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.

 

 

 

 

April 12, 2006

 

 

2-Day Educational Symposium on Native Citizenship Set for April

 

WHEN:  April 17 & 18, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

WHERE:  Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel - Coral Ballroom

 

WHAT:  The UCLA Native Nations Law Clinic and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), in partnership with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), announces the Educational Symposium on Defining Citizenship: The Foundation of a Native Nation, to be held April 17-18, 2006, at the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel.

 

This two-day symposium will inform and share valuable information with participants about citizenship and enrollment activities of Native governments from around the country, with a particular emphasis on the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, also known as the Akaka Bill.  Participants will have an opportunity to engage in the review, comparison, discussion and development of various criteria for citizenship with a Native Hawaiian government.  The Symposium will feature leaders and experts in the field of Native Law to share the experience of other Native nations, including best practices and challenges faced.  Symposium Workshop Topics include:

 

 

In addition to the workshop series, symposium presenters include:

 

 

Scholarships covering all or a portion of the registration fee are available by contacting CNHA and are made possible through the support of Symposium Partners which include the I Mua Group, ‘Ahahui Siwila Hawai‘i O Kapolei, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Native Hawaiian Legal Defense & Education Fund, State Council for Hawaiian Homestead Associations, Native Hawaiian Economic Alliance and the UH Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.

 

 

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is sponsoring the Symposium and is providing scholarships for Kamehameha Alumni Association – Oahu Region members, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs members, UH Center for Hawaiian Studies students, as well as homestead organization members.  Anyone interested in community development programming and how the extension of the federal policy on self determination can support health, housing, education, culture or economic development is welcome and should attend.

 

For more information contact the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement at 808.521.5011, email to mailto:info@hawaiiancouncil.org or visit our website at www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, April 8, 2006

 

Kamehameha case on June 20 docket

 

Advertiser Staff

 

A rehearing of the case involving Kamehameha Schools' 120-year-old admissions policy giving preference to native Hawaiians will be heard June 20 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the court announced yesterday.

 

The court decided last month to rehear the case at the request of Kamehameha attorneys, who want to overturn an earlier decision by a three-member panel of the court that ruled the schools' policy violates federal civil rights law.

 

This time, arguments will be made "en banc" — before a panel consisting of 15 members of the court.

 

At issue is a lawsuit filed by John Doe, a boy seeking admission to the school who believes he was denied admission based on his race. If Doe wins, it would throw out Kamehameha's longstanding policy of admitting primarily those with Hawaiian ancestry and force the school to admit people regardless of race. The school has been allowed to continue the preference policy through the appeals process.

 

The school has argued that the charitable trust now worth about $6 billion was established in 1884 by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop primarily to meet the social, economic and educational disadvantages of Hawaiians, and that those concerns still need to be addressed before the preference policy can end.

 

Attorneys for the boy, however, called the policy discriminatory and a violation of his civil rights.

 

The 2-1 decision issued in August against the school set off an uproar among Kamehameha supporters and led to a series of marches and rallies.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, April 7, 2006

 

Flood-relief requests rise $20 million

 

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Government Writer

 

The state's emergency response to the storms that have saturated the Islands with rain could swell by $20 million as state and county officials continue to assess the damage.

 

The Lingle administration had requested $14.3 million in emergency spending last month, which was approved by the state House, but the state Senate Ways and Means Committee heard the need for more money yesterday.

 

Heavy rains persisted well after the administration's first request and ended with a powerful downpour last Friday that swept through O'ahu.

 

The state is asking for an additional $7 million to contain landslides around upper Round Top and Maunalaha that have threatened homes and public safety, and $3 million to stabilize land on the Manoa Valley side of Round Top. Another $2 million would go to assess and repair damage to state parks and other state lands.

 

The state needs $2.5 million for a controlled breach to drain the Kailua Reservoir in Waimanalo, which is in danger of failing and damaging homes if there is another storm. The state also wants $1.2 million to dredge and remove mud and sand at the Wailoa River in Hilo that has been a hazard to boats and fishermen.

 

Honolulu is asking to be eligible for a preliminary $5 million in state money to help repair basic city infrastructure.

 

"We're dealing with 43 days of rain and the cumulative damage across the state," said Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, the state's adjutant general, after the committee hearing.

 

State Sen. Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), the chairman of the committee, said he will review the new requests before the Senate approves the emergency money and it goes to a House and Senate conference committee for final revisions.

 

"We want to make sure it's directed toward the right things," Taniguchi said.

 

Other senators are questioning administration officials about their response to the Kaloko dam breach on Kaua'i that killed seven people.

 

State Senate Vice President Donna Mercado Kim, D-14th (Halawa, Moanalua, Kamehameha Heights), said she wants to know why the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has not considered billing private property owners for some of the costs of dam surveys or repairs since the Kaloko failure.

 

The administration's emergency request includes $5 million to survey the integrity of private and publicly owned dams statewide.

 

Private landowners are responsible for maintaining their dams but the department is expected to do inspections. Peter Young, the DLNR's director, has said the department has no record of inspecting Kaloko.

 

Young said he would check whether private landowners could be billed for some of the state's work, but Kim believes the department has been dragging its feet.

 

"Maybe if the state had done its job perhaps we wouldn't be here," Kim said.

 

State Sen. Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau), got the committee to add a provision to the response package that would allow for the appointment of an independent investigator to look into the dam failure.

 

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, has previously called for an independent investigator because he felt Attorney General Mark Bennett might have a conflict in investigating the actions of other state agencies. Hooser said he has spoken to people on Kaua'i who believe Bennett also has a conflict because he used to work at the law firm representing retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger, who owns land around the dam.

 

"It is the appearance of a conflict, both real and perceived," Hooser said.

 

Bennett has said he does not have a conflict with other state agencies and noted his office joined with the federal government to take legal action against Pflueger in a separate environmental case.

 

Taniguchi, the committee chairman, also said he does not believe an independent investigator is warranted at this time.

 

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

April 10, 2006

 

State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations Fill & Train Ten Tech Jobs

 

PAPAKOLEA, HI - The State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations (SCHHA), under a grant with the Administration for Native Americans (ANA), has filled and trained 10 full-time technology jobs in the Papakolea community homestead. 

 

“We are thankful for Commissioner Quanah Crossland Stamps and the ANA in Washington DC for believing in our ability to train residents of Hawaiian homesteads in the technology sector,” said Paul Richards, SCHHA Executive Director.  “When Hawaiian Homestead Technology began operating production facilities in our communities, we wanted to help provide the training and employment outreach that would result in these jobs becoming permanent.”

 

The SCHHA is a statewide association of more than 25 community associations located in different Hawaiian Home Land communities.  Its mission is to advance the well-being of homestead communities and the residents that live there and to protect the federal trust established by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920.

 

SCHHA’s two-year training project is supported by funding from the Administration of Native Americans within the federal Department of Health and Human Services.  ANA provides highly competitive grant funding for social and economic development projects in Native communities nationally, as well as language preservation grants to promote indigenous languages. 

 

The SCHHA jobs training project, in partnership with its community association members, identifies potential employees to be employed in the document conversion industry and coordinates intense computer skills training.  Applicants are reviewed, counseled and placed in available jobs located in either Waimanalo or Papakolea on Oahu.

 

“We realize and know job creation and sustainability is one of the keys to enhancing the quality of life in our communities,” Anthony Sang, SCHHA Chairman remarked.  “Focusing on quality job training connected to a technology based opportunity is an aspect we know we can help with.  Economic development is more than job training; it’s really all about economic self-sufficiency, one family at a time.  The leadership of community association Presidents like Puni Kekauoha in Papakolea, Annie Au Hoon of Kewalo and Steve Chun or Kalawahine Streamside is truly inspirational – these associations are the heart of their communities.”

 

Founded in 1987, the SCHHA is led by an elected Executive State Council with representatives from each county in the state and managed by an Executive Director.    For more information, contact Paul Richards at 808.523.2475 or prichards@schha.org.

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2006

 

ITEA Announces In-Sourcing Jobs Achieved by Tribal 8(a) Firms

 

Mandaree, North Dakota – Today, the Inter-Tribal Economic Alliance announced that In-Sourcing jobs to rural America is being achieved by its Technology Firm owned by a dozen Tribes and Native social enterprise firms in 8 states across the country.  The Intertribal Information Technology Company (IITC) operates 14 Document Conversion production facilities on Indian reservations, Alaska villages and Hawaiian homelands, delivering converted maintenance manuals to all branches of the military.

 

“Job creation and growing the economy continues to be a concern of every American business in the country,” said Tex Hall, Chairman of the ITEA and the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Tribe.  “It’s no different for Native American and Tribal businesses.  Our Tribal 8(a) firms are doing something about it.”

 

IITC, the brainchild of ITEA in 2003, brought multiple Tribal firms and communities together to deliver document conversion services to the federal government.  Under the Tribal 8(a) program within the Small Business Administration which encourages and promotes contracting directly with the federal government by federally recognized tribal governments, IITC has delivered on or is working on more than 20 Delivery Orders to the 4 Armed Services.  As of the end of the 2005 year, Tribal firms were employing 243 staff in 8 states including, Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Hawaii, North Dakota, Wyoming and New Mexico.

 

“Indian Country has a lot of solutions to offer our great country,” remarked Hall from his Tribal office in North Dakota.  “We have untapped labor resources and locations all across the country that can deliver the IT production needs of the federal government – We just needed a chance to enter the marketplace.  The SBA Tribal 8(a) program is certainly providing that chance and definitely, the encouragement to engage in small business to advance our social and educational goals by some of the great members of Congress is a tremendous inspiration.” 

 

Hall continued, “Senator Inouye has long understood our potential in Indian Country, and we thank the good Senator from Hawaii for believing in the tribes and the value we can bring.  In-Sourcing jobs to Native America is a powerful solution that not only benefits our communities, but our subcontracting partners and local state economies.”

 

IITC is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico with production sites owned and operated by tribes ranging from the Zuni, the Eastern Shoshone, the Choctaw and Assiniboine.  For the 2005 4th Quarter, a total of $4.5 million in contracting was achieved, with 68% completed by the 243 employees of the tribal firms.  32% or $1.5 million was subcontracted to small business software firms in urban cities from New York to Washington state.

 

“Working together, our tribal firms and small business firms out there, we can deliver a good product that helps our military agencies and creates jobs right here at home,” Hall said.  “We’re committed to In-Sourcing jobs, and by doing it, we are contributing to national solutions our country needs more of.”

 

“For those who would say the SBA Tribal 8(a) program isn’t fair to other minority firms, clearly they don’t have a grasp on the goals of Tribes and our trust status with the United States.  Tribal business goals are entirely different than the SBA Minority 8(a) program.  We support minority small business firms that are owned by a few owners to achieve economic success -- and we embrace the additional responsibility that Tribes have to direct our business operations to the well-being of communities and the states where we work.”

 

 “The reality is that contracts to Tribal 8(a) businesses don’t even account for a half of 1% of the total federal contracting universe. As tiny as that is, the Tribal 8(a) program, works and is doing just what it is supposed to do – improving the day to day lives of Americans, enabling us to In-Source jobs and reducing poverty and promoting economic growth through the tribal business in our communities.  Our tribal businesses are the greatest opportunity for economic success outside of gaming.  This is our White Buffalo -- the one who brings hope and success to all our people."

 

For more information on IITC or ITEA, visit www.IITC.us or contact Chris Stearns, Communications Director for the ITEA.

 

 

 

 

April 5, 2006

 

Taxpayers Should File Their Returns Through IRS Web Site for Free, Says Akaka

 

Washington, D.C. - As the deadline for filing taxes nears, Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) today introduced the Free Internet Filing Act. This measure requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide universal access to individual taxpayers filing their tax returns directly through the IRS web site.

 

"It is frustrating that individual taxpayers completing their own returns are not able to file directly with the IRS," stated Senator Akaka. "If a taxpayer takes the time necessary to prepare their returns by themselves, they must be provided with the option of electronically filing directly with the IRS."

 

Currently taxpayers are dependent on commercial preparers to electronically file their taxes.

 

The Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development wrote in support of Senator Akaka's legislation stating that "providing free universal access to electronic filing, low income working families would be able to keep more of their hard earned dollars in their pocket."

 

According to Senator Akaka, the current Free File Alliance Agreement leaves out too many taxpayers. Taxpayers that make more than $50,000 are not eligible.

 

Nearly 45 million returns prepared using software are mailed in rather than electronically filed. Senator Akaka said, "Electronic returns help taxpayers receive their refunds faster than mailing them in. This would save the IRS resources and reduce possible errors that can occur when the mailed in returns are transcribed."

 

 

 

 

April 08, 2006

 

Indians want reality of sovereignty -- their own embassy

 

One Minnesota tribe has put up 'challenge' money to buy a building along Embassy Row in the nation's capital.

 

Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune

www.startribune.com

 

WASHINGTON -- It's a question from one of the dustbins of history: If American Indian tribes are truly sovereign nations, why don't they have an embassy in the nation's capital?

It was one of the demands of Vernon Bellecourt and other American Indian Movement leaders from Minnesota when they occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington in November 1972.

 

Now the idea is being revived by a more prosperous Minnesota group: The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, owners of Mystic Lake Casino. The tribe has put up a $1 million "challenge grant" to buy a building on Massachusetts Avenue -- known as "Embassy Row" -- which would house the National Congress of American Indians, the nation's oldest Native American advocacy organization.

 

An Embassy of Tribal Nations -- even if it doesn't achieve full diplomatic status like those of foreign nations -- is seen by backers as a symbol of American Indians' evolution from an era of reservations and tribal allotments to the modern era of tribal government.

 

Among the first to get involved were the Prairie Island Sioux Community, owners of the Treasure Island Casino, and former BIA chief Dave Anderson, founder of the Minnesota-based Famous Dave's BBQ chain. They have each contributed $50,000.

 

Whether many Indian tribes nationwide respond still remains to be seen. So far, the effort has received its biggest push from Minnesota, a reflection of the new wealth of the Mdewakanton Sioux, the Prairie Island Sioux Community, and other Indian tribes that rely on their sovereign status to run profitable casinos with little state interference.

 

Bellecourt says he's happy to see the idea of an embassy resurrected, as long as "it does something for Indian people and it's not just another building with a name."

 

Whatever else it becomes, an embassy could at least be a more suitable home for Indian leaders who come to Washington, says the American Indian Congress' executive director, Jackie Johnson.

 

For now, the organization leases offices above the Luna Grill Diner, sharing a block just off of DuPont Circle with a psychic reader and Fatty's Tattooz and Body Piercing.

 

The building it wants is a modern five-story office building next to the Embassy of Chile just a few blocks away.

 

"So close," Johnson says, "and yet so far."

 

The group still has a long way to go on its $12 million fundraising goal before any of the nation's 562 tribal flags fly above the building, now the home of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

 

"It's a tremendous financial leap for a historically under-funded non-profit," Johnson said.

 

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Vice Chairman Glynn Crooks said that while he understands that tribes across the nation have pressing social, health and education needs, there's enough wealth in Indian Country to create an Embassy of Tribal Nations.

 

"I know there are many tribes that aren't able to give that much, but I also know that there are a lot of tribes that can," he said.

 

American Indian Congress President Joe Garcia, who would be the de-facto "ambassador," called the Minnesota tribe's gift "a huge step in securing a home in Washington."

 

For too long, Anderson said, Indian concerns have been represented in Washington mainly by the BIA, an agency that falls under the vast bureaucracy of the Interior Department.

 

Anderson said it is now time to recognize the reality of Indian sovereignty, a concept recognized by the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

 

"It's amazing that you can have every other country represented in Washington, but not the people who were here to greet the 'first visitors,' " Anderson said. "It would be historic."

 

As Anderson and others see it, a new embassy would become the center for doing much of what the American Indian Congress already does: Push for full federal funding of Indian health and service programs, mediate disputes over Indian trust funds, and serve as a political voice for tribes.

 

 

 

 

Published: April 7, 2006

 

Homegrown ideas sought to spur rural economies

CONTEST: Entrepreneurs' plans will be rewarded with cash and professional support.

By SARANA SCHELL
Anchorage Daily News

Entrepreneurs from around the state gathered in downtown Anchorage on Thursday to sell their business ideas for building a better life in rural Alaska, from beauty products made out of tundra plants to diesel fuel made out of canola.

 

The presentations capped a business idea competition through the Alaska Federation of Natives that aims to kick-start sputtering rural economies with confidence and cash.

 

"Everybody here has the potential to change their community," said Julie Kitka, AFN president, "no matter how small or large your phone book."

 

Kitka reminded contestants and judges that Alaska Native and Indian innovation goes back millennia, back when nobody was getting government grants to make their ideas work.

 

Contestant Sherri Adams reminded herself to breathe.

 

Adams is one of 42 finalists vying to be among 20 winners who will receive from judges a share of $200,000, as well as a year of mentoring. Three additional $1,000 prizes will be decided by the public through the People's Choice awards. Funding is from oil companies, government agencies and other AFN partners. Winners will be named today.

 

Unemployment rates in most of rural Alaska are over the state average of 8.2 percent, with some swathes nearly three times higher. Those areas have some of the highest poverty rates in the nation. Few transplanted economic development efforts take, so AFN asked community members for their homegrown ideas last December and got 170 entries.

 

"We (want) people to feel like they can make a decent living where they live," said AFN consultant Veronica Slajer.

 

The contest, which Slajer said would likely run one more year, was inspired by a World Bank competition that awards grants to innovative, small-scale projects that can be replicated or expanded, such as an effort in Azerbaijan to transport fruit in locally made plastic boxes instead of one-use boxes made from illegally harvested trees.

 

The Alaska Marketplace theme, "Culture and Development," was broad enough to pull in entrepreneurs seeking money for wide-ranging business ideas: high-tech alternative power, glacial silt skin-care products, medicinal stinkweed, diving in Sitka, custom tours in Metlakatla and pick-your-own organic farming in Noatak.

 

Adams wants to sell cell phone holders, in the shape of cloth parkas known as kuspuks with a loss/theft alert. She rocked forward on her toes as she made her first pitch of the day to one of more than 20 judges in front of a scattering of tiny, colorful kuspuks pinned to her booth. If absent-minded owners get more than 15 feet away from their phone, a beeper worn as a necklace goes off, she explained. Women can make the holders at home whenever they have time -- she laughed as she took a deep breath between note cards -- "fusing traditional arts and crafts with modern technology."

 

Photos of blueberries, smiling children, ivory carvings and diagrams of biomass gasification units decorate other exhibits, on display in the Conoco atrium at 700 G St. in downtown Anchorage until 5 p.m. today.

 

Hogarth and Fred Kingeekuk want to run a parts and repair shop in Savoonga staffed by youths who will be learning how to operate a small business.

 

"They can see if they like it or not," Hogarth Kingeekuk Jr. said.

 

Terri Mitchell of Anchorage wants to start Confluence, a Web-based women's art cooperative, stressing fair trade as a marketing point. She said feedback on her pitch has already helped her refine her plan. One judge asked, "When you Google fair trade you get a gajillion hits. What sets this apart?"

 

Judges include well-known Native leaders, economists and business owners from Alaska and beyond.

 

Triplets Michelle and Cika Sparck and Amy Dobmeier pitched Arxotica, skin-care products based on tundra flora they gathered for subsistence growing up in Chevak.

 

"We do have private investors lining up," Michelle Sparck told a judge.

 

Wearing a neat pale blue kuspuk, Ulric Ulroan of Chevak Bird & Cultural Tours stood next to photos of tundra swans, a yellow wagtail and an emperor goose, a bird unique to Alaska and eastern Russia.

 

"Even if I don't win, it's good experience," Ulroan said. Networking at the competition, he got advice on insurance and airlines. "It sure would be nice to win it, though," he said, grinning.

 

 

 

 

April 9, 2006

 

Canvas of a Community

By FAITH CHASE, For The Maui News

Hana

 

Walk slowly and hear the walls of Hana High & Elementary School talk. Eighteen murals speak of the legends of old Hawaii. Pele, the fire goddess. Maui, the demigod. Poliahu, the snow goddess. The mural adorning school hallways reveal student and teacher signatures of two decades ago.

 

The worn-and-torn artwork revealed the years that have gone by. Larry Taguba, Hana’s former art teacher, returned to repair and repaint murals that he and his students created. Three of his former students – Maile Getzen, Mona Moeai and Moani Aiona –planned for a year to have the murals restored to their original brilliance.

 

Getzen, now a teacher at Hana, had her art students take direction of the project. With some donated paint, Getzen’s students were aided by school staff, alumni and Tacuba himself.

 

Getzen managed the many paintbrushes and matched Tacuba’s 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule from March 21 to 27.

 

Moeai made sure her children were involved, and her mother, former cafeteria manager Winona Diego, fed everyone well.

 

The scenes are a collection chosen by students and teachers and painted between 1986 and 1991. The murals have multiple meanings for the Hana school and their creators.

 

The original artists connect with their time at Hana High and share in the ownership of the murals.

 

Many of today’s Hana School students are children of those artists, and have a pride and ownership in the artistic renditions of hula dancers, alii and boar hunters.

 

Students and teachers have been inspired by Tacuba to do murals of their own. Special education counselor Sean Sinenci helped with the painting of murals on two small buildings and the physical education building.

 

The theme of Hawaii’s stories achieved Taguba’s intent to honor the culture. Hana School boasts one of the largest percentages of Native Hawaiian children, and the weeklong effort to restore the murals has reconnected curriculum to the culture and linked generations.

 

The 50-year-old Taguba has a personal goal of having completed 50 murals by this year. With 46 – 20 at his current school, Leilehua High School on Oahu, 18 murals in Hana and eight at Dole Intermediate, also on Oahu – he almost has achieved his goal.

 

Paint palettes were old plastic lunch trays; students poked fun at old-timers who recognized the makeshift palettes.

 

Alumni volunteers laughed as they located class comments, such as “Class of 88, dominate!” and initials here and there.

 

The restored murals of two decades ago and plans for new murals depict Hana’s sense of community.

 

Faith Chase was a student of Tacuba. A former employee at The Maui News, she now resides in Kamuela, Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

April 6, 2006

 

Keeping Salish Alive

 

By Jasa Santos

RezNet News

http://www.reznetnews.org

 

ARLEE, Mont.—More than a dozen children are crammed into the small entryway of a school on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana. An elderly man with salt and pepper braids is ushering coats and backpacks to each one, speaking quietly in Salish.

 

The children answer confidently and chatter excitedly with each other, alternating between English and Salish. Soon, the entryway is quiet, and another day has ended at Nkwsum, the Salish immersion school on the reservation.

 

“It’s just like any other school,” said Director Tachini Pete, “except for the focus on language and culture.”

 

Nkwsum was started four years ago, with the idea of bringing the Salish language back to the people. At the time, nearly 100 people spoke fluent Salish on the reservation, but only 58 speakers remain.

 

Nkswum (pronounced in-KOO-sum) means “family” in Salish and is derived from the Salish word meaning “one fire.”

 

Pete said the school enrolled only four students its first year. Now, nearly 30 students are enrolled in preschool through second grade.

 

The lone classroom contains only two rows of desks, all of which were donated by other schools. An English alphabet poster tops the marker board with the Salish alphabet underneath.

 

“We made everything in here just about,” Pete said, looking around the room.

 

Nkwsum is only one of two Native language immersion schools in Montana. Browning is home to the other, which focuses on the Blackfeet language. No Salish curriculum is available to Pete and the teachers at Nkwsum.

 

“We’ve proposed to the tribe to create a curriculum department,” Pete said. “We’re at the point where we can’t keep up. The kids are learning so fast.”

 

The Main Difference

 

That is the main difference between a public school and Nkswum, Pete said. A public school can buy everything needed to teach students math or science. Nkwsum can’t.

 

“Everything has to be translated and redone, so it fits our language and our culture,” Pete said. “We want our kids to get all the education they can, if not more than a public school can [give].”

 

As newly appointed curriculum director, Arleen Adams knows that Nkwsum faces more hard work.

 

“We have no McGraw-Hill,” Adams said with a laugh. “We are McGraw-Hill.” Adams said the Nkswum’s goal is create a curriculum and to “make it Indian, to make it Salish.”

 

“That’s what needs to be expressed to our children,” she said. “They don’t get that from a public school.”

 

The current curriculum isn’t based on lesson plans, Adams said. The group works in a casual manner, tracking months and seasons important to Salish culture.

 

The result is what Adams calls a “seasonal curriculum.” For example, October is “hunting month” in the Salish culture, Adams said. The teachers focus on the traditional animals, weapons and locations important to the culture.

 

“We rely wholly on our three teachers here to help us,” Adams said. “It’s about teaching the kids who they are and where they came from.”

 

Adams also consults a culture committee and elders to make sure that students are learning the full Salish language. With the dialect changing from places such as Arlee to Polson—everyone on the reservation knows a different way of speaking Salish—Adams wants to ensure that students are not learning “half-words.”

 

“We rely on our elders to be that foundation for us,” she said. “In a week’s time, [the students] are spitting out all kinds of Salish.”

 

Often, Salish elders visit for have storytelling time with students. Everyone works to reinforce the elder’s story and how it is important to the Salish culture.

 

“It would be nice to call up McGraw-Hill and say, ‘Hey, could we have a Salish curriculum for the fifth grade?’ ” Adams said. “But we create the curriculum as we go. It’s the only way.”

 

 

 

 

April 6, 2006

 

What Businesswomen Want – Affordable Health Care and Lower Energy Costs

 

National WIPP Poll Forecasts Economic, Voting Power of Women Entrepreneurs

 

WASHINGTON, DC --  The rising costs of health care and energy ranked as the top two concerns in a new national survey of women business owners released today by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), the nation’s largest bi-partisan women’s business group.  “What Business Women Want” is an annual online poll to gain insight on issues affecting the growth of women-owned businesses.

 

“These surveys accurately forecast each year the economic and voting power of 15.6 million women entrepreneurs,” said WIPP President and Co-founder Barbara Kasoff.  “With a 90% voting rate, women business owners are one of the most influential voting blocs, and they are voicing the issues that impact growth of their companies as the 2006 and 2008 elections approach.”

 

The “What Business Women Want” bi-partisan national survey was conducted from March 1-15 and sponsored by UPS.

 

With an upward trend from last year’s survey, healthcare was identified as the most critical business concern by 73% of respondents, compared to 71% in the 2005 survey.  The popularity of Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs) is also growing with 75% who believe that SBHPs would help decrease healthcare costs, compared to 72% last year.  An SBHP bill is scheduled for a full U.S. Senate vote in early May and has already passed the House of Representatives.

 

The majority supported small business tax breaks as an incentive to offer employee health coverage, but were evenly divided about whether or not individual tax credits would help reduce the number of uninsured Americans.

 

Escalating energy costs and concern over the growing budget deficit were both ranked as the second most important issues facing women business owners. When asked about energy, 69% of the respondents stated that higher energy prices had negatively affected their business.

 

“In addition to affordable healthcare and energy, women business owners reported that they want permanent tax cuts, for their businesses and families, and a bigger stake in federal contracts,” said Kasoff.

 

On tax reform, which ranked fourth, 74% believe the current tax structure is in need of comprehensive reform.  Also, women entrepreneurs would like to see several tax cuts made permanent:  personal income tax brackets, capitol gains and dividends, expensing for small business, and estate tax.

 

Women business owners strongly believe that the government’s 5% goal of awarding contracts to women-owned businesses is too low.  Sixty-six percent of survey respondents stated that the 5% goal should be increased.  While nearly half of all privately-held businesses are women-owned, a goal increase would more accurately reflect the business sector.

 

 “The greatest chance for women in business to exercise their economic strength and power is through the ballot box.  This is our opportunity to demonstrate our leadership,” commented Kasoff.

 

To read the complete survey, visit www.wipp.org.

 

About WIPP:

 

Women Impacting Public Policy is a national bi-partisan group comprising over 535,000 members.  The non-profit organization is the public policy voice for 40 national Women in Business groups and is The Voice for Women in Business in Our Nation’s Capital.  WIPP strengthens its members’ sphere of influence in the legislative process, creates economic opportunities for members and builds alliances with other small business organizations.  Visit www.wipp.org.

 

 

 

 

April 10, 2006

 

Web site about cancer goes multilingual

 

People can download materials translated into various Asian and Pacific languages

 

By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

 

Asians and Pacific Islanders with limited English-speaking ability can now get information about cancer in their own languages from an online database.

 

The new Web resource is located on the American Cancer Society Web site at www.cancer.org/apicem.

 

It was unveiled last month at the annual meeting in Honolulu of the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, based at the University of California at Davis.

 

"Asians and Pacific Islanders are dying in too many cases from a lack of basic information about cancer," Moon Chen Jr., principal investigator of the network and associate director of the UC-Davis Cancer Center, said in a news release.

 

He said the Web resource was developed by AANCART and the American Cancer Society in response to community needs and to provide a single point of access for authoritative cancer education materials.

 

People can download cancer information materials translated into more than 12 Asian and Pacific languages, Chen said: "This site provides one-stop access to an unprecedented volume of these materials."

 

Dr. Mark Clanton, National Cancer Institute deputy director for cancer care delivery systems, said the institute "is very proud of this historic database, which will improve the transfer of critical cancer information to Asians and Pacific Islanders.

 

"Advances such as this bring us closer to eliminating suffering and death due to cancer among Asians and Pacific Islanders."

 

Information will include how to reduce risks from preventable malignancies, including cancers of the breast, cervix, colon, liver, lung and stomach.

 

The database catalogs and provides links to materials written in Khmer, Chamorro, Chinese, Hawaiian, Hmong, Ilocano, Korean, Samoan, Tagalog, Tongan and Vietnamese.

 

English-language materials culturally tailored for native Hawaiians also are available.

 

Sally West Brooks, chairwoman of the American Cancer Society's national board of directors, said health providers might have had to go to several different organizations in the past to find suitable materials for patients.

 

Doctors can use the new site to search for patient information by language, type of cancer, cancer-related topic or organization, she said.

 

Expert reviewers have screened all the materials for accuracy, linguistic appropriateness and cultural relevance, she said.

 

More than 12 organizations developed and contributed information; others are invited to contribute materials that meet the criteria.

 

Helen Chew, a medical oncologist at the UC-Davis Cancer Center and medical director for the Sacramento AANCART, said the Web site will make it easier for doctors and other health care providers to communicate with patients about cancer prevention and early detection.

 

"We have medical interpreters who speak 18 languages, including the most prevalent Asian languages," she said. "But this new resource will allow us to also give patients materials to take home, think about, discuss with family members, friends or traditional healers and refer to as new questions come up.

 

"In the age of the Internet, we can and should make lifesaving information about cancer prevention and early detection available to everyone," she said.

 

 

 

 

April 10, 2006

 

Officials in Hawaii Prepare for Possible Flu Pandemic

 

Associated Press

 

HONOLULU -- A tourist from a country in the throes of a pandemic influenza outbreak boards a plane for a Hawaii vacation. On the way, the passenger develops a high fever, a sore throat, and starts vomiting.

 

Health officials in the islands hope they never see anyone with a rapidly spreading, deadly influenza virus like this traveler.

 

But, perhaps more so than in any other state, they're preparing for the possibility. Officials have launched an airport screening program, planned limited quarantines and amassed a supply of protective gear for doctors and nurses. Next month, the state will hold a seminar to help employers learn how a pandemic may affect their workers and businesses.

 

The state's identity as a tourist mecca has given Hawaii a heightened sense of the dangers of a global pandemic. The islands' distance from other population centers, meanwhile, has instilled in officials the need for self-reliance and preparation.

 

"We are very concerned in Hawaii about the fact we are the western doorway to the United States," said Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the state Department of Health. "We see a large number of visitors ... and a good proportion of them are from the Far East, where we know a good number of emerging diseases are originating."

 

In the past, the islands have suffered the ravages of infectious diseases.

 

The introduction of syphilis, smallpox, measles and other disease by Europeans after Captain James Cook arrived in 1778 killed thousands of Native Hawaiians who lacked natural immunity to the illnesses. By the late 1890s, the diseases -- together with war and famine -- shrank the Native Hawaiian population by 90 percent.

 

Today, the threat to Hawaii -- and the world -- stems from the possibility of a particularly deadly and fast-moving form of influenza. Any outbreak would likely hit before health officials would be able to prepare a sufficient supply of vaccine to protect everyone.

 

Doctors don't know what virus strain will trigger an influenza pandemic. But they are concerned a variety called H5N1 that birds have carried from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa could be the one. The strain has already killed more than 100 people from Vietnam to Turkey since 2003.

 

Humans can't easily catch the H5N1 virus from other people, but experts warn this may change if it mutates.

 

Hawaii is particularly exposed to travelers carrying disease.

 

The state of 1.3 million residents hosts an average of 171,000 travelers at any given time. About 20,000 people fly in each day.

 

Hawaii's airport plan calls for a nurse to take a swab from a potentially infected passenger on any plane, at the gate, or inside the airport. If tests show the traveler has a pandemic virus, authorities are prepared to quarantine the entire jet. Officials are also ready to cordon off a gate or other section of the airport to isolate people exposed to the passenger.

 

Still, officials know they won't be able to fully block the virus even with this approach because some people with the disease won't immediately show symptoms and won't be singled out for testing.

 

Instead, the state expects the screening to alert officials to the presence of the illness so they can contain it as much as possible, said Dr. Sarah Park, deputy chief of the Health Department's disease outbreak and control division.

 

"You can't guarantee a 100 percent barrier. You need to think more in terms of how do we detect it and once it's detected, how do we control it," Park said.

 

During an outbreak, Hawaii expects to test 6,000 samples per day from people who have or may have contracted the virus.

 

That's enough for more than a third of Hawaii's population over eight weeks -- roughly the length of time experts estimate each outbreak will last before petering out.

 

Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said Hawaii authorities understand the danger posed by the disease.

 

"Very definitely you guys are in the vanguard, in the lead of state level and local level preparations," Poland said on the sidelines of a Waikiki conference convened to educate island nurses, doctors, police and others about the flu. "I think you've crossed the biggest hurdle which I said is imaginability. People here seem to get it."

 

If the next pandemic proves to be as virulent and deadly as the 1918 Spanish flu, the federal government estimates 90 million people will contract the disease and 1.9 million people will die from it nationwide.

 

Even if Hawaii is not the first state to suffer heavy losses, experts say it's vital that the islands be prepared.

 

Robert Kim-Farley, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles' School of Public Health, said Hawaii is right to get an early start because all 50 states will be too busy dealing with their own outbreaks to help anyone else if the disease strikes.

 

"A pandemic is a local emergency happening worldwide. It's something that has to be handled and dealt with on a local level," said Kim-Farley. "We will never be blamed for preparing too far in advance. We will be blamed, however, if we prepare too late."

 

 

 

 

Friday, April 07, 2006

Health cuts concern Indian leaders

 

By BECKY SHAY
Of The Gazette Staff

 

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/04/07/news/state/50-cuts.txt

 

Tribal leaders will have to unite across reservation and state lines to stop federal cuts to Indian health care budgets, two American Indian leaders said Wednesday at a health conference in Billings.

President Bush's proposed 2007 budget would cut $33 million from the Indian Health Service budget that funds 34 urban Indian clinics across the nation.

If those clinics are closed, tribal members likely would have to return to their home reservations to receive health care. But the reservation clinics and hospitals are barely able to provide services for those people eligible for care, let alone an influx of others, Montana and Wyoming tribal leaders said.

Darryl Red Eagle, a council member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine-Sioux Tribes, said there are already medical "horror stories" because of not enough funding for health care services to his tribe.

Dental care is available only on an emergency basis, Red Eagle said, and if someone needs braces the system is backed up until 2017. A tribal elder recently rode to Billings in the back of a pickup to get her medical care, Red Eagle said. A man's gallstones were not considered a matter of "life and limb," so he could be referred off-reservation for care until a duct ruptured and he became infected. The man is in Billings recovering but had to have part of his pancreas removed and is on dialysis, Red Eagle said.

Red Eagle held up his left arm and rubbed the elbow where bone chips float, a condition that sometimes hampers use of his arm but that isn't critical enough to make him eligible for IHS treatment.

Attending the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council Health Conference this week in Billings gave Red Eagle hope that with strategic planning and creativity, the potential cuts can be stopped and maybe even some new programs established.

"There are solutions, but it takes a community to gather our funding," Red Eagle said. "There is strength in numbers. We're bringing all of our resources and numbers together."

Anthony A. Addison Sr., co-chairman of the Northern Arapaho Tribe on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, said there is a requirement in treaties between the government and tribes for federal funding to provide health care.

"We need to come together in a unified, collaborative effort to do our best to address these issues," Addison said. "Even though money is not allocated at levels we need ... it never has been funded at those levels."

Diabetes, heart disease, drug and alcohol abuse and cancer are debilitating young and old alike, Addison said. Those are ailments that don't stop at reservation boundaries but, in most cases, are more prevalent in Indian Country. Part of the problem, he said, is that too often people have to wait until a condition is advanced before health care is available.

"There are preventative measures that can be done," Addison said. "But there's just not enough money to do it."

The seventh annual health conference started Wednesday and wraps up today. Organizers said more than 200 registered for the conference, which is being held at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center.

The theme of the convention is "Gathering our people, gathering our knowledge, for a healthier tomorrow." Red Eagle spoke at the opening session of the conference, wearing his war bonnet and ribbon shirt. Those are symbols of leadership, he said, and it is up to tribal leaders to promote their cultures, healthy lifestyles and hope.

The hope now, Red Eagle said, is that more money can be found to take care of his people.

"There is hope," he said. "The reason we still have hope is because of our creativity as tribes and our desire to succeed."

Both men said they learned through the conference that there are successful programs they can bring to their tribes. But, they said, it will take resourcefulness and hard work for tribal leaders to find way to subsidize health care and keep their communities healthy.

"There's still a lot of work that needs to be done," Addison said. "A lot of lobbying efforts to address the funding issue. We really need these increases for a better lifestyle."

 

 

 

 

April 07, 2006

 

Oglala president takes center stage on women's clinic

 

by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today

 

PINE RIDGE, S.D. - The nearly total ban on abortion by the state of South Dakota has vaulted a tribal president to national prominence with her plan to build a clinic for women on a reservation that will offer reproductive choices for all women.

Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, surprisingly became a national figure in the fight to provide women with reproductive choices and rights. She is bringing traditional cultural attitudes to the forefront of the debate for the first time nationally.

The development of a clinic planned to be opened on the Pine Ridge Reservation to serve all women of western South Dakota and Nebraska is squarely in her hands.

Fire Thunder's focus on this issue is not surprising; she has a background in the battle for women's rights. She is also a nurse and has worked with rape victims and AIDS patients. She has also worked in an abortion clinic in California.

At issue is a bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature that bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother. Signed on March 6 by Gov. Mike Rounds, the bill will go into effect on July 1 if not enough signatures are collected on a petition to allow the state's residents to decide the issue in November. Victims of rape and incest were not exempted from the bill.

Fire Thunder is co-chairman of a statewide organization called the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, which is made up of 15 state residents. They are circulating the petition, which needs 16,000 signatures. Fire Thunder said she is confident the people of South Dakota will overturn the proposed law. She is not confronting the governor or the Legislature, she said: her actions are all about a woman's right to choose.

After the bill's passage, Fire Thunder stepped up with her challenge. At first she suggested that a clinic might be built only if a referendum fails. Her position is now clear: There will be a clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the Sacred Choices Clinic.

''I keep thinking about all the times I've worked with women who never had a choice,'' said Fire Thunder.

Fire Thunder's interest is primarily to offer women a choice, but she also wants a component of the clinic to emphasize education for men, women and youth about family planning and sexual responsibilities.

''Teenage boys rape girls. It's like in our society they are given permission. We look at movies, magazines - everything is sexual and it gives the young men permission.

''I'm not being puritanical; I think we are overexposed. It's part of our country's legacy,'' Fire Thunder said.

Planning for the clinic is under way. Volunteers will gather in early April to begin formulating a strategy. Attorneys are exploring all possible legal problems that might arise, Fire Thunder said.

South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long said that state jurisdiction would not apply on the reservation. If the law stands, however, only physicians and medical staff who perform abortions would be prosecuted. The woman would not be punished.

Fire Thunder's attorneys said her plan could work if the medical staff is American Indian, should the law go into effect. But the reservation is subject to federal law and Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land, Fire Thunder asserted.

The clinic will be a private nonprofit and will serve all women of western South Dakota and Nebraska, she said. So far $5,000 has been raised from supporters across the country.

''I am making it clear we are supporting the constitutional rights of all women across the country and particularly South Dakota to make their own choices.''

Fire Thunder said the attention she has received has been surprising. She received more than 600 e-mails from as far away as New Zealand and Australia.

''I'm excited about this. We have an election coming up and it is an important issue for the state House and candidates for Congress. Regardless of what you believe in, you have a responsibility to support another woman's choice.

''This is between her and God and the spirit of the child,'' she said.

Fire Thunder said her vision for the clinic would be to consider a young man's contribution to family planning. Contraception has been a woman's responsibility, she said, and not a man's.

''There has to be some real thought given to the role of men in this. Men need to be talking about choices.''

In traditional American Indian cultures, people were responsible for making choices, Fire Thunder said. ''I come from women of this nation who have made choices.

''I am challenging the women of America to stand up. This whole issue has been quiet for years. In the past we had this huge women's movement and it kind of fizzled out. I'm challenging women in America to stand up and be the voice of all women.''

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, April 8, 2006

 

OHA’s budget gains $1.6M as revenue rises

 

Advertiser Staff

 

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs' general community grants and initiatives coffers are getting an additional $1.57 million as a result of an increase in the second year of the agency's two-year budget, OHA officials announced yesterday.

 

OHA's board of trustees based their initial $28.2 million operating budget for 2005-06 on estimated earnings, administrator Clyde Namu'o said. Under its spending policy, OHA cannot allocate more than 5 percent of its earnings toward expenses.

 

Trustees will determine later which community projects will get the additional money, according to Namu'o.

 

As the second year of the biennium draws to a close, the trustees learned that as a result of rising revenues they have the authority to increase the budget to $29.8 million, Namu'o said.

 

Namu'o also announced the release of $1.75 million to Na Lei Na'auao, an umbrella organization of Hawaiian-focused charter schools in the state.

 

Also approved by the board this week were six new employee positions that will augment OHA's existing full-time staff of 128. Three of those positions are with the Native Rights, Land and Culture Division, which has taken on added work in recent months after several large land purchases.

 

 

 

 

April 5, 2006

 

INDN’s List Endorses Two OK Candidates

 

Tulsa, OK – INDN’s List, the only national political organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and electing Democratic Native American candidates to public office, today announced its endorsement of two candidates for the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Chuck Hoskin, a Cherokee Democrat of Vinita, and Scott BigHorse, an Osage and Cherokee Democrat of Pawhuska, are running to represent District 6 and 36, respectively.

 

“We are proud to announce our first endorsements in our home state of Oklahoma. From Alaska to Washington, California to Minnesota, INDN’s List is working to elect candidates across the country,” said INDN’s List president Kalyn Free. “Just as people are recognizing nationwide, Oklahomans deserve quality leadership and understanding. Scott and Chuck will stand up for rural Oklahoman values and are exemplary of the outstanding vision INDN’s List promotes.” 

 

A lifelong resident of District 6, Chuck Hoskin has worked since 1985 as a teacher and principal to improve the lives of the children of Northeastern Oklahoma. He recognizes the central role schools play in rural communities and the value of a great education for Oklahoma’s future.  A happily married father of two, Hoskin is a former small business owner and union man that understands the needs of both workers and entrepreneurs as they seek to raise families and build communities. “Beyond his commitment to the children and families of northeastern Oklahoma,” Free said of his service in the US Navy and as a tribal councilman, “INDN’s List endorses Chuck beca use he is a true public servant and endorses his vision because he shares the values of Oklahomans.”

 

With more than five years spent turning around the lives of troubled youth in Osage County, Scott BigHorse values the future of Oklahoma communities and is committed to providing our children the positive environment they need to make Oklahoma great.  BigHorse’s experience managing public detention facilities and programs has shown him the value of commonsense policies that prioritize spending and values improving the lives of Oklahoma’s residents in practical ways: better wages, competitive pay for state employees, more affordable healthcare, and tools for first-responders to make Oklahomans safer. “Scott’s practical approach to government combined with the values he shares with the residents of District 36 made him stand out as the type of leader INDN’s List seeks,” remarked Free.

 

The values, experience, and dedication of both Chuck Hoskin and Scott BigHorse are important to the people of Oklahoma. Their service is an endorsement of their values, and for that reason INDN’s List is delighted to support these campaigns for Oklahoma’s future.

 

For more information regarding Hoskin and BigHorse’s campaign, or to speak to a representative of INDN’s List, call (918) 583-6100.

 

 

 

 

April 10, 2006

 

Church shelters city park refugees

 

Dozens of homeless people reject a camp near the police station in favor of Kawaiaha‘o

 

By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.com

 

Two weeks after the city started shutting down Ala Moana Beach Park nightly, 72 homeless people sleeping at Kawaiaha'o Church have formed a close-knit community complete with a voting council, rules, job placement and security.

 

And as the number of people sleeping in the park next to Honolulu Police Department headquarters -- where Mayor Mufi Hannemann told homeless they could go after getting kicked out of Ala Moana -- has dwindled, the population at Kawaiaha'o has more than doubled. By 9 p.m. last night, when homeless are allowed to camp by police headquarters, no one was there.

 

Those who stay at the church's meeting hall know it is just a matter of time before they are asked to leave. They are being allowed to stay on a week-by-week basis. But in the meantime, they say, they are happy to have a clean, well-ordered place to stay that is run by the homeless and for the homeless.

 

"I feel comfortable over here," said Kaliko Kane, who has been homeless for six years.

 

Central Union Church is also housing about 50 people who used to live in the park. Church leaders met Thursday to discuss what options are available for the homeless if the city makes the Ala Moana night closures permanent.

 

On his first night at Kawaiaha'o, Kane volunteered to put together a security detail and signed on 12 other homeless men. Most days, he stays up until 3:30 a.m. with a few others to watch over the sleeping homeless and quell any disputes.

 

Those staying at the church are given a flier at the door, letting them know where they can sleep, eat, smoke and shower.

 

Leinati Matautia, who was voted leader of the group by a six-member council, says the self-imposed, tightly run organization has given the homeless a sense of community pride.

 

She is hoping the experience will help them stick together as she and her council try to work for a more permanent solution. Already, they have asked for a meeting with the mayor, as yet with no response.

 

Matautia has also formed an organization, Ohana O Hawaii.

 

"It helps for all of us to be heard," she said yesterday as she stood in the hall, watching over a group of council members who were neatly setting out donated clothes, toiletries and magazines on a table for the homeless to pick up.

 

"One day, we'll all look back at this and laugh about it. We're going to show them we can do it."

 

Several of those staying at Kawaiaha'o said they spent a night at the police park after Ala Moana was closed on March 27, and decided not to return because of the conditions.

 

One woman said the restrooms were too far from the camping site and in a dark area. Another said the park was muddy. Matautia has also been encouraging homeless at the park to come to Kawaiaha'o. She has passed out fliers there and elsewhere.

 

"Come here to us and share the love," she tells those she meets on the streets, showering them with a bright, wide smile.

 

Mornings at Kawaiaha'o start well before 6:30, when breakfast is served courtesy of Kawaiaha'o and other churches. The homeless leave at 8:30 a.m., as the church's hall is used during the day as a meeting place.

 

About 25 percent of the homeless go to work, Matautia said. Others seek out aid from service providers.

 

Every morning and night, at breakfast and dinner, Matautia addresses the group, giving them word from the church's kahu, the Rev. Curt Kekuna, letting them know how her day has been and asking them to remain hopeful for a permanent solution.

 

"I want to assure them -- young and old -- that there's hope," said Matautia, who has become a social worker, a friend and a mother to many homeless at the church. She is known as "Mama Lei," a nickname she got after four years in Ala Moana, cooking for homeless who got donations from food pantries.

 

Since becoming leader of the group, Matautia has helped two homeless people at the church get jobs, talked a full-to-capacity homeless shelter into taking a family and persuaded four people to go into drug rehab. She said she wants the Kawaiaha'o homeless community to be a new start for people, including herself.

 

"This gives me more courage, strength and purpose," said Matautia, who was forced to drop out of a law school when her father fell ill in the early 90s. From there she slipped into a long crystal methamphetamine addiction.

 

"I struggled the struggle," she says, looking down at her shoes. "Just doing what I'm doing gives me so much joy."

 

Daily, the group's council meets to discuss how to get more attention for their protest in front of Honolulu Hale, and brainstorms ideas for getting word out on their plight. Betty Thomas, the group's donations coordinator, treasurer and picket-line captain, said residents seem compassionate.

 

But the slight, hardened woman, who lost her apartment seven months ago after getting laid off, also said too many people, lawmakers included, think the homeless are social rejects, spaced out on drugs or alcohol.

 

"Why are they trying to classify us, just like we don't have rights?" she asked, tired after a long day of holding signs at City Hall. "I thank the church, but from here where are we going? We're all trying our hardest."

 

 

 

 

April 9, 2006

 

Isle Guard to start work on Waimanalo reservoir

 

Star-Bulletin staff
citydesk@starbulletin.com

 

The Hawaii National Guard will begin emergency work tomorrow on the Kailua Reservoir in Waimanalo, according to a state Department of Agriculture news release.

 

"My assessment is that the structural integrity of the Kailua Reservoir dam is not sound," said Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, the state director of civil defense, in the written news release. "The priority now is to make sure that the reservoir drains whenever it rains so the reservoir does not endanger residents downstream."

 

Twelve families in Waimanalo evacuated their homes last Sunday as floodwaters threatened to top the dam.

 

As a temporary measure, about 30 Guard troops and heavy equipment will fill in and cap a sinkhole on the crest of the dam.

 

Engineers will also determine where to create a controlled breach of the dam, which will create a path for water to flow out of the reservoir.

 

Sandra Lee Kunimoto, chairwoman of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, has requested $2.5 million from the Legislature to cover the cost of the work at Kailua Reservoir.

 

Engineers from the Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Conservation Service have been working with the Department of Agriculture on evaluating what to do with the reservoir.

 

The Natural Resource Conservation Service is also being asked to plan and conduct any downstream changes in conjunction with the work on the reservoir.

 

 

 

 

April 6, 2006

 

Native arts institute names new president

 

(Indian Country Today (Oneida, NY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 5--SANTA FE, N.M. -- The Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, a fully accredited, four-year degree-granting college, has named Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet its president.

Manuelito-Kerkvliet, a 51-year-old Navajo, was the first female president of Dine' College, located in the Navajo Nation community of Tsaile, Ariz.

"I am deeply honored and humbled to be selected as the next president of the Institute of American Indian Arts. I come with great enthusiasm to help the board of trustees to meet new visions and goals, and to put IAIA in an international light. With my previous experience, I am able to 'hit the ground running,' with lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and within the IAIA community.

"I am very excited to be back in the Southwest, and look forward to working with everyone in the IAIA community," she said.

IAIA Board of Trustees Chairman Jeanne Givens said, "It is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet has been chosen as the new president of the Institute of American Indian Arts. President Manuelito-Kerklvliet comes to us with skills essential to leading IAIA into the future. She brings a commitment to students, academic excellence, and a devotion to the contemporary Indian Art Movement.

"On behalf of the board of trustees, we warmly welcome her into our family to work hard and meet our collective futures. She will be available to us on a limited basis until July 1st, when she will begin her presidency. She is currently in Washington, D.C., helping IAIA to strengthen financial support by meeting members of Congress on behalf of IAIA."

The IAIA is a congressionally-chartered, multi-tribal center of higher education dedicated to the preservation, study, creative application and contemporary expression of American Indian and Alaska Native arts and cultures. IAIA aims to achieve its mission through a program of higher education and outreach to students, tribal communities and the public. IAIA is committed to offering high quality education programs through an individual-centric approach designed to enrich the career opportunities enjoyed by all its students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2006 Elections Present 101 Seats for Voters to Decide

 

WHAT:  Activating Voter Registration in 2006 to weigh in on 101 seats at the federal, state and county levels is on the minds of many in Hawaii today.  The seats that will come before the electorate in the fall of 2006 include the following:

 

 

 

 

For more information and a complete list of 2006 Contests and Incumbents, visit the Hawaii State Office of Elections Website at:  http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/

 

To register to vote:  http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/voters/registration.htm

 

 

 

 

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.

 

There are no Quiet Title Notices this week

 

 

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

Please visit the CNHA family of organizations

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

ANA Grant Training Pan Pacific

http://anapacific.org

 

Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP)

http://dhhlhoap.org

 

Full Service Document Digitization

http://hhtech.net

 

Supporting 2,000 Years of Good Ideas!

http://hawaiianwayfund.org

 

Annual Native Hawaiian Conference

http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/Conference

 

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

33 South King Street, Suite 513

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Phone: 808.521.5011 Fax: 808.521.4111

 

To Unsubscribe

Please click this link:  http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org/unsubscribe_eresources062305.htm

 

To Subscribe

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

 

Please do not respond to this email as responses will go into an unmonitored mailbox.

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

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