Paging Gazhekwe

[Pam]

Doesn't she have any rights as a student? How can the professor just kick her out like that?

[gazhekwe]

Hand built birchbark canoes in flotilla, most visible is on the left.



Here is Howard putting his handmade beauty in, Howard on the right.

Here is an article on the flotilla:

American Indians Join Flotilla Protest of Enbridge Pipeline 5 at Mackinac Straits by Levi Rickert

Published September 7, 2015
MACKINAW CITY, MICHIGAN—Each Labor Day some 40,000 people walk across the Mackinac Bridge, a bridge that spans five miles to connect Michigan’s two peninsulas under the Straits of Mackinac. The Labor Day walk is the region’s busiest time of the year.
Under the Straits of Mackinac lies two twin pipelines owned by Enbridge called Pipeline 5, which are 62-years-old. Using 1950s technology, the pipelines had a life expectancy of 33 years.

Enbridge does not have a great track record in Michigan. In July 2010 its pipeline burst that dumped millions of gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River, which became the worst inland pipeline spill in American history.
Concerned with the old-age condition of Enbridge Pipeline 5, environmentalists in the Great Lakes region are concerned a major pipeline burst under the Straits of Mackinac would be catastrophic to the region.
In an attempt to capture the attention of the 40,000 people at the bridge walk this Labor Day weekend, hundreds of American Indians joined environmental activists, who formed a flotilla in canoes, kayaks and motor boats, to call for the shut down of oil flow through Enbridge Pipeline 5.

"Not paying attention to a pipeline that runs through the largest body of fresh water in the world, is insane," commented Steven Naganashe Perry [[Ottawa) to Native News Online after he protested on Sunday. "Pipeline 5 needs to be removed. We just can't take a chance,"

Steven Naganashe Perry protested on Sunday

Lee Sprague, former ogema of the Little River Band of Ottawa and long-time environmentalist, thinks there is a lot to be worried about when it comes to Enbridge Pipeline 5:

"The real question is: What are the legal and regulatory obstacles, to removing the Pipelines by December before ice sets in? Or within a year. It is virtually impossible to clean up an oil spill under six feet of ice. How would a winter oil spill be responded too? Because oil only spills during open water."

Among the American Indian protesters on Sunday were Michigan Idle No More members and Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan Chief Steve Pego.
The protesters were back out on the Straits of Mackinac on Monday, Labor Day, during the annual bridge walk.

[gazhekwe]

We will have to find out how the college will deal with the professor. Let's hope it is the professor they deal with. I'll post any new info as it shows up in my feed.

[gazhekwe]

Hijacking Genocide: An Open Letter

Steve Russell
9/8/15

This column goes out to Chiitaanibah Johnson, who I don’t know but I feel like I know. I don’t usually write in such a personal manner, but her story intersects with my life in so many ways I need to tell her and offer the encouragement I didn’t get.

You do need to understand, Ms. Johnson, that you absolutely did hijack his lesson. You sent his lesson plan right off the rails, and that’s the best thing that can happen to a university professor. I lived for the days my class got hijacked because it meant those kids cared as much about the subject matter as I do.

But that is something from my professor days, as is the observation that I got invited to give a job talk at Cal State-Sacramento but did not go because I already had a couple of firm offers and one was from my first choice, the University of Texas-San Antonio. So to meet you on more level ground, let’s step into the Way Back Machine, to when I was 22 years old and a 9th grade dropout from an Oklahoma high school.

Why did I drop out? Better to ask how I made it to the 9th grade.

One of my teachers lived nearby in that very small town and one time, when I was of elementary school age, the neighborhood mulberry tree was producing and I had berry juice all over my face.

“What’s that,” she asked. “War paint?” The kids present laughed. WTF? was not in my young vocabulary, but as an adult, I can’t think of any response beyond WTF? To say I was confused would be an understatement, because nobody ever explained what all stereotype all the time would mean. One thing it meant was no encouragement on the academic front.

I was ejected from a high school English class for having pulled down a textbook from a higher grade off the shelf in the back of the room where I always sat and begun to read Shakespeare. I got so into it I didn’t notice the teacher standing over me until she asked something about the lesson of the day I could not answer and chucked me out.

The same teacher would chuck me out again for turning in a paper by accident where I had written an effort to memorize Lord Byron [[“She walks in beauty/like the night/Of cloudless climes and starry skies…”) instead of the one where I had given short shrift to a stupid grammar exercise.

Oklahoma history class. The teacher was The Coach. Football Coach. Anybody who’s lived in Oklahoma or Texas knows that The Coach is a minor god and, if he wins, probably makes more money than the principal.

The Coach was generally harmless in that he just read the textbook to us and asked questions contained at the end of the chapters. No big challenges, until the day he covered the descent of the human vultures on the Osage Nation because the Osage had kept their mineral rights and they struck oil.

I’m not talking about the vultures that were outed later when Dennis McAuliffe wrote The Deaths of Sybil Bolton. If The Coach had known—and I’m sure he didn’t—he would have deemed us too young to hear about the white men who married into the Osage Nation and then killed their brides for headrights.

No, The Coach was telling stories about selling washing machines to newly rich Indians “and they didn’t even have electricity. Haw haw haw….ignorant Indians.” Every Indian kid in the classroom developed a sudden interest in his or her shoelaces. We left the class in stunned silence and not only did nobody confront The Coach—unthinkable!—we didn’t even talk to each other.

From these experiences, I resolved to teach high school, because I could do better. I joined the military for the GI Bill, having no other chance at college, and served between the ages of 17 and 21. After an honorable discharge, I was rejected by the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Marquette University without even being offered a chance to test.

A year later, I went back to the University of Texas and asked the person at the front desk of the admissions office who had run me off if I could talk to her supervisor. I repeated this until I was in the office of the Dean of Admissions, who was amused when I threatened a sit-in and apparently admired my moxie. I had better sense than to mention my tribal affiliation.

The Dean admitted me on “individual approval,” provided I start in a summer session, carry 12 hours, and make no grade lower than C. I happily agreed.

That summer of 1969, Ms. Johnson, is when I was you. I was in a freshman cultural anthropology class and I could not listen to the professor hold forth about the primitive savages without differing. He did not eject me—which would have gotten me ejected from the University—but he gave me the only C I ever got as an undergraduate. That summer, I got three A’s and that one goddam C I did not deserve.

Three years later, with no teaching prospects, my grade point average mattered because I was applying to two top tier law schools, Texas and Yale. I wrote to the jerk and asked him to reconsider my grade, since he was then a minority of one and that one C was the difference between magna cum laude and summa cum laude. He did not answer.

I learned later he was denied tenure at Texas and he passed out of my mind, although his actions did not. About 25 years later, I was involved with the Texas Indian Bar Association and we were having some NAGPRA fights. Because of media coverage, I was contacted by some Indian students at the University of Missouri-Columbia. They complained of a particular professor, and I learned he had landed on his feet and gotten tenured.

I went on to two careers, as a judge and a professor, and now I’m writing for a living. The jerk and I are both emeriti now, but I take some perverse pleasure in having been tenured at a school higher on the food chain than where he landed.

My purpose is to explain why I have the nerve to advise you when I don’t know you, even though I feel like I know you. Here are my comments.

1. Cal State claims you are not out of the class. Go ahead and get out if you can withdraw without penalty, because any teacher who considers having his lesson hijacked a bad thing probably has little to offer not in the textbook. One who professes knowledge should never be a slave to a textbook or a lesson plan.

2. Take it as a given that you will be stereotyped. Going forward, you are the angry Indian woman, but before that your intellect was probably discounted for your ethnicity. You can work this to your benefit if you channel your anger and the only way you can shut it down is with accomplishment, not noise.

3. Your parents have admonished you to complain respectfully and they are right. You are probably smarter than many of your professors and you will probably do more with your life than they did, but that’s in the future. Your goal must be to get from here to there. Courtesy costs you nothing and earns you a lot.

Finally, understand that there are lots of people pulling for you, proud of you, wanting you to succeed. You are not alone. In the words of my daughters’ generation: you go, girl!

Steve Russell, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a Texas trial court judge by assignment and associate professor emeritus of criminal justice at Indiana University-Bloomington. He lives in Georgetown, Texas.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...de-open-letter

[gazhekwe]

UPDATE: Sac State History Dept Tweets - "Student Not Disenrolled"

Vincent Schilling
9/6/15

Within a few hours of posting that a Cal State Sacramento University Professor allegedly told his United States History class he did not like the term ‘genocide’ in relation to Native Americans and that a Native American student who disagreed with him was disenrolled and expelled from his course – the Sacramento State has issued a tweet stating the student was not disenrolled.

In the tweet, the Sacramento History Department [[@SacStateHist) states: “We regret this situation & are investigating; student is not disenrolled.”

As of 2:30 pm EST Sunday, the post has already received approximately 18,000 shares and likes and counting on Facebook and several news organizations have reached out to the family and ICTMN.

Stay tuned to ICTMN for continued updates on this story.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...nrolled-161651

[gazhekwe]

SACRAMENTO [[CBS13) – A heated dispute between a student and her professor over the term “genocide” has sparked at new debate at Sacramento State.

Chiitaanibah Johnson, 19, claims in an interview with Indian Country Media Network she was kicked out of class for using genocide to refer to the Native American experience.
The report is generating a lot of buzz on campus.

“That’s exactly what happened to them, there was a genocide with Native Americans,” said student Justine Harston. “I think we like to stay away from using terminology that makes us guilty.”
Johnson told Indian Country Media Network that her professor accused her of “hijacking” his class and kicked her out, all because she stood up to him when he said Native Americans did not face genocide.

Some students are seeing the professor’s side.

“If you’re impeding other students’ learning, you should be removed,” said student Stefany Ensor.

But the sophomore went on to tell the publication she had no choice but to confront her professor after seeing his apparent disdain for the term in the context of Native Americans.
After speaking to the publication, Johnson backed off from media requests and says she doesn’t want to talk until she reaches a resolution with the college.

A note posted to Johnson’s front door read: “My family and I do not wish to comment further on this matter until we have met with Sacramento State University officials. We hope to reach an amicable and just resolution to this issue and would prefer to respect their opportunity to respond.”

Robert S. Nelsen, Sacramento State’s president, responded to CBS13’s inquiry about the incident with a statement, reading:

“Sacramento State was very concerned upon learning about this incident and the allegations surrounding it. The University would like to make it clear that our student, Chiitaanibah Johnson, was not expelled or disenrolled from this history course. Under University policy, a professor cannot unilaterally disenroll a student from a class.”

For now, the incident has students talking.

“It was a genocide they tried to wipe [them] out so that they could take over the land,” Harston said.

“If you have that big of an issue with it, then talk to the teacher after class,” Ensor said.

Johnson, who spoke briefly to CBS13 over the phone Sunday night, says she doesn’t know if she will return to class Tuesday.

[gazhekwe]

An American Indian community’s Sundance Arbor, Sweat Lodges, and Sacred Altar were destroyed, presumably, by DNR officials from Northern Michigan. These religious structures were set up by members [[and supporters) of the Life Renewal Sundance Committee. Over 300 people took part in Ceremonies at the site in the Summer of 2014. The Sacred Structures were destroyed sometime in May, 2015.

Dustin Mac Leod, owner of the property where the Ceremonies took place, was given a “ticket” in October of 2014 by the DNR, alleging that he left “property on state land for over 24 hours.” The “property” consisted of those Sacred Structures mentioned in the fist sentence of this post.

The DNR claims that the “offending” Sacred Structures were on “state land,” which is more accurately described as part of the 1836 Ceded Territory. The “Ceded Territory” designation is made under the terms of the 2007 Inland Consent Decree. Furthermore, the “property” in question, if it were deemed by the DNR to be a “Type 2” “brush blind” made of “natural materials,” would have been 100% “legal.” That is, the “personal-property” structures were “ticketed” and ordered to be removed simply due to their Ceremonial nature and use. [[See “Digest,” below).

The “hate crime” charges are justified under “18 U.S.C. § 247 — Damage to religious property; obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs.”

Furthermore, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [[RFRA) states that that the “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.” The law provides an exception if two conditions are both met. First, if the burden is necessary for the “furtherance of a compelling government interest,” with “compelling” defined as an interest that is more than routine and does more than simply improve government efficiency. A compelling interest must address core constitutional issues. The second condition is that the “burden” must be the least restrictive way in which to further that “compelling government interest.” The State never articulated a “compelling government interest,” in fact, they offered to “review options” for the continued ceremonial “use of public land” [[see “letters” linked below).

Finally, the 2007 Inland Consent Decree states, without equivocation, that Tribal members “may engage in other historically traditional activities [[such as the construction and use of sweat lodges),” and, furthermore, that “The State is prohibited from regulating or otherwise interfering with the exercise of such rights except as provided in this Decree.”

Article32.org has joined with the Life Renewal Sundance Committee to file a formal complaint with the FBI, the BIA, and the US Department of Justice asking them to identify those responsible for the destruction of this Sacred Site and bring them to justice.

Supporting information is available at the end of the article here: http://article32.org/hate-crime/

[old guy]

From the link you provided:
Under the Straits of Mackinac lies two twin pipelines owned by Enbridge called Pipeline 5, which are 62-years-old. Using 1950s technology, the pipelines had a life expectancy of 33 years.

From Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enbridge_Pipeline_System

Line splits into two when passing under Straits of Mackinac. Volumes not delivered to Sarnia-area refineries are pumped into tanks for reinjection into Line 7

That's scary. It does say that in 1990 upgrades were made to replace old pipe and expand the system. It doesn't say where that was done or how extensive it was though. I doubt any of it was done underwater.


This map shows the lines that will pass close to my house. In total, they will be equal to a 120" diameter pipe, or 10' in diameter. This is all going on while everyones worried about the Keystone. Hey, look, over here, no, over here, whoops too late.

[gazhekwe]

Actually, old guy, that information on Line 5 is a bit dated. In recent years they have applied to increase the volume and pressure going through Line 5. We also have the zebra mussel problem which was never thought of in 1953 when these lines were built. Build up of Zebra mussels obscures and corrodes the pipes. They say the lines have never leaked in 60 years, and this proves they are safe. Really? There have been pinhole leaks in Line 5 over land, which they say are not leaks. They are now also saying they won't share their reports because they are "too complicated."

http://www.state.gov/e/enr/applicant...nts/202433.htm

[old guy]

It's also that fact of the increase in pressure that bothers me. They're adding a pumping station 16 miles south of me and about 14 miles north of me to increase pressure. They've already had a blowout, which was in a farm field in that stretch with a lower pressure rate.

Yeah, the Zebra mussels aren't a good mix. Thanks for the info.

[gazhekwe]

September 4, 1859



This was one of the many bands forced out of Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan to Kansas.

Remembering September 4, when a small band of Potawatomi [[859) under the leadership of Chief Menominee were forcibly removed at gunpoint from northern Indiana to Kansas. A journey that lasted 61 days covering some 660 miles. Some 45 individuals would perish along the way.

[gazhekwe]

[gazhekwe]

Battle Creek Enquirer. Sept. 6, 2015

Not good enough.

Enbridge Energy’s promise to keep heavy crude out of the Straits of Mackinac doesn’t remove the threat to the Great Lakes, and it shouldn’t appease those charged with protecting them, either.

The company on Thursday signed a deal with state officials pledging that it would not use Line 5 to move heavy crude. The 62-year-old pipeline carries light petroleum and natural gas liquids under the straits, and the agreement cements that status.

It also provides for a 180-day notice should the company decide to change its mind.

Dan Wyant, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, called it an “additional layer of protection.”

That’s an interesting way of putting it. Given the Canadian company’s history of environmental disasters, we fail to see how preserving the status quo is protecting anything.

We’re acutely aware of Enbridge’s poor oversight of its aging network of pipelines, one of which burst on July 26, 2010, near Marshall, spilling more than 1 million gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River.

And we can’t forget that it took the company 17 hours to shut down the pipeline. Nor should we.

Enbridge deserves credit for its local efforts to remedy the effects of that disaster five years ago, and we’re not of a mind to see the company punished in perpetuity for its mistakes, no matter how egregious.

Yet we see no reason to ignore its mistakes, either, and even running a pipeline under the Straits is a mistake of the highest order. If that wasn’t clear 62 years ago, it’s abundantly clear today.

A University of Michigan study commissioned in 2014 by the National Wildlife Federation found the Straits would be the “worst possible place” for a Great Lakes oil spill, contaminating waters and shoreline in both Lakes Michigan and Huron through the waterway’s often shifting currents.

Chris Kolb, president of the Michigan Environmental Council, told the Detroit Free Press in July that “No amount of preparation would be adequate to prevent utter disaster if Line 5 fails.”

And that, many observers fear, is simply a matter of time.

In a separate announcement on Thursday, Gov. Rick Snyder announced the creation of a 15-member pipeline safety advisory board in the DEQ. It’s a good move, although it comes more than three years after an NWF and U-M report highlighting the state’s lack of effective oversight of pipeline safety. That’s a remarkably slow response.

State leaders, including Attorney General Bill Schuette, are on already record stating that they can foresee a time when Enbridge would be forced to shut down Line 5. That time should be now.

Line 5 is a disaster waiting to happen. For once, we’d like to see this company forced to take steps to avoid further harm to our state’s natural resources.

http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/opi...b_ods.facebook

[gazhekwe]

Chair Aaron Payment Visits the White House
Chair Payment of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians will visit the White House, at the request of the President, today. Payment was recently appointed to a special advisory committee to the President along with eleven other tribal chairs from around the nation. He will meet personally with the president as a member of that committee at a regularly scheduled meeting in the White House’s oval office.
This meeting will not rank with Cosmonaut Neil Armstrong’s accomplishment of being the first man on the moon. But it will rank with Mark Spitz accomplishment of being the first swimmer to win five gold medals at the World Olympics. Payment lives in the house he grew up in on Shunk Road. He is currently finishing work on his Doctorate in Education. However, tribal chair Payment remains one of ‘them Indians’ from Shunk Road, having been denied a request to speak at a graduation ceremony at the Sault Area High School a couple of short years ago…being he is a high school dropout.

[old guy]

Battle Creek Enquirer. Sept. 6, 2015


The company on Thursday signed a deal with state officials pledging that it would not use Line 5 to move heavy crude. The 62-year-old pipeline carries light petroleum and natural gas liquids under the straits, and the agreement cements that status.

It also provides for a 180-day notice should the company decide to change its mind.

Dan Wyant, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, called it an “additional layer of protection.”

I don't really understand the ability to file a 180 day notice if the company decides to change its mind, or why the MDEQ would consider it an additional layer of protection. From what? If they signed a deal, isn't that binding, even though the deal itself is pitiful at best.

I certainly hope that people in the Great Lakes region speak out to their representatives [[ if that even works these days) and explain the basic facts that fresh water might already be worth more than oil. Ask the people out west. This pipeline will end up leaking, people will be shocked, yet it's all right here in front of us right now to see, evaluate and then probably do nothing.

Sad state of affairs at best.

[gazhekwe]

The concerns we have all raised about Line 5 has backed them down from their intent to move heavy crude through, anyway. We have made progress, sometimes it takes baby steps. Let's get on with it!

[gazhekwe]

George Will Gets It All Wrong in His Attack on ICWA


Timothy Davis, 9/13/15


Race is ugly business. The business of race can be seen in the higher rates of incarceration of black Americans. It is in the higher rates black Americans and Native Americans are killed by law enforcement. It is an aspect of our existence that we created, and one that has no basis in fact. George F. Will attempts to attack the issue of racial separation by targeting the Indian Child Welfare Act [[ICWA). He fails.


Mr. Will first attempts to attack the concept of sovereignty in his statement. “The 1978 act’s advocates say it is not about race but about the rights of sovereign tribes, as though that distinction is meaningful.”

This attack on Indian Tribal sovereignty is strange when coupled with the call for natural rights.

“This is discordant with the inherent individualism of the nation’s foundational natural rights tradition…”

This statement of natural relies upon the consent of the governed and the understanding of sovereignty. The sovereignty of the government itself, built off of the American tradition, rests within the rights of the people. Native Americans are no exception. Neither are we an exception to the rule of consent of the governed, and such consent was never granted. It was forced.


Such was the practice of “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” policy within America. That through barbaric practices of “civilizing” the Indian would naturally choose American Society to guide it. So too was the practice of ripping Native children from their culture and heritage. This practice is ongoing. Dwayne Stenstrom was taken from his family at the age of 8. He attests to the loss sense of belonging and sense of self. He would be able to confirm such acts can be violent and disparaging. Not necessarily an act of physical violence, but one of emotional and mental harm. A violent act nonetheless. Violence itself precludes the idea of consent. No consent can ever be truly given through violence.


This lack of consent can be seen in the defiance shown against votes involving Native lands. The continued use of reservation lands despite the abject conditions. The consent was never offered nor given. This is recognized by the United States in its statement for the unique government to government relationship between the tribes and the U.S. It reflects that the tribes have never relinquished their rights to self-determination and have thus never relinquished their sovereignty. The natural rights philosophy would require a relinquishment of both in order for the distinction of sovereignty to lack meaning.


From Mr. Will’s assault on sovereignty he attempts to place the crux of his argument on the ICWA representing race, and not tribal sovereignty. “The most pernicious idea ever in general circulation in the United States is the “one-drop rule,” according to which persons whose ancestry includes any black or Indian admixture are assigned a black or Indian identity.” But race does not become a factor within the ICWA until placement becomes an issue. Where the child is first given to a member of the extended family, second to a member of the child’s tribe, and thirdly to another Indian family if the first two options are unavailable. Nowhere does it express an interest within the text for anything other than tribal continuity. This continuity is necessary as the children exist within a culture that is historically theirs regardless of the degree of blood.


No amount of blood would ever deny a Russian born citizen the right to their cultural and historical heritage nor would it be enough to deny a citizen of the UK the right to their heritage. Such historical heritage and cultural history is ingrained in their lived experiences; as well as, the society they were born into. Native American societies aren’t different. We have cultural, historical, and political binding aspects directing our need to participate and be a part of our society. A need destroyed by the flagrant disregard of the ICWA.


America could not legitimately enter the United Kingdom and begin to adopt their children to homes the United Kingdom did not originally approve of in the first place. It would start a war. But the United States takes children on a regular basis from separate and unique cultures regularly. State sanctioned removal [[violence). There does exist a financial incentive to remove Native children from their societal homes. These incentives encourage both states and individuals to disregard or scoff at the ICWA’s importance. But such incentives should never be the basis for what is best for the child, the best course for the child should always be to stay within his/her culture and decide for his/herself later in life how [[s)he wants to live. Protecting and enforcing the ICWA ensures this. It ensures Native children’s safety.


Timothy Davis is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He is currently an undergraduate student studying Political Science with a minor in Economics at Northeastern State of Oklahoma University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.


Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...is-attack-icwa

[gazhekwe]

I guess we are supposed to be satisfied with 'student not suspended, teacher not fired, so no harm, no foul.' WRONG!

Native Student and Family Disappointed After Meeting With University President Re Native Genocide

Vincent Schilling, 9/12/15

One week after 19-year-old Native American student Chiitaanibah Johnson of California State University, Sacramento says she was disenrolled from her U.S. History class for disagreeing with her professor over the existence of Native American genocide, Johnson and her family met with Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen to discuss the matter. Though Johnson and her family say the meeting was cordial and sincere, they feel disappointed and say they fear neither the school nor the president will be taking any action that will satisfactorily address their concerns.

President Nelsen agreed to meet on Friday with Johnson as well as her mother, Martina Johnson, father Kurt Johnson and Cindy La Marr [[Pit River and Paiute), Executive Director of Capitol Area Indian Resources, Inc. in Sacramento, an organization that advocates for the academic and cultural rights of American Indian students. Nelsen told the family and the University has told ICTMN in an email that the President will also be meeting with Professor Maury Wiseman, the professor involved in the matter, at a later time.

Johnson says she was comforted by the meeting’s informality but fears a viable solution may never happen. “The president was respectful, open and I didn't expect it to be just him,” she said. “I thought someone would be recording it or there would possibly be a lawyer present, but there wasn’t.

“But when we pressed for a solution,” says Johnson, “the president told me that his hands were basically tied. I thought at least the professor’s class might be monitored or evaluated on some level. But the professor is still teaching and going on with his class.”

Cindy La Marr, who has worked with public schools and universities for many years for the benefit of Indian country, says she was not as impressed by Nelsen’s cordial demeanor. She told ICTMN that some of Nelsen’s proposed solutions were not sufficient. La Marr said Nelsen told them about a proposed University ‘California Native American Day,’ on September 25th that would hold seminars on Native Americans. “I asked if the instructor would be required to attend this, and he said, ‘No.’”

La Marr says that when she and the family asked if there was going to be any disciplinary action against the professor, President Nelsen said Professor Wiseman was protected by his faculty’s labor union.

“I asked if there was a vetting process for hiring part-time adjunct faculty and he said he did not know,” Lamar told ICTMN. “He said he was new and there were binders full of policies that protected faculty that he had not reviewed. I asked if part-time adjunct instructors were protected by faculty labor unions. He said, ‘Yes.’”

La Marr says after the Johnson family’s repeated attempts to ask if the professor would be disciplined were deflected, they decided to leave. “I continually asked, ‘What is your plan?’” Martina Johnson said. “The President just told us, ‘It is out of my hands.’”

In addition to speaking to ICTMN, student Chiitaanibah Johnson also issued a written statement addressing her thoughts on the meeting.

The President was fair, open and welcoming in hearing my concerns. I appreciated his candor regarding the bureaucratic and regulatory restrictions his office is subject to with regards to the limited actions he is allowed to take with regards to the issues at hand.

However, I am particularly concerned that while CSU-Sacramento officials are working to transfer me into another course, Professor Wiseman, under protection of the faculty teacher’s union and legal team, is still teaching under no observation or supervision while under investigation and that curriculum changes to actually address GENOCIDE are even less likely.

Having met with the CSU-Sacramento President, a fair and reasonable resolution to these issues appears unlikely within the current bureaucratic bounds of the university.

There are three very important points we want to make very clear:

· Genocide is and always has been wrong.

· Teaching otherwise is wrong.

· Instructors demonstrating such lack of academic rigor and acting in a manner both aggressive and intimidating manner of stifling student questioning should be held accountable in a manner both fair and timely.

Chiitaanibah Johnson’s father Kurt Johnson added to his daughter’s remarks and told ICTMN, “The professor’s statements were a product of a direct lack of academic rigor. Academic freedom does not preclude academic responsibility.”

ICTMN has reached out to Sacramento State regarding the meeting. University spokesperson Elisa Smith replied in an email with the following statement:

President Nelsen had an extensive, fact-gathering meeting with Ms. Johnson and her family as he attempts to achieve a positive resolution in this matter. He also is meeting with Prof. Wiseman.

As the fact-finding continues, and because this is an ongoing personnel matter, we cannot comment further at this time.

In the meantime, President Nelsen’s message to the campus earlier this week speaks for itself:

We at the University believe in academic freedom, and we also believe in civility and rigorous academic research. Our standards must be high, and we must follow the processes that we have put in place to ensure that the rights of students and faculty are protected.

Johnson says when she first returned to the school after the incident, she felt as if people were looking her way but not overtly staring or being intrusive. Though she says she is disappointed in the outcome thus far, she is encouraged by the outpouring of support from Indian country.

“It is what it is. I had no idea what to expect based on what happened but I told myself not to be not too set on the idea that the professor would be reprimanded,” she says. “I thought they might make him apologize or something else. The president basically said his hands were tied and there was only so much he could do.

“I feel unresolved about the issue. But my mom says, ‘There are Indian people all over the country that are supporting you because they know the truth and they know you stood up for them.’

“There is a conversation now,” says Johnson. “And people are talking about whether genocide has happened. My father said something that really affected me. He said, 'Even if nothing else happens, the circulation of this story and the effects on conversations across the country are more than my own grandfather could have done.’ If I had done something like this back then, it could have gotten me killed. But here I am.

“I didn't realize how good having the blessing of so many Indian people would feel. I've only known the natives of the outer rings of my family or in college, but I've never felt so connected to Indian country.”

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...dent-re-native

[gazhekwe]

[gazhekwe]

It was a chilly rainy day, as walkers gathered in Rexton to head down to Brevoort. Once they shuttle across the Mighty Mac, they will hit Old 27 for Lansing.

Walkers are expected to drop in and out as the walk progresses. Most people can only join for a day or a few. I plan to join up on Tuesday for a few days and pilot a sagwagon, water, blankets, towels and carrying backpacks and bedding from checkpoint to checkpoint.

If you see them on the road, give them a friendly salute.

[gazhekwe]

In this clip, we see a commercial operation, a big investment in the boat and the nets, supporting at least two families. There is joy in the hard work of bringing the fresh Lake Superior fish to market.

The catch is strictly regulated in accord with the Federal guidelines. Our treaty rights are limited because of the need to share with the colonists' commercial and sport fishing demands.



And after all is done and fish are on their way to the market, the nets must be spread out to dry and be repaired as needed.

[Jimaz]

Attachment 28209
A TRIBUTE TO THE IDLE NO MORE MOVEMENT, SEPT 6, 2015

• IdleNoMore.ca
• PolicyAlternatives.ca/Poverty-or-Prosperity

Once more Mason Williams provides the hammer to drive the point home.

[gazhekwe]

Treaty Awareness Walk will be there for a rally, come on over! Walking from Portage, expecting to arrive by 3 pm.

This is all about compelling the State of Michigan to recognize our part as major stakeholders in any deals they make on sale of ceded lands. Our interest in preserving the purity of the land and its resources, the water and air for future generations must be addressed.

Here are some grandmothers, mothers, ready to go at Alba, Michigan



Two indefatigable men ready to go at Boyne Falls.



Back with the poster in a minute when Facebook wakes up.

[gazhekwe]

Tomorrow, Lansing to Webberville
Thursday, Webberville to Stockbridge. I will be running backup wagon.
Friday, Stockbridge to Chelsea, and me on backup wagon again.
Saturday, Chelsea to Adrian, then Adrian to Delta, Ohio.

[gazhekwe]

Starting our walk today north of Stockbridge on M-52. We made it to Chelsea.



The cranes were keeping us company with flyovers and crane serenades.