Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Forest Service’

11
Jul

Indian Country Sunday Brunch: Braids. Rocky Boy’s flood. Navajo president. Indigenous abuse. Nez Perce map. Remains reburied.

   Posted by: admin    in aboriginal, Apache, Chippewa Cree, Culture and Tradition, Indigenous people, National Park Service, Navajo, Nez Perce, President Barack Obama, Rocky Boy's Reservaton

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School can’t oust Lipan Apache boy over braids
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Needville (Texas) Independent School District can’t punish a Lipan Apache boy for wearing his hair in braids. Kenney Arocha and Michelle Betenbaugh had argued that their son’s hair, which has never been cut, conforms to their Native American religious beliefs, according to the Houston Chronicle, here.

Federal disaster declaration for Rocky Boy’s Reservation
President Barack Obama yesterday declared the Rocky Boy’s Reservation a disaster area, making it eligible for federal money for repairs. Flooding on the reservation broke water lines, leaving hundreds of members of the Chippewa Cree tribe without water for two weeks and causing millions of dollars in damage, according to this Associated Press story.

Navajo Nation Supreme Court says no third term for president
The Navajo Supreme Court has denied President Joe Shirley Jr.’s quest for a third consecutive term, the AP reports here. “I respect the decision of our Supreme Court justices,” Shirley said. “They had the final say. They decided and now I know that this is the end of it.”

Report details abuse of indigenous people in Peru
A report by the Missionary Indigenous Council takes a look at the treatment of indigenous people in Brazil. The report shows they are dealt abuse by police and landowners, lack proper nutrition and health care, and crowded out of their homelands by vast public works such as the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the state of Para. Read more in this Agence France-Presse story.

New Nez Perce National Historic Trail map released
A new map of the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail is now available at Forest Service and National Park Service offices and online through Discover Your Northwest, the National Forest Store and the USGS Store, according to the Char-Koosta News, here. The map details locations along the 1,170 mile trail. Or, you can see it online here.

Aboriginal warrior’s remains, once displayed in museum, are reburied
A 19th century Aboriginal warrior named Yagan whose severed head once was displayed in British museum, has been reburied with proper ceremony in western Australia. The Associated Press reports here that the private ceremony was held yesterday by the Noongar Tribe, and coincides with the opening of the Yagan Memorial Park outside of Perth.

Gwen Florio

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17
Dec

Karuk activists block road to protest Forest Service project

   Posted by: admin    in Ceremonial Life, environment, Karuk Tribe

Karuk
Several members of the Karuk Tribe say a Forest Service fuels-reduction project is damaging sacred sites near the Klamath River in Oregon. So they blocked a road being used by the logging contractor working on the site, according to this Associated Press story.

We’re not saying don’t cut any trees,” says tribal spokesman Craig Tucker. “We are saying just do what you agreed to that we spent three years working out, and stressed every step of the way how important this place is from the tribe’s religious perspective.”

The logging occurred near a site where the tribe conducts world renewal ceremonies.

Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley tells the AP’s Jeff Barnard that it was an oversight, and that the agency is working with the tribe to mitigate the impacts.

But Tucker takes exception to that explanation:

“That is like saying, ‘Oops, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean to bomb the wedding, it was collateral damage.”

Gwen Florio

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9
Nov

Indian, enviro groups sue feds to stop Yellowstone bison slaughter

   Posted by: admin    in bison

A bison cow and her calf in Yellowstone National Park. Bison that stray beyond the park's boundaries can be slaughtered to prevent the spread of disease to cattle. (David Grubbs/Billings Gazette)

A bison cow and her calf in Yellowstone National Park. Bison that stray beyond the park's boundaries can be slaughtered to prevent the spread of disease to cattle. (David Grubbs/Billings Gazette)

A coalition of American Indian and environmental groups are suing the federal government in an effort to stop the killing of bison that migrate beyond the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, asks for the National Park Service and Forest Service to be barred from participating in the slaughter program, write Matthew Brown of the Associated Press, here.

In an effort to prevent a disease carried by bison from spreading to cattle, more than 3,300 bison have been slaughtered in the last decade, by federal agencies working with the state of Montana.

The groups filing the suit say the threat of the disease – brucellosis – has been overstated and that the Park Service and Forest Service are ignoring their responsibility to preserve the bison.

Yellowstone’s 3,000 bison comprise one of the largest concentrations of the animals in the world, Brown writes. Bison once roamed North America by the millions, sustaining many Native American tribes, before being nearly wiped out after the arrival of white people to the region.

During winters, bison range beyond Yellowstone’s borders in search of food. A 2000 agreement between Montana and the federal government allows those animals to be killed to prevent any contact with cattle.

Gwen Florio

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