75 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii, on Friday, the 24th day of March, 2006, at 8 a.m., or to file an answer or other pleading and serve it before said day upon Plaintiff's counsel TOM C. LEUTENEKER, Carlsmith Ball LLP, attorneys for Plaintiff, whose mailing address is One Main Plaza, Suite 400, 2200 Main Street, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, 96793, to show cause, if you have any, why the prayer of said Complaint should not be granted. Unless you file an answer before the time aforesaid or appear at the Third Circuit Court, Hilo, County and State of Hawaii, at the time and place aforesaid, your default will be recorded, and said Complaint will be taken as confessed and a judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. DATED: Hilo, Hawaii, February 3, 2006. B. McRAE CLERK OF THE ABOVE-ENTITLED COURT CARLSMITH BALL LLP TOM C. LEUTENEKER 721-0 One Main Street, Suite 400 2200 Main Street Wailuku, Maui, HI 96793 Telephone: (808) 242-4535 Attorneys for Plaintiff (Hon. Adv.: Feb. 9, 16, 23; Mar. 2, 2006) (A-347009) Posted on 2/9/2006
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