Sample Letter (Please Personalize)





A community group is lobbying to reinstate the banned mascot.--THIS ITEM ON THE SCHOOL BOARD AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 13, 2012.  
If you would like to contact the District Superintendent and school board please see below:

Del Norte County Unified School District
301 West Washington Blvd. 
Crescent City, CA 95531
707-464-6141

Don Olson
County and District Superintendent
(707) 464-0200

Frances Costello, Board President 

Jim Maready, Vice President/Clerk

Don McArthur, Board Member
 

Lori Cowan, Board Member

Jennifer England, Board Member 

The issue is before the School Board at their September 15 meeting.  Please write them to share your opinion on the mascot issue.

Sample Letter Attached 

(Please insert your own wording and feelings or experiences you or your children have had with either racism or negative impacts of the Mascot as this makes a MUCH more powerful statement rather than just signing the sample and sending it in).

Negotiation & Cross-Cultural Communication (event)

Negotiation & Cross Cultural Communication Workshop; Sept. 11-13, 2012; Rincon Tribal Hall
Greetings!

It’s one week till IDRS’ dynamic workshop, Negotiation & Cross-Cultural Communication, comes to the Rincon Tribal Hall in Valley Center, CA.  There are still a few seats available so we encourage you to register to now.  

Instead of just giving people information, our emphasis is on ensuring that people leave our training with new skills that can be applied in every aspect of their lives. Our workshops teach people how to: reach across cultural, racial, and gender boundaries; create an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust; prepare for and run orderly meetings that produce results; identify “ground rules” that create a sense of safety and support informed decision-making; deal with difficult people and people with difficulties; surface and resolve differences in an orderly way; and assist people reach agreements that satisfy mutual interests and are fair, enforceable and lasting.  

If you possibly have the opportunity, please join us.  Your career and organization will thank you!  To learn more about the training or to register CLICK HERE!

For more information about scholarships, groups discounts, or any other questions, please give us a call at 916-482-5800 or e-mail us at info@idrsinc.org.
To Register Click Here
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To find out more about Indian Dispute Resolution Services (IDRS), visit our homepage @ www.idrsinc.org.

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IDRS, Inc.
1325 Howe Ave.
Suite 201
Sacramento, California 95825
US

Bring Back The Head (mascot)

A  group of local Del Norte County, CA Schools Alumni and the Del Norte Youth Football League are pushing to bring back “the outdated and banned Indian Head Plains Style Mascot” to Del Norte County.  The faction wants to use the Indian Head with a plains style head dress despite the issue being resolved 15 years ago by a local committee comprised of a cross section of American Indians, students, staff, coaches, community members and alumni.  That group followed the national trend in its decision and determined that no ethic group should be used as a sports mascot or school logo, especially one that uses another tribe’s sacred items.   

To share your opinions on the use of Native Americans to the group lobbying for the return of the Del Norte Mascot please go to:

To comment on the Mascot issue contact Del Norte Youth Football: http://dnyf.org/Contact.htm
There is also a list of sponsors on this page that you may want to contact.

THIS ITEM ON THE SCHOOL BOARD AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 13, 2012  If you would like to contact the District Superintendent and school board please see below:

Del Norte County Unified School District
301 West Washington Blvd. 
Crescent City, CA 95531
707-464-6141

Don Olson
County and District Superintendent
(707) 464-0200

Frances Costello, Board President 

Jim Maready, Vice President/Clerk

Don McArthur, Board Member
 

Lori Cowan, Board Member

Jennifer England, Board Member 

Native American SUicide Act

http://bit.ly/PreventNativeYouthSuicide

Young teens and adults on many reservations have no guidance on proper life skills due to a poverished environment. Adolescent children see abuse, drugs, alcohol and crime in multi-generations and are looking for a way out. In our family, my wife had a teenage niece who committed suicide (by triggering a shotgun at close range) one year after giving her high school valedictorian speech. My wife is 31 and has also seen cousins, and friends die because of alcohol and drugs. One year before her cousin committed suicide; a close friend passed away in our home at 27 years old from excessive eating, drinking, drug abuse, and prescription medication. This was all treatable and tied to depression. She asked us for help, and we tried, but it was apparently too late and her body could take no more, and she died in her sleep. According to the National Institute of Mental Health a 2007 a census shows that American Indian and Alaska Natives suicide rates were the highest of all nationalities at 14.3 per 100,000, and it is only getting higher. My wife and I, this year started an organization called Native Cry Outreach Alliance (http://www.facebook.com/nativecry) and are looking forward to creating a physical environment where young Warriors can develop positive coping mechanisms. We are hoping to abolish suicide and slow death rates among these children. We are not alone; most reservations are developing similar types of organizations to stop their children from dying also. Please help us by signing this petition to Congress and help get this bill passed. Here is a link to the bill - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112hr4467

Disrespecting Custer (politics)

WASHINGTON – Pat Rogers, a Republican National Committee (RNC) leader, is facing calls for his dismissal after telling the staff of Gov. Susana Martinez, R-N.M., that because she agreed to meet with American Indians, she disrespected the memory of Col. George Armstrong Custer.

Custer is infamous for being a U.S. Army commander in the mid-1800s who killed many American Indians during what are historically known as the Indian Wars. He was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Read more:

Computer-Based Drug Prevention Intervention (health)

Background: American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) have some of the highest rates of substance use compared with other ethnic groups. Native American youth start experimenting with drugs at younger ages, continue to use them after initial experimentation, and thus seem to mirror the same drug use patterns as their older peers. Despite the seriousness of the problem, there is a lack of evidence-based drug prevention interventions for AI/AN youth. Objectives: This review article describes the process by which an existing evidence-based, culturally relevant drug prevention intervention was transformed into a low-cost, computerized intervention digitized in order to extend its reach to Native American youth in reservations and rural locations. Methods: The intervention, titled HAWK2 (Honoring Ancient Wisdom and Knowledge2: Prevention and Cessation) is aimed at young Native children in elementary school settings (grades 4 and 5) and uses engaging multimedia features such as games, animations, and video clips to impart substance abuse prevention knowledge and skills training. The development of this intervention was a collaborative process involving the participation of community experts, research scientists, school teachers, and practitioners, as well as Native youth. Specific examples are provided to illustrate the development processes. Results: Initial feedback from practitioners and youth suggest the feasibility and acceptability of computer-based interventions by Native youth and practitioners. Scientific Significance: Computer-based interventions are a cost-effective way of engaging youth in prevention programming. Future studies of HAWK2 will provide an important means of testing the long-term effectiveness of self-administered, computer-based interventions for AI/AN youth.

Traditions & Drug and Alcohol Use (health)

New research indicates that urban American Indian youth who follow American Indian traditional spiritual beliefs are less likely to use drugs & alcohol.

Newswise — DENVER — New research indicates that urban American Indian youth who follow American Indian traditional spiritual beliefs are less likely to use drugs and alcohol. Arizona State University social scientists will present their findings at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

The study, “Spirituality and Religion: Intertwined Protective Factors for Substance Use Among Urban American Indian Youth,” was recently published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. The authors are: Stephen Kulis, the study’s principal investigator and ASU School of Social and Family Dynamics professor; David R. Hodge, ASU School of Social Work associate professor; Stephanie L. Ayers, ASU Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center associate director of research; Eddie F. Brown, ASU American Indian Studies professor and American Indian Policy Institute executive director; and Flavio F. Marsiglia, ASU School of Social Work professor.


Full story at: http://bit.ly/P1DOT6