“wind news”
sniffing wind knew scent
returning relatives dance
is too late hopes not
“wind news”
January 17, 2013 at 7:29 pm (art, creative writing, culture, environment, exploring interconnectedness, life, nature, photography, poetry, random, Uncategorized, Writing)
Tags: art, clouds, creative writing, culture, exploring interconnectedness, haiku, life, Minolta X 700, Nebraska, photograph, photography, poem, poetry, random, Scotts Bluff, sky, wind news, Writing
Idle No More’s Peaceful Women Warriors –and the Issues aka Genocide via Legislation
January 13, 2013 at 7:21 pm (culture, education, environment, ethics, history, Independent film, Indigenous People, life, nature, politics, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: Alberta, band audits, C-45, Canada, Dr. Pamela Palmater, education, environment, First Nations, funding cuts, genocide, Harper, housing, Idle No More, Independent film, Indian Act, Indians, Issues, Jessica Gordon, land, legislation, news, Nina Wilson, photograph, poverty, reserve, resources, Sheelah McLean, Sylvia McAdam, teach in, Trevor Grey Eyes, video, White Paper 2012, women, Women Warriors
The founders of Idle No More @Sylvia McAdam photo via twitter.
https://twitter.com/SylviaMcAdam/status/283819711257538560
Sheelah McLean (left), Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon
If you’re still wondering what has Canada’s First Nations “Idle No More” then brew some tea, get your seat all comfy and let the ladies do their thing–teach. Here’s a very accessible introduction to the issues. Canada’s Omnibus Bill C-45 has been passed by the senate. Guess what that means after Dr. Pamela Palmater lays it all out.
Sylvia McAdam, Jan. 6 Teach In, Calgary via placesintheforest
Sylvia McAdam presents Peaceful Women Warriors ~ Alberta
Nina Wilson interview with Trevor Grey Eyes News regarding C-45
In depth presentation about Canada’s First Nations issues. This is very clearly presented information and explanations.
Dr. Pamela Palmater ~ Alberta (part 1/4)– On the legislation/Harper/Indian Act/environment and more.
(part 2/4) Water issues, discrimination via the Canadian legal system, pipeline, treaty partners, reserve land, First Nations elections, protests, chiefs and more.
(part 3/4) Omnibus Bill C-45, treaty rights, jurisdiction, ”unlocking our lands,” education, who benefits from First Nations poverty and more.
(part 4/4) Resource Development by force, right wing media spin issues, social media, White Paper 2012, et al.
Anyone else get the sense that just meeting with Harper is not going to silence the drums of ”Idle No More” while genocide is committed via legislation?
Dewey-Burdock Uranium Mining in the Black Hills — Just Say No! ~ Community Meeting: 10 January 2013, Hot Springs, South Dakota, American Legion, 6:30 pm.
January 7, 2013 at 5:19 pm (art, culture, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, life, Native Americans, nature, photography, politics, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: "Water", 10 January 2013, American Legion, animals, art, Black Hills, Cheynne River, community, culture, Dayton Hyde, Dayton O. Hyde, Dewey-Burdock, Docket NRC-2012-0277, eagles, Earth Tribe, education, environment, Exposed, Facebook, flood, groundwater, historic site, horses, Hot Springs, impact, Indigenous, information, IRAM, Karla LaRive, letter, meeting, Mine, mining, mustangs, Native American, nature, news, people, photograhy, photograph, polluition, poster, Powertech, project, protest, public announcement, random, risk, SEIS, South Dakota, Susan Watt, toxic waste, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Uranium, Wild Horse Sanctuary
photo @ Karla LaRive 2012
The letter following my comments is from the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary pages on Facebook. Please help spread the news. I think they could use some major support. They’re fighting uranium mining. This post is my tiny effort to raise awareness. Thanks to Earth Tribe for its support.
Powertech Exposed –and the difficulty of commenting via a malfunctioning website: http://www.powertechexposed.com/ The uranium mining industry is not playing “fair”–because they know their mining is not wanted in the Black Hills -or anywhere else where the population is informed about the dangers of uranium mining and the environmental dangers it produces. Clearly some people learned nothing from the Fukushima disaster.
Please consider the dangers and consequences of the Dewey-Burdock project – From the desk of IRAM Program Director, Susan Watt
by Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary on Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 4:05pm ·
From the desk of IRAM Program Director, Susan Watt
January 1, 2013
Please, I would ask all of you to read and understand what is going on in the arena of the Uranium Mining.
This proposed project affects all of us. Please support our efforts by joining us and the community on Thursday Night, January 10, 2013 at the American Legion in Hot Springs, So Dakota for a Community Meeting at 6:30 pm.
- SW
# # #
REPOST – December 30, 2012
Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements and Directives Branch
Division of Administrative Services
Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001
Docket NRC-2012-0277, the proposed Dewey-Burdock project, comments on the SEIS
Dear Ms. Bladey,
Twenty five years ago I founded the Institute of Range and American Mustang (IRAM) a 501 c 3 non-profit corporation. IRAM’s Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is home to more than 600 wild horses on 13,000 acres of private range in South Dakota.
On this location one can find; 60 million year old remains from the Pleistocene era of plants and animals, Ancient Petroglyphs that date back hundreds of years, Native American Ceremonial Sites, Historic Pioneer homesteads, and hundreds of native species of plants and animals. IRAM is supported by the thousands of visitors that come to South Dakota each year to see the natural history of the local area. Besides a Wild Horse Sanctuary the historic significance of this region brings people and scientists from all over the world.
For hundreds of years, the Cheyenne River that runs through the Sanctuary was the first source of water for the wildlife that lived on the grassy prairies. Ancient man and the dinosaurs of the past traveled this waterway. Native Americans hunted the buffalo and then held their sacred ceremonies on this land.
Along with IRAM’s Board of Directors, I am greatly concerned over the proposed Powertech Dewey-Burdock project that is located within twenty miles of the Sanctuary. We feel that the SEIS was issued before all the relevant information was available.
The Cultural and Historic impact that will result from this proposed project have not been considered properly. The relevant information is still not available. The SEIS should not have been issued until a thorough study of the cultural and historical sites on the proposed project area was completed.
The SEIS “dilutes” impacts by saying that the impacts are “small” because only part of the project area is involved. The impacts are large to the affected areas, and that is what should be considered. The Cheyenne River and its water shed are within a few miles from the proposed mining area. Our house wells and livestock wells all share the same aquifer that is to be used to inject the waste water from the project.
The SEIS only includes the impacts of a 100-year flood, and some facilities are allowed within the 100-year flood boundaries. A 500-year flood should be considered. No facilities should be allowed within the 100-year flood boundaries. Vigorous, overland and stream flooding is common in the Black Hills.
The SEIS says that impacts are “small” in a number of instances because Powertech Uranium has said it will do certain things if problems develop. The SEIS should not consider only the “best case” impacts, but should consider impacts if the problems found at other ISL projects develop. The public and the environment should be protected from worst case impacts.
Besides over 600 wild horses, IRAM also has a herd of Red Angus Cattle and over 100 domestic horses, chickens, turkeys, and peacocks. We are greatly concerned over the potential exposure to radiation for all of these animals.
The SEIS lists a number of things that Powertech should do before it starts its operation, such as air dispersion modeling, livestock radiation sampling, pump testing, creating well field operational plans, and setting up emergency procedures for truck accidents. These activities should be completed before a SEIS is issued, so that the public can have full information on which to base its comments, and so that the NRC can have full information on which to base its ratings of various impacts.
Due to the high desert environment, this area is very susceptible to lightning strikes and wild fires. This summer alone there were months of fires in the local area of the proposed mining.
The environmental impacts of wildfires, which are common in the immediate area of the proposed project, should be considered, including potential impacts if a fire strikes mining, pipelines, overhead power lines, and processing buildings.
The SEIS does not acknowledge environmental justice, cultural, and historical concerns that include Lakota treaty rights to the proposed project area and the fact that a number of Native American tribes consider the Black Hills to be sacred.
Bald eagles, sage-grouse, whooping cranes, and black-footed ferrets are all threatened or endangered wildlife species that could be negatively impacted by the proposed project. Wildlife is simply expected to disperse and go elsewhere. This creates undue hardship on sensitive species.
All ponds, including radium settling ponds, and areas where wastewater is applied to the land are threats to wildlife, particularly birds.
Public hearings should be held after full information is available on the proposed project. Hearings held elsewhere during the writing of the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement are not adequate to this specific project.
Because the state no longer has regulatory authority over ISL mining, the federal government’s plans for monitoring the project should be clearly explained in detail, so that the public can determine whether monitoring will be adequate.
All data provided by Powertech Uranium should be independently verified. It is not in the public interest to have the proposed project’s benefits and problems judged based almost entirely on data provided by the company seeking a permit.
The applicant has never mined uranium. They do not have anything close to the resources necessary to create a mine. The inexperience of the company and its lack of funding are important variables in the company’s ability to manage the environmental aspects of the proposed project and should be discussed in the SEIS.
The SEIS indicates that 30% of the water treated through the reverse osmosis process will become waste. The impacts of the removal of this water from local aquifers should be discussed much more clearly.
All of the above facts about the Dewey Burdock project and the SEIS clearly affect the Institute of Range and American Mustang Programs and Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. The Uranium Mining would endanger the wildlife, the mustangs, the water supplies, the land and all the people that are on the land.
This matter of allowing Uranium Mining and using the water from an already delicate ecosystem must be considered and analyzed from all dangers and risks. Science tells us what a situation is but it is up to the humans involved to make the decisions. Once this area is exposed the Uranium Mining there is no turning back the clock to undo the mistakes.
Our policy at IRAM is that man is the caregiver of the Earth and all of its beings and no one has the right to contaminate or pollute the environment. There are no second chances at life if the water, land, wildlife, people and history of an area are destroyed by Corporate Greed.
There is something very great at stake here in the Black Hills of South Dakota and we ask you please to consider the dangers and consequences of the Dewey-Burdock project of what it can and might to do to the very water we drink and the land we live on.
Sometimes in life the risk is just not worth taking. Please help us keep our land and water safe.
Sincerely,
Dayton O. Hyde
IRAM President / Founder
January 1 2013
Chief Theresa Spence Jan. 5 — camp benefit–Zaphods, Ottawa
January 3, 2013 at 7:08 pm (art, culture, entertainment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, Indigenous People, life, music, photography, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: art, Benefit, camp, Canada, chief, culture, Derek Miller, Digging Roots, Don Kelly, entertainment, Indigenous, Jasper, life, Melody McKiver, music, Music is the Medicine, news, ON, Ottawa, people, photograph, photography, poster, random, Ryan McMahon, Theresa Spence, video, Zaphods
Poster/photo @Derek Miller on twitter and Facebook.
http://www.derekmiller.ca
http://facebook.com/derekmillerlive
http://twitter.com/derekmillerlive
http://youtube.com/derekmillerlive
http://soundcloud.com/derek-miller-live
http://myspace.com/derekmillermusic
“endless buffalo” remembering Wounded Knee, 29 December 1890
December 29, 2012 at 4:53 pm (creative writing, culture, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, history, Indigenous People, Lakota, life, Native Americans, nature, photography, poetry, random, Writing)
Tags: "endless buffalo", 1890, Bialowieza Forest, Bison, children, creative writing, December 29, exploring interconnectedness, history, Huynh, Lakota, Lonely Planet, massacre, men, Native Americans, photograph, photography, poem, poetry, Poland, random, song, South Dakota, women, Wounded Knee, Writing
“endless buffalo”
winter sun crests
tobacco scent and smoking sage
bones entwined bearing winter weights
tears wiped
yet
mounted hooves beating
drumming living ways
singing songs of wounded knee
still
what mothers lay
children so still atop cemetery hill
while men wrongly graved
all yearning stomachs filled
~~may spring tall green grasses and endless buffalo bring
Photo credit @ Mr. Huynh posted Lonely Planet: Bialowieza Forest July 2012
http://lonelyplanet.seo1k.net/2012/07/lonely-planet-biaowieza-forest.html
@wojcik
Round Dance at Parliament Hill ~ Idle No More~ First Nations ~ Ottawa, Canada
December 23, 2012 at 5:50 pm (art, culture, entertainment, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, history, Indigenous People, journalism, life, movies, nature, photography, politics, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: 21 December 2012, Canada, David P. Ball, Ditto, Ditto of Jesus, environment, First Nations, history, Idle No More, Indian Country Today Media Network, music, nature, Ottawa, Parliament Hill, photograph, politics, protest, rally, Round Dance, video
Live Gov Cam Photo shared by Ditto (Singer/Songwriter) via the book of faces http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ditto-SingerSongwriter/253555851169?ref=mf
According to Indian Country Today Media Network.com 4,000 took part in the 21 December 2012 protest in Ottawa, Canada–as reported by David P. Ball. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/idle-no-more-sweeps-canada-and-beyond-aboriginals-say-enough-enough-146516
World wide support for Idle No More continues to increase http://www.idlenomore1.blogspot.com/ . Indeed the “views” counter number has increased by at least 200,000 since my first visit. Information continues to be updated/added as support is shared and future events are posted.
Listen to more of Ditto of Jesus at http://www.youtube.com/dittoofjesus
A change is due and will do Mother Earth GOOD–and all living things too–including us humans.
The Incredible Winter Wonderland Coat Project!
December 11, 2012 at 7:59 pm (art, culture, education, environment, exploring interconnectedness, Indigenous People, Lakota, life, Native Americans, photography, Pine Ridge Indian reservation, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: "width", children, clothing, coats, culture, exploring interconnectedness, gently used, Kansas City, Lakota, life, Locke, Missouri, Native Americans, photograph, photography, Pine Ridge Reservation, Porcupine, project warmth, random, shopping, South Dakota, teacher, weather, winter, Yi-Ching Lin
from Yi-Ching Lin’s “waking up new” album
Tis the season of snow, wind, rain and cold for those of us without warm sandy beaches under our feet. Tis the season of shopping too. Many folks use the gift giving holy days to update clothing needs for growing children. In the Kansas City Metro area there’s a yearly winter clothing drive–”Project Warmth”–where people donate gently used coats at specially designated locations–check it out here –>>> http://www.projectwarmthkc.com/news-events/ . Well, Cheryl Locke’s third graders do not live in the Kansas City Metro area, they live on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and hence will not be receiving any coats or blankets from “Project Warmth.” Having learned that approximately half of Ms. Locke’s students have no winter coats at all –that’s right these children have no coats to wear for a winter in South Dakota–I figured it’s worth putting out a call for a few coats for them. So if your child is getting a coat upgrade this winter please consider sharing their outgrown winter wear with a coatless child. There’s no donation button. There’s no middleman. There’s just Cheryl Locke’s address, coat sizes and eight children in need of some winterizing like the little one in Yi-Ching Lin’s photograph. Thank you.
1-boy size 14/16
2-boy size 14/16
3-boy size 14/16
4-boy size 14/16
5-boy size small, one size below 14/16
6-girl size 10/12
7-girl size 10/12
8-girl size 10/12
If you can share a gently used winter coat, please mail it directly to:
Cheryl Locke
P.O. Box 264
Porcupine, SD 57772
Link to Yi-Ching Lin’s “width” http://yichinglin.com/2011/02/03/width/
POST UPDATE: This particular Coat Crusade is Complete thanks to the Volunteers at the New American Shakespeare Tavern. See the Huzzahs! post for them. But if you’ve got coats which need children, please see the One Spirit Needs list via the Okini list link here http://nativeprogress.org/index.php/en/ .
namaste
Got Wood? ‘One Spirit’ Needs It on Pine Ridge Reservation for HEAT — Yesterday!
December 5, 2012 at 10:31 pm (culture, exploring interconnectedness, food, history, Indigenous People, Lakota, life, Native Americans, photography, Pine Ridge Indian reservation, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: Big Foot Ride, clothing, culture, donations, food, food assistance, food program, Future Generations Ride, heat, history, Indigenous, Lakota, life, Non-Profit, ONE spirit, people, photograph, Pine Ridge Reservation, random, Top Rated, wood
What heats your home? Propane? Electricity? Wood?
It’s the midst of the season of shopping till everyone is dropping and yet there are people who need wood heat to survive a winter in South Dakota. One Spirit tries to meet this need–along with food and clothing needs all year round.
One Spirit is a federally registered non profit IRC 501 (c) (3) organization which provides direct assistance to the Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. They’re a Top Rated Non-Profit for 2012.
One Spirit, PO Box 3209, Rapid City, SD 57709
Visit their website —>>> http://nativeprogress.org/ to donate things, money for food, and clothing items needed by people –including those participating in the “Future Generations Ride” formerly known as the Big Foot Memorial Ride. There’s a link on the site to the Okini List which provides specific information regarding who needs what. The 191 mile Ride begins on Dec. 23 on the Standing Rock Reservation and ends on Dec. 29 at Wounded Knee/Cemetery Hill on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Ride image from One Spirit Site. http://nativeprogress.org/index.php/upcoming-events/big-foot-ride
One Spirit also runs a food program for over 1,000 people who live on an average income of $6,ooo a year.
http://nativeprogress.org/index.php/programs/food-program-145
Sixty dollars will provide a family with a box containing: Sweet potatoes, onions, potatoes, squash, apples, oranges, carrots, sausage, ham and turkey. Thirteen dollars and seventy-five cents will provide some toilet paper (2), shampoo (1) and Era (52 ounces). Any amount of donation is appreciated.
From One Spirit Food Program newsletter:
A ten-year old girl lives with her grandmother. Her mother died 2 years ago after being hit by a car driven by someone who had been drinking. Her father is in jail. She comes to the New Warrior camp because as she says “horses are her happiness.” Grandmother is caring for this young girl and her siblings. Often there is not enough food and also often not heat. This young girl tells us that being hungry is going to sleep so you can forget about the pains in your stomach.An elder called the other day and asked if he could be put on the food program. He has a heart condition, can’t work, and is not expected to live too long. Whenever we have extra food on distribution day, Bamm tries to be sure something is given to him.An elderly couple are caring for their grandchildren. The log cabin they live in is far from town and nestled in the woods, with no running water, bathroom or electric. The home is heated by a wood stove. The grandfather, being an elder, has trouble finding wood and carting it to the cabin. The children come home at night and have trouble doing their homework because the cabin is so dark. There are other people living in the cabin. For privacy the family has to dress outside in an outhouse. They have very little money and often run short of wood, food and other essentials.These are not unusual stories – they are what we hear every day. One Spirit, with your help, tries to get food to as many people as possible. This month we have more than 100 families on our waiting list. With your help, every one of them will get food.
Oh yeah–don’t forget the WOOD. Everyone needs heat. I sincerely doubt that BP or Shell Oil will be donating any propane gas to those in need. Nor does everyone have a tank for propane. Yes, this America. People do freeze to death inside their homes on the reservations. People go hungry in the Land of the Overfeeder at the Golden Arches.
One Spirit is on the book of faces too–>> http://www.facebook.com/OneSpiritSDakota#!/OneSpiritSDakota
Thank you.
Namaste.
We are all related.
Yep, even us and the wolves.
No Tricks, Just Treats Today. So far….. Anyone seen Irma Vep lately?
October 31, 2012 at 6:05 pm (art, culture, entertainment, food, humor, life, movies, music, photography, random)
Tags: 1915, cake, culture, entertainment, films, food, Halloween, Irma Vep, Les Vampires, life, links, movie, Muppets, photograph, pumpkin, random, silent, Silent Films, vegan, Veronica, video
Today: Homage to Jim Henson’s Ghost for creating The Muppets in all their giddy glory:
Treat you can eat!: Pumpkin Cake for everyone! Veronica’s “Wacky Pumpkin Spice Cake {Vegan}” can be found here: http://veronicascornucopia.com/2011/10/26/wacky-pumpkin-spice-cake-vegan/comment-page-1/#comment-22374
Click Veronica’s Cake for recipe!
I tweaked the recipe a tad to suit my own needs. It’s the best pumpkin cake I’ve made so far. If you’re looking for a Halloween Treat this might suit you too. Yes, it’s worth getting REAL maple syrup for the glaze. My tweaks can be found among the comments. Yes, the cake tastes as good as it looks. Mine is half gone.
A BOO! Too!: Ahhh the mysteries of Paris in 1915! There’s a free download of Les Vampires available at Silent Films. Any Irma Vep fans lurking out there? For tonight’s viewing pleasure I’ve got a disc copy from my public library which never ceases to amaze me with all its wonderful book and film treats year round. Discovered several interesting posters and still photographs for this silent film online. If anyone has a favorite please share it in a comment.
Click Poster fo visit Silent Films online.
As for all the “comments” left on various older blog posts–some are puzzling, some have been sent to the spam folder for total lack of relevance, and some folks perhaps ought to check the dates of those older posts in regard to the currency of the information they offer. I don’t “update” information which was presented as correct at the time of posting but which has since changed.
Safe regards to anyone who has had to deal with Sandy–The Storm– not the very nice dog who occasionally comments on this blog.
growling from the shadows
October 3, 2012 at 6:23 pm (art, culture, environment, exploring interconnectedness, life, nature, photography, random, Writing)
Tags: art, Bialowieza, Bison, culture, environment, exploring interconnetedness, forest, Grzegorz, Jakubowski, life, nature, photograph, Poland, random, Writing
Ever been walking along minding your own business and get the feeling of being watched by some being hiding in the shadows? Hmm? Torn by curiosity to have a good look and by better judgement telling you to move along which do you do? Stride directly into the darkest part of the gloom or walk spritely on past without making eye contact with the unsettling observer?
Or, have you ever cooled your red-hot heels in the relief offered in the dark side of the sun and stood silently watching the people flow by as if on one of those moving sidewalks some airports provide for weary feet of fretful travellers?
Ever wonder what life is like inside a primeval forest? Is the human constructed environment a shallow shadow of food chain reality?
Dark cheers to all. Replies and responses are forthcoming.
Question: Anyone out there in the cyberswamp live near or in a forest?
Guess what, there are bison in Poland–and there have been for thousands of years. Yeah, American Indians don’t have a monopoly on buffalo–or their preservation. Now that’s a cheery thought. Or is it?
photograph © 2007 AFP Grzegorz Jakubowski, Click photograph for more information and photos.
Bison in Poland’s Bialowieza forest
om mani padme hum jewel in the lotus wahupa qi prana universal life energy
