September 23, 2007Miracle needed to stop proposed Acid Mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: Famous theologian to bring Bible environmental messages to Marquette area Oct. 8 & 9, 2007; Written comment on proposed mine ends Oct. 17, 2007 - then Heaven help us !Anatomy of a Murder 2008 Part Two: On the Eve of an Acid Mine Destruction
"Acid Mine" will open near original murder that sparked famous book and movie Will visit by Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann and his environment message be the miracle needed to stop the sulfide mine near Lake Superior in Northern Michigan Opponents of a proposed sulfide Mine near Lake Superior in northern Michigan need a miracle to stop the project - that will be built in the spring of 2008 if not stopped. The thousands of opponents include the Turtle Island Project, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Cedar Tree Institute, Save the Wild UP and many others. That miracle may be arriving in the form of one of America’s foremost Biblical scholars - Dr. Walter Brueggemann - who will be giving free talks in northern Michigan in early October on the "connection of Bible and environmental crisis" including a discussion of Upper Peninsula issues like the proposed sulfide mine.
"My presentation will consider the way in which the Bible empowers and calls us to care about our environment," Dr. Brueggemann said. "The connection of Bible and environmental crisis is an invitation to a new, responsible sanity - after too much economic insanity." Go to the following link read more about the dates and details of Dr. Bruggemann’s talks and more about the Acid Mine and those who are not speaking out against the mine like the nearby billionaire boys club and two famous people who say they love the U.P. Please look at this article written for Urth-TV by Turtle Island Project, Earth Keeper Initiative, and Manoomin Project volunteer media advisor Greg Peterson aka Yoopernewsman: http://www.urth.tv/content/view/19545/397/ Where is Governor Grandholm and Jeff Daniels when the U.P. really needs them!
Famous actor Jeff Daniels, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm proclaim their love the U.P. but neither has forcefully opposed the mine - and the time is running out.
Jeff Daniels does a song called "The Big Bay Shuffle" about the residents of a town next to the proposed Acid Mine. Soon those poor folks with be doing the "Big Bay Acid Attack." Please help me convince them - here are ways to contact the Mr. Daniels and Governor Granholm: Actor/director/musician Jeff Daniels website: http://jeffdaniels.com/contact.asp MI Governor Jennifer Granholm: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995---,00.html --- Mr. Daniels and Governor Granhlom - please come off the sidelines and lead the fight - or - make no mistake - the mine will be built. Public hearings are now over and the written comment period ends October 17, 2007. Write or email: DEQ/DNR Kennecott Comments Office of Geological Survey P.O. Box 30256 Lansing, Michigan 48909-7756 Add your voice to Michigan Department of Environmental Quality public input: DEQ-Kennecott-comments@michigan.gov --- Save the Wild UP sample letter: http://www.savethewildup.org/blog/take-action-write-to-the-deq-and-the-gov/ --- The Acid Mine will be built near Big Bay, the site of the murder and later filming of the famous movie "Anatomy of a Murder." The opening of the mine would be Part Two: Anatomy of a Murder 2008": The mine is commonly called the "Acid Mine" because the process that removes nickel and other minerals from the ground produces sulfuric acid. The misguided proposal comes from the Kennecott Minerals Corporation - an international mining company with one of the worst environmental records ---
On the eve of destruction: An acid mine looms on Marquette County’s horizon and your children’s future Marquette County is heading down a dangerous road - from which there is no return. The proposed nickle mine near Big Bay is nothing more than an acid mine. Once sulfuric acid reaches the aquifer, the Yellow Dog and Salmon Trout rivers, and Lake Superior - those pristine areas will be forever polluted. Make no mistake - the pollution will happen. That is a fact - pure and simple. After acid mines pop up around the Upper Peninsula, uranium mining will follow. Once the first acid mine opens - it makes opening additional metal mines easier and inevitable. A 100-percent safe nickle mine has yet to be built. -- An Acid Mine Proving Ground: Guinea Pig GloryThe soil, water and air of Marquette County should not be the guinea pig for technology that’s far from perfect. In fact, the entire Great Lakes system is threatened by the proposal because once Lake Superior is polluted by sulfuric acid - it will reach Lake Michigan. Plus, rivers near the acid mine feed both of those Great Lakes. The acid mine is proposed for one of the remotest areas left in the U.P. - the Yellow Dog Plains. When deciding whether the acid mine is safe - it boils down to common sense and trust. It’s difficult to wager Marquette County’s environmental future on the promises of an international mining company. It doesn’t make sense to trust a temporary business partner that’s undoubtedly planning its exit strategy before even opening the acid mine. The environmental impact of the acid mine is staggering. Our "canary in the coal mine," will be thousands of dead birds and floating brook trout, the oft celebrated fish that calls the Yellow Dog its ancestral home. Experts fear the acid mine’s effect on the protected Kirtland’s Warbler and sensitive Coaster Brook Trout. To open the acid mine, will close other obvious avenues of economic development. Once polluted by an acid mine, Marquette County will be undesirable to "clean"companies seeking a beautiful low-crime area for employees. --- A Sick Shameful Joke: Marquette business leaders who support the Acid Mine are making a mockery of the recent Most Liveable and All-America communities awards
A Most "Unliveable" Community: Marquette County is proud of recent national recognition as one of "America’s Most Liveable Communities" and an "All-America County." Organizers of those awards said Marquette County was honored due to the area’s pristine natural beauty and a progressive program for those without medical insurance. You can be sure that Marquette County would never have even made the short list for those awards if its claim to fame was an acid mine. These organizations should strip Marquette County of those titles if the mine opens. The future of the U.P. rests on its clean air, pure water, abundant wildlife and other positive quality of life attributes. Many studies show that mining is not a good economic investment for today’s communities especially since Americans have become more educated on environmental issues. Acid mines are far more dangerous to our environment than the iron ore mines that have provided long-term jobs and billions of dollars to our economy. Once the iron mines close, Marquette County will rely on its beauty to attract tourism and high-paying jobs that don’t create pollution like the fast growing high tech industry. As other areas of the United Sates become polluted and overcrowded, these companies will move to the U.P. to offer attractive environs for the techies they compete to hire. --- Don’t Be Fooled: With Michigan’s poor economy it’s tempting to believe the owners of the proposed acid mine - as they dangle money and a handful of jobs in the faces of Marquette County’s business leaders. Kennecott Minerals Corporation obviously thinks that Marquette County residents are a bunch of uneducated small town northern rednecks lead by a greedy business community - willing to trade our children’s future for a fast buck. Be truthful. Do you think Marquette’s founding fathers would support this acid mine? Indeed not. The owners of the proposed acid mine love to wave studies - they have bought and paid for - insisting the mine will be safe. A new safer process has been developed, they say. Common sense dictates that there will never be a safe way to mine nickle from sulfide ore deposits because the process creates sulfuric acid. Once uncovered by blasting, the volatile sulfide ore will be exposed to air and water - triggering a process that creates sulfuric acid. Despite man’s best attempt to prevent the contamination, it’s impossible to stop all the acid from leaching into the aquifer. Sure, some of the acid may be contained - but some (or even most) isn’t good enough. Would you drink or swim in water that even has a tiny amount of sulfuric acid? The leaching of the acid could cause dangerous concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic in private wells. ---
A declaration of war: Tribes across country oppose "Acid Mines"
In recent years, Indian tribes across the U.S. have bitterly opposed the creation of silfide mines - on tribe called it a ceclration of war. Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, numerous environment groups stand together to stop "acid mine" Keweenaw Bay Indian Community President/CEO Susan LaFernier said the tribe continues to closely monitor the Kennecott Minerals Co. Eagle Project in the Yellow Dog Plains. "Our tribal cultural committee has been very involved with it (Eagle Project) and we're going to continue to do what we can (to halt it)," Keweenaw Bay Indian Community President/CEO Susan LaFernier told the daily Mining Gazette of Houghton, MI. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) strongly opposes "acid mine" on the Yellow Dog Plains because sulfide mining tramples ceded territorial rights and the treaties of 1842 and 1856. --- The Air That We Breathe: Aquifer pollution is bad enough, but the acid mine will also contaminate the air that we breathe. Former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken said it best in an eloquent column in the May 16, 2007 issue of the Detroit Free Press. "The proposed mine also poses the threat of air pollution, with a system that would vent air through a 50-foot tall stack, releasing an estimated minimum of 20 tons per year of dust containing sulfides and metals only 300 feet from the Salmon Trout River." Milliken wrote that past environmental mistakes in Michigan are a lesson that you can’t exploit nature without later paying the tab. To open this acid mine, the former governor explained, would be the "modern-day equivalent of the biblical story of Esau selling his birthright for a ‘mess of pottage.’ " --- Not Worth a Plugged Nickle: You can’t plug a nickel mine. The acid keeps leaking and leaking and leaking. In fact - the proposal isn’t worth a nickle - the same mineral that will create millions of gallons of sulfuric acid. Like a new nickle, the acid mine proposal may seem shiny to those who will profit but its pollution can’t be plugged --- The New Yellow Brick Road and Yellow Boy River:: Yellow Boy is the term used for the orangish-yellow runoff from metallic mining. Many rivers worldwide have turned yellow due to the nasty highly acidic run-off from metallic mining. If the acid mine opens, the Yellow Dog River will soon be nicknamed the "Yellow Boy" River. Even when trucked away - that blasted material will spill onto our roads - and turned to acid by air or rain. We’ve all seen the iron ore pellets along Marquette County roads and railways - imagine what 80 daily truckloads of acid mining debris will look like along County Road 550. Up to 200 times per day, these trucks will rumble through the streets of Marquette skirting Northern Michigan University on Wright street. These trucks will become part of the daily lives of residents who live along county roads 550 and 510. Kennecott hasn’t addressed transportation issues in permit applications for the Marquette County mine. Imagine getting into an accident with a truck carrying debris that can turn into sulfuric acid - it’s not like spilling a load of iron ore pellets. ---
Salmon-Trout River Photos by Jackie Donoho, Northwoods Wilderness Recovery --- Acid Reigns: Playing Dirty Pool With Our Water A now infamous consultant’s report that questions the mine’s safety was withheld from the public until uncovered by environmentalists. Claiming it wasn’t a coverup merely bad training and poor judgement, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality temporarily suspended the mine’s permit applications. An "independent" investigation cleared the MDEQ and a careless employee of intentionally covering up the report. The popular phrase "yeah right" comes to mind. That geologist’s report questions if the nearby Yellow Dog River will collapse into the gigantic hole created by mine blasting. Talk about a disaster. If the Yellow Dog merges with that mine hole - a terrible environmental situation will turn into the horrific nightmare. It’s Love Canal meets Lake Erie all over again. Kennecott’s groundwater discharge application remains incomplete. Don’t be lulled by the temporary permit delays, soon the opening of the mine will be back on the fast track. Without your concern, the acid mine could be open this time next year. --- 6-6-6: The Devil is in the Details: After six short years, Kennecott Minerals will gladly bid adieu to Marquette County leaving a legacy of pollution, lawsuits, unemployment, and an open door for uranium mining and numerous similar mines. The acid mine will create about 70 jobs but the best case scenario is 100. That’s measly even by mining standards. Again, Kennecott says they could be open for eight years in Marquette County but actions speak louder than words. Kennecott closed their Wisconsin mine one year early and it’s environmental effects are still being litigated because up to 20 percent of the property is unsafe for humans. The closed Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith, WI continues to pollute nearby streams. Kennecott has removed tons of top soil (4 inches deep) but that still hasn’t fixed the ongoing pollution problem. Federal environment officials annually list two Kennecott mines (Utah, Alaska) among the top six polluting mines in America. When all is said and done - lawsuits over Kennecott’s Wisconsin and Michigan mines could drag through the courts for much longer than the mines were operating. --- She’s No CCI: Marquette County’s iron ore mines have not been perfect but at least they created thousands of high-paying long-term union jobs. The owners of the iron ore mines have given hundreds of millions of dollars to local charities and organizations. Cleveland Cliffs Inc. (CCI) has also built thousands of acres of wetlands and other natural areas to make up for property ruined by iron ore tailings. In contrast, Kennecott has agreed to donate 120 acres around the mine to the state of Michigan for about 30 years of public use. Who will want to take an afternoon stroll so close to an acid mine that has belched tons of noxious exhaust and spewed lakes of sulfuric acid. And forget hunting and fishing in that area. Which brings up the topic of the new "yellow-tailed" deer. --- The Pristine Salmon-Trout River will be the first victim: First They Muddy the Water: Kennecott counts on complicated studies, reports and language to baffle the public and media. Reporters must quote reports and studies by name, title and other background that saps the limited space they have to write about this decidedly complicated issue. It’s not malice, it’s just part of the journalistic trade. That’s why we’ve put this story in plain language and why we’ve brought this vital analysis to your doorstep. For those interested in a wide variety of government and Kennecott documents or a more in depth story, please visit the Save the Wild U.P. website for links to a lot of information about the acid mine. --- Like a Thief In The Night: Once our virgin ground has been raped and soiled - it can’t be healed. You can’t unring that environment bell. That’s why the Save the Wild U.P. and other environmental groups are working so hard to sound an alarm before it’s too late. Please make it clear you oppose the acid mine in Marquette County by contacting your state, local and national lawmakers, the MDEQ, Kennecott Minerals Corporation, the news media, and friends, family and neighbors. There is still limited time to stop this mine. The acid mine will open without the collective loud voices of Marquette County residents who say "we’re mad as hell" and we’re not going to allow this acid factory to open. --- If you are unsure on whether to contact the governor - look at these photos of the Salmon-Trout River - the very first Lake Superior tributary that will be polluted if there is a problem at the mine that is using new technology that is unproven.
Salmon-Trout River Photos by Jackie Donoho, Northwoods Wilderness Recovery The photos of the Salmon-Trout River are published with consent of Northwoods Wilderness Recovery and photographer Jackie Donoho, please use the group's contact form if your wish to reuse in any way. http://www.northwoodswild.org/ 906-226-6649
Posted on 09/23/2007 2:18 PM Comments (0)
September 21, 2007Earth Keeper Initiative, 9 faiths, Indian tribe, university students honored by Lake Superior Magazine for environment projects
Photos by Greg Peterson, Steve Durocher and Samantha Otto (Marquette, Michigan) - The impact of numerous environmental projects created by the northern Michigan Earth Keepers over the past few years is measured in the hundreds of tons as over 15,000 residents have turned in hazardous waste, teens are restoring wild rice beds, businesses and homes are reducing power consumption and thousands of dollars used to protect Lake Superior The non-profit Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative, its nine faith communities, an Upper Peninsula American Indian tribe and over 400 volunteers were honored this week with the “2007 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award.” The annual award established in 1994 “recognizes organizations or individuals who have improved the well-being of Lake Superior and it’s residents,” said Lake Superior Magazine Editor Konnie LeMay who traveled from Duluth, Minnesota to honor the interfaith environment project. (Photos by Greg Peterson, Tom Buchkoe, Steve Durocher and Samantha Otto)
LeMay cited “734,000 pounds worth of environmental impact just since the signing the Earth Keeper Covenant in July 2004 by nine faith communities.” Presenting an engraved crystal plaque during a Sept. 17, 2007 ceremony at Presque Isle Park in Marquette, LeMay said the “spiritual role model of the Earth Keepers certainly has improved the well-being and environmental awareness of Upper Michigan’s residents - it has offered a concrete way to action.”
The Lake Superior Magazine November issue honors the Marquette-based Earth Keepers whose environment projects include annual Earth Day hazardous waste collections, an energetic student team with its own projects, wild rice restoration, an energy summit, and most recently a classical music concert to protect the biggest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes that Native Americans call Gitchie Gummi.
The project is co-sponsored by the Cedar Tree Institute, the Superior Watershed Partnership, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the congregations of over 140 churches and temples representing nine faith communities (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish, and Zen Buddhist). Rev. Jon Magnuson, who dreamed of creating the Earth Keepers ten years ago, told LeMay that Lake Superior Magazine first announced the existence of the faith-based environment initiative.
“Lake Superior Magazine announced the informal announcement of the Earth Keeper Covenant” and we want to thank the magazine for being a partner that way,” Rev. Magnuson said. The covenant was signed by the leaders of the nine faith communities in 2004 pledging to actively protect the environment and reach out to American Indian tribes. Rev. Magnuson honored the memory of one of the first signers of the covenant - Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan Bishop James Kelsey who was killed in a June 3, 2007 traffic accident.
Bishop Kelsey was “one of the Earth Keepers true point people for the religious leaders,” Magnuson said. “Jim Kelsey’s spirit will carry us on - he was known as the environmental bishop and that was because of this work that he partnered with us on,” Magnuson said. Magnuson said the Earth Keepers “lift and honor” the members of the “Keweenaw Bay Indian Community have been with us on every one of our initiatives” including a sister effort called the Manoomin project that involves restoring wild rice to seven remote sites in northern Michigan.
United Methodist Church Marquette District Superintendent Grant Lobb accepted the Lake Superior Magazine award on behalf of the nine faith leaders. Over 15,000 residents have participated in annual Earth Day hazardous waste collections (2005-2007) at sites across the U.P. have recycled or properly disposed of about 370 tons of pharmaceuticals, old/broken computers, cell phones, pesticides, raw liquid mercury, drain cleaner, oil-based paint, vehicle batteries and many other substances. 2005 - 2007 Earth Keeper Clean SweepPharmaceutical, electronic, household hazardous waste
The Manoomin ProjectAmerican Indian guides teach at-risk teens to plant wild rice.The teens learn to respect themselves, nature and tribal customs
The Earth Keeper Manoomin Project have planted over one ton of wild rice seeds in the past three years through the hands of at-risk teenagers and American Indian guides. The project teaches teens to respect themselves, nature and American Indian heritage.
The Manoomin Project includes classroom time and other learning like Tai Chi relaxation exercises and listening to stories from American Indian elders. In July 2007, KBIC elder Glenn Bressette of Harvey, MI explained how he overcame some of the same obstacles the at-risk teens are currently facing.
Bressette described racism in Marquette when he was young when his mother told all her children to lie about their American Indian heritage. Bressette said he was called a "dirty Indian" and an "old drunken Indian." Bresette said when he was in his teens police officers shot at him as he tried to steal gasoline and described how he became an alcoholic trying to numb the pain from racism. The Boreal Chamber Symphony"One night only" July 15, 2007 Lake Superior Day
The Boreal Chamber Symphony was formed by Midwest classical musicians during April 2007 that made its "one night only" performance a free benefit for the Earth Keepers on Lake Superior Day. The musicians to raised thousands of dollars for the Lake Superior Defense Fund.
Nearly 400 people attended the nearly four hour event - the debut of the Boreal Chamber Symphony directed by Craig Randal Johnson of Minneapolis - raising thousands of dollars for the Lake Superior Defense Fund. Thousands of people watched an on-line video made of a rehearsal on the edge of the lakeshore using Lake Superior as an musical instrument following a June 25, 2007 press conference at Presque Isle in Marquette that promoted the concert. 2007 Earth Keeper Energy SummitOver 500 businesses, churches/temples, and homeowners pledged to reduce power consumption, some received energy audits, millions in energy savings in next few years
This summer's Earth Keeper Energy Summit inspired 500 businesses, homeowners and churches/temples to reduce their power consumption - and many signed up for energy audits. The participants are expected to reduce their utility bills by millions of dollars over the next few years. The Northern Michigan UniversityEarthKeeper Student Team
The Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper (NMU EK) Student Team is creating chapters at three other Upper Peninsula of Michigan universities. The nine Earth Keeper faith leaders and the KBIC President/CEO Susan LaFernier stood together at NMU on April 6, 2006 to announce the creation of the student team. The student efforts have included an adopt-a-watershed project and spreading the Earth Keeper message to children and adults at schools, churches and temples. The NMU EK Student Team participated in all Earth Keeper events. In October 2006, the students recorded a video for an MTV contest.
On October 6, 2006, Rev. Lynn Hubbard of Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising sponsored a benefit concert for the student team with Greg LaCombe and the Loose Ends band. Rev. Hubbard has scheduled a second benefit concert for the student team at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, October 12, 2007 at Upfront & Company restaurant in Marquette. The public is encouraged to attend the free benefit concert.
The Earth Keepers have been fortunate to receive several international awards including the Lake Superior Magazine honor. ---
Pictured left to right (in above photo) are Earth Keeper consultant Ron Sundell; Cedar Tree institute Executive Director Rev. Jon Magnuson, Catholic Earth Keeper Kyra Fillmore representing Roman Catholic Bishop Alex Sample, Lake Superior Magazine Editor Konnie LeMay, United Methodist Church Marquette District Superintendent Grant Lobb, Jewish Earth Keeper Jacob Silver of Temple Beth Sholom in Ishpeming, U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak's District Director Tom Baldini, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan Operations Coordinator Jane Cisluycis, and Superior Watershed Partnership Executive Director Carl Lindquist. In August 2006 and repeating again in 2007, the Grand Rapids, Michigan based Acton Institute named the Earth Keeper Initiative and the Cedar Tree Institute one of the 13 hardest working faith-based non-profits in America. The Manoomin Project received the hardest working honor in 2006 putting two Cedar Tree Institute projects on the hardest working list. World Magazine did features stories on the projects as part of the award. ---
On September 8, 2006, the Lake Superior Bi-National Forum presented the Earth Keepers with its Environmental Stewardship award during a ceremony in Marquette attended by the 9 faith leaders. ---
The Earth Keepers and the Manoomin Project have been fortunate to receive a large amount of positive coverage by the news media including national magazine articles, an United Methodist Church national TV crew did a story in Marquette during the 2007 clean sweep, and Rev. Magnuson was one of the guests on a national Native American radio talk show on September 14, 2007. Numerous national magazines have done stories on the Earth Keepers including Grit, The Lutheran, Thrivent Magazine and others. The Associated Press has run numerous stories on the Earth keepers and the U.P. media has been very supportive. --- The Earth Keeper TeamA core group of about a dozen dedicates souls who inspire 400 plus volunteers and whose faith communties have turned out over 15,000 northern Michigan residents to three Earth Day clean sweeps that have recycled or properly disposed of about 370 tons of hazardous waste. ----- Having fun while protecting the environment: Rev. Jon Magnuson, whose dreamed up the Earth Keepers ten years ago, shares a light moment with one of the hardest working volunteers during the Lake Superior Magazine press conference in Marquette, MI on Sept. 17, 2007. Catholic Earth Keeper Kyra Fillmore of Marquette is a mother of two young children who shuffles a busy home life with doing God's work. Her husband and father are also very active in Earth Keepers.
--- Over one ton of pharmaceuticals and over $500,000 narcotics was collected during the 2007 Earth Keeper Clean Sweep at 19 free drop-off sites across a 400 mile area of northern Michigan. The drugs were destroyed in a high-tech, low pollution, EPA-approved incinerator near St. Louis, Missouri. --- Over 320 tons of electronic waste (below) was turned in by the public during the 2006 Earth Keeper Clean Sweep. Old/broken computers, cell phones and other electronics were recycled. The photo by Tom Buchkoe of Marquette represents about 80 percent of the e-waste that was turned in by the public, small businesses and schools.
--- The annual "Blessing of the Wild Rice" (below) is held each September in Marquette as a show of respect for the return of the once native grain - and to thank the supporters of the Manoomin Project. Everyone has a fun time and the meal includes various forms of wild rice.
The wild rice is prepared in several ways including searing the grain into a crunchy treat mixed with dried fruit.
--- Native American guide Don Chosa created this offering (below) to nature during the 2006 Blessing of the Wild Rice.
--- A member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Native American guide Don Chosa and the teens (below) bring the natural offering into the woods where it was placed behind a log during the 2006 Blessing of the Wild Rice in Marquette.
--- The at-risk teens involved in the Manoomin Project first arrive - in essence doing community service - after being sentenced in juvenbile court. Many of the teens have so much fun planting and testing the wild rice they ask to return the next year. These teens are truly a joy to work with and only need a little bit of positive attention to grow into the great leaders of tomorrow. The Manoomin Project honors the teenagers and the KBIC for working so hard to restore wild rice to northern Michigan. Below are links to a tribute music video honoring those involved in the project.
Earth Keeper related website addresses are: Earth Keeper TV: The Cedar Tree Institute: http://www.cedartreeinstitute.com/ The Superior Watershed Partnership http://www.superiorwatersheds.org The Lake Superior Interfaith Communication Network: http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com/ ----- Earth Keeper TV Manoomin Project Music Video on blip tv: You Tube - Manoomin Project Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0QPBLruQZ8 --- articles: World Magazine: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12177 Manoomin Project article/photos (scroll down a little bit): http://www.cedartreeinstitute.com/envprojects.html ---
Posted on 09/21/2007 9:34 PM Comments (0)
September 11, 2007Turtle Island Project founded in northern Michigan: Promotes respect for environment, American Indians and other Indigenous Peoples
Turtle Island Project fights religious intolerance, racism, and other social issues that threaten the future of mankind
First Nations peoples asked to submit topics for Native American roundtables (Munising, Michigan) - Exploitation of the earth, spiritual terrorism, religious imperialism, and racism are some of the modern day injustices that two pastors will battle with a new Michigan project that promotes respect for Native American culture and the environment. Two Midwest pastors have started a national debate on a wide variety of social issues that they believe threaten the future of society and the planet. "The Turtle Island project will combat what I call spiritual terrorism," said project found Rev. Lynn Hubbard of Munising, MI. "There is a lot of spiritual intolerance of other people's religions - whether that's the indigenous Native American religions here in the United States or Islam or Judaism or what have you," said Rev. Hubbard., pastor of the Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church along Lake Superior in Munising. "Anybody can take that attitude towards life - it's my way or the highway - my religion is right - your religion is wrong - and it's that sort of spiritual terrorism that is destroying the world in which we live in," Rev. Hubbard said. Rev. George Cairns, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, said a "change in religious consciousness is necessary." "I am deeply concerned that much of humankind and the Earth as we know it will be gone by the end of this century," said Dr. Cairns, a professor of Practical Theology and Spirituality at Chicago Theological Seminary. "We are in a time now when dramatic changes are happening on this planet and it is a critical time for people of faith - religious people - to act now," said Rev. Cairns, chairman of the Turtle Island Project. The Turtle Island Project (TIP) will address a wide range of Native American issues including white influence on American Indian heritage and values, said Rev. Hubbard, The TIP got its name from Natives Americans who first called the North American continent "Turtle Island." The TIP will hold biannual national and regional conferences and local seminars to discuss environment and American Indian issues. The meetings will be held this fall and next spring and are called the Grand Island Conference and Retreat Program. Rev. Cairns said it's important to reverse the negative impact man has had on the environment by learning from earth-based religions "and part of that process is to deeply engage our Native American - our First Nations friends - as our teachers." Each regional conference will be preceded by Native American roundtables, the agendas being determined solely by American Indians who contact the TIP. "One of the consequences of racism against First Nations people has been the silencing of their voices and the eagerness of Euro-Americans to speak for them - robbing them of their own freedom of speech - that we value so much," Rev. Hubbard said.
Dr. Cairns said "many American Indians are still living in oppressive conditions - and having their voices freed can only happen - if they direct the conversation themselves." "Americans Indians absolutely must have the lead in the kind of discussions they would like to enter into," said Cairns, who taught has taught "centering prayer" for over two decades including at a Native American cultural center and a maximum security prison. TIP conferences will provide venues for listening to the voices of Native American peoples." Rev. Hubbard said. "It is our belief that the dialogue can contribute to the betterment of both communities and is a conversation that is long overdue." Rev. Cairns agreed. "We think that the conversations with native peoples about their relationship to the Earth will help us reconnect with our much earlier roots of consciousness of nature that were part of Euro-western traditions in the past but now have largely been marginalized or even lost," Cairns said. Rev. Cairns said he hopes the TIP inspires Americans to rediscover "very early dimensions of Earth spirituality that have been integrated into Christianity but later have been lost."
The first regional conference is (Thursday-Saturday) September 13-15, 2007 at the Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising. The hours are 7-10 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. The Native American roundtable opens the conference on Thursday, followed by two days of presentations and debate by Rev. Dr. George Cairn, a professor at Chicago Theological Seminary. Dr. Cairn will discuss Celtic and Native American spirituality, and post-modern science. Rev. Cairns said the Celtic people who lived in Ireland and Scotland integrated earlier beliefs into an Earth-based Christianity and "understood God to be a present in all creation." "The Celts believed God to be constantly recreating the world and they had an intimate relationship with nature," said Rev. Cairns, who lives in Chesterton, Indiana. While studying for his doctorate in South Dakota, Rev. Hubbard became friends with Lakota people on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian reservations, the latter was the scene of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, which claimed the lives of many innocent Lakota women and children. Both reservations are beset by extreme poverty, teen suicide, high infant mortality and other social problems. The TIP organized the successful August 12, 2007 benefit concert for America's oldest/first American Indian battered women's shelter in Mission, SD that has served the Lakota Rosebud Reservation for nearly 30 years. Two Upper Peninsula folk groups, White Water and Duo Borealis, held the free concert for the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society at the Custer Lutheran Church in Custer S.D. The WBCWS battles domestic violence, teen suicide and sexual assault. Figures from the Rosebud reservation alone are shocking: 21 rapes in the past 18 months; over 600 attempted teen suicides and 15 deaths during the past two years - most teenage boys.- triggered a recent "state of emergency" declared by tribal officials Poverty, depression, a lack of jobs, drugs, alcohol and other social problems are among the reasons behind Rosebud teen suicides. The concert was one of the first non-political events to ever bring racial healing between whites and Native Americans in Custer - where racism by some whites is generations old, said Dave Melmer, a reporter for the national Indian Country Today newspaper who lives in Custer. Melmer said the concert was "a courageous effort" and a "big small step in improving race relations." The TIP hopes to create a profound change in environmental thinking, Rev. Hubbard said. The planet is facing an environmental crisis that must be repaired or humans will "bring about our own destruction because of the abuse of nature," Dr. Hubbard said. One of the pillars of the TIP is the creation of a new North American Theology that the pastors hope will encourage religious tolerance and a new respect for nature. "We are concerned that our current individual and systemic western consciousness is disembodied and ill," Rev. Cairns said. "We have distanced ourselves more and more from nature - nature has become much more of an ‘it' rather than a ‘thou' - it's an object rather than a subject - this is increasingly being sped up by the modern technological world." Rev. Hubbard said Christians can learn from other religions. "Christians have been so empowered for so long their religious imperialism is subconscious," Rev. Hubbard said. "To enter into authentic spiritual with other cultures is to become aware of your own limitations." "Today, in America, God's children have different skin, colors, genders, languages, sexual orientations and theological ideas," Rev. Hubbard said. "Those who have had power and control over the church must now scoot over and make room for them in our pews - and maybe, heaven forbid, actually listen to what they have to say, listen to their voices," Rev. Hubbard told a recent gathering of religion writers and scholars in Ann Arbor. MI. God has been revealed to all religions and Christians need to "learn that spiritual wisdom is not the sole possession of any one people," Hubbard said. "Wisdom is the recognition of multi-cultural and dialogical nature of the truth - in dialogue with one another we achieve spiritual truth." Christians should "open our ears and hearts to their testimony, and to the witness of the Love of God in their lives, not just ours," Rev. Hubbard said. "It is the opening of the heart and mind to the genius and insights of others." During recent elections conservative Catholics and Protestants made "strange bedfellows" as they voted against homosexuality, abortion and showed "their intolerance of other people's religions," Rev. Hubbard said. Christians who have "benefitted from the power structures of the church have defined what the gospel is to everyone," Rev. Hubbard said. "We have defined that through our own Euro-American vision of who we are, who God is, and our relationship with nature - at the exclusion of everyone else - period." Americans, he said, "stand at the brink of a communications revolution and a fundamental spiritual transformation." Dr. Cairns said it has "been clear to me for many years that contemporary Christianity is disembodied Christianity - because its been really shaped by culture - more than the institution has shaped culture." Late Native American activist and author Vine Deloria Jr reminded "the Euro-American community that they have yet to listen to what Native Americans have to say either in terms of the environment or their own struggles as a people, Rev. Hubbard said. "Native American spirituality is based upon spatial understandings of God while Christianity is based upon temporal understandings of God. "Spatial metaphors for God have to do with the revelation of the divine life in a particular place - this mountain - at this stream - at this time," Rev. Hubbard said. "While the temporal metaphors for God has to do with the idea of time - that ‘once upon a time there was a great revelation of God' some 2,000 years ago for the Christian religion - and since that time - there have been no new revelations." Dr. Cairns said "that place is extremely important in Celtic tradition.". "There is a sacredness to particular places - people relate to them deeply - we have lost much of that in contemporary American culture and we have lost much of that in our religious institutions," Cairns said. "Almost any place can be sacred to an individual depending on who they are and where they are on life's journey." "One of the places I have found sacred is on the streets of a bad inner city neighborhood talking with homeless folks," Cairns said. "The conversations we've had are very profound - there was an openness and a kind of reciprocal learning that took place in those conversations that I think was sacred." Rev. Hubbard said the earth was not created to serve man. "The creation myths of the Hebrew peoples - the very origins of Christianity - was this understanding that human beings are a special creation and that this Earth was created for them," Rev. Hubbard said. "And that's quite a different understanding than what many Native American peoples have." ------- Related websites: Turtle Island Project main website: http://www.turtleislandproject.org Turtle Island TV (blipTV) http://turtleislandtv.blip.tv/ Turtle Island TV (youtube) http://www.youtube.com/MunisingWhiteHorse Turtle Island (myspace) http://www.myspace.com/TurtleIslandProject Turtle Island Project websites/Blogs: http://groups.msn.com/WhisperingTurtle http://turtleislandproject.wordpress.com/ email: TurtleIslandProject@charter.net --- Rosebud Tribe official website: http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/ 1973 Wounded Knee Incident & the earlier 1890 massacre of 146 Indians by government troops: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Incident http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Incident Pine Ridge Reservation Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Ridge_Reservation Pine Ridge shocking photos: http://www.aaronhuey.com/ ------- Turtle Island Project: Fall 2007 - Spring 2008 Schedule: Grand Island Conference and Retreat Program The Grand Island Conference and Retreat Program seeks to develop new theological resources and spiritual practices that reflect the place we inhabit, the continent of North America called "Turtle Island" by indigenous communities. It is our hope that these resources and practices will help imagine a new North American Theology with the assistance of First Nations peoples. We seek to encourage mutual understanding and respect between these communities in order to address issues of health and healing, religion and science, practical theology and environmental issues. We shall accomplish this task by sponsoring regional and national conferences, local seminars, and regional retreats centering on these concerns. This booklet lists the events sponsored by the Grand Island Conference and Retreat Program for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during the upcoming year. It is our hope that these events will not only stimulate conversations on the issues, but also help to build ecumenical and interfaith communities. Seminars will be held at Upfront and Company, 102 East Main Street, Marquette, Michigan. All conferences, retreats and Native American roundtables will be held at Eden on the Bay, Lutheran Church, 1150 M-28 West, Munising, Michigan. Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard Director, Turtle Island Project ------- About the Conferences Grand Island is one of the most beautiful and largest islands in Lake Superior. Inhabited for generations by the Ojibwa peoples, it is today the Grand Island National Recreation Area with a wilderness character. In keeping with such a tranquil and beautiful place, Grand Island Conferences are planned so that all participants will have the opportunity to experience its beauty and power. The conferences are unique in that they are planned to not only stimulate the intellect, but also provide the aesthetic and spiritual understandings usually associated with a retreat setting. We will not only be participating in stimulating theological conversations on topics of great importance, but we shall also partake of the beauty of the lake, the island, and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We will be taking boat cruises along Lake Superior, hiking in the park and listening to lectures on the parks natural and cultural history. All of this will take place in and around the community of Munising, Michigan, one of the most beautiful natural settings on Lake Superior.
All Seminars will be held at Upfront and Company, 102 E. Main St, Marquette, Michigan Conferences and Retreats will be held at Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church, 1150 M-28 West, Munising, MI. For complete information on the events, please visit our website: turtleislandproject.org
------- *** A Native American roundtable will be held at 7 pm (ET) on the Thursday prior to each regional conference - and at others times TBA. The agenda of the roundtables will be set completely by First Nations peoples. ------- Regional Conference - Fall 2007 Ecology Series September 13-15, 2007 Celtic Spirituality, Ecology, and Participative Consciousness Recreating an Ancient Wisdom Tradition of Relationship Rev. Dr. George Cairn Chicago Theological Seminary Thursday, Sept 13 (Native American Roundtable) 7 - 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. At this conference, we will examine the integration of Paleolithic Consciousness, Celtic Spirituality, Contemporary Spirituality, and Psychology. We will be examining ideas and meditating in ways that lead to experiencing the world as not separate from ourselves—no inside, no outside, all in relationship. We will be reading a selection of works by Calvin Luther Martin, J. Phillip Newell, and Gregory Bateson. ------- Native American Theology -- Seminar Series In the Spirit of the Earth - Ecology and Liberation Tuesdays - November 6, November 13, November 20, and November 27 7 - 10 p.m. A seminar examining the ecological crisis and the contribution of Native American theology toward a solution. In this seminar, we will be reading a selection of works from Leonardo Boff, Vine Deloria, Jr., George Tinker and Steve Charleston. ------- Regional Ecumenical Retreat - Fall 2007 Quest for Harmony: The Contemplation of Nature in the Christian tradition Friday, November 9 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. ------- Local Seminar Offerings - Fall 2007 Health and Healing -- Evening Discussion Series Tuesdays - October 23 and October 30 7 - 10 p.m. King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine Two evenings of exploration into the works of Dr. Robert Moore, Jungian Analyst, and one of the founders of the men's movement in the United States. ------- Local Seminar Offerings - Winter 2007 - 2008 Religion and Science -- Evening Discussion Series Tuesday, December 4 7 - 10 p.m. Life is a Miracle: Reflections on the Work of Wendell Berry An evening of conversation on the poet and author who has proven time and again a writer of brilliant moral imagination. ------- Religion and Science -- Seminar Series In the Absence of the Sacred: Science as Myth and Religion Tuesdays - March 4, March 11, March 18, March 25 7 - 10 p.m. A seminar on the current state of the relationship between science and religion. In this seminar, we will read selected works from Ian G. Barbour, Wendell Berry, Joseph Campbell, David Leeming, and Ursula Goodenough. ------- An Ecumenical Retreat - Spring 2008 The Pipe and Christ: Native American Spiritualities and Christianity Friday, March 28 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. ------- Local Seminar Offerings - Spring 2008 Health and Healing - Evening Discussion Series Tuesday, April 22 7 - 10 p.m. The Healing Circle: Spirituality and Sexual Healing - The Role of Spirituality in the Therapeutic Process. An evening of reflection on the role of ritual process in the healing of juvenile sex offenders. ------- Religion and Science - Seminar Series The Flight of the Wild Gander Tuesdays - May 20, May 27, June 3, June 10 7 - 10 p.m. A Series of Conversations on the Nature of Mytho-Poetic Language, Fundamentalism, and the Decline of Christianity. We will be reading selected works from Mircea Eliade, Joseph Campbell, David Leeming, Calvin Luther Martin. ------- Regional Conference - Spring 2008 Religion and Science Series: Thursday, Friday, Saturday May 29 - 31, 2008 The Sacred Depths of Nature - The Politics of Religion and Science Dr. Richard Busse Indiana University Northwest Thursday, May 29 (Native American Roundtable) 7 - 10 p.m. Friday, May 30 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, May 31 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Models for interpreting the relationship between religion and science will be discussed by reviewing the history of First Amendment science/religion litigation and by discussing the theological impact of these decisions, all for the purpose of gaining insight into the interplay of religion, culture, and politics. Background Text: Edward Larson's "Summer for the Gods: The Scope's Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion." ------- National Conference - Summer 2008 Native American Theology Series Place and Time of Conference to be announced A conference on the premiere Native American Theologian of our times, George E. "Tink" Tinker. Mr. Tinker is Professor of Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado and is an enrolled member of the Osage Nation. Among his many publications are Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide (Fortress Press, 1993) and Native American Theology (co-authored, 2001). ------- For More Information Turtle Island Project P.O. Box 360 Munising, Michigan 46982 Email: Whitehorse006@aol.com ------- Seminars will be held at Upfront and Company, 102 East Main Street, Marquette, Michigan. All conferences, retreats and Native American roundtables will be held at Eden on the Bay, Lutheran Church, 1150 M-28 West, Munising, Michigan. ------- Bios: Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard, M.Div., D.Min. Rev. Hubbard is founder/director of the Turtle Island Project in Munising, MI He is the pastor at Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising In addition to graduating from Valparaiso University and holding advanced degrees from the Lutheran School of Theology and Chicago Theological Seminary, Lynn has studied at the Pedagogishe Hochschule in Reutlingen, German, the Religious Studies Department at the University of Indiana, and the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. For many years he worked as the Associate Dean of Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. He has served a number of churches throughout the Chicago area, and lived on the island of St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands, pastoring two Afro-Caribbean Lutheran congregations. He has had extensive experience in both the inter faith and ecumenical communities, and served as the Director of Development for the Parliament of World's Religious. Most recently, in working in his capacity as spiritual director for Juvenile sex offenders, he has given national and international conference presentations on "Creating Ritual Process for Juvenile Sex Offenders from a Cross Cultural Perspective". He is currently the minister of Eden on the Bay, Lutheran Church in Munising Michigan. He travels regularly to the Lakota Sioux reservations in South Dakota, where he helps prepare graduate theological students in cross-cultural ministerial training. He has been honored by members of the Sicangu tribe of the Lakota people in being asked to serve as a fire keeper for their Sundance ceremonies. --- George F. Cairns, M.Div., Ph.D. Rev. Cairns is chairman of the board of the Turtle Island Project in Munising, MI George is a semi-retired minister, professor of practical and spiritual theology at Chicago Theological Seminary, and is a clinical psychologist. George helped found the Parliament of the World's religions and with Wayne Teasdale wrote/edited a book about this process. His current work concerns Celtic spirituality, centering prayer, and their integration into a theology of practical action for healing, justice, and peace. He has practiced and taught Centering Prayer since 1986. He has taught centering prayer in several unusual settings including a Native American cultural center and a maximum security prison. He has published papers on this work. George and his wife Nancy have taught an early and little known Christian practice known as "jubilation." This form of sung praise produces a whole chord of sound by an individual. When practiced in community, sounds appear which no one is making. He is a former member of the Forge Guild, an international group which encourages spiritual teachers from different religious traditions to explore one another's practices and Spiritual Directors International. He and Nancy are associates/members of two covenantal Christian communities: The Iona Community based in Scotland, and; the Shalom Community based in Chicago. --- --- Turtle Island Project founder/Director: Rev. Dr. Lynn Hubbard Eden on the Bay Evangelical Lutheran Church PO Box 360 1150 M-28 West Munising, MI. 49862 wk: 906-387-2520 cell: 906.202.0590 --- Rev. Dr. George Cairns, TIP board chairman 1-219-3959347 Professor of Practical Theology and Spirituality at Chicago Theological Seminary lives in Chesterton, Indiana ordained minister in the United Church of Christ --- fyi - The first regional conference is (Thursday-Saturday) September 13-15, 2007 at the Eden on the Bay Lutheran Church in Munising. The hours are 7-10 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday. The Native American roundtable opens the conference on Thursday, followed by two days of presentations and debate by Rev. Dr. George Cairn, a professor at Chicago Theological Seminary. Dr. Cairn will discuss Celtic and Native American spirituality, and post-modern science. --- Summary of Turtle Island Project & TV sites: Turtle Island Project main website: http://www.turtleislandproject.org Turtle Island TV (blipTV) http://turtleislandtv.blip.tv/ Turtle Island TV (youtube) http://www.youtube.com/MunisingWhiteHorse Turtle Island (myspace) http://www.myspace.com/TurtleIslandProject Turtle Island Project websites/Blogs: http://groups.msn.com/WhisperingTurtle http://turtleislandproject.wordpress.com/
email: TurtleIslandProject@charter.net
Posted on 09/11/2007 11:04 PM Comments (0)
"Acid Mine" Death Knell for Northern Michigan: Funeral services planned for Upper Peninsula tourism industry, clear water, pristine forests
The photos of the Salmon-Trout River are published with consent of Northwoods Wilderness Recovery and photographer Jackie Donoho, please use the group's contact form if your wish to reuse in any way. http://www.northwoodswild.org/ The Nickel Permit: "Acid Mine" public hearings: Will citizen outrage fall on deaf ears? Governor Jennifer Granholm where are you ? Public hearings have begun on a proposed Sulfide mine in Marquette County, Michigan. The mine is commonly called the "Acid Mine" because the process that removes nickel and other minerals from the ground produces sulfuric acid. The mine proposal comes from the Kennecott Minerals Corporation - an international mining company with one of the worst environmental records. A similar Kennecott Mine in Wisconsin continues to pollute and has left the site unusable. Michigan Governor Jennifer Grandholm has refused to fight the mine proposal because of the state's terrible economy. However, critics say the short-term jobs and long-term environmental impact makes the mine a poor trade for a mere bump in the economy. For more information please look at this article written for Urth-TV by Turtle Island Project volunteer media advisor Greg Peterson: http://www.urth.tv/content/view/18871/397/
The days are likely numbered for the fish that swim in the Salmon-Trout River in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. A proposed "acid mine" in north Marquette County could collapse into this river, according to an expert's report that was hidden by state environmental officials - an investigation of the missing report determined it was merely an oversight - not a conspiracy to keep the critical report from the public. Public hearings are now underway on whether to allow the nickel mine to open - but some critics fear the same state of Michigan officials holding the hearings have already decided to rubber stamp the permit applications and remove all hurdles. Critics says numerous mining companies are waiting in the wings to open similar mines that use dangerous means to remove minerals from the soil - and some of the new mines might be after uranium. Tell Governor Jennifer Granholm - a democrat - to start fighting this mine Granholm's silence is reminiscent of former Republican Michigan Governor John Engler who supported all business proposals no matter what the future cost. http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995---,00.html If you are unsure on whether to contact the governor - look at these photos of the Salmon-Trout River - the very first Lake Superior tributary that will be polluted if there is a problem at the mine that is using new technology that is unproven. Acid reaching Lake Superior will makes its way into the other Great Lakes.
Posted on 09/11/2007 10:50 PM Comments (0)
Crow creek "Crushing Poverty" - Sept. 30, 2007 Multicultural Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson, South DakotaHUMANITARIAN DAY AT FORT THOMSPSON, SD - SEPT. 30, 2007 Located in the poorest county in America, little has changed on the Dakota/Lakota Crow Creek Sioux Indian Reservation in Fort Thompson, SD where 1,300 members of the tribe were forced into exile by cattle car and boat after being violently removed from Minneapolis by U.S. troops who also hanged 38 other American Indians Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson will be held on Sept. 30, 2007 thanks to Islamic Relief USA, Christians and Native Americans All low income residents - including whites - are invited to the event that will include a wide-range of medical care, clothing, books, bikes, toys and many other items. Organizers urge the public to donate in any way possible Photo courtesy of the South Dakota State Historical Society Multicultural Humanitarian Day project to provide healthcare, clothes, toys, books, bikes for Crow Creek Sioux Tribe thanks to Islamic Relief, Minnesota motorcycle group, other non-profits, and public support (Fort Thompson, South Dakota) - Clothes, medical care, books, bikes and toys will be provided for members of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and any other low-income Fort Thompson area residents that attend the Islamic Relief Humanitarian Day project - a multicultural event that brings together diverse groups for an important cause on the country's poorest American Indian Reservation oft compared to a Third World country. Donations of all kinds are still needed for the September 30, 2007 Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson that will be held from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the pow-wow grounds on the banks of the Missouri River. Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson will include a wide range of free medical care and the items to be given away include books, a large selection of clothing, toys, bicycles and hygiene kits. The Native American and Islamic cultures have come together to help Fort Thompson area residents, who like many at Lakota/Dakota reservations are faced with severe poverty, unemployment and many other social issues. Event organizers hope people of goodwill will view donating as a "moral obligation" because of the often overlooked but highly documented social crisis on South Dakota Native American reservations. "Everyone should be conscience of the need for the people in our society to be able to obtain basic services," said Anisah David, coordinator of Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson. "I believe this is a moral obligation." David said she believes it is "immoral for a society as ours - with its status in the world - to be ignoring the plight of the indigenous people of this country." Often compared to Haiti, Crow Creek is the poorest American Indian reservation in America and suffers from 80-90 percent unemployment, serious medical issues including a high incidence of diabetes, and substandard overcrowded housing. The U.S. government has yet to provide emergency funds to repair the high school that was damaged by fire, leaving students education two years behind public schools. Many residents have to walk great distances because few have vehicles and there is no public transportation. Spread over 400 square miles in Hughes, Hyde and Buffalo counties, the reservation has Third World water problems despite two major reservoirs on the Missouri River that cover 35 square miles. The dams are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The poor water quality is due to shallow groundwater and because federal contractors placed septic systems within a few feet of wells. Surface water is often contaminated with bacteria and undesirable minerals. Many residents get sick drinking the water because they can't afford bottle water or expensive filtration systems. "In the future, we would like to help change the For Thompson area water problems by recruiting organizations to sponsor the installation of water purification systems in the homes," David said. Items in short supply on the reservation include children's clothing, shoes, diapers, underwear, socks, winter clothing and personal hygiene items. Terry Alex, founder of the Crow Creek Longriders, said Humanitarian Day "will pass on hope to these people at Crow Creek show these young people that we care." The Crow Creek Longriders champion Native American and other causes to create awareness to the plight of the tribe from current suffering to it early years of the hanging of 38 American Indians, countless beatings, rape and murder at the racist hands of U.S. troops in 1863 during the forced removal from Minnesota.
--- The Minneapolis motorcycle group holds an annual five-state memorial ride each June to honor those who died or suffered during the forced exile that included sending about 1,300 Native Americans to Crow Creek in cattle cars and riverboats. Saying Crow Creek residents endure "crushing poverty" every day, Alex said "it's just not right that our people are suffering like that - being the poorest of the poor. The Crow Creek reservation has ninety-percent unemployment because residents have "no way of sustaining self employment" and where new businesses are rare because of "logistics and location - sixty miles off the interstate in the middle of prairie country," said Alex, a member of the Dakota tribe and welding foreman in Minneapolis shop that makes small bridges. The forced exile is a footnote in schoolbooks because "it's a dark chapter in history," said Alex, a grandfather with three grown children in their 20s.
Founded in 2000 by the ILM Foundation in California, Humanitarian Day was turned to a nationwide event in 2005 by Islamic Relief USA. Thousands of volunteers observe Ramadan by organizing events in the poorest areas of 20 American cities. Islamic Relief USA, in partnership with Islamic Relief UK, provides relief and development services in 36 countries. This is the third year of the Humanitarian Day national effort to bring attention to the critical issues of homelessness, poverty and hunger within the United States. During the third weekend in Ramadan - September 29 and 30 - the event is held in 20 U.S. cities involving 5,000 volunteers and serving 25,000 people. A busload of about 50 volunteers from the Sioux Falls area will help at the event, and are paying their own overnight lodging expenses. Additional volunteers are needed. Humanitarian Day will include a series of booths offering items like food, children's books, school supplies, and clothing. Bicycles refurbished by Pedalers3 will be given away to children on Humanitarian Day Pedalars3 has already given away 60 refurbished bicycles to Crow Creek residents this year and hope to give away at least 20 more on Humanitarian Day, said Pedlars3 founder Bob Semrad, a retired United Methodist Church pastor and U.S. Air Force chaplain who puts together the bikes at his Brookings, SD home. Semrad hopes people will drop off broken bikes and parts that can used to increase the total number of bikes to be given away on Humanitarian Day. "They can bring old bikes and bicycle parts to 803 4th Street in Brookings," said Semrad adding even bikes that have been run over by a car can be useful. "Sometimes kids park a bike behind dad's car and it gets run over - the frames and wheels are bent - but there are still good cables for brake assembly or derailers." "We cannibalize parts off busted up bikes," said Semrad, who is involved in numerous projects to help Native Americans across South Dakota. "Sometimes it takes two or three busted up bikes to make one new good rideable bike that will keep some kid going and make some kid happy." People who donate old bikes and parts can "make a difference in one kid's life," said Semrad, a retired colonel and air force reserve pilot who flew missions in Vietnam. Books can be donated through the event's website. David said appointments are not required for the wide-range of medical services available on Humanitarian Day. The doctors and other healthcare professionals will help as many people as possible, David said. Several Sioux Falls area doctors will be provide free medical screening. The Sanford Health System mobile medical unit from Sioux Falls will provide free OB/GYN services. The Church of Latter-Day Saints has donated 2,000 kits with personal hygiene items that will be distributed during the event. Organizers hope to arrange the donation of free fungicidal mold remover to help the many residents whose homes have heavy mold contamination. David said any business or group that can provide mold remover should contact Humanitarian Day officials. Another goal is providing free winterization products, to help reduce cold weather utility bills. "People often have their utilities to be cut off during winter due to late payment of bills or for having an unpaid balance," David said. "Unlike many states that have laws in place to protect its residents from cut offs in dangerous weather, South Dakota does not have any law to protect the poor from having their heat shut off - and this has caused the deaths." Event organizers have contacted the South Dakota Lions Foundation hoping to arrange Humanitarian Day eye exams using the club's mobile unit. "We have yet to hear back from the South Dakota Lions Foundation," David said. "It's our understanding that this would be the first time the Lions Foundation has ever served the needs of Fort Thompson area residents at Crow Creek." Islamic Relief is providing a $5,000 cash grant to cover the cost of the charter bus for volunteers and doctors, event shelters, rental trucks to haul the donations to Fort Thompson and to purchase new products like children's winter clothing items. The multicultural effort appears to be a natural fit on several levels. "Friend" is the meaning in two languages of the Native American word Lakota and the Arabic name Anisah - the first name of the Islamic coordinator whose great-great-grandmother was Native American. The project fits the Islamic Relief USA goal of "focusing on the broader population of needy" not consider "homeless" but live in desperate conditions like those found on nearly all of South Dakota's Native American reservations, David said. "This includes working poor, low income senior citizens and the ‘invisible' homeless who are living in another person's home due to lack of housing." Organizers hope the ingrained poverty, teen suicide and other problems on South Dakota reservations will become as important to local residents as it is shocking to outsiders who send volunteers and relief to the Native American community. David said some South Dakotans are working hard to help the tribes, but to many residents the obvious poverty has somehow turned oblivious - hidden in plain sight. Humanitarian Day, she says, is an opportunity for those same residents to open their eyes, hearts and pocketbooks. "We need to help the people now," David said. "The severe situation on the reservations is morally wrong - we need to change the cultural genocide now - not tomorrow - now." "I have issues of social justice and moral obligations to help those being oppressed - regardless of their faith and cultural identity," said David, who is Muslim American. The goal of Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson is reaching low-income families "within and surrounding the Crow Creek Sioux reservation, due primarily to the economic condition that exists in that area," David said. "We seek to help bring justice through economic assistant to the people who have for so long been marginalized by the dominant culture," said David, referring to generations of racism in some Americans. Hoping to make Humanitarian Day an annual event in Fort Thompson, David said the project aims to bring "dignity through cooperative assistance, that allows the adults in Crow Creek to empower themselves and to provide for their children." While an important first step, David believes Humanitarian Day "is only one drop in the bucket" for addressing conditions at Crow Creak where "the needs are immense." "This will take a fire brigade of buckets full of water, to put out the fire of cultural genocide and heal the people," David said. "But the healing will come from inside the tribe, when they feel they are no longer the forgotten people of Crow Creek." Humanitarian Day partners from as far away as California, Virginia and northern Michigan are involved. They include the South Dakota Muslim Women's Network, Islamic Community of South Dakota, Islamic Relief USA, Crow Creek Longriders, Community Food Banks of South Dakota, South Dakota Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Sunset Shuttle Inc., Intellect Love Mercy Foundation, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Northern State University Native American Student Association, One Spirit, iGive.com, Indigenous Internet Chamber of Commerce, Tree of life Ministries, Can-Do.org, Alibris and the Turtle Island Project. People can help the event in one of six ways listed on the official website: Wal-Mart or other gift cards, website link to purchase books, cash donations a non-profit charity listed on website community partnership page (donation for Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson), online shopping at businesses that donate some proceeds, and volunteer on Sat., Sept. 29 loading donations in Sioux Falls and both days at the Wacipi grounds (tent set up Saturday, various duties at 12 noon Sunday). For more information call 605-693-3753 - or email: humanitarian_day@mail.org
A grandmother of two with a grown son in Denver and daughter in Egypt, the 45-year-old David lives in the tiny farming community of Bushnell (pop. 89) and is passionate about fighting inequities facing a wide range of people, regardless of race or faith. David has volunteered or founded a dozen related causes starting in 1995 during her senior year studying sociology at South Dakota State University with the creation of Human Interaction for Religious Understanding which promoted fair play and "respect for the diversity of faith & religious traditions" for 8 years - ending when she went overseas. Living with a Muslim American abstract sculptor/painter and life partner, the disabled David has turned the internet into her connection to the world that enables the participation in the wide variety of projects that would exhaust most. David spent six months helping hurricane victims after Katrina including serving as the Islamic Relief Mississippi state coordinator after spending three months in Biloxi as a volunteer. David founded the interfaith "Covered Women for God" that utilized the internet to bring together women of diverse religious traditions - mainly Christians, Jews and Muslims - to discuss modesty within their own faiths and support each other in modest dress including the covering of the head and hair. The 1999 founder and now secretary of the "South Dakota Muslim Women's Network," David is a member of the one-year-old "Islamic Community of South Dakota" masjid (center/house of worship). Both Islamic groups are ethnically diverse including Euro-Americans, African-Americans, Africans, Europeans, Asians and Native Americans. "I strongly believe in inter-cultural and interfaith interaction - and tolerance for diversity," David said. "I have worked in social issues all my life, in one form or another." David said racism and unfair antiquated reservation treaties have deeply wounded the culture and heritage of some American Indians. "It is one thing to claim ‘we didn't take the land' but as long as we pay taxes to the government whose policies and programs prevent true equality to (American Indians) and deny them social ways to develop as they see fit as a cultural community - then we are the oppressors," David said. Educated in a boarding school, David's great-great-grandmother was "stripped of her Native American identity to such a degree that she could not pass on her family lineage knowledge to her children and grandchildren - a plight faced by many generations of American Indians, said David calling it "ethnic and cultural genocide." "I have links, though distant, to Native Americans - the drive to be involved in my cultural lineage is there and something I can never walk away from," David said. "I don't want any other person to experience the severing of their ancestral ties that happened to my family's genealogy," David said. "We have a long record of our European ancestors - but our Native American side starts and ends with my great-great grandmother." David said the U.S. government treatment of Native Americans is "no different than the Chinese government oppression of the Tibetan culture" and similar to the persecution of religions and minorities in many countries because all "take possession of minority community resources." "We can't point fingers at others human rights violations when we have issues right here at home," said David. ------- Related websites/contacts: Humanitarian Day (9-30-07) event for the Crow Creek website (Close two gaps in address): http://www. geocities .com/humanitarian_day Islamic Relief USA: http://www.irw.org Crow Creek Longriders blog - also outlines 150 year history of the tragedies faced by the tribe: http://crowcreeklongriders.blogspot.com/ Humanitarian Day Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humanitarian_Day-Ft_Thompson_SD/ Islamic Relief USA: http://www.irw.org Humanitarian Day at Fort Thompson 47825 Main Street Bushnell, SD 57276 --- Coordinators/Contacts: General Coordinator Ms Anisah David Bushnell, SD 605-693-3753 Health Fair coordinator Mr Imann David Sioux Falls, SD 605-376-0610 --- Clareen Menzies Domestic Program Manager Islamic Relief USA 122 C Street NW #830 Washington DC 20001 Office: 202-347-0774 FAX: 866-533-9402 Cell: 612-237-9167 email: email: clareen@irw.org --- Crow Creek Longriders Terry Alex Hm: 612-345-5400 Cell: 612-242-5677 email: rezbilliedeluxe38@yahoo.com --- Peddlars3 Bob Semrad 605-695-4766 605-692-5207 b1semrad@hotmail.com --- Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Chairman: Lester Thompson, Jr P.O. Box 50 Fort Thompson, SD 57339-0050 Phone (605) 245-2221 Fax (605) 245-5470 ---
Posted on 09/11/2007 10:33 PM Comments (0)
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