Territorial Guard issue seems to be a no-brainer

There's an issue that has been going around the ringer for awhile now, but really came to a head last week. Honestly, I'm still trying to make sense of it. It seems pretty simple to me.

Twenty six guys, still alive today, were asked to serve their country in World War II. Okay, so a lot MORE than 26 guys were asked, but I'm talking about these guys (and so is everyone else.) They did. They protected a valuable territory - still too few people know that parts of Alaska were invaded, successfully for a time, by the Japanese. They continued to serve their country long after, over twenty years. They are all old men now, in their eighties, and they've been collecting a (SMALL!) pension for their service. They would like to continue to receive their pension. Twenty six guys.

From the Anchorage Daily News article:

State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year to fill the pay gap until Congress made a permanent fix, but the White House said Friday it didn't think it was "appropriate to establish a precedent of treating service performed by a state employee as active duty for purposes of the computation of retired pay."

This was a WTF? moment for me. I've been a supporter of the Obama Adinistration since well before it was an Administration. In this, they have it way, WAY wrong.

I've heard stories about these men for awhile now, and always thought it was a pretty neat thing for our men to have done. Even while the Aleut people were being forced to leave their homes by the US Government, Alaska Natives served their country proudly, and bravely. It amazes me, in a time when"No Natives or Dogs" was common, that these men had no hesitation. It was, after all, the home of ancestors a millenia past they were protecting.

I'm not even sure I fully understand the "state" comment - especially since there was no state of Alaska when these men siged up - and wouldn't be for another 17 years. So the state is responsible for the program needed by the federal government, 17 years before the state government would come into existence?

From Sen. Begich in a KTUU report:

"And for us to say to them that we're not interested because someone in the chain of command... said, ‘Well, it would set a precedent,' unless you can find me another Alaska Territorial Guard program in this country, I'd have that debate and I'd say, ‘Maybe you're right,' but there is none," Begich said.

I am frankly baffled by this, and wish someone could explain this to me in a way that seems reasonable. For sixty some odd years it was reasonable to continue honoring their service, but now, suddenly, it would set a dangerous precedent?

It seems to me the only precedent the continuation of the payments is setting is that the federal government will continue to care for those that took care of us, when they were called upon. In the billions we are spending right now on pork barrel this and pet project that, we really can't scrape together 26 monthly pensions for some brave old men the majority of Americans all agree deserve it?

This really is outrageous, and I hope someone wakes up over there soon.

_

Obama Administration supports Native Hawaiian self-governance

I'm a little surprised this isn't getting more play in the news, but it would mean huge changes for the Native people of Hawaii if it were to pass. From RezNet:

Sam Hirsch, deputy associate attorney general for the Justice Department, told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Thursday that the department "strongly supports the core policy goals" of a bill allowing for self-governance by Native Hawaiians. Once established, the new government would negotiate with the state and the federal government over which assets the new government would own.

Though in none of the 200+ years of U.S. dealings with indigenous people is there a shining example of how it can be done right, I must confess I've never quite understood how, legally, morally, logically the Native people of Hawaii cannot be considered similar to Alaska Native and American Indian "tribes" (I use the term loosely, because up here, at least, "tribe" is only ever a government classification and never something used to describe any of the people groups outside of federal/state government terms.)

Of course it is complicated, but also silly to me the argument that Native Hawaiians have a "different" history from "Indian tribes" of the mainland. Of course they have - but it's only a statement made by someone who groups all Native people on the mainland of North America the same.

Although I belong to a federally classified "tribe," I can gaurantee you my people's history, with the U.S. government or otherwise, doesn't look a thing like that of the Crow tribe's history. Outside of being treated pretty poorly, there are little similarities, and the differences are at least as great as the difference in the Native Hawaiian history and any other federally recognized tribe.

The articles (one also from the Honolulu Advertiser) don't mention any real possibilities for passage of the bill from the Senate, but it is good to hear that it has support from the White House all the same. I would love to hear where each of the senators stands on it.

Native American Supreme Court Justice up next?

Interesting poll from US News and World Report - 50% surveyed would like to see the next Supreme be a Native American. As we (hopefully) have our first Hispanic Supreme shortly, this would be great to see.

Respondents chose racial diversity over religious diversity or difference in sexual orientation. A whopping 50 percent of those surveyed said they would like to see President Obama choose a Native American for the Supreme Court if the president got a second selection. Nineteen percent said they would like to see Obama appoint an Asian and 16 percent an African-American justice. Only 13 percent hoped to see a gay or lesbian justice as Obama's next pick. And coming in last, with 2 percent, was a Muslim justice.

Don't know how scientific this survey was, but sounds good to me!!

Obama names Native senior policy advisor... finally!!

Okay, my impatience has finally paid off (not sure that had anything to do with it, but moving on!)

One of the major campaign promises of Obama's to Native people around the country was a Native senior policy advisor - and he's made good on that promise!

From RezNet:
Obama names Cherokee as Native Policy Advisor

From Indian Country Today:
President Obama announces Kimberly Teehee as senior policy advisor for Native American Affairs

I don't know anything about Teehee, so I'm going to check around, see what reaction this gets, and hope for the best!

Palin's letter to Obama over rural emergency

From Kyle Hopkins over at the ADN rural blog, The Village, on Palin's letter to Obama over rural flooding:

One other passage in Palin's letter caught my attention. On the third page, as she's making the state's case for why the feds should declare a disaster, it says:

"Western Alaska communities have the highest average heating fuel ($7/gallon) and gasoline prices ($6.75/gallon). Most rely on limited seasonal employment ... Residents were choosing between food and fuel even before the floods and several communities affected by the floods had requested state economic disaster declarations."

What it doesn't say is that the state denied those requests.

Emphasis mine. It is a bit frustrating to hear an argument using something long wanted - over a year ago! - by rural Alaska by Palin, when she so long ignored it. Palin came late to the game indeed, to the rural economic emergency, and still has nothing to show for what little she did get involved in. Except, of course, she brought some homemade cookies.

_

Obama's first 100 days - whaddya think?

As Obama hits his first 100 days, well, don't know that I'm exactly qualified to be judging his job, but for the issues I care most about, pretty good job. "A" for effort, certainly.

One thing I had hoped he would have by now is one of his campiagn promises to Indian country -a Native senior advisor. I figured he'd have this position filled within the 100 days - and certainly before the puppy situation was settled! I'm sure there's a lot of top positions yet to be filled, but I'm ready for the names to stop dangling in front of me (including two Alaska Native women!) and for the position to be filled! There's some good opportunities slipping by...

Still, Obama has had some Native history made already, in his first 100 days, so I suppose I should stop my complaining. From a record increase in the Indian Health Services budget to the first Native woman appointed to the top position at IHS, there's some looking up in that area. And he's not just appointing Native people to jobs serving other Native people - he's appointed some big Native guns to positions across the administration.


TAKE THE POLL TO THE RIGHT TO GIVE OBAMA YOUR OWN GRADE!
Quick and easy!

And some other Native and/or Obama first 100 days bits:



Tribal leaders attend planting of organic garden at the USDA.

Meetings in Indian country about economic stimulus (Indian Country Today,) as well as the National Congress of the American Indians page/Web site about it.

Sec. of the Interior Salazar announces $500 million for tribes in stimulus. (RezNet)

Polls on the first 100 days are pretty good for Obama, except for the torture memo thing (from the Washington Post.)

Huffington Post's collection of articles, photos on his first 100 days.

An interesting time for Native people

I was reading an article in the Arctic Sounder about the words of Byron Mallot, a well-respected Native leader in Alaska:

He’s an optimist, he said, who sees a future where Native and non-Native neighbors live side-by-side, have a sense of responsibility one to another and responsibility to oneself, differences are held up as strengths and where aboriginal people still live on the land.

I have been looking around with great interest in the last several months. There is a cautious optimism in many Native people, an optimism I haven't seen in my few years on this earth. Despite the continuation of life's troubles, I hear many Native people (and non-Native, I might add) talking about "what could be" instead of "what should have been."

I'm not sure if it's the projects I've been working on, or the articles I've been reading, but I'm going to "re-quote" an Indian Country Today editoral that really latched onto the feel of the now:

Like a freshly sober alcoholic who’s lived too long devoid of hope, I’m still waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me. But I’m fighting to suspend my disbelief and have some faith that change is on the horizon...

It’s often in the midst of the greatest crises that societies finally find the willpower to reinvent their institutions to better serve their people. With the collapse of the banking system and election of a president fully committed to this undertaking, we find ourselves in a once-in-a-generation political upheaval...

And it will be in this turmoil that Native people will be given a window when their voices may once again be heard, and heeded....

We should grab this opportunity and not let go until our roads are fixed, our hospitals are functioning as they should and our children are attending schools that are palaces.

While many will think of hope and change, maybe many Native people aren't *quite* there. "Possibility" is the word I can come up with. Hope might be a bit much, but hope is possible. Change is possible.

Can you feel it?

We SHOULD grab this opportunity - how many more can we possibly have?

_

Whoa-Bama

A month into the Obama Administration, and there are now officially some problems.

Okay, okay. Yeah, there were problems before, and it was never going to be perfect. But this one quite alarmed me from Indianz.com:

Obama administration to fight Indian preference case

If you don't know, Indian preference (at least this case) is saying that the first try at jobs that "directly and primarily" relate to Native programs - mostly in the Bureau of Indian Affairs - go to qualified Native people first. The Obama administration is appealing the court decision of last year to lift the restrictions of the Bush policy, opening up more positions to Indian (we call it Native) preference. Regarding the Bush/Reagan policy that was overturned:

In court papers, the union said only 17 out of 550 positions at the agency were covered by Indian preference under the restrictive policy.

Many of the top positions in for the BIA, and other Native agencies, were filled by non-Native people.

I know preference is a hot-button issue for some, and it can easily be likened to affirmative action. There are similarities, but some of the differences are that Native preference is regarding only jobs that serve Native people, and you do HAVE to be qualified. I'm an hesitant advocate for Native preferance, though I've certainly disagreed with some of its outcomes.

The idea that a majority of non-Natives should be directly in charge of the decisions of Indian country is frustrating, though. As Bob Poe, quite intelligently, I think, reminded us in the Alaska Dispatch, here in Alaska, the majority of people working for Native corporations (nearly all of which have Native preference) are not Native. Even the programs that entirely (federally mandated) serve Native people, the majority of workers are not Native.

I do think Obama (and his administration) need to rethink fighting this right out of the gate, especially since he is a proponent of affirmative action in the right context (merit based). Why is one of the first fights going to be about this anyways? The specifics of the appeal aren't out yet, and I am VERY interested to see this justification.

In honor of the shoe guy

Just saw this story from AP that a statue in honor of the guy who threw two shoes at Bush has been erected in Baghdad.

Which gives me one more chance to show this video:

When the red man can get ahead, man!

Painting beside, from Indian Country Today: A Native American artist created a work of art entitled "Barack Black Eagle: He Who Helps People Throughout the Land," which was displayed during the inaugural festivities. Obama was given the name by a Crow family who adopted him into the tribe when he visited the Crow Nation in May 2008.

I couldn't sleep - I was too excited. So I'm going to leave off the Obama inauguration post until tomorrow. But amongst all the celebration, it was nice to take note of some of the Native happenings too. I couldn't find any coverage of the American Indian Ball, though.

The Washington Post covered the Native American family that adopted Obama.

RezNet covered the new Sec. of the Interior, Ken Salazar, addressing Native issues. A Juneau Tlingit woman was interviewed:

At the same time, however, she said tough issues remain in Indian Country, including her native Alaska where environmental problems, climate change and an economic downturn have led to skyrocketing unemployment rates of more than 80 percent in some villages, threatening the livelihood of her communities.

"A whole lot of our villages are dying," she said.

RezNet also covered some of the Alaska Native and American Indian performances, including the Yaaw Tei Yi Tlingit dance group from Juneau.


AND


a pre-inaugural summit hosted by the National Congress of American Indians.



Indian Country's coverage focused a bit more on the mentions of Native people in his address (which there were none,) as he gave a "shout-out" to Native people on election night, as well as the Lincoln memorial party the other night, but still, a few nice nuggets of info. Indigenous people around the world can have a bit more hope tonight!



They also picked up on what our household found kinda funny - following a mostly very poignant benediction, Rev. Joseph Lowery ended with:

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around. ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen. Say amen.”

AMEN!

Celtic Diva got some pictures from Patti Higgins (AK Dem chair, who I will be forever grateful to for getting me into see Obama at the Democratic National Convention) of the Alaska float in the parade. The Barrow group looks... very ALASKAN!! 907 represents!!



KTUU also had some coverage of the two Alaska bits of the parade - the Colony marching band and the Barrow group.



The Green Inaugural Ball also had a nice little bit of benefit for Native people in it:

The Green Ball, of course, was billed as carbon neutral. The emissions generated from the electricity used at the event were offset by buying emissions-reduction credits from Native Energy, which supports Native American, farmer-owned, community-based renewable energy projects.

Happy Birthday Dr. King

The above photo was taken at the Democratic National Convention, during one of the more moving tributes I've seen for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Although I'm sure much of it was in the well-edited sound bytes and video clips, much more of it had to do with the setting. 45 years to the day of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech - or the march on Washington - and the Democratic Party nominated a black man for president. The rest is, quite literally, history.

Although Dr. King's birthday is a few days past, America celebrates him today. This made me think, once again, of Cal. I've posted about this before, but it is worth another moment.

Cal was an Alaska delegate on the convention, and surprised many of us by talking about being there on that day 45 years ago. He saw Dr. King, and he was about to see Obama. I discovered later he was born in the south, and was involved in the civil rights movement there before moving to Alaska and becoming involved up here.

When I asked him on the plane ride home if he thought, back then, that he would see in his lifetime a black president, he was quite thoughtful.

He said he supposed none of them really did. Back then, the best they were hoping for was someone to advocate for them. A white man in the white house who was sympathetic to the cause, if you will. But a black president in his lifetime was simply so out there, a bit much, maybe, to imagine at the time.

Well, Cal, you're about to see something incredible. The very last time we celebrate Dr. King's day as a country that has never had a black president.

The very last day, ever, in fact, that this country will belong to that generation.

I hope you don't misunderstand - I do not take anything away from that generation. Without the generation that fought so long and hard, we would not see this day.

What I mean is, now it's in our hands.

The night of the election, I spoke with my grandma. She was a woman who fought that battle here in Alaska, fought for better Native education, Native rights, civil rights. She was quite solemn, and she didn't say much. But what she did say was, "Well, now it's up to you guys."

After last few months, I am actually feeling pretty hopeful about the next generation's ability to take on that mantle.

I think Obama said it pretty well last night on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

There is no doubt that our road will be long, that our climb will be steep. But never forget that the true character of our nation is revealed not during times of comfort and ease, but by the right we do when the moment is hard. I ask you to help me reveal that character once more, and together, we can carry forward as one nation, and one people, the legacy of our forefathers that we celebrate today. God bless you. And God bless America.