Youth CAN Climate Summit 2015

Attending the Youth CAN Climate Summit hosted by M.I.T. in Boston. With Lake Placid Environmental Club and other North Country advocates. Club Advisor Tammy Morgan, The Wild Center of Tupper Lake, N.Y. and Brian Stilwell of A.C.E. have once again networked with the best and brightest and I appreciate the opportunity and the education I am receiving this weekend. Gave up Track Sectionals to attend, but choices gotta be made. News from Alaska Dispatch online newspaper just said Southcentral Alaska is in for a burning summer. People are dying in India right now due to the 117% heat. Lives and homes are lost in Texas this week due to flash floods. Update later. Seeing the bigger picture! Save the whales, polar bears, our human selves! Our HOME.

Athabascan country in Alaska

Visit Alaska Native Heritage Center online or in person for more like this graphic. Anaa' baase.

Koyukon Athabascan descended from Koyukuk-Nowitna band. Dad raised until 8 years old in Kokrines, Alaska. Alaska moved from territory status to statehood so off to Ruby in 1958 the holdout family went as a school consisting of two rooms was there. That ended the free roaming  outdoor life my dad loved so much. But after Mt. Edgecumbe graduation and serving in the Navy on the U.S.S. Constellation, dad settled into the seasons based in Ruby with traplines and fish camp sites. He became a single dad upon a divorce and that enabled him to perfect the art of snowshoe building over past 30 years. Some 15 years later, an art show and contest for Kindergarten thru the 12th grade created by my mom, Eileen McGlynn, introduced them to each other when she sought out the most authentic Athabascan craftsman in town to be the impartial judge-my dad. Opposites attract and I am the result. Proud of both my bloodlines and raised with solid timeless human values and a viewpoint encompassing a bigger world. And hopes for a better world.  

Dad nets Pike-subsistence food-traditon outdoors

Kaylee likes my dad's sweets.

Dad, George Albert, used a fishing net to catch this extra big monster. Believe me, just look at its teeth! Nephew Nummies and neice Kaylee touch it. Observe, Share.
 Good eating on the day after Memorial Day 2015!
 Native Americans and Alaskan Natives serve our country in higher percentages for their population than any other ethnic group in America, year after year. They love the ground of their ancestors. Some of this is economic just like firefighting for those with less employment opportunities. Some of it is the Warrior protect homelands viewpoint. Some of it is just we are Americans same as anyone with all of the reasons one could choose!
 I am off to a environmental workshop after classes today. We drive to Boston to the M.I.T. campus for a You Can workshop. High school and college youth will give workshops on eco-topics. I want to learn more about Climate Change. We visit an aquarium too, first for this inland Alaskan Indian.

Bush kids don 't get to visit Lower 48 much, or even much of Alaska as it is so big. And takes funds. But as you see, they have other adventures. Usually visit places where relatives are-other villages, potlatch/funeral/gatherings, the hubs of Fairbanks, Anchorage, Bethel etc. I've only been to Galena maybe three or four times! It is 30 miles on the Yukon River. Gas cost a lot for boat to haul us. Even trip by 300 air miles to Fairbanks can cost you round $275. give or take nowadays. Medical visits may bring you outside your village to "town(Fairbanks)." So even getting a hair cut is a hassle, you do without or make do locally. We were lucky if had a box of fruit and vegetable and "White Man's meat" if got a relative to ship it on bush plane. I could go a year or more without going beyond the small village of Ruby, 160 people, I grew up in. Many are relatives. We didn't have funds for 'sightseeing.'

Subsistence lifestyle from two parents making money from dad's snowshoe making, cords of wood, some carpentry jobs, catch some marten or beaver for the fur, mom subbing at school, Post Office. Just get by. So, you bet a Pike in springtime makes your mouth water and everyone talks about when the Salmon are coming in June. And my nephew shooting his first goose or spruce gouse 'chicken' is a Very Big Deal. It is what has always gone on. Thanks for photos from Real Alaska, Audrey and Vern! Not that 'city' folks don't also get off the pavement and into the woods-that is what is great about Alaska. 70 % of the population lives outside Anchorage but they enjoy the outdoor life. 70% of all Natives in America live in suburban/urban places says all  the statistics and I sincerely hope they have family, mentors, Tribes who create opportunities to get outside and have more than a taste of the wild. It must be. I had it for 12 years. I am receiving a solid education in  N.Y. and know I will use my skills gained here to help others have the connection with tradition and outdoor upbringing I had.


Sheldon got goose 2015 with 20 gauge. Nummies with his first "chicken' few years ago.
 



Town Clean Up Happens Only With Human Help

Town Clean Up Spring 2015.

I have been cleaning up my neighborhood every year since about age five. My hometown in Ruby, Alaska will soon clean up its own human created litter and such. They even recycle items including toxic ones like used equipment. Harder when you live surrounded by wilderness and things get shipped out by a summertime only barge. But still done the last week of school which is soon for Alaska. Every year we clean our neighborhood's long street in Lake Placid. This year, I volunteered to clean with my high school Environmental Club in another part of town. My mother helped so that earns me double hours as it is mandatory that students donate 40 hours to worthy causes by their graduation. I'll have more hours than that by 2017, I believe!  Try cleaning up your bedroom and inside your home too. Remember to Pre-cycle by consuming and buying less! Prevention is worth a pound or ton to the landfill! Live simply, so others can simply live.

INVASIVE BOOZE PETITION

                                               INVASIVE BOOZE PETITION

                                             Stop the Devastation Against Natives

      We, the undersigned, ask The United States Government, interested states and Tribal Nations to undo the damage President Teddy Roosevelt did in 1904 by his Executive Order changing the border zone protecting Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, which resulted in the "town" of Whiteclay, Nebraska, population average Ten (10!), selling almost Five (5) Million cans of beer annually        ($3 Million in sales).
      The Oglala Sioux Indians BAN alcohol on their reservation since 1832. Devastation has happened to their Nation ever since this Executive Order. Pine Ridge is widely known for its poverty and social problems. The vast majority a result of booze sold in Whiteclay but consumed on the reservation.
OVERTURN this ill-conceived Executive Order or PASS A LAW in Congress expanding the reservation boundary to absorb Whiteclay. Listen to the cries of the families and their advocates.


(Inquiries: Genizine@Gmail.com  Petition by student Birk Albert, Alaskan Native, in honor of relative's Oglala Sioux extended family. A "Challenge" taken up to fight the good fight inspired       by The Center for Native American Youth.)                                                                                    Take action and expand your voice. Print this or your version of this petition after educating yourself or go to my blog and comment with your name, town and state and I will add your name. Petitions to be sent to White House, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Tribal Nations.
                                           www.GenIzine.Blogspot.com

        FULL NAME                              TOWN,  STATE  OF RESIDENCE

Diatribe: Invasive Booze Petition-Close Whiteclay booze pathway into Pine Ridge

Brother Vern with Katrina my "Niester"

 

As long as I was going to do an Invasive dangers to my Ausable River Watershed display for Earth Day, it is not too far to extend that concern to Indian Country-be it Alaskan villages or on a never visited reservation. Why not help protect humans on this good earth and denounce the alcohol that flows since 1904 into the Pine Ridge reservation which has a BAN on alcohol consumption and carrying onto their lands since 1832. Former N.Y. Governor Teddy Roosevelt changed this into a tragedy for generations all with his one hand and the stroke of a pen in 1904 when he changed the borders of the buffer zone. He had the unseen hand of the trading post or booze distributors no doubt even back then.
 This "town" of  under 15 has no post office, school etc....it exists to live off and continue misery and tragedy that flows back into Pine Ridge to effect the relatives of my biological niece/adopted sister, Katrina's distant and extended family. That is how they ended up in Ruby, AK as part of a large foster family of cousins, sisters and brothers representing 3 family units. Another horror story is the foster couple (Natives) who were given charge of these kids, not a happy one.

My brother Vern met and was enchanted as a 17 year old with one lady and well, there is his daughter, Katrina, raised by my dad since she was age one. A good thing and then I was born. Early parents and late bloomers.
I collected some signatures on my petition and will continue at events. All President Obama has to do is restore the buffer zone and ban Whiteclay. It will solve some of the problems of 5 million cans of beer being sold for $3 million dollars of sales yearly from a handful of selfish folks in this 'town' and the heartless corporate distillers who are really the pirate stealing the health, dignity and futures of Oglala Sioux for too long. Sure, there will always be more predators, but why did Roosevelt do this to begin with I say?

 Send Name, Town of residence,  and State and I will keep your email and add your protest to the petition to be mailed sometime in 2015 to South Dakota, Nebraska, White House and the Tribal Council there.  I can send you an attached copy of the petition to close down Whiteclay booze suppliers. I am going to print the petition in the next post. Feel free to take charge.

Folks who want their name added to the paper petition: Genizine@gmail.com

In this case, every little drop of activism MAY help compared to the barrels of mayhem Roosevelt's solitary Executive Order caused.  See New York Times May 1st, 2015 article on suicide epidemic there as well. ENOUGH.  'Uncle Henry' continues namesake's legacy of action over words.

Environmental Justice in Adirondacks

Annual John Brown Day happens May 9th, 2 to 4 p.m. in Lake Placid.

The theme will be as always to continue John Brown's legacy of bringing freedom to those enslaved and unlimited effort to express those concerns. The John Brown Lives! Society continues those efforts. There will be a screening at LPCA of "Selma." On a related theme they will discuss Environmental Justice in this short seminar. How to open the Adirondacks to Indigenous children, children of color whether they live in urban areas or rural in New York and beyond.
 The book, The Adventure Gap" by James Edward Mills discusses this. However it bypasses the situation of Native America. It focuses mainly on African Americans. It is still a eye opener even though it is mainly about recreational adventures exclusive to pocketbook or cultured elite skill sets, unless you know a Sherpa willing to guide you for free. And right now they have more important concerns than hauling outsiders up Mt. Everest such as survival from recent earthquake there.

Be aware-by 2030 in America will not have more than 50% Caucasian population. It is time to enlist protectors of our Earth as well as let individual kids have the same chance to see, relax in and touch the 6 million acres of preserved wilderness that exist in the Adirondack Park and many other places in America. We need to train these future nature protectors and defenders who will speak for our animal and earth brothers and sisters. Instead of access to wild Alaska, I now am raised in an apartment surrounded by manicured private lots so I understand the lack of opportunity for children of color. I believe 70% or more of our Native children are URBAN residents. I did not know that. Now I understand. We, out of all people, need to stay connected to Turtle Island as well as have empathy for all Indigenous Peoples and issues facing their homeland on the planet. There is a Diversity Advisory Council now helping solve this problem in the Adirondacks and mom recently emailed them with ideas. They will hold diversity training soon to brainstorm ideas to open up the dialog. (AdirondackDAC@gmail.com)

To jumpstart my C.N.A.Y. (Center for Native American Youth) "Challenge" which really is this blogzine (a long term project), I offered to have a Watershed display during a Earth Week event called The Green Shindig which my school environmental club hosted. Using a canoe as a table, I put in several created poster boards using information from local agencies and Google research. Mom got the brochures and friends Henry and Trent carried the canoe to the car and set-up the display. There was a live band, slideshow by scientist/professor Curt Stager who informed us that Climate Change HAS hit the Adirondacks and bike powered smoothies and humans by a bonfire. Since I live in such a special (and White) place, we used the caption, "Stop non-Native Invaders" as the display was about non-native  invading and spreading destructive plants, insects, and fish diseases and how to stop or eliminate them. Activists can have humor.

 What dangers lurk in your own Watershed? We all have one. LOOK AT CALIFORNIA and their dire water level problems. We all need water to survive.
Here are resources to learn about Invasive Species in this area to protect the water from our mountains to our streams which flow into Lake Champlain. Mohawk country.
Clean your boat, fishing equipment, waders, kayaks and canoes before you venture into a different body of water! Learn the procedures.

www.adkinvasives.com
www.dec.ny.gov
www.ausableriverassociation.org
www.lawntolake.org