Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2016)
Street Roots • July 29-August 4, 2016 INDIGENOUS, from page 9 must go before it’s gone. And, if someone’s getting in the way of that glorious mission to get that gold or that oil or that molybdenum, well, they need to be neutralized. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Our own resources are extremely limited, so we can’t do as much as we should be doing, but we’re telling every story "We're telling that we can with the every story goal of educating the that we can public and providing journalistic support to with the goal the frontlines that of educating others ignore. the public Somebody’s gotta do and providing it. S.Q.: What can people do to help? journalistic support to fife frontlines that others ignore. Somebody's gotta do it. J.S.: Aside from educating ourselves, it would be great if we all became more active in our own JOHN AHN* SCHERTOW communities and in solidarity with all indigenous peoples. Clicking “like” on Facebook or signing an online petition, while admirable, doesn’t accomplish anything on the ground. We need to go to protests, volunteer our time, donate strategically - when we can afford to donate - to those who need it, host film screenings, start our own debate clubs, confront racism when we encounter it, and do anything else that might make a real difference in the world. S.Q.: What are some of the challenges at IC? J.S.: Funding has been a massive challenge for us. Despite the fact that we run circles around many other media outlets in terms of scope, we’ve never been able to secure a single grant or get support from any private foundation in Canada or the U.S. We’ve also had a big problem finding trustworthy volunteers to help share the burden, so to speak. Plus, journalists aren’t usually willing to work for free, so we’re forced to skip a lot of important stories. S.Q.: Are you currently recruiting more writers? Where do you need them the most? J.S.: We’re always looking for more writers, no matter where they are in the world. They just have to be cool with the fact that we are not your average media outlet. We are ethical to the core, we deeply respect those we work with, we don’t abuse words and we don’t compromise. S.Q.: What’s next for IC? J.S.: We’ve got tons of great stuff going on. We’re working with the Indigenous Governance Program (IGOV) at the University of Victoria to publish a magazine called “Everyday Acts of Resurgence.” We’re developing an online cultural exchange to support indigenous youth on reserve. We’re designing an online “indigenous journalism” course and an “ethical journalist” checklist. We’re also searching frantically for operational funds so that we can carry this work forward, start paying our staff, expand our coverage and fairly compensate our contributors. We got a lot of work ahead of us. News Page 11 WATER FEUD, from page 10 have historically known - and currently know - this land as their usual and accustomed grounds for hunting, fishing and gathering.” On June 22 seven companies, representing half of the Lower Willamette Group, filed a legal dispute with the EPA, challenging the projected cost of their clean-up plan. Since the plan was announced the Portland Business Alliance has also launched a website, “Healthy River Healthy Economy,” that warns “an overly expensive cleanup could hurt small businesses and cost hundreds of jobs each year,” based on a 2012 economic impact study. However, a 2012 economic analysis by ECOnorthwest showed that fixing the Willamette would actually stimulate the local economy, as it would force giant companies like Exxon and Shell to spend millions of dollars in Portland that would not otherwise be spent here at all. According to their analysis, that money would also re-circulate as Superfund employees and their suppliers spend their income in the local economy. On the whole, the study predicted that a $573 million clean up would produce $980 million in spending in the Portland area, and would employ about 1,000 people over seven years. The preferred alternative of Yakama Nation and its allies - a modified Option G — has a cost about Yakama leaders traveled to Washington D.C. earlier this week to argue their treaty rights with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, third from left. Pictured, left to right: Davis Washines, Yakama Nation General Council chairman, Delano Saluskin, Yakama Nation Tribal Council vice-chairman, Gina McCarthy, Gerald Lewis, Yakama Nation Tribal Council’s Fish and Wildlife committee chairman, and Virgil Lewis, Yakama Nation Tribal Council’s Law and Order committee chairman. the plan is the consideration of local acceptance, which includes both the community and the local government. So the city has a formal role to play in either agreeing or disagreeing with the plan.” The city of . Portland has a three times as standing policy of high, with consulting with local commensurate "Fishing isn't just a right on Native American benefits for job tribes on a paper for us, it's a part of who growth, local govemment-to- we are and how we live. This spending, and tax plan does not go far enough to government basis revenue. before taking any Compared to protect the waters and fish, and action that could other therefore violates the treaty impact them - a infrastructure that reserves our right to a policy implemented projects, that cost in 2012 through the meaningful fishery where we does not seem now defunct Office can harvest healthy fish that extraordinarily are safe to eat. Our expectation of Healthy Working high. In 2011, the Rivers, which was City of Portland is that the EPA will revise this eliminated when completed the “Big plan to protect our people, our Charlie Hales took Pipe Project”, fish, and our way of life/' office as mayor. The spending $1.4 mayor ’s office is - VIRGIL LEWIS billion on a sewer YAKAMA TRIBAL COUNCIL currently hiring a system upgrade so liaison to coordinate that less raw this consultation. sewage would get During last year’s dumped into the conflict over a Willamette River. Option G, the one proposed propane export terminal at the option that would protect the human Port of Portland, renowned indigenous rights of all river users, costs roughly the legal scholar Walter Echo-Hawk spoke to same amount. members of the Planning and Bob Sallinger of the Portland Audubon Sustainability Commission at PSU’s Society, says city officials have simply gotten too cozy with the Lower Willamette Native American Student Center about why and how the city should continue to Group and are not demanding that consult with tribes. polluters pay for a clean river in the same Echo-Hawk’s 2013 book “In The Light way that taxpayers have paid for The Big of Justice,” explains how these Pipe project. government duties dovetail with The city is a member of the Lower international human rights treaties like Willamette Group and has been identified the Universal Declaration on Human as among the potentially responsible Rights and the 2007 U.N. Declaration on parties. “The city has a very, very pivotal role to the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the U.S. has supported since 2010. This play in what kind of plan is adopted,” said Sallinger. “Part of the adoption criteria for declaration, he writes, creates new legal obligations for states while clarifying the meaning and interpretation of treaty rights in a manner favorable to indigenous nations. For instance, Articles 20, 28 and 32 of the Indigenous Rights Declaration require that governments provide redress for “harm to subsistence rights, lands, territories and resources.” Specific provisions of this declaration, Echo-Hawk writes, “can be enforced by courts to the extent they reflect customary international law or existing treaty obligations.” He concludes: “Just as modern nations have renounced torture, genocide, piracy, slavery, and cruel and unusual punishment in the world today, the human rights of indigenous peoples will be restored by nations primarily because it is the right thing to do in the post-colonial age.” “Fishing isn’t just a right on paper for us, it’s a part of who we are and how we live” says Virgil Lewis, a member of the Yakama Tribal Council. “This plan does not go far enough to protect the waters and fish, and therefore violates the treaty that reserves our right to a meaningful fishery where we can harvest healthy fish that are safe to eat. Our expectation is that the EPA will revise this plan to protect our people, our fish and our way of life. In doing so, the general population of the region will also benefit as will the economy.” NAYA’s Roben White argues that the city should formally request an additional 120 days of public comments so that NAYA and other communities have time to fully respond to the problems in the EPA’s plan and involve both youth and elders who want to be part of the river’s restoration. “The city has an obligation to do what’s right here,” White says. “We’re just trying to live the American dream and eat food that doesn’t poison us.”
