Awaiting Klamath Dam Removal

By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent
Story Published: Dec 3, 2008
Story Updated: Dec 1, 2008
HOOPA, Calif. – One thing is clear after driving north through small towns and along winding mountain roads to reach the base of the Klamath River Basin. Its isolation has helped save it.

A century after European contact, the river region remains forested and is dominated by four tribes – the three largest in California: Hoopa, Yurok and Karuk, and the largest in Oregon, the Klamath. Most other California tribal regions have been overtaken and ravaged in comparison.

But although the lush basin appears pristine, it hasn’t been immune to interference. Today seven dams line the 263-mile Klamath River, some producing toxic algae in the still waters of reservoirs and all blocking salmon from reaching 350 miles of spawning grounds.

A glimmer of hope appeared in November when the Bush administration proposed a nonbinding agreement that would result in removal of the four lowest dams beginning in 2020 – which would be the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

The possibility comes after 100 years without salmon for Klamath tribes upriver.

“The salmon are really the base of our culture,” said Annalia Norris, 33, of the Klamath tribe at the mouth of the river, for whom the spawn was the time of their world renewal ceremony.

“We honored the fish; they’re the ones that give us life and feed us,” Norris said. “That’s our whole culture. It’s centered around the salmon – we’re salmon people.”

The agreement reached in Sacramento was sent next to the U.S. Department of Interior, dam owner PacifiCorp and the governors of Oregon and California.

Tribes, fishing groups, farmers and conservationists have long pushed for dam removal, a call that was taken up by the state governors in 2006 after commercial salmon fisheries collapsed. Many dam removal proponents have been citing in talks with PacifiCorp the hefty $300 million price tag in updates required in order for the utility to renew its federal operating licenses.
As talks dragged on for months, activists held benefits including the Oct. 17 “Un-Dam the Klamath” concert at Humboldt State University. They also placed public pressure on PacifiCorp at its Portland headquarters and shareholder meetings of its owner, billionaire Warren Buffet’s company Berkshire Hathaway.
In September, Norris and a few hundred protestors marched to PacifiCorp’s headquarters after hanging a banner that read, “Warren Buffett Kills Salmon, Jobs and Communities” over Interstate-84. Protestors blocked the entrance of the building, disrupting business for the day.

“There will be no business as usual for PacifiCorp as long as there is no business as usual for Klamath River communities,” said Chook Chook Hillman, 24, of the Karuk tribe. Read more

Klamath Tribes Recovering Identity ~ Its a movement folks!

Image ~ Klamath Tribes tribal councilman Jeff Mitchell, left, and councilman and natural resources director Will E. Hatcher on Round Butte north of Chiloquin, Ore. The former fire lookout is within the boundaries of the old Mazama Tree Farm.Associated Press Photo by Jeff Barnard

Klamath Tribes Recovering Identity
December 21, 2008
By Jeff Barnard of the Associated Pres

CHILOQUIN, Ore. (AP) — Standing in the shadows of a dilapidated lumber mill, Jeff Mitchell picked up a piece of firewood from the pile on the cold concrete floor and held it in the sunlight.

“This is the tribes’ very first timber-based industry in over 50 years since termination,” said Mitchell, a member of the tribal council of the Klamath Tribes. “Five years from now we’re going to look back and say this is where it started.”

The Klamath Tribes were one of the wealthiest in the nation in 1954 when Congress terminated their tribal status. Officially, the decision was supposed to assimilate Indian people into society, but tribes have long felt it was a grab of their valuable timber holdings.

The Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians, lumped together on a reservation after being driven from their native territories, lost nearly 900,000 acres — a parcel that eventually was sold off for private timberlands and ranches, turned into rural subdivisions, and incorporated into two national forests. Read more

Racial profiling follows Weleetka murders

Racial profiling follows Weleetka murders

The person of interest was described as an American Indian or mixed race male, who is about 35 years old and stands about 6 feet tall. He was driving a white pickup that was either a Ford or Chevrolet. This description and sketch released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation led to the questioning of many Native American men in and around this small community located within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

CLARIFICATION

Richard Whitman
Our article omitted the fact that Richard Whitman, who was interviewed for the story, is 58 and does not fit the profile released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Whitman is not and has never been a suspect in this case.
(Photo submitted by Vicki Monks)

It has been brought to our attention that in this story, published online Dec. 16, that the “person of interest” in the case was described by witnesses as being approximately 35 years old.  Our article omitted the fact that Richard Whitman, who was interviewed for the story, is 58 and does not fit the profile released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Whitman is not and has never been a suspect in this case. If this was not clear, we apologize to Mr. Whitman and any readers who may have inferred that from the article.

According to the OSBI, they have received more than 500 tips on the crime.

Please see the following letter to the editor for more on this subject.

Lisa Snell

Managing Editor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

December 18, 2008

From: Vicki Monks

To: Lisa Snell, Native Times

To the Editor:

Last June, after the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation released a sketch of a Native American “person of interest” in the murders of two young girls in Weleetka, law enforcement agencies reported that they were overwhelmed by tips from good citizens who thought they had seen someone who resembled the sketch.  Police were obligated to check out every lead.  As a result, they questioned dozens upon dozens of Indian men not only in the Weleetka area but in distant corners of the state.  Yuchi/Creek artist and actor Richard Ray Whitman was among them.

Your article headlined “Racial Profiling Follows Weleetka Murders” (December 16, 2008) fails to mention the many, many Native American men who were briefly questioned because they vaguely resembled the OSBI sketch.  Instead, it gives the false impression that Mr. Whitman was somehow in “the spotlight” as a potential suspect. Read more

Racial profiling follows Weleetka murders

Racial profiling follows Weleetka murders

The person of interest was described as an American Indian or mixed race male, who is about 35 years old and stands about 6 feet tall. He was driving a white pickup that was either a Ford or Chevrolet. This description and sketch released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation led to the questioning of many Native American men in and around this small community located within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

CLARIFICATION

Richard Whitman
Our article omitted the fact that Richard Whitman, who was interviewed for the story, is 58 and does not fit the profile released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Whitman is not and has never been a suspect in this case.
(Photo submitted by Vicki Monks)

It has been brought to our attention that in this story, published online Dec. 16, that the “person of interest” in the case was described by witnesses as being approximately 35 years old.  Our article omitted the fact that Richard Whitman, who was interviewed for the story, is 58 and does not fit the profile released by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Whitman is not and has never been a suspect in this case. If this was not clear, we apologize to Mr. Whitman and any readers who may have inferred that from the article.

According to the OSBI, they have received more than 500 tips on the crime.

Please see the following letter to the editor for more on this subject.

Lisa Snell

Managing Editor

Read more

"Leftovers" National Recognition?

“Leftovers”  National Recognition?

Native American Heritage Day passed into law

President George Bush has declared the Friday after Thanksgiving Native American Heritage Day.

The Native American Heritage Day Act of 2008 seeks to recognize Native American participation and sacrifice in our countrys history. The act encourages schools to create curriculum to educate students about Native American history.

The House Joint Resolution was introduced to the House by Congressman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) Nov. 17, 2007, and presented to the president Sept. 30 of this year. President Bush signed it into law Oct. 8.

“We in Congress must encourage greater awareness of the significant roles they [Native Americans] have played in our national history, Baca said when the resolution was introduced. ;Its important that we recognize their contributions to all aspects of our society, from our government to our language to history.

Read more

Tribes worry oil pipeline might cross important cultural sites

Tribes worry oil pipeline might cross important cultural sites

Pierre, South Dakota (AP) 1-08

The Keystone crude oil pipeline won’t cross American Indian reservations in South Dakota but it could be located on cultural sites important to Indians, says Russell Eagle Bear, a Rosebud Sioux Tribe representative.

“We want to make sure that all the cultural properties are protected along the route,” Eagle Bear said. “This is moving quite fast and I think they need to work closely with tribes in the area – all the tribes.”

An official of Transcanada Corp., which is planning the 2,148-mile pipeline, said the project is not exactly breaking news. Keystone project official Jeff Rauh said it has been public knowledge for almost three years.

Read more

Coming to UW-Whitewater April 2009

tComing to UW-Whitewater April 2009

Indigenous Voices: A Media Celebration of Indigenous Identity

April 2009: The University of Wisconsin Whitewater’s Native American Cultural Awareness Association will be sponsoring a media event combining the traditional methods of indigenous communication with modern day media. Through the use of film, music, traditional art: a process of learning, understanding and healing will overtake all involved. We will be working to bring indigenous youth to the event, reuniting the generations.

This event is open to the public!

Art will be displayed in the Roberta A. Fiskum Art Gallery.

“just begin healing. we neednt destroy anything, we just need to be left be to mend. we need examples of mending to illuminate the ability” – Wanbli Wiwohkpe

{vimeo}2557672{/vimeo}

http://orgs.uww.edu/nacaa/NAACA/Indigenous_Voices_2009.html

Open Letter from Leonard Peltier to Barack Obama

Open Letter from Leonard Peltier to Barack Obama

Monday, November 24, 2008

From Leonard Peltier

Yet symbolism alone will not bring about change. Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling, underfunded schools, and discrimination in employment and housing. I sincerely hope your campaign will inspire some hope among our youth to struggle for a better future. I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law. Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimize an inhuman institution.

Read more

Western Shoshone testimony: No nuclear transport on sovereign Shoshone land

Western Shoshone testimony: No nuclear transport on sovereign Shoshone land

BEFORE THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Finance Docket No. 35106
United States Department Of Energy Rail Construction And Operation Caliente Rail Line In Lincoln, Nye, And Esmeralda Counties, Nevada
Testimony of the Western Shoshone National Council
December 04, 2008

Mr. Ian Zabarte, Secretary of State
Western Shoshone National Council
P.O. Box 140062
Duckwater, NV 89314-0062
NEWE SOGOBIA

Testimony in Opposition to an Application
for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity

My name is Ian Zabarte. I am the Secretary of State, of the Western Shoshone National Council, principle man for foreign affairs. I am here to defend the basic human rights and territorial sovereignty of Newe Sogobia, the Western Shoshone Nation. The Western Shoshone National Council is the original traditional self-determined government de jure of the Western Shoshone Nation. Our spiritual beliefs, culture and customs in relation to our country determine who we are as a people. Who we are collectively as a distinct people matters most and is what makes us feel useful as citizens in our own nation. We hold on to our beliefs and values because they are real, authentic and a part of our culture. Also, a part of our culture is an oral tradition. We appreciate this opportunity to provide oral testimony in the hope the United States will wake up from the American dream of indifference and environmental degradation.

The Western Shoshone National Council is opposed to the Department of Energy Application for a certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Finance Document Number 35106 now before the Board. The Western Shoshone Nation challenges the basic assumptions of the US asserting ownership to the entire 300 mile long Caliente Rail Corridor as set forth in the Department of Energy application.

Read more

Dam deal close after most of a century

Dam deal close after most of a century

JASON HAGEY; jason.hagey@thenewstribune.com

A monumental battle between Tacoma Power and the Skokomish Indian Tribe over
a pair of dams the utility built on traditional tribal grounds on the
Olympic Peninsula in the 1920s may be near an end.

Although both sides cautioned there is no deal yet, the Tacoma Public
Utilities board of directors gave its approval last week to a motion that
authorizes Director Bill Gaines to enter into a settlement agreement with
the tribe. The City Council is scheduled to consider it tonight.

The proposal calls for the utility to pay the tribe $12.6 million in upfront
cash and transfer 1,140 acres of Tacoma Power property to the tribe in
exchange for dropping all claims left over from a $5.6 billion lawsuit. Read more

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