PRE REGISTER AT:  www.edtribalconsultations.org

Suction dredge miners were dealt a blow in their battle to reinstate the practice in California waters when, on March 18, the Supreme Court rejected a petition to overturn an earlier decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  

The Appeals Court ruling last June stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Karuk Tribe in 2004 alleging that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) had violated the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) when the agency approved mining operations in ESA listed coho salmon habitat in the Klamath River watershed.

On December 2, 2011, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13592, which established the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (Initiative). The President's Initiative committed the Federal Government to working closely with tribal governments to close the achievement gap between Indian students and non-Indian students, decrease the alarmingly high dropout rates of all American Indian and Alaska Native students, and help preserve and revitalize Native languages.

The Secretaries of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) serve as co-chairs of the Initiative. The Departments of the Interior and Education must collaborate with those who know their students and communities the best and will be hosting four Tribal Leader Consultation meetings to consult on the following objectives: (1) the development and content of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of the Interior and the Department of Education and (2) the strategic implementation of the Initiative.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION - OFFICE OF INDIAN EDUCATION

August 15, 2013

These sessions are designed to provide you with an opportunity to voice your thoughts and engage in dialogue with White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education leadership as well as senior officials.  Issues will include:

• The American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) have published a request for information (RFI) for input on a proposed definition of the Department's interpretation of "reservation" that would align it with the Government Accounting Office (GAO) interpretation.
• Title VII Formula seek grantees through the Electronic Application System for Indian Education (EASIE).  During the 2012-2013 grant cycles, some initial enhancements were made to the program, and additional work is planned for the 2013-2014 grant year.  This will also include a revamp of the ED 506 form for eligibility to be more user friendly; we are asking for recommendation on the draft form of this document.
• General Updates in Indian Education

Registration and more information, please go to: www.edtribalconsultations.org

Patricia A. Locke, who worked for decades to preserve American Indian languages and became a pioneer in an effort to grant the tribes greater authority in the education of their children, died on Oct. 20 at a hospital in Phoenix. She was 73 and lived in Wakpala, S.D., on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

The cause was heart failure, said her daughter, Winona Flying Earth.

Ms. Locke, of Lakota and Chippewa heritage, won a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 1991 for her work to save tribal languages that were growing extinct throughout the United States.

The award followed more than two decades of her advocacy for better education of Indians. In the 1970's, she was appointed to the Interior Department Task Force on Indian Education Policy, and eventually helped write legislation granting tribes the authority to set up their own education departments instead of following state requirements.

Education departments and tribal education codes were ultimately created among more than 30 tribes around the country, and Ms. Locke also helped 17 tribes establish colleges they controlled.

Patricia Ann McGillis was born on Jan. 21, 1928, on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1951. She married Charles E. Locke in 1952; they divorced in 1975.

Ms. Locke taught for more than 40 years, from elementary to university level, and lectured on Indian issues throughout the United States. She worked to protect sacred Indian sites and, starting in 1993, was national coordinator of a coalition that pushed for passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments, federal legislation adopted in 1994 that allowed use of peyote for religious purposes.

Ms. Locke's Indian name was Tawacin Waste Win, which, her daughter said, means ''she has good consciousness -- compassionate woman.''

Besides her daughter, who lives in Wakpala, she is survived by a son, Kevin Locke, also of Wakpala, a performing artist who works to preserve Lakota music; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

UPDATE

Tuesday, July 30, 2013 (4:30 pm)

“The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but preliminary signs indicate it was probably a human caused fire because there was no lightning in the area,” said Mike Beasley with the Six Rivers National Forest during a briefing held in Hoopa with the Type 2 Incident Command team (NorCal Inter agency Team II) set to take command of the fire this afternoon from their incident command post provided by the  Hoopa Valley Tribe.

A joint investigation is being conducted by CalFire and the U.S. Forest Service.

During the briefing, officials said one firefighter was injured by a falling branch which broke his nose.

Officials said rumors that the evacuation was lifted are not true. The evacuation of certain areas of Orleans remains in effect as of 4:30pm on Tuesday, July 30.

Power to all of Orleans was restored by 3 pm this afternoon.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013 (2:30 pm)

Residents of Orleans were forced to evacuate the town after wildfire broke out just after 5 pm on Monday, July 29, along Highway 96 near Camp Creek Road.

Within two-and-a-half hours, more than 100 acres were burned and several homes were destroyed. By 10:30 pm, the fire had engulfed over 200 acres, and hundreds of homes were threatened. By Tuesday morning, the fire grew to more than 350 acres and consumed two residences and five outbuildings.

The fire is moving up Sims Gulch toward the G-O Road in a steep forested area.

Julie Ranieri, Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Forest Service’s Six Rivers National Forest, said, “Power lines and phone lines are down, and Highway 96 has been closed near Orleans.”

Highway 96 has since reopened to one-way controlled traffic and some area residents in the Karuk Housing area were allowed to return to their homes at about 11am on Tuesday.

Emergency crews from the Six Rivers and Klamath National Forests, Cal Fire, Hoopa Volunteer Fire Department, Hoopa Wildland Fire Department, and Orleans Volunteer Fire Department were on the scene Monday night with more crews and the American Red Cross arriving Tuesday morning.

Law enforcement officers from the California Highway Patrol, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Forest Service were also assisting in the evacuation and rescue operations.

A Type Two Incident Management Team assumes command of the fire, dubbed the ‘Dance Fire,’ this afternoon.

A public meeting will be held this evening (Tuesday) at 6pm at the Karuk Department of Natural Resources Building in Orleans.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Everyone knows the famous Homeland Security t-shirt -- it's a picture of Geronimo and three other Natives with the tagline "Fighting terrorism since 1492" -- but it's just one of many sly shirts that we've spotted on in-the-know Natives. In a way, wearing your tribal heritage -- and the legacy of injustice toward your people -- on your sleeve keeps history alive in our increasingly ahistorical age. There is irreverence here, and even jokes -- but the humor packs the punch of truth.  

MADISON, Wis. — A southeastern Wisconsin school district has formally refused to change its American Indian nickname, openly defying state education officials' order to dump it.

The Mukwonago Area School District's sports teams are known as the "Indians." The district also uses a logo depicting an American Indian man wearing a feather headdress. The state Department of Public Instruction contends the nickname and logo promote discrimination and have ordered the district to remove it by this fall.

The district's attorney, Samuel C. Hall, said the board voted 8-1 Monday night to adopt a resolution stating the district would take no action to change the name. The resolution notes that the district has used the nickname for more than 100 years and has taken "special care" to treat American Indians with dignity, including teaching incoming freshmen about the area's American Indian history.

"The use of the 'Indians' nickname and associated logo have been and continue to be a source of pride related to the local history of the Mukwonago area," the resolution said. "Further, the District believes that decisions regarding the use of nicknames and logos are best left to local elected officials who better understand local history."

Full story at:

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/216591561.html