From the Yakama Tribe:

The Yakama Nation is seeking help and support to aid the survivors of a wildfire that destroyed 20 homes, burned parts of several more and displaced more than 100 people from the small town of White Swan, Wash., in the heart of the reservation in central Washington state.

In an open letter dated Wednesday, Feb. 16, Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Harry Smiskin wrote of the need for outside assistance from the United States and other governments to help in the care for the displaced and the immediate cleanup in White Swan.

The Yakama Nation has been in a state of emergency since the fire began in the afternoon on Saturday, Feb. 12. The Yakama Nation estimates the cost of rebuilding is at least $4 million, and with other emerging environmental concerns, that sum will only increase.

Few of those whose houses burned could afford homeowner’s insurance, and few have savings to fall back upon, making recovery of families and housing in this tribe of 10,000 even more challenging, said Chairman Smiskin. In his letter, Chairman Smiskin states a request for the following kinds of help:
- Skilled volunteers who can assist in cleanup, including certified asbestos remediation experts, heavy equipment operators and home builders;
- Donations of money, clothes, food and other household goods, including diapers and supplies for babies and children;
- Temporary housing for displaced people, and assistance with rebuilding the destroyed houses, a responsibility that the Yakama Nation has undertaken for the victims of the fire.

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Tags: harry smiskin, white swan, Yakama, Yakama Nation, yakama wildfire

The priest abuse scandal within the Roman Catholic church seems to be exploding, with allegations pouring in of abuse in Europe and the United States that was either ignored or swept under the rug at very high levels.

But there’s been little mention in tumult of the past few weeks of abuse on Indian reservations. (See previous posts, here and here.)

Now, Clara Vargas, a member of the Yakama Tribe aims to change that, by traveling to Rome, where she’ll testify Saturday before the Italian Parliament. As Leah Beth Ward of the Yakima Herald-Republic reports here:

Vargas, 50, a Colville tribal member who now lives in Tacoma, is traveling to Rome as part of a crusade by abuse victims to pressure the Vatican into taking more responsibility for the child sex abuse scandal that is closing in on the church and Pope Benedict XVI.

Putting pressure on elected officials is a way to force the Pope to take responsibility, said Vargas, who was a student at St. Mary’s Mission near Omak from second through eighth grade.

She and several Yakama tribal members are part of a lawsuit filed two years ago in U.S. District Court by the Tamaki Law Firm of Yakima against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, which operated St. Mary’s in Okanogan County.

“I’m going to tell them how the abuse and neglect affected me and how I reported it years ago and they never did anything,” Vargas tells Ward.

The Rev. Kevin Annett, a Canadian minister, came up with the idea of the trip. He’s taken up the cause of aboriginal people abused in boarding schools in Canada.

Ward’s story quotes the Web site, HiddenFromHistory.org: “Aboriginal elders from Canada will offer prayers for their friends and relatives who died or were killed in Catholic Indian residential schools, at the institution in Rome responsible for their death. And they will name Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, as the one ultimately responsible.”

The Vatican has been adamant in its denials that the Pope bears any personal responsibility in the abuse scandal.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, Colville, HiddenFromHistory.org, Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, St. Mary's Mission, Tamaki Law Firm, Vatican, Yakama