Merry Christmas!

Klamblog posting: Please attend if you can!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Call to Action: Activists will "welcome" Klamath Dealmakers to Humbolt County

It will come as no news to readers of KlamBlog that we do not like the Klamath Dam and Water Deals - the KHSA and KBRA. We don't like these deals because they favor the 1%. The Dam Deal lets PacifiCorp's shareholders escape responsibility for removing a non-performing asset - the Klamath River Dams - from the Klamath River; The KBRA sacrifices the Klamath Wildlife Refuges and Klamath Salmon Recovery in order to maximize irrigation water deliveries to the Basin's Irrigation Elite, especially the eight very big growers who control most of the prime land within the BOR's Klamath Irrigation Project. The KBRA also puts management of the People's Klamath River - and its Public Trust water - into the hands of bureaucrats making decisions behind closed doors. KlamBlog thinks that is just wrong.

On Wednesday November 14th those governments and organizations which have signed onto these deals will meet in Eureka in a public show meeting at which they will pass amendments to the KBRA. The meeting will be a show because the decision to approve the amendments (which make a bad deal worse) has already been made behind closed doors.

Proposed KBRA Water Deal Amendments will facilitated dewatering key Upper Klamath

River Basin National Wildlife Refuges in order to maximize irrigation water delivery

On Tuesday November 13th the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors - which has signed onto the deals - will consider whether to approve the amendments. The supervisors were forced to do that in public by crusading citizens - including Northcoast fisheries biologist and Humboldt Bay Commissioner Pat Higgins and citizen activist and rabblerouser Syvia De Rooy. Below is Sylvia's Call Out to the events.

KlamBlog calls out too. We call on all Humboldt County citizens who don't like sweetheart deals for the 1% - and for those who think water for salmon should have a higher priority than water for irrigation - to come out and jam these meetings. Bring big signs telling the Humboldt County Supervisors and other dealmakers that they are on the wrong side. Come out for the Salmon and for open and democratic management of the People's Klamath River.

KlamBlog will be there and we'll be looking for you!

Urgent Call Out from Sylvia De Rooy

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 13^th and 14^th, we need to make our presence felt. On Tuesday the Board of Sups need to hear us tell them to dump the KBRA. Consideration of the KBRA Water Deal is scheduled for 1:30 PM at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.

The KBRA is scheduled to die on December 31. The KBCC (whose members are the signers of the KBRA) have decided they can’t let that happen, they have irrigator interests to protect. So, on Wednesday they will be holding a meeting at the Aquatic Center in Eureka to announce a 2 year extension for the KBRA. If even one signer says "no" to that it can’t be done.That meeting begins at 9 AM

On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors has agreed to put the KBRA on their agenda. They are holding firmly to their commitment to the KBRA. They have hired Jill Duffy to be their representative and to report to them on all technical/scientific aspects of the KBRA as well as to provide technical assistance to working committees and to review the EIS/EIR and other plans and reports. She has absolutely no qualifications for that position but is getting $25,000 in grant money for that job. When she represented the county as a supervisor, she attended a total of ONE KBRA meeting in 18 months. The county signed on to the KBRA and KHSA at her recommendation.

At least one supervisor seems to believe that if the county drops out they will lose “clout”. That this "clout" appear non-existent and that Humboldt County has made no attempt to use whatever "clout" they may have gained does not seem to matter. The bottom line is that there is no reason to believe that a single one of the supervisors has an in depth understanding of the KBRA although they have had ample opportunity to be informed on the issues by those who have that knowledge and understanding.

There have been a number of activities tied into the KBRA that have been less than legal. Although a number of these illegalities have been pointed out to them, the Humboldt County supervisors continuing connection with the KBRA leaves the County vulnerable. The Supervisors seem to be oblivious to that.

Under the KBRA Water Deal decisions on the management and allocation

of Klamath River water are made undemocratically and in secret.

It is critical right now to hold their feet to the fire. If the KBRA gets a two year extension either it will finally get Congressional approval, which would mean that nothing will happen to the dams until 2020, or it will not get approval and the players will keep pushing for extensions. Either way we will have lost another two years during which other solutions could have been worked for such as the FERC path to dam removal.

On Tuesday there needs to be a huge turn out at the Bd of Sups with prepared statements asking them to justify the hiring of Jill Duffy, asking them to justify their stand on the KBRA, asking them to justify their qualifications to make the decisions they have been making by demonstrating an in depth knowledge of the issues.

On Wednesday there needs to be an equally large turn out at the Aquatic Center.The KBCC has no governmental authority and has a track record of secret meetings. They need to see and hear that eyes and ears are upon them.

Let’s try for standing room only.

 

 

Run Route For Nov. 3rd Modoc Ancestral Run!

Modoc Ancestral Run Route for Nov. 3rd

>>Run Route<<
*Depart Indian Wells Campground and head S on FS-10 Road (paved rd) follow this main road 14 miles.
*Take a Left on Co Rd 97 and follow for 2.6 miles until you reach Hwy 139. *At Hwy 139 go Left follow 2.5 miles.
*Right on Rd 136 go 10 miles (stay on main road heading towards clear lake)
*Take a Left on Dirt Road (pink flagging on tree) and
head N for 9.6 miles along west side of clear lake hills.

*Take Left on Co Rd 202 and follow 2.2 miles alongside Horse Mountain
*At paved road take a Left then take your first Right on Co Rd 126
*Right on Co Rd 120 for 2.6 miles
*Cross Hwy 139 (Newell)
*Straight on Co Rd 141 for 1.7 miles
*Right at Co Rd 177 (Lava Beds sign - Petroglyph Point) .7 miles
*At paved Road take a Left then take first Right (pink flagging)
*Across Lower Tule Lake Wildlife refuge and into NE entrance of Lava Beds
*STOP at Captain Jacks Stronghold where all runners will go through together.
*Resume run heading W/S through the park (13 miles) until arriving back at Indian Wells Campground.

Modoc Ancestral Run!

Update on Modoc Ancestral Run!

5 DAYS!!
Here are some details.....

Friday, November 2nd
A few of us will be arriving at Indian Wells Campground around 3pm to set up our camp spot, kitchen, and prep the ceremonial fire area. Anyone wishing to camp can join us. Dinner will be served around 6:30pm. The fire will be lit at sundown and tended through the run.

Saturday, November 3rd
6:30am opening ceremony will begin and run will depart just before the sun rises over the Clear Lake Hills. Runners are asked to be present for the opening ceremony to purify, become part of the circle, and receive important information. If you are running late, stop by the campground and smudge down, then look for us on the run route.

Any Questions don't hesitate to call Monica Yellowowl at 541-591-2900.

Russell Means Being Honored on Pine Ridge Reservation

http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/russell-means-being-honored-by-hundreds-on-pine-ridge-indian-reservation.htmlhttp://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/russell-means-being-honored-by-hundreds-on-pine-ridge-indian-reservation.html

Russell had a love for his land and his people and did not give up!  You will not be forgotten brother!
We too have a love for our land and our people, we will not give up either!

Russell Means, Indian activist and actor, dies at 72

Russell Means, Indian activist and actor, dies at 72

You will be missed Russell, your work will continue!

Update on The Modoc Ancestral Run from Monica Yellowowl

Update on The Modoc Ancestral Run from Monica Yellowowl ***The Run will take place no matter the weather***

>FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd<
Camping will be available for anyone wishing to join us the evening before. Indian Wells Campground, located in the Lava Beds National Park (near Visitor Center). You can arrive anytime after 3pm. Ceremonial fire will be lit at sundown. Cultural stories, history, songs, and friendship will be shared into the evening. Dinner will be provided. Bathrooms, running water, camp sites, and fire pits are available. Please bring your own camping gear and contributions of fresh fruit, healthy snacks and water for runners are gladly accepted.


>SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd<
Anyone wishing to run will need to be at the Indian Wells campsite BEFORE sunrise. The camp will start to stir around 5:30am. Light breakfast will be offered. Opening ceremony will begin at sunrise and the run will begin shortly after. You have the option of leaving your vehicle at the campground and joining other trucks if room permits. Camp cooks will remain onsite to tend the fire and prepare the evening meal and anyone wishing to remain at the camp or arrive later to welcome the runners in, is welcome.

>RUN ROUTE<
The run will begin and end at Indian Wells campground and will move in a circle covering approx. 67 miles. South towards Tionesta, East Towards Clear Lake, North through the Clear Lake Hills, West past Horse Mountain, Across Hwy 139, alongside the Peninsula, and Petroglyph point, across the lower Tule Lake refuge and enter the NE side of the Park. The runners will stop at the Stronghold and proceed in together as a group, stopping for prayer and ceremony. The run will resume relay style and close to the end, all runners will join together and come into the campground as a group. Closing ceremony retiring of the staff(s) will be held followed by a celebration feast.

>THINGS TO REMEMBER<
*Women on their moon cannot carry the staff(s)
*No MP3 players or music devices
*Be respectful of others when using cell phone (coverage is hit/miss)
*No horseplay, foul language, or disrespectful behavior
*No littering, respect the land when you are waiting for the staff
*Use caution at all times, communicate w/ drivers and watch out for each other.

Public Art in McCloud – Mark Oliver’s “Joaquin Miller Book” Opens October 4th

 

 

 

Public Art in McCloud – Mark Oliver’s “Joaquin Miller Book” Opens October 4th

Tracie Marie Alter

 

 

 

Tracie Alter of Klamath Falls, went home to the Creator on August 26th 2012.

Tracie is an enrolled citizen of The Modoc Nation and will be greatly missed. Tracie was born on Dec. 30, 1981 to David and Darlene Alter.  She is survived by her parents, brother Scott, sister Minda, other family members, and many friends.  Donations may be made in Tracie's memory to Spokes Unlimited, 415 Main Street, Klamath Falls OR 97601 (541) 883-7547  or Baird's Memorial Chapel (541) 536-5104.   Please keep her family in your prayers.    

 

 

 

 

Pit River Tribe & The Modoc Nation Gathering at Medicine Lake

Pit River Tribe and The Modoc Nation Gathering at Medicine Lake !
Hope to see you there, it should be a great time to visit and see all our
Brothers and Sisters!

Basketry Workshop

        

        This would be a great class to attend, hope some of you can make it! 

 Thank you sister Jody for sharing this & the great book! 

 Moo- Sepk'eec'a (thank you!)

Medicine Lake Pit River / Modoc Tribe Gathering

Looking forward to seeing more Modocs this year, this is also a Sacred Place for our people.

This should be a great time to visit and reflect, July 19th - 23rd at Medicine Campground.

We look forward to spending time in celebration with our people and our brothers and sisters from The Pit River Tribe!

The Park Ranger said the fishing is really good right now!

"Sacred Praises" ~Brule 'N Airo

Great Spirit,
give us hearts to understand;
Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy or want only for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty;
Never to take from her what we cannot use.
Give us hearts to understand
That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion;
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;
That as we care for her she will care for us.
We have forgotten who we are.
We have sought only our own security.
We have exploited simply for our own ends.
We have distorted our knowledge.
We have abused our power.
Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst,
help us to find the way to refresh your lands.
Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution,
help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.
Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with mis-use,
help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.
Great Spirit, whose creatures are being destroyed,
help us to find a way to replenish them.
Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost
in selfishness and corruption,
help us to find the way to restore our humanity.

Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days Powwow

Pi-Ume-Sha   Pow wow at Warm Springs Indian Res.  June 22-24th

Letter to FWP Wildlife Bureau on Wolves!

FWP- Wildlife Bureau
Attn: Public Comment PO Box 200701

Helena, MT. 59620-070                                                                       June 20, 2012

To whom it may concern:

The Modoc Nation does not and will not condone the killing of the Grey Wolf.

Our brother the Wolf has been on this planet from the beginning.  The Creator put these majestic animals here for a reason to bring balance to the ecosystem by consuming weak, old, and diseased animals, thus helping all animals to thrive better, keeping vegetation robust and waters clean for fish to thrive, therefore creating conditions to allow all to survive.

Our Brother the Wolf has been given to us for Spirit Quest and to teach us by the Creator, he has helped us hunt and learn how to be a bonded family.  It is sacrilege to kill our Brothers for sport or waste.  These are our brothers, a symbol of freedom, strength and wisdom.   

This slaughter is an outright atrocity with no reason other than to satisfy the greedy corporate ranchers.  This is a political issue, this has nothing to do with any damage our brothers have or will do.  This is about special interest who wants to destroy our sacred animals, they will not stop until all our precious brothers and sisters are gone forever.

If you destroy the Wolf, what will be next? the Mountain Lion, the Coyote, the Bobcat then the Bear?

When all of the animals are gone and the lands and water are ruined what will you do then?

       It is time to start respecting all of Great Spirit’s creations; if we do not then man will be next.

 

      Chief Greywolf

*Hold out your hand*

The First Buffalo Stone
(Legend of the Blackfeet)
One time long, long ago, before we had horses, the buffalo suddenly disappeared. All the hunters killed elk, deer, and smaller game animals along the river bottoms then. When all of them were either killed or driven away, the people began to starve. They were camped in a circle near a buffalo drive.Among them was a very, very poor old woman, the second wife of her husband. Her buffalo robe was old and full of holes; her moccasins were old and were torn to shreds by the rocks she walked over.While gathering wood for the fire one day, she thought she heard someone singing a song. The song seemed quite close, but when she looked around, she saw no one. Following the sound and looking closely, she found a small rock that was singing, "Take me! I am of great power. Take me! I am of great power."When the woman picked up the rock, it told her what to do and taught her a special song. She told her husband her experience and then said, "Call all the men together and ask them to sing this song that will call the buffalo back."Are you sure?" asked her husband."Yes, I am sure. First get me a small piece of the back of a buffalo from the Bear-Medicine man."Then she told her husband how to arrange the inside of the lodge in a kind of square box with some sagebrush and buffalo chips. "Now tell the men to come and ask them for the four rattles they use."It is a custom for the first wife to sit close to her husband in their lodge. But this time, the husband told the second wife to put on the first wife's dress and sit beside him.After all the men were seated in the lodge, the buffalo stone began to sing, "The buffalo will all drift back. The buffalo will all drift back."Then the woman said to one of the younger men, "Go beyond the drive and put up a lot of buffalo chips in line. Then all of you are to wave at the chips with a buffalo robe, four times, while you shout like you were singing. The fourth time that you shout, all the chips will turn into buffalo and will go over the cliff."
The men followed her directions, and the woman led the singing in the lodge. She knew just what the young man was doing all the time, and she knew that a cow-buffalo would take the lead. While the woman was singing a song about the leader that would take her followers over the cliff, all the buffalo went over the drive and were killed.Then the woman sang a different song; "I have made more than a hundred buffalo fall over the cliff, and the man above hears me."Ever since then, the people took good care of a buffalo stone and prayed to it, for they knew that it had much power.The sacred buffalo stone, or Iniskim, is a major medicine object of the Blackfeet. It is usually a fossilized shell that was found on the prarie. Some of the stones look a lot like animals. In the old days, these stones were used in a ritual for calling buffalo. The stones were said to have called attention to themselves by making a faint chirp much like a bird would make.

Native Americans (Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee)

Wolf High: Is It Now All Downhill For Wolf Numbers In The American West? - Wildlife Art Journal

This is enough to make you sick, how can we standby and let this happen!
What kind of country are we to build up this awesome animal just to hunt and
kill them all off?



Wolf High: Is It Now All Downhill For Wolf Numbers In The American West? - Wildlife Art Journal

KlamBlog: KBRA “cultural shift” leaves birds dead, basin com...

KlamBlog: KBRA “cultural shift” leaves birds dead, basin com...: For those who follow news reports issuing from both the Upper and Lower portions of Klamath River Basin, recent news provides two distinctly...

Fisher Papers on The Modoc War now available on PDF for viewing.

These papers are almost 1,900 pages, it took a long time for them to scan in.
Thanks for the effort!   This is another example of how the War could have
been prevented if they had just agreed to give us some of our homeland in
California.

The California Genocides and California's history curriculum

This was the case and continues to be the case today with our people too!
Thanks Felice!

Greywolf



Native friends and associates,

I want to share with you my message below to State School Superintendent Torlakson. I'd like to help something effective happen to end the denial and to get the facts of the California Genocides taught in California schools.

Maybe a flood of similar letters to Torlakson on this would be helpful. if there is more I can do in this regard, please let me know.

Felice

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Felice Pace <unofelice@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 3:03 PM
Subject: The California Genocides and California's history curriculum
To: Superintendent@cde.ca.gov


Dear Superintendent Torlakson,

I am contacting you because I am a lifetime California credentialed history teacher and - at 65 year old - I recently discovered an aspect of California history of which I was substantially unaware. I am speaking about the organized and government promoted genocides which took place in Northern California in the years around and after statehood.

I knew that there had been certain events like the massacre at Indian Island in Humboldt Bay and the (alleged but largely denied and downplayed) poisoning of Shasta folks at Fort Jones. But I had no idea that these were part of an organized campaign sanctioned by the governor and other high officials and promoted, for example, with parades where folks displayed banners calling for "extermination"!

I recently had occasion to research the subject and I've published an article and a letter to the editor about what I found. I wrote these things because current racism and denial of the California Genocides are alive and well in California and are having a negative impact on current inter-group relations. Current education in California about Native-European relations in our state's history is perpetuating racial divisions; not helping to heal them. The unconscious conspiracy to suppress this history is not right and it is not good for our state.

I am also the father of two children who went through the California public schools K through 12 and who also attended and graduated from UC schools (Davis and Santa Cruz). In spite of always being on the honor roll, my children are substantially unaware of the organized efforts at genocide which took place in our state; that to me is a strong indictment of how we are teaching California history.

How does it happen that an history teacher and his children who went through the California schools K through BA level never learned about a major feature of the state's early history? And how does it happen that this aspect of our history is successfully denied and suppressed?

And most importantly of all, what should we - you, I, Native educators and educators state-wide - do about this situation?

I believe that our failure to educate our public school students about the organized, historic California Genocides plays an important roll in perpetuating the racism which Native people continue to experience - particularly in the rural parts of California where most of our tribes are based. In other words, our failure as educators to teach our kids about this aspect of California history is having negative impacts today. How can we claim that we are educating for a respectful, multi-ethnic society when we effectively refuse to include this important aspect of our history in the curriculum and/or to require that teachers teach this part of our history?

I am not Native; I am an Italian American. (I've also learned through this research that Italian Americans like me were not considered "white" during the early years of statehood.) Since moving to Northern California in 1975, I have worked and lived alongside Natives - including many Native educators. I know that, whether or not a Native person knows the details of these genocides, he/she has internalized attitudes based not only on the fact of the genocides but also on the ongoing denial that the genocides took place in the organized and officially sanctioned manner that history tells us was the case. Natives experience the current expressions of racism and they implicitly understand that denial of the history of Native-European relations practiced by white society plays a role in the durability of racist attitudes and behavior.

We should do something about this; you should do something about it. I am offering to bring together Native American educators with you and your staff to discuss the situation and develop a plan for adjusting curriculum and teaching to assure that this aspect of California history is taught and learned.

Please contact me if you are ready to do something.

Felice Pace
Klamath, CA 95548
707-954-6588

"we must always seek the truth in our opponents' error and the error in our own truth."

- Reinhold Niebuhr