All You Need To Know About The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (2008)

GIIKENDAAM

CHIWIIKWEGAMAG

All You Need To Know About The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

Manoominike Giizis - Rice Making Moon - September 2008 Issue 51

Tribal Council Members:

Tashina EmeryEmery-Kauppila Crowned Miss Keweenaw Bay

Warren C. Swartz Jr., President

Susan J. LaFernier, Vice-President

Toni Minton, Secretary

William E. Emery, Asst. Secretary

Jennifer Misegan, Treasurer

Larry J. Denomie III, CEO

Doreen Blaker

Elizabeth D. Mayo

Michael F. LaFernier, Sr.

Elizabeth (Chiz) Matthews

Jerry Lee Curtis

Frederick Dakota

SPECIAL POINTS

OF INTEREST:

Fifteen-year-old Tashina Emery-Kauppila was crowned Friday evening, July 25th, as Keweenaw Bay’s Royalty for the 2008 term. Tashina is the daughter of Jeanne and Dave

Kauppila of Baraga. Tashina was one of five candidates eligible for this year’s crown.

The 30th Annual Keweenaw Bay Indian

Community Maawanji’iding was held July 2527, 2008, at the Ojibwa Powwow Campgrounds in Baraga, Michigan. This year’s

theme was “Honor Our Public Service Providers.” With 403 registered dancers and 12 registered drums, participants and spectators enjoyed a weekend of beautiful weather, song

and dancers. Tribal President, Warren “Chris”

Swartz Jr., gave the welcome following Friday

evening’s grand entry. The Powwow committee honored the following six elders this year,

Elizabeth Galer, James “Jay” Loonsfoot,

Charles “Chuck” Loonsfoot, Sr., Violet Friisvall,

Warren “Jerry” Swartz, Sr. and Loretta Hugo.

Buffalo Horse, Minnesota Ojibwa, honored the

community as host drum along with Four

Thunders, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa, as co-host

drum. Other community honors were: Jim St.

Arnold (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) as Head Veteran Dancer, Lester Drift Memorial Head Male

Dancer (Rodney Loonsfoot-Friday evening

grand entry, Alden Connor Sr.-Saturday afternoon grand entry, Donald Chosa Jr.-Saturday

evening grand entry, Donald Chosa III-Sunday

grand entry), Rebecca Genschow (Keweenaw

Bay Ojibwa) as Head Female Dancer, Leon

Chosa (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) as Head Male

Continued on page seven.

•

August 16, 2008, Tribal

Council meeting

•

KBIC Summer Youth

Build Butterfly Houses

for the Zaagkii Project

•

KBOCC passes Accreditation Eligibility Review

•

Rapid Watershed Assessment Project

•

Make A Difference Youth

Foundation

•

Continuing To Protect

The Earth

•

Aabinoojiiyens

•

Ojibwemowin

President Warren “Chris”

Swartz Jr. welcomes all to the

2008 Maawanji’iding following

grand entry on Friday, July 25th.

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August 16, 2008 — Tribal Council Meeting

The Tribal Council held their regularly

scheduled Saturday Tribal Council meeting on

August 16, 2008, in the Chippewa Room of the

Ojibwa Resort Motel in Baraga, Michigan.

Warren C. Swartz Jr. presided over the meeting with Susan LaFernier, Toni Minton, William

E. Emery, Jennifer Misegan, Larry Denomie

III, Jerry Lee Curtis, Michael F. LaFernier Sr.,

Elizabeth (Chiz) Matthews, Elizabeth D. Mayo

and Fred Dakota present. President Swartz

shared numerous Thank You and For Your

Information items addressed to Council.

Council approved the Department Head reports for June 2008. One of the information

items mentioned was regarding the Cultural

Committee’s Film and Photo Project. Fifteen

tapes had been made during the 2007 Cultural

Week Workshops, but high expenses prevented the editing of the tapes. Chuck Miller,

a KBIC Tribal Member, has expressed an interest through possible contract to produce a

documentary or a presentation about the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Chuck Miller

has experience in freelance filmmaking. He is

currently shooting and editing an environmental documentary, Planet of the Humans.

He is currently working on a proposal for the

Cultural Committee to assist them with their

film and photo projects. The Council will need

to review the expense as the Cultural Committee does not have the funds to take on such a

venture, and this topic will be brought up again

at the budget meeting.

Warren “Chris” Swartz Jr. gave the President’s report.

David Dix of the Michigan

Gaming Control Board did an onsite visit July

7-15. The purpose of the sight visit was to inspect the Tribe’s Class III gaming related records for the purpose of verifying the reported

net win at each Casino derived from all Class

III electronic games of chance, and in relation

to our 8% payments, making sure they have

been properly remitted for fiscal years 2006

and 2007.

Due to the resignation of Leon LaBeau,

President Swartz appointed Lawrence “Fulla”

Swartz to the Natural Resources Committee.

On July 21st, President Swartz had been

informed that one of the transfer homes was in

transport to the community and was going to

be stored at the industrial park site.

President Swartz corresponded with Jennifer Rajala, City Clerk of Ishpeming, regarding

the status of the Marquette Casino in Negaunee Township. She was worried that our direction had changed, and President Swartz

wanted to update her that the Council still

maintains putting a casino in Negaunee Township.

President Swartz indicated that he welcomed everyone to the 30th Annual Keweenaw Bay Powwow. The powwow was a

huge success.

President Swartz met with the Gaming

Commissioners per Council’s request.

President Swartz reported on CITES an

acronym for Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora.

These CITES tags must be attached to certain

animal skins, including furs, in order to transport them to international markets. The absences of tribal CITES programs has made it

difficult for tribal trappers to sell furs. In the

past, Federal officials denied CITES authority

to Great Lakes Tribes, insisting that tribes participate under state programs. Some tribes felt

this infringed on sovereignty and their ability to

self regulate, as well as making the process of

attaining tags unnecessarily cumbersome to

their tribal trappers. Without properly attached

CITES tags, fur buyers and many taxidermist

decline to purchase or handle pelts. President

Swartz had asked Councilmember Fred Dakota to attend the VOIGHT Task meeting on

behalf of the Community and to inform

GLIFWC that we would be willing to participate

in meetings to comply with the CITES tags. It

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is a Federal requirement in order to sell otter

and bobcat. Fred Dakota did attend that meeting.

The Community received a thank you from

Margaret Comfort regarding our donation for

Walking The U.P. For Clean Water. Beginning August 17th, a lively group of dedicated

and concerned citizens will walk with a support

team from Eagle Rock on the Yellow Dog

Plains to their final destination on the Mackinaw Bridge. The team will walk across the

U.P. to raise awareness about the potential

harmful effects of metallic sulfide and uranium

mining.

For more information see

www.savethewildup.org.

President Swartz attended a 2008 Symposium on Sex Offenders Management and Accountability which was held on July 30-August

1 in Baltimore, Maryland. The symposium included key note addresses and concurrent

sessions that discussed a wide variety of topics relating to sex offender management and

the implementation of the Adam Walsh Act.

The symposium also offered specialized tracks

focusing on policy, enforcement, emergent

issues and other Indian Country issues.

SMART administers the standards for sex offender registration; administering grant programs relating to sex offender registration and

notification; cooperates with and offers technical assistances of states, territories, local units

of government and tribal government; and they

also perform other functions as the Attorney

General may delegate. Their mission is to insure that sex offenders are prohibited from

preying on citizens through a system of appropriate restrictions, regulations and tracking.

SMART is an acronym for Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking, of sex offenders. It is important for the

Community to continue to get the registration

of those sex offenders here on the reservation

because currently in Indian Country, sex offenders are forum shopping which means they

are looking for jurisdictions that don’t have any

registration requirements, so they don’t have

to be tracked when they come to those Indian

reservations. This is an attempt to close the

loop holes, so we can continue to track sex

offenders in Indian Country also. There are a

few technical problems that need to be worked

out, but we can file for a couple of extensions;

however, we do need to show that we are

working toward the implementation of the requirements.

President Swartz and Council attended a

presentation with the Community held in the

Chippewa Room last Thursday to promote

comprehensive strategies to reduce crime and

revitalize communities. CCDO helps communities help themselves enabling them to reduce drug crime and strengthen community

capacity to increase the quality of life here on

the reservation and to promote long term community health and resilience. The team will be

issuing a final report which will be forthcoming

in the near future. There were many good

ideas discussed at that meeting.

Regarding ordinances, President Swartz

stated that Tribal Council held a second reading of the Tobacco ordinance on August 11th

to hear from concerned tribal members. The

turnout for this meeting was good, and Council

had the opportunity to hear from a number of

tribal members. The Council now needs to

schedule a third reading of the proposed ordinance. Tribal Council also held a second

reading of the proposed Appellate Court ordinance on July 31st, and Council also needs to

schedule a third reading of that proposed ordinance.

President Swartz concluded his report stating that he attended a celebration in the Ottawa National Forest near the Bear’s Den

Lookout sight. It is that place in the Sturgeon

Gorge area where one can look out and see

everything. It is the next road past the Silver

Mountain and is a beautiful sight. The National Ottawa Forest acquired about 2,000

acres from the Wisconsin Electric Company

with the help of U.S. Senator Carl Levin, Senator Debbie Stabenow and Congressman Bart

Stupak’s office. It is great that Wisconsin

Electrical Company is giving that to the National Ottawa Forest and that they were preserving it for the next seven generations. Any

addition to the Ottawa National Forest is great

for the Community because it gives us the opportunity to hunt and fish more land.

Vice President Susan LaFernier gave the

Vice President report for July 2008. On July 8,

Vice-President LaFernier attended a Drug

Task Force meeting. The Task Force continues to work with New Day on possible future

projects and will be meeting with the grant

writer on possible grants. The Drug Task

Force is continuing to work on a billboard and

brochures. Please listen for our Eagle Radio

station ads regarding Crystal Meth. Remember the Drug Tip Line is 353-DRUG (3533784). Vice President LaFernier expressed a

thank you to Todd Warner and the Natural Resource Dept. staff for coordinating the 2008

KBIC Clean Sweep which was held on the

same date as the Council meeting - August

16. Our contested Court hearing on mining

has concluded hearing witnesses, and our attorneys have until September 23 to prepare

the proposed findings of fact and conclusions

of law. The hearing officer will then either

grant or deny the 632 mining permit and Part

31 groundwater discharge permit. There have

been discussions about reopening the Humboldt Processing Facility. According to the

DEQ, a separate permit would be required under Part 632 for the reopening of the facility

because it is not within or adjacent to the site

of the proposed mining activities. An amendment of the mining permit for construction of a

new haul road and any extensions of the electrical service from Road 550 to the mine site

would be required. Vice President LaFernier

participated in the IHS Tribal Advisory Board

conference call on July 28th and 29th. She

participated on the “Keep It In The U.P.” Eagle

radio show regarding the first “Protect The

Earth Summit” held on August 3-4, with

Gabriel Caplett from the Yellow Dog Summer

group.

Larry Denomie III, CEO, gave a report for

July 2008. The month of July was a very quiet

month as many directors and employees utilized vacation time. The budget preparation

process will begin as fiscal year 2009 is fast

approaching. This year will progress a little

differently than in the past due to the fact that

the finalization of the new wage system is not

complete. Notices have been issued to every

department within the Tribe requesting they

complete as much of their budgets as possible, and once the final wage information is approved by Council, departments will be given a

two week period to complete their budgets.

Another change in the process this year is the

requirement that the General Managers and

the CEO’s office approve submitted budgets

prior to them being submitted for review by

Council. This should aid in moving the process along faster at the Council level. The

Wage Task Force will be meeting at the end of

August and probably two additional times in

early September will be needed to complete

the work needed to complete the process.

The first rounds of wage adjustments were

made to employees through grade six in the

wage system. Eligible governmental employees’ adjustments showed up on their July 25th

paychecks, and the eligible enterprise employees received their adjustments in their August

8th paychecks. Every employee received a

notice with their paychecks explaining the

process and what to expect in the coming

weeks. We have received official notice that

the Even Start Program will be funded for anContinued on page three.

Continued from page two.

other year. The program has been under the

direction of Mary DeLine but will soon be led

by another director as Ms. DeLine has recently

resigned from the program to take a position

with Ojibwa Community College. The position

has been posted and closed on August 15.

Applications will be reviewed and interviews

will be scheduled in the near future. On July

25th, Council terminated the contract of Ed

Janisse who was serving as the General Manager of the Tribes radio stations. Todd Overbeek, aka “Todd VanDyke”, has been placed

into the position on an interim basis. Another

change to the staffing at the stations will occur

as well. Jackie Marinich will be leaving as the

Sales Manager since she has accepted the

vacant position of Marketing Manager for the

Tribes Casinos. Jackie will stay on at the radio stations until a replacement is hired and

trained. The annual powwow took place the

week of July 24th. Beautiful weather allowed

for a nice weekend for the attendees. It has

been reported that dancer numbers were

down from years past, and it is speculated that

fuel prices were the cause. Many hours of

planning and organizing go into the event each

year and a huge Miigwetch goes out to all

those who made it a success including the

Powwow Committee, volunteers and workers.

Toni Minton presented the Secretary’s Report. In July 2008, the Tribal Council had one

regular Tribal Council meeting, two finance

meetings and four special Council meetings.

The regular Council meeting was held on July

12th and was covered in the August 2008

Tribal Newsletter. The first special Council

meeting was held on July 8, 2008. Actions

taken were: waived the GED requirement to

hire a former Pines employee and Council

agreed to go back to Tribal First Insurance

through 3M. The second special Council

meeting was held on July 17, 2008. Actions

taken were to: approved the meeting minutes

of April 10, May 15 and May 28, 2008, waived

the survey requirement on the Swartz property

acquisition, agreed to move the August 2nd

regular meeting to August 16th, approved a

donation of $1,832.76 for John Paul DeCota,

approved a donation of $10,000 to the Native

American Rights Fund, approved the Service

Agreements of the Pow Wow Head Drums –

Four Thunders and Buffalo Horse, renewed

the business license of Stacey Koski for

Koski’s World of Wheels, and approved a donation of $22,000 in Tribal Construction wages

for work to be performed at the L’Anse Sports

Complex. The Council met on July 23, 2008,

for a Finance Meeting. Council reviewed the

audits of the KBIC government, Tribal Construction, Ojibwa Housing and Baraga and

Marquette Casino’s; reviewed the financial reports through May 2008 of both Casinos,

Pines and Radio Stations; made a donation of

$200 to Cally Tolonen and referred a change

in policy for graduating seniors to include the

Marquette Trust Property to the Education

Committee. A second finance meeting was

held on July 24, 2008. Council approved

Resolution KB1623-2008 – Public Health

Nursing grant application; approved an additional $1,600 for a 2009 Pick-up for the Beartown Firefighters; reviewed the financial reports through May 2008 of the KBIC Government; donated $5000 to the Jacobetti Veteran’s Center for a van purchase; donated

$500 to the Baraga County Auxiliary for the All

Women’s Fishing Tournament; increased

KBIC committee stipends to $30 and KBIC

board stipends to $85 effective January 1,

2009, due to FICA tax requirements. Council

held a special meeting on July 25, 2008.

Council approved a donation of $35,000 and

$15,000 in 2% Funds to the Baraga County

Shelter Home if they agree to place the Council’s nominee of Wanda Seppanen, VOCA

Worker, on the Baraga County Shelter Board,

Council also terminated the employment

agreement of Edmund Janisse. A special

Council meeting was held on July 31, 2008.

Actions taken were: approved the meeting

minutes of November 5, 2005, and June 7 and

13, 2008; approved Resolution KB1622-2008

– Tanya Miller residential lease; approved

Christopher Gerard, William Jondreau, Tyler

Larson, and Debra Picciano as candidates for

the Ojibwa Community College Board of Regents; reviewed a draft of the Ethics Code;

approved the Service Agreement of the Superior Watershed Partnership for the 2009 Clean

Sweep; donated $300 to Suzie Jondreau for

an emergency medical request; and held the

second reading of the proposed ordinance

2008-03 Amendments to Title One relating to

the Appellate Division of the Tribal Court.

Larry Denomie motioned to post the Fiscal

Year 2007 audits, supported by Toni

Minton, ten supported, 0 opposed, 0 abstained, one absent (Blaker), motion carried.

Jennifer Misegan indicated that she did not

have a Treasurer’s report completed and

would submit one next month for July and August 2008.

The Keweenaw Bay Tribal Council presented Jim Feliciano, a representative for Disabled American Veterans, with a check in the

amount of $5,000 towards the purchase of a

transportation van for the Jacobetti Disabled

Veteran’s Home in Marquette. The KBIC emblem will be displayed on the driver’s door of

the van as their appreciation for the generous

donation.

Toni Minton introduced the proposed ordinance 2008-04, Election Ordinance, for a first

reading. Toni Minton motioned to waive the

first reading of the Election Ordinance

2008-04 due to its length, supported by

Jennifer Misegan, nine supported, one opposed (Dakota), 0 abstained, motion carried. Council scheduled a meeting to meet

with the Election Board to review the proposed

election ordinance in detail for Wednesday,

August 20, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. and scheduled

the second reading for public review on August 28, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Chippewa

Room. The proposed ordinance will be made

available at different locations throughout the

reservation and on the Tribe’s website

www.kbic-nsn.gov for viewing. Discussions

lead to the question of whether or not the ordinance should be sent to the BIA. Attorney

John Baker informed Council that the Constitution specifies what ordinances have to go to

the BIA. Baker believed the Election ordinance had been amended twice since he has

been employed with KBIC and neither of those

two amendments went to the BIA. Baker

stated that he didn’t think that this section, that

is being adopted pursuant to under the Constitution, requires that it goes to the BIA. It is an

internal aspect of the Tribe; it has nothing to

do with external aspects, and the provisions in

the Constitution that addresses sending ordinances to the BIA have to specifically deal

with external issues and land transfer issues.

Baker stated he would provide Council with a

specific list of all the ordinances that are required to be submitted to the BIA, but they can

not be submitted to the BIA, regardless to

what the nature of the ordinance is, until they

have been adopted by the Tribe.

Attorney John Baker brought forth a request for a business license renewal for the

KBIC Pre-Primary Education Program. Toni

Minton motioned to approve the business

license for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s Pre-Primary Education Program,

supported by Jennifer Misegan, ten supported, 0 opposed, 0 abstained, motion carried.

Council moved into closed business with

Attorney John Baker (contract), President

Warren “Chris” Swartz Jr. (contracts), CEO

Larry Denomie III (contract), and Jennifer

Misegan (donation) on the agenda.

After closed session the Council approved

Service Agreements for the Head Drums of

the New Day Pow-wow, approved the Professional Services Agreement of Carlson-Loy and

Company and approved the Special Counsel

Contract of Fredericks Peebles & Morgan.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM ON

INDIAN RESERVATIONS

NET MONTHLY INCOME STANDARDS FOR THE 48

CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES AND ALASKA

(Effective October 1, 2007)

48 Contiguous

United States

Alaska

Household Size

Income Limits

Income Limits

1

$ 985

$1,294

2

$1,275

$1,656

3

$1,565

$2,019

4

$1,864

$2,381

5

$2,178

$2,744

6

$2,492

$3,116

7

$2,782

$3,479

8

$3,072

$3,841

Each additional

member

+ $290

+ $363

Computation of Income Eligibility Standards — The income eligibility limits for each household size are based on the

sum of the Food Stamp Program net monthly income limits

and standard deduction amounts used for the appropriate

State.

Income Deductions—see 7 CFR 253.6(f)

Dependant Care Deduction — The current maximum allowable dependent care deduction is $200 for dependent children

under two years of age, and $175 for all other dependents.

Earned Income Deduction — Households with earned income are allowed a deduction of 20 percent of their earned

income.

Medicare Part B Medical Insurance and Part D Prescription Drug Coverage Premiums — Households that incur the

cost of Medicare Part B medical insurance and/or Part D prescription drug coverage premiums are allowed a deduction for

the monthly cost of the premiums.

Child Support Deduction — Households that incur the cost

of legally required child support to or for a non-household

member are allowed a deduction for the amount of monthly

child support paid.

* Can not be on foodstamps.

Digital TV Converter Box Coupon Available to Indian Country — Indian Country,

are you ready for the transition? Mark your

calendars when TV goes digital on February

17, 2009. If you use “rabbit ears” or a rooftop

antenna for over-the-air television signals,

your old television may not work after the

change.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is working with the Leadership

Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) to ensure

your digital transitions goes smoothly. While

supplies last, the government is offering two

free $40 coupons per household to buy converter boxes. Please visit the LCCR website

for more information and to order a converter

box coupon at www.civilrights.org/dtv.

COLLEGE GRADUATES

The Education Dept. was recently notified that three more

KBIC members received college

degrees. Bryan Hill received an Associate’s

Degree in Industrial Maintenance from Northern Michigan Univ., Christopher Harsh received an Associate’s Degree in General Education from Gogebic Community College, and

Emily Mantila received an B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Michigan Tech.

Univ. These three KBIC members graduated

in May 2008. Congratulations Bryan, Christopher and Emily!

(3) Niswi

KBIC SUMMER YOUTH BUILD BUTTERFLY HOUSES FOR THE ZAAGKII PROJECT,

by Greg Peterson, longtime U.P. news reporter and volunteer media advisor for the Zaagkii Project and several other Cedar Tree Institute initiatives

(L’Anse, Michigan) - Translated Mem' en

gwa in Algonquian, the butterfly has long been

honored in Ojibwa lore, poems and children’s

games, but Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

teens are helping to ensure the butterflies will

forever pollinate fruits, vegetables and flowers.

As billions of young honeybees continue to

die across the world, and thus are unable to

pollinate crops, the KBIC tribe is supporting

the Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project because

butterflies fill the important role of pollinators.

Experts are unsure why honeybee colonies

are collapsing, but pesticides, climate change

and other man-made impacts are among the

suspected causes.

“Send me butterflies, so that I will be free,”

states one Chippewa poem while the Ojibwa

game “Butterfly Hide and Seek” teaches children to “never to hurt a butterfly” because it’s a

“gift of good luck if you stayed so quiet that a

butterfly would trust you and land on you,” according to American Indian internet sites.

The KBIC has long supported initiatives like

the Zaagkii Project that were founded by the

non-profit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) in Marquette, including wild rice restoration and

Earth Day clean sweeps. The three-year

Zaagkii Project is sponsored by the KBIC, CTI,

Marquette County Juvenile Court and the

United States Forest Service (USFS).

Another important part of the Zaagkii Project is restoring native plants to the oncebarren and polluted Sand Point, a Lake Superior beach that the KBIC cleaned of decade’s

old copper mining waste.

Surrounded by a chorus of loudly chirping

birds as a strong north wind cooled a hot July

day along Keweenaw Bay, KBIC teens built

butterfly houses at the tribal hatchery along

with Natural Resource Department (NRD) Water Quality Specialist Kit Laux and NRD environment specialists Char Beesley and Katie

Kruse.

Teens participating in the KBIC Summer

Youth Program built and decorate the butterfly

houses while learning about pollinators with

help from youth supervisors Cody Blue, Kim

Klopstein and Nancy Voakes.

Butterflies “transport pollen from flower to

flower for reproduction,” said Jorey Cribbs, 14,

of Baraga who helped build and decorated the

butterfly houses. “They use the Butterfly

houses for shelter in bad weather.”

Sixteen-year-old Dylan DeCota of Baraga

said butterflies “help reproduction by transferring pollen from different flowers.” “Butterflies

use the houses to rest while migrating,” DeCota said.

With seven tiny slits as an entrance, Butterfly houses are slimmer and longer than betterknown bird houses.

Fourteen-year-old William Ross-Geroux of

Baraga said he “learned that when butterflies,

bees, etc. land on flowers and then land on

different flowers, they help them reproduce.

The Butterfly houses are resting places for the

migrating butterflies. It was a fun learning experience.”

Fourteen-year-old Briar Nieskes of Baraga

said he enjoyed building the butterfly houses

while learning about the importance of pollinators. “I learned that when Butterflies land on

flowers and they pick up pollen from other

flowers this starts the pollination process,” Nieskes said. “The Butterfly houses are used for

resting places for them during migration.”

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Smith and 15year-old tribal dancer Janelle Paquin worked

to build a butterfly house together. "We put

the bark on the inside like so – for the butterflies to rest on," said Smith while holding up

the butterfly house long ways to show the

strips of bark that line the house. "We put on

the top so the sunlight doesn't get in, and they

can get a good night's rest," Smith said as he

affixed the flat roof to the butterfly house.

"That's how we do it on the rez."

(4) Niiwin

KBIC NRD Natural Resources Specialist Evelyn

Ravindran said, “The tribe is

trying to look at the whole

lifecycle for the pollinators.

One of them is the butterfly

and we want to make sure

that they have everything that

they need in order to survive

in an area,” Ravindran said.

“We wanted to have houses,

so you have places for butterflies to rest and also things

that they need to survive – so

that they would stay in those

areas.”

Zaagkii Project founder

Rev. Jon Magnuson told the

KBIC teens that three million

Monarch butterflies from

across North America “stop

and rest” at many places during an annual migration to

Mexico. “One of the places

they rest – believe it or not is

the Stonington Peninsula

down by Escanaba,” said

Magnuson, CTI executive director. “There are thousands

– hundreds of thousands of

butterflies – that come there.

Nobody knew why but now

we know why.”

Zaagkii Project volunteer

Tom Reed told the KBIC

teens about 32 years ago the

group Monarch Watch first

tracked the butterflies to Mexico. The Monarchs had “a little sticker on their wings – or

early on – they just painted a number on the

edge of the wing – to track them,” said Reed,

who has a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Millions of Monarchs “converge in one small

area and they all hang off of each other and

drape down off of these trees,” Reed said.

“They are really vulnerable to extinction.”

Klopstein said the butterfly houses “will be

presented to the KBIC that will be put in the

Pow-Wow grounds. We've got a great team of

kids to work with this year,” Klopstein continued. “They are good workers."

Negaunee Township beekeeper Jim Hayward gave Marquette teens a tour of his hives

that were filled with about 60,000 honeybees

explaining the different jobs like workers,

drones that don’t sting and the all-important

queen. Hayward said, “If bees disappear we

would have hard luck raising fruits, vegetables,

nuts and other commercial crops that we use

for our food on an everyday basis.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) honored the KBIC for restoring Sand

Point – the first tribal Brownfield cleanup site in

the Midwest – that was polluted about 90

years ago with stamp sands from the Mass

Mill that refined copper about four miles to the

north along Lake Superior. A six to ten-inch

thick soil cap covers 35 acres left barren by

the stamp sands, according to Todd Warner,

KBIC NRD Director. A prime recreation area

with a nature tail and an historic lighthouse

will be restored. Future plans for Sand Point

include swimming, camping, boating, picnic

areas and fishing ponds, Warner said.

Marquette area teens participating in the

Zaagkii Project planted 26,000 indigenous

seeds at the Hiawatha National Forest greenhouse. Some of those native plants will take

root on Sand Point.

“The tribe has always taken a stand that

they want to seed – that they want propagation

of the native species,” Ravindran said. “They

want to protect the native species and keep

this area the way it is now rather than having

the exotics (plants) come in and destroying

what we have established. Now that we have

the soil capped over at Sand Point – we see it

as a large working area that is wide open to

the reestablishment of native plants,” Ravindran said. Native plants attract all the life

stages of the butterflies.

“It's out in the public view, so it would bring

awareness to people all around of the trouble

that the pollinators are in and what they can

being doing to help – the kind of plants that

maybe they can be bringing back to their own

home gardens – ways that they can be helping,” Ravindran said.

Appearing on a California radio show, a

USFS botanist praised the KBIC and Zaagkii

Project because native plants “are important

sources of pollen and nectar” that makes pollinators “very effective.”

“During all the time that these bees and

butterflies are active and not dormant is real

important,” said Jan Schultz, botany and nonnative species program leader at the USFS

eastern region office in Milwaukee. “So they’ve

got something literally to eat – from the time

they emerge – to the time they go back into

their caves or cracks in the trees.”

Schultz said “Another issue is the amount

of chemicals that we use for gardening, and

for lawn control. The chemicals many times

are not very discriminant, and so they will kill

these pollinators as well as the undesirable

species. So it's really important for people to

think ‘Gee, do I really need to use that?' ”

The teens and volunteers were thankful for

the tribal government’s support of the project

and said it made learning fun. “The KBIC

Summer Youth Program would like say

‘Miigwetch’ to Evelyn Ravindran of the KBIC

Natural Resource Department and Jon

Magnuson’s Zaagkii Project for giving us the

opportunity to be involved with the building

and decorating of the Butterfly houses,” Klopstein said.

The Zaagkii Project contributors include the

Marquette Community Foundation, the Negaunee Community Fund, the Negaunee Community Youth Fund, the M.E. Davenport Foundation, the Kaufman Foundation, the Phyllis and

Max Reynolds Foundation, with assistance

from the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum

in Marquette and the Borealis Seed Company

in Big Bay.

Public Notice:

The Keweenaw Bay Indian

Community is seeking the services of its Tribal members to

seat as a delegate at this falls

up-coming Tribal Constitutional Convention. As a delegate, you will have the opportunity to influence changes to

our Tribal Constitution and to

provide a service to our Tribal

Community. Please submit

your name to Michael Cardinal,

Tribal Constitutional Task

Force Chairman, 16429 Bear

Town Rd. Baraga, MI. 49908.

TRIBAL COUNCIL SPONSORS TEAM

FOR KICKBALL FUNDRAISING TOURNAMENT

The Baraga County CASA (Court Appointed Special

Advocate—for the child’s best interests) Program held a

fundraising kickball tournament on August 15-17, 2008,

at the Aura baseball field. Teams were required to donate $125 for the Baraga County CASA Program for

entry into the tournament. The Tribal Council was one

of numerous businesses who sponsored a team for the

tournament.

The Team roster included CEO Larry Denomie,

Treasurer Jennifer Misegan, Duane Misegan, Peggy

Minton, Gary Loonsfoot Jr., Cody Blue, Steven Denomie, Tony Loonsfoot, Everett Ekdahl Jr., Brigette LaPointe, Dawn Richards, Tyler Larsen, Joey Mattfolk and

Travis Lloyd. The team won two of the three games

they played on Saturday, August 16th. Sunday morning’s games brought two more wins for the team with a

final defeat in the afternoon. Tribal Council’s team

placed third in the weekend tournament. Teammates

and spectators had a fun filled weekend participating in

the fundraiser.

2008 Ann Misegan Memorial

Scholarship Recipient Chosen

EDUCATION INCENTIVE

PROGRAM

The Keweenaw Bay Education Committee

offers the Education Incentive Program to local

KBIC tribal students. Monetary incentives are

awarded at the end of each of the four marking

periods of the academic year. Awards are

given for Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance.

Students must meet the following criteria:

Melissa Crebessa, a Northern Michigan

University junior from L’Anse, has been selected as the third recipient of the Tribe’s Ann

Misegan Memorial Scholarship. The Tribal

Education Committee, along with a member of

the Health Board, reviewed the applicants and

selected Crebessa to receive the scholarship.

Melissa is majoring in Nursing. She is a

graduate of L’Anse High School and worked

as an intern in the Tribal Medical Clinic this

past summer (pictured above).

Ann Misegan was a long time Tribal Council member whose priority was the health of

the Tribal membership. She was adamant that

Tribal members be trained for as many positions as possible within the Tribe and also encouraged members to seek further education,

especially in health fields. She was a member

of the Tribe’s Health Board as well as their

Dental Assistant for many years. She held an

LPN certificate from Northern Michigan University and worked as a nurse for Baraga County

Memorial Hospital before coming to work for

the Tribe. This scholarship seeks to reward

members who have the same passion for

health care that Ann did.

This scholarship amount is $1,000 twice a

year for up to six years and will be awarded to

a new student each fall. Applicants must meet

the following criteria: be an enrolled Tribal

member, attend an accredited college/

university as a full-time student, pursue a degree in a Health Care field documented by

their college (preference will be given to students either in a nursing or dental program)

and be a resident of Baraga or Marquette

County. Applications for the 2009-10 academic year will be available in June 2009. For

more information on this scholarship, please

contact Amy St. Arnold, KBIC Education Director, at 906-353-6623, ext. 4117.

1. Must be enrolled KBIC members.

2. Must reside in one of the following four

counties: Baraga, Houghton, Ontonagon

or Marquette.

3. Must attend a public or private school.

A student’s Honor Roll status is defined

according to the regulations of their school district. Students in grades four through twelve

are eligible to receive this award.

Perfect Attendance follows the school policy also but time for doctor or dental appointments and funerals may be allowed. Please

contact the following people for more information:

L’Anse Area Schools – Peggy Dunn

0367 pedunn@laschools.k12.mi.us

524-

Baraga Area Schools – Helen Jondreau 3536661 hjondreau@up.net

All others contact Amy St. Arnold 353-4117

amy@kbic-nsn.gov

Houghton, Ontonagon and Marquette students must provide a copy of the student’s report card. If attendance is not noted on the

card, please have a school official document

by signature. Report cards may be mailed to

Keweenaw Bay Tribal Center, Education Office, 16419 Bear Town Rd. Baraga MI 49908.

KBOCC SUCCESSFULLY

PASSES ACCREDITATION

ELIGIBILITY REVIEW

On July 2, 2008, OCC President, Debbie

Parrish was notified by the Higher Learning

Commission, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, that Ojibwa Community

College successfully passed the accreditation

eligibility review.

An Eligibility Process Panel carefully conContinued next column

sidered the documentation OCC provided in

the Preliminary Information Form. The purpose of the review was to determine whether

an on-site visit, the next step in the process,

was appropriate. The Panel reviewed both the

quality and quantity of the evidence. The

panel concluded that the evidence put forward

was sufficient to warrant an on-site visit. The

Commission has authorized Ojibwa Community College to prepare its Self-Study Report

addressing the appropriate Criteria for candidacy status. The Self-Study Report must be

submitted prior to the on-site visit, and the Report is expected to be completed by early October.

Parrish stated, “I am very pleased with the

outcome of the eligibility review. Our faculty

and staff, along with the Board of Regents,

have worked very hard on preparation of the

Preliminary Information Report. Additionally, I

was honored to have been asked by the Commission to use our report as a model for other

emerging tribal colleges.” The Higher Learning Commission indicated that OCC was the

first and only Tribal College to submit a PIF

since the Commission established new eligibility requirements. The Commission also stated

OCC’s document will be a valuable tool in the

resource center at the Higher Learning Commission’s Annual Meeting next Spring.

KBIC Department of Health

& Human Services

Behavioral Health Division

Elder, Youth & Family Services

Announces the services of

Joe Arcand, Social Worker

Hours of Service

8:00 a.m.—4:30 p.m.

Monday—Friday

Second Floor, Donald A. LaPointe

Health & Education Center

102 Superior Ave.

Baraga, MI 49908

(906) 353-4544

(5) Naanan

Becky Chosa, a KBIC member,

was hired as the Deputy Court

Clerk and began her duties on

August 4th. Becky states, “I have

been living and working in this

area for the past eleven years

after moving back from Minnesota. I was most recently employed at the Ojibwa Casino as a

dealer/floorperson and now I’m

happy to be starting a new position as the Deputy Court Clerk for

KBIC.” Becky is the mother of

four girls. “My youngest daughter,

Charlotte Chosa-Evans, is twelve, and the other three, Amanda, Angela, and

Andrea, are grown up and have moved away. I also have eight grandchildren

ranging in all ages from ten years to five-months-old. I’m looking forward to

getting into the routine of my new job, new hours and working for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.”

Register to Vote

for

the

National Election

by

October 6th!

EMPLOYEE CAR WASH DAY

Forms are available at:

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Managers put into action, tactics learned at the Joe Constance Leadership

and Supervisor training held this past spring. On the summer morning of

Wednesday, August 6th, the Ojibwa Enterprise employees received a car wash

by their boss, free of charge. In a strategy to boost employee moral, managers

volunteered to wash employee and customers cars. John Mantila, Baraga

property’s General Manager, stated, “The managers had fun getting together

and washed approximately 35 cars.” Paula Rantanen (Security Manager), Gerald Cadeau (Slots Manager), Dominic Picciano (Engineer Director), Gina LaBeau (Bingo Manager), Dotti Pryor (Pressbox Manager), and John Mantila

(General Manager) participated in the activity.

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your local secretary of state office

Department of Human Services FIA

Health Department

Housing Offices

Tribal Center

KBIC Seats Appellate Court Justices

Tribal President, Warren “Chris” Swartz Jr.

gave oath to three KBIC

Appellate Court Justices

on Tuesday, August 19,

2008, in the KBIC Tribal

Courtroom. The current

Appellate

Ordinance

specifies the Appellate

Court is to consist of two

Tribal Judges from other

reservations and an

KBIC Court Advocacy

Attorney.

Immediately

following their Oath of

Office, the Appellate Court Justices began Status Conferences on the backlog

of cases filed with the KBIC Appellate Court. Shown above (left to right) President Swartz, Tom Smithson (Hannahville Tribal Court Judge), Charles Palmer

(Sault Tribal Court Judge), and Attorney David Mechlin during the Oath of Office procedure.

SPRUCE FAMILY REUNION

On July 26, 2008 - up to fourth generation of decedents of "Samuel & Margaret Spruce" gathered together at the farm owned by James & Lisa Mantila for

a day of family, food, and fun. The day was highlighted

by the amazing slide show of family photo's assembled

by Mavis Mantila.

Included in the photo are Sam & Margarets children: Eleanore "Spruce" Seppanen, Barbara "Spruce"

Mantila, Rosemary "Spruce" Haataja, and Ronald

Spruce, surrounded by their children, grandchildren,

and great grandchildren. (Picture to the left — Sam &

Margaret Spruce.)

(6) Ningodwaaswi

Introducing Laila Dowd, born on

08/13/2008, to Dawn Hueckstaedt and

Lawrence Dowd Jr. Laila was 6 lbs. 8

oz. and was 18.5 inches at birth.

Open Enrollment for

KBIC EVEN START Family Literacy Program

Earn your GED/High School Diploma

Early Childhood Programs for children

Improve parenting skills

Incentives for participation

Transportation and childcare available

Even Start is free to all Tribal

and Non-Tribal members with children

under the age of eight or are expecting

Call 353-8161 to register

KBIC EVEN START—

755 Michigan Avenue—

Baraga, MI 49908

Youth Dancer (with LeRoy Gauthier as a fill-in at

Friday evening grand entry), Vanessa Beaver

(Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) as Head Female Youth

Dancer. Ted Holappa (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa)

and Richard “Waubano” Awonohopay

(Menominee) served as emcees, Stanley Spruce

(Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) as Arena Director,

Robert Rajacic (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) as Assistant Arena Director.

George Gauthier

(Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) served as Specials Director, and Paul Halverson (Keweenaw Bay

Ojibwa) as Head Firekeeper. Teachers were

JoAnn Racette (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa) for Arts

& Crafts and Paul Halverson (Keweenaw Bay

Ojibwa) for storytelling. Ten-year-old Tom Berentsen of Manistee, Michigan, won the junior fry

bread championship; and Tom Marshall of White

Hall, Michigan won the adult division fry bread

championship. Two-step championship winners

for the youth division were Megan Tucker and

Raistlin Awonohopay, and in the adult division,

the “Whiteman” couple reigned as the champions.

Tom Marshall of White Hall, Michigan, was presented Tom Berentsen of Manistee, Michigan, was presented

his award for the adult division fry bread championship, his award for the youth division fry bread championship,

by Powwow Committee member Elvera Lantz.

by Powwow Committee member Elvera Lantz.

Honored Elder Biographies

Elizabeth Galer — Elizabeth Miller Galer is 81years-old and was born on November 19, 1926.

She is the daughter of the late Alfred and Margaret Miller and is the youngest of five children.

Elizabeth is the last surviving member of the

original Millers of Dynamite Hill. Elizabeth was

married to the late Richard Galer (Yankton

Sioux) for 57 years, and together they had seven

children, 15 grandchildren and 13 greatgrandchildren. Their oldest daughter, Rose, was

crowned the Miss Michigan Indian Princess of

1962. Elizabeth is a member of the Keweenaw

Bay Indian Community, Ojibwa Senior Citizens

and Most Holy Name Church of Assinins.

James “Jay” Loonsfoot — Jay is 77-years-old

and was born on February 3, 1931. Jay has

been married to Patricia for 47 years and together they have two children, five grandchildren

and two great-grandchildren. Jay worked 30

years for the military, 19 years for the government and taught eighth grade for ten years. He

has served the community as the director of the

Ojibwa Housing Authority, the first game warden

for our tribe in the 1970’s, and presently teaches

at Ojibwa Community College. Jay’s special interests are being a historian for our tribe, reading, beading, pottery, hunting and fishing. He

has achieved an Associate in Business from

Suomi College, BA in Education from Northern

Michigan University, and a Masters in Education

from Antioch University in Seattle, Washington.

Jay is a Vietnam Veteran and a member of the

KBIC Tribal Veteran group.

Charles “Chuck” Loonsfoot Sr. — Chuck is

69-years-old and was born on January 24, 1939.

He has been married to Molly Shalifoe for the

past 36 years and together they have nine children, 32 grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren. Chuck worked for the New Day

Treatment Program in their beginning years, and

as a truck driver for Tribal Construction. Other

tribal community involvement includes his commitment to repair the church, church grounds

and the church cemetery of the Most Holy Name

Church of Assinins. Chuck’s special interests

and accomplishments include: hunting, fishing,

sobriety and helping get tribal members back on

the tribal rolls. Chuck wants the community to

know how deeply he feels for his people with

honoring them, guiding them, along with respect

for all tribal beliefs and all of the people.

Violet Friisvall — Violet is 75-years-old and was

born on December 10, 1932. She is the daughter of the late Charles and Susan Marksman,

granddaughter of Rebecca Marksmen and Samuel and Hattie White, and great-granddaughter of

Peter Marksman, the signatory of the Treaty of

1854 and Methodist Missionary. Violet married

the late Kenneth Friisvall and together they had

eight children, 13 grandchildren and 12 greatgrandchildren. Violet worked as a Site Manager

for Community Action Agency, an accountant for

KB Transit Authority, Director of the Ojibwa TranContinued on page eight.

Honored elders (left to right) Elizabeth Galer, James “Jay” Loonsfoot, Charles “Chuck” Loonsfoot Sr., Loretta Hugo,

Violet Friisvall, and President Swartz on behalf of his father, Warren Swartz Sr.

Host Drum — Buffalo Horse (Minnesota Ojibwa)

Ninety-three-year old Women’s

Traditional Dancer in grand entry.

Head Dancers during Friday night’s grand entry (left to right) LeRoy Gauthier (fill in for Head Youth Male Dancer),

Vanessa Beaver (Head Youth Female Dancer), Rebecca Genschow (Head Female Dancer), Jim St. Arnold (Head

Veteran Dancer), and Rodney Loonsfoot (Head Male Dancer for the Lester Drift Memorial).

(left) Adult Two-Step Champions “Whiteman” Couple. (right) Youth TwoStep Champions, Megan Tucker and Rastlin Awonohopay.

(left) Chelsea Seymour, 2007 Miss

Keweenaw Bay, in grand entry.

(7) Niizhwaaswi

Continued from page seven..

sit Authority, and a nurse’s aide in the home

health care field for 13 years. She is a member of the Zeba United Methodist Church, a

KBIC election worker and was a member of

the election committee, health board, Title 2

and Title 4 education committees, language

advisory board and the enrollment board. Violet’s special interests include genealogy, medicine, natural remedies, oral history, historical

record keeping, sewing, shopping and visiting

with family and friends. Violet’s many accomplishments include being proud of her children

and grandchildren, and completing her High

School education.

Warren ‘Jerry” Swartz Sr. — Jerry is 69years-old and was born on March 5, 1939. He

is the son of the late Mickey and Clara

(Knapp) Swartz. Jerry has been married to

Sandra Curtis for 46 years and together they

have four children and eight grandchildren.

Jerry has worked in construction all of his life;

before retirement, he worked with Tribal Construction, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, and

owned his own business—Swartz Construction Company. Jerry is involved in the community through the Ojibwa Senior Citizens and

the American Legion. His special interests

include hunting, fishing, and gardening, and he

is a former bowler. Jerry is a veteran and a

member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Jerry is known on the reservation to the

children as, “the candy man who rides around

and distributes candy to the youngsters who

are playing in their yards.”

Loretta Hugo — Loretta is 72-years-old and

was born April 14, 1936. She is a member of

the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Ojibwa

Senior Citizens, Blessed Kateri Takewetha

Catholic Church, L’Anse Ladies Gold League,

and the Baraga County TRIAD program.

Loretta has resided in Zeba most of her life.

She was married for 20 years and has seven

children, six grandsons and one granddaughter. Loretta is a graduate of the L’Anse High

School and the Haskell Indian Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. Loretta’s work history includes

the BIA Land Management in Parker, Arizona,

the Baraga County Memorial Hospital, Director

of the BIA Higher Education, KBIC Administrative Secretary, Ojibwa Casino Payroll Department, and she worked as a part-time dealer

and cage worker for KBIC, LacVieux Desert,

and Hannahville Tribal Casinos. Loretta’s activities include golfing and playing bingo.

1ST STEP COUNSELING SERVICE

If you are interested in starting or buying a business and don’t know what to do next…

Call Tina Durant @

(906) 353-2626 at

the Anishinaabe Anokii Center.

Christian Mleko Fund Raisers

On a bitter, cold night in January of 2008 Christian Mleko, a Northern Michigan University

College Student, became stranded in 30 below zero temperatures. As a result, he received severe frostbite leading to the loss of seven fingers. Christian searched the internet and found

what is called, “The X Finger”. These fingers would give him back the ability to do such things

as grasp and type. Christian’s insurance does not cover these fingers, and they cost approximately $8,000.00 a piece. Baraga County community members, along with Christian’s family,

have begun fund raisers to help with the expenses. Following are the current fund raisers:

Beef & Pork Dinner

Cook Book Sale

Saturday September 20th

Baraga Armory

Adults: $10:00 – Children Under Ten $5:00

Hor d’oeurvres: 3p.m. to 4p.m.

Dinner: 4p.m. to 6p.m.

Live Auction: 6p.m. to 8p.m.

50/50 Raffle every ½ hour

Dancing: 8p.m. to 10p.m.

Tickets Sold at Local Business’s

She will set you up with an appointment with a certified business counselor in the Baraga County area. Sessions are free and confidential.

Anishinaabe Anokii

First People’s Work Center

A small business development and

support center sponsored in part by a

grant from the ANA that is focused on

Native AmericanAmerican-owned businesses

and entrepreneurs. Anokii staff assist Native Americans and nonnon-Tribal

members in becoming successful

and profitable business owners.

Beginning September 1st (Ongoing)

Cost: $10.00

$12.00 for those who live out of the Baraga

County to cover shipping

Contact Natalie Mleko at 353-6666

Roxanne Anderson at 524-6497

Cook Books will be Available at Local Business’s

A Tragedy Fund has also been opened for Christian at Superior National Bank, 201 Superior Avenue in Baraga, Michigan for anyone who would like to send a donation.

Thank you from all of Christian’s family to all of you that have helped us out in any

way! God’s Blessings!

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There will be a dance presentation on September

21st at NMU. If you want to dance or know anyone else who is interested, have them contact

the THPO 353-6272 or 353-6278 or thpo@kbicnsn.gov with their name and contact information.

Once we have more details, we will be contacting

people to confirm their spot for that evening.

(8) Ishwaaswi

NOTICE:

NRD have some items that were lost

at the KBIC Kids Derby are at the

hatchery (4 shirts/hoodies).

People can claim them with a call

524-5757, or can stop by the hatchery.

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Anishinaabe Anokii services include:

Tribal Business Owner Directory

Business Development Resources

Fax, Copier, Computer & Internet

Services, Meeting Room

Business Support & Developmental

Education Classes

Confidential Credit Counseling &

Financial Literacy Classes

“Indianpreneur” Business Development

Program

8:00 am-4:30 pm

Ojibwa Industrial Park

Baraga, MI 49908

Tel: (906) 353-2626

Fax: (906) 353-2627

Timothy W. Shanahan,

Business Counselor

Tina Durant,

Services Coordinator

Rapid Watershed Assessment Project –

How You Can Help

Since late 2007, the Natural

Resource Department, Western Upper Peninsula RC&D,

Western Upper Peninsula

Planning and Development

(WUPPDR), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have

been working together to complete a Rapid Watershed Assessment (RWA) project to collect and compile information

about watersheds on and

around the L’Anse Reservation.

These watersheds include the Falls, Silver, Ravine,

Slate, Sturgeon, and segments

of Lake Drainage watersheds

that include smaller streams,

such as Linden, Little Carp,

and Zeba Creek.

Project work has included

watershed road crossing and culvert inventories. Poorly constructed

road crossings can add sediment into the stream it crosses. Sediment

pollution in streams and rivers degrades fish and wildlife habitat, disrupts spawning, and can raise water temperature and degrade water

quality. Poorly constructed or perched culverts can be barriers to fish

movement in a stream. Fish movements within streams are critical and

maintain healthy fish populations. Spawning migrations may be the

most well known type of movement, but seasonal and daily movements

upstream or downstream to find food, take refuge from predators, find

the preferred temperature ranges, or to find cover are also critical for

fish populations.

Work completed to date has identified 25 problem culverts which

restrict movement in about 40 miles of streams. Problem road crossings and substandard culverts identified through this inventory will be

prioritized for future repair or replacement which will result in improved

habitat and water quality for waters on and around the Reservation.

How you can help - Recently about 500 watershed newsletters were

mailed out to Tribal members. This newsletter includes a survey requesting information from the public about watershed resource concerns. Please help us by completing this survey and returning it to the

Natural Resource Department or the Tribal Center. If you did not receive a copy of the newsletter, or if you have any questions, please

contact the Natural Resource Department at (906) 524-5757.

New Ogaa (Walleye) Rearing Facility Construction

Construction started late last year on a new ogaa (walleye) rearing

facility for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. The construction site

is located just north of Brewery Road and just east of the New Day

Treatment Center. An existing livestock pond at this location is being

converted into two drainable walleye rearing ponds which will be operated and maintained by the Natural Resource Department. The new

facility is being funded using Tribal funds and grant funds from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Agriculture. When the facility is operational, we anticipate that 50,000 to 75,000 walleye fingerlings will be produced each year for stocking. Walleye fingerlings produced will be stocked into Keweenaw

Bay, Huron Bay, and other areas to

supplement existing walleye populations and provide for additional harvest opportunities.

Upper Michigan Ogaa (Walleye)

Common name: Walleye

Latin name: Sander vitreus

We are hoping to start rearing operations in the spring of 2009. Please

contact the Natural Resource Department at (906) 524-5757 if you have

any questions about this project.

Natural Resource Department Hatchery

Visits and Volunteers

Since May, nearly 500 people have toured or assisted with work at

Hatchery Facilities in Pequaming. People of all ages and interests

have come to see the coldwater fish rearing facilities and learn about

the Natural Resource Department programs. In particular, Hatchery

Staff enjoy teaching children about raising and managing lake trout and

brook trout. We have hosted and educated several school groups this

summer, including:

♦ Youth Great Explorations groups from Baraga, Hancock,

Houghton, Lake Linden, and L’Anse.

♦ BHK Summer Literacy groups from the Tri-County area.

♦ Sacred Heart Schools.

♦ KBIC Day Camp and Pre-Primary Program children.

Continued next column

Tour with kids from the BHK

Summer Literacy Program.

Assisting were: Brian Janson (SWP Youth Crew Leader),

Zachary Miller, Joey Smith, Corey Snowberger, Brian

Williams, Danial Vizena

We have also received volunteer assistance from the KBIC Summer

Youth Program, The Cedar Tree Institute, and the Superior Watershed

Partnership out of Marquette.

KBNRD Assistance from Youth.

Members of the Youth Crew of the Superior Watershed Partnership

(SWP) assisted KBNRD in preparing over 20,000 brook trout yearlings

for stocking into local streams. As part of a typical hatchery operation

protocol, fish that are to be introduced into the wild from a hatchery

should be marked in a way that makes them identifiable as being

hatchery in origin. In this case, 20,000 fish needed to have one of their

fins “clipped”, leaving a permanent mark for later survival research purposes. This is time consuming work, and we appreciate the efforts of

the SWP Youth Crew!

The Youth Crew also assisted KBNRD in dismantling the adult sea

lamprey trap that was fishing in the Silver River May-July. The Kids

certainly enjoyed learning about fish and wildlife in the hatchery and in

the field. Thanks! (Miigwetch!)

Lost Gillnet Net Recovery

The Lake Superior Commercial Gillnet Fishery is an

important source of food and

income to businesses and

families throughout the Great

Lakes region. Commercially

licensed fishers from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and other area tribes have

harvested lake trout, lake

whitefish, and other fish species for many generations.

Gillnets of various sizes and

materials have been and still

are a primary fishing gear.

At times, gillnets are lost

for various reasons including

storms, sudden strong currents, ice flows, floating debris, or human disturbance.

These lost nets are commonly

referred to as ghost nets. Recovery of ghost nets helps

minimize the risk of negatively impacting the Lake Superior fishery resource. Gillnets are generally made of durable materials that can last

for an extended time.

Since acquisition of the Law Enforcement boat and the installation

of the Natural Resources Department gillnet lifter onto the law boat, our

departments have worked cooperatively to recover a number of ghost

nets. To recover ghost nets, a large and heavy chain grapple is strategically drug across the lake bottom in the area where the net is suspected to be present. Law Enforcement and Natural Resources Staff

coordinate these efforts based on information reported by Commercial

and Sport Fishers, other Management Agencies, or the general public.

We encourage anyone who encounters a suspected ghost net to

collect as much information as possible about the location, depth, and

length of the net. Useful information includes GPS coordinates, landmark descriptions, apparent depth, etc. We would also advise that

people don’t attempt to recover the nets themselves, but instead try to

mark the net with a tether line and floating jug or other marker on the

surface.

Please help us protect the fishery by calling the Natural Resource

Department at 906-524-5757 or the Tribal Police at 906-353-6626 to

report suspected ghost nets.

(9) Zhaangaswi

Mission: To provide affordable and attractive housing opportunities in a safe and

healthy environment to qualifying tribal members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, encourage self-improvement of the community’s low income families, and provide employment opportunities.

Programs and Services provided by the KBOHA:

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Low income rental homes and apartments

1. 158 Homes/apartments in Baraga

2. 50 Homes in Zeba

3. 40 Homes in Marquette/Harvey

Supportive housing/transitional housing to help address family issues;

New, custom built, super-insulated homes for homeownership on Beartown Road;

Home buyer training to prepare members for home ownership;

Financial literacy training to improve members’ financial skills;

Home maintenance training to improve members’ ability to maintain homes;

Home rehabilitation program to improve the condition of member-owned homes;

Home emergency assistance program to remedy negative conditions in the home;

Individual development account program – a 4:1 matched savings program for

member goals that include:

1. Down payment assistance for home purchase;

2. College tuition and expenses for residents;

3. Business expansion/start-up expenses;

4. Home repair for member-owned homes;

5. Credit repair for homeownership;

6. Vehicle purchase for work/school.

Low cost home improvement loan program for qualifying tribal members;

Low cost tax preparation program for residents and tribal members;

Surplus FEMA mobile home program for tribal members;

Stipend program covering mileage and child care expenses for residents attending

college;

Affordable curbside trash service for residents and members;

Prescription subsidy program to reimburse tribal elders and disabled households

for prescriptions purchased;

Ojibwa Building Supply Do It Best- providing tribal employment, quality affordable

building supplies and profits for housing programs;

Ojibwa Builders construction company- providing tribal employment, quality affordable construction, and profits for housing programs;

Market rate rentals - five rental properties in Baraga and one in Negaunee- providing profits for housing programs.

Make a Difference Youth Foundation

On August 8th,

eight of our Tribal

Youth attended a

conference in Dallas

on the campus of

Southern Methodist

University. The conference was held

with other students

the same age from

Chicago and Dallas. The students

have been meeting

bi-weekly at MTU to

utilize global communication

strategies to jointly plan

the conference that was held. The intention of the meetings was to plan a

conference based on the topic “College Ready.” They worked together to create an itinerary of workshops and activities for the conference at SMU.

Students met individually (within their own location, KBIC’s being MTU) and

held live multi-point videoconferences that connected the three groups into

one meeting. Each location needed to facilitate at least one meeting with the

responsibility of providing agendas to the other locations and minutes of the

meeting, with responsibilities assigned during the meeting.

While at the conference, our students presented a workshop on the Ojibwa

culture. Wesley Curtis presented about the drums, Tashina Emery presented

about being princess, and Ethan Smith played the flute. The students from

Dallas and Chicago were very interested in our culture and were very informed

with many new things. The purpose of the workshops was to inform others

about each other’s culture and to prepare for all the different type of people

they will encounter throughout college.

During the trip, the students were allowed a “Day in Dallas” where our

youth spent the day at Six Flags. Though the temperature was over 100 degrees, it didn’t stop our kids from having fun. Overall our kids enjoyed the experience and would definitely do it again.

(10) Midaaswi

The Ojibwa Housing Authority will be holding

the following training sessions for the month of

September and beginning of October:

Homebuyer Training

September 9th from 1 to 6 p.m.

Harvey Community Building

Financial Training Session

Part I September 15th from 1 to 4 p.m.

at the Ojibwa Senior Citizens in Baraga

Part II September 18th from 1 to 4 p.m.

at the Ojibwa Senior Citizens in Baraga

Financial Training Session

Part I September 29th from 3 to 6 p.m.

at the Ojibwa Seniors Citizens in Baraga

Part II October 6th from 3 to 6 p.m.

at the Ojibwa Senior Citizens in Baraga

Anyone interested in attending is asked to

contact Christine LaPointe or Natalie Mleko

at 524-5514.

OJIBWA SENIOR

CITIZENS NEWSLETTER

Our craft room is now in operation. It is open MondayFriday, 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. We are looking for local crafters of

handmade Anishinabe items. Contact Ginny Ann at 353-7671.

The quilters schedule at the senior center is Tuesdays and

Thursdays at 6-ish p.m.

Our July 31st pasty sale was a success. We sold approximately 750 pasties. On Wednesday, peeling/cutting day, we

had 15 volunteers. On Thursday, baking/selling day, we had

19 volunteers. A big Chi Miigwetch to those hard working volunteers.

Eight seniors enjoyed Senior Day at the U.P. State Fair in

Escanaba on Wednesday, August 13th. Ron Spruce volunteered to drive our senior van. We left at 8 a.m. and returned

at 9 p.m.

The sign up list for the October 6-8, 2008, MIEA conference

is filled. A standby list is available. If you find you are unable

to attend, please let the Secretary know as soon as possible,

so changes can be made. The cutoff date for cancellations is

Wednesday, September 24th. We will be utilizing Superior

Coaches.

Copies of the Michigan Indian Elders Association’s bylaws

are available at the senior office. If you would like a copy,

please stop in.

Senior Assistance payments have been processed. You

should have received notifications of distribution. If you have

any questions, contact Philly at 353-6096.

FILE OF LIFE – The File of Life Foundation, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation promoting life-saving ideas. The FOL packet

contains medical information designed to provide emergency

personnel with necessary medical data to begin immediate

treatment. This very simple concept has saved lives. The

card, which is kept in a red plastic pocket labeled FILE OF

LIFE, is held with a magnet to the outside of the refrigerator. A

personal wallet size version is also available. The card lists the

patient’s name, emergency medical contacts, insurance policy

and social security numbers, health problems, medications,

dosages, allergies, recent surgeries, religion, doctor’s name

and a health care proxy. Who is at Risk? We all are. Medical

emergencies can happen to anyone at any time. That’s why

everyone needs the “File of Life.” But one group in particular

needs special emphasis. Did you know 58% of all Emergency

Calls are for Senior Citizens? Are they prepared for this?

There’s panic, confusion, fear and a terrible sense of urgency

and helplessness. With the FOL, there is solid information on

conditions and medications, it’s written down and ready to be

utilized immediately by the EMT’s. It might make the difference between life and death. We have a supply at the Senior

Center (free).

Director’s Office 353-6096, Senior Office 353-7691

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

Drug Task Force

~ Mission Statement ~

To promote education through

public awareness with the specific objective to eliminate the use

of “illegal drugs” for the betterment of the health, welfare, and

safety of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and our

neighboring Communities.

KBIC Drug Tip Line 353-DRUG 3784

ANIN! Our children (young and old), relatives

and friends need us to help them lead a healthy,

drug-free life. Drug and alcohol problems can be

prevented and preventing them starts with us. As

parents, caregivers, relatives, and friends, we have

a tremendous influence on the decisions they

make. Our constant communication and caring

may inspire them to walk away from drugs and alcohol or receive the help they need.

NATIONAL ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDICTION RECOVERY MONTH—SEPTEMBER 2008.

This September, celebrate your story with family,

friends and treatment providers. Make a difference-voice your experience. Every year, towns,

counties and states around the country observe

recovery month in September. This year recognizes the impact that real people and real stories

have on recovery; they can inspire others to ask for

help and improve their lives and the lives of their

families and the entire Community. This year recovery month also celebrates those who have

worked to advance the treatment and recovery

landscape. Addiction is a medical illness, treatment is effective and recovery is possible. Substance abuse disorders impact 22.6 million people

aged 12 or older in the United States (or 9.2% of

the population), which is more than the number of

people living with coronary heart disease, cancer,

or Alzheimer’s disease combined. Regaining control of your life can be accomplished, and if you

have a problem with addiction, there are real solutions to get you on your way. The KBIC’s New Day

Treatment Center can help, call (906) 524-4411.

New Day will be submitting an article on their services in the near future, and they to are celebrating

National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month

with successes. Congratulations New Day for a job

well done for many years.

There is also a new program to increase your

chances for success in recovering from substance

abuse and other addictions. Even if you have

struggled for years, there is new hope for recovery.

These services will be provided through the

“Access to Recovery” initiative of the Inter-Tribal

Council of Michigan with eleven Michigan Tribes to

expand access to substance abuse treatment and

recovery support services. There are brochures

available at the New Day Treatment Center, Tribal

Center, and the Donald A. LaPointe Health Center.

“Don’t let your life be confined

by drug or alcohol addiction,

know that for every lock, there is a key.”

CONTINUING TO PROTECT

THE EARTH

ANIN! It was so good to see many of you at the

activities during Michigan’s first “Protect the Earth

Summit” held for two days on August 2-3. It was a

beautiful day for the walk from the Yellow Dog

River to Eagle Rock on Sunday. What greater

place is there for us to appreciate our great outdoors, our Great Lakes and rivers, our sacred Mi gi

zii wa sin Eagle Rock, and to remember and honor

our ancestors.

Last year our teachings at the Pow-Wow centered on “Embracing our past to protect our Future.” Since the 1600’s, the Ojibwa (Nature’s) people have long lived and made their homes in the

Upper Great Lakes region. In 1842, the land in the

Yellow Dog Plains was ceded to the U.S. government. In our 1842 Treaty, our leaders retained the

right to hunt, fish, and gather on these ceded lands

to ensure future Ojibwa generations’ survival.

These rights were not given to the Ojibwa, these

are rights that we have always had as the first people to occupy these lands, and I am certain that

their intent for all people is to honor and respect

this creation and not to blast and tunnel underneath

this sacred rock and under a fish filled river. Our

Tribal elders know of the spirit of this area from the

Great Migration where the Ojibwa followed a route

Continued next column

from the eastern Atlantic seaboard along the Great

Lakes and through the Upper Peninsula, as well as

from Ojibwa traditional and religious culture. Remember why the eagle flies high; that water is a gift

of life and is sacred; the new and old stories told

about our history, our families, our way of life and

what is sacred; being kind to neighbors; our elders,

our mothers and fathers, and remember how respect should be given to each other. It is the gifts

that our grandparents and great grandparents

shared that help us through the good times and the

bad. Take the time to visit with our elders so that

learning their knowledge will guide us in how life

should be and will be, now and in the future.

The Tribal Council’s position on mining has not

changed since 2004 when we adopted a resolution

which found that Kennecott’s proposed mining

deeply offends the traditional and cultural values of

the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. The gains

from the mine are far outweighed by the potential

for permanent and severe damage to the natural

resources of our Indian Community and State

along with the risks of human health from the associated acid mine drainage for generations and generations to come. The KBIC, Huron Mountain

Club, the National Wildlife Federation and the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve assembled a team of

over twenty experts to provide a detailed review of

the Kennecott Mining Application after it was filed

with the State in February 2006. These experts

found numerous significant problems with the application in virtually every technical category and major problems were also found with the air use and

the groundwater discharge permits. After the submission of approximately 1,000 pages describing

the deficiencies to the MDEQ on October 17, 2007,

submission of over 4,000 public comments opposing the project and submission of 10,000 petition

signatures the MDEQ still issued the mining permit

on December 14, 2007. This all continues to be

reviewed today with our Contested Case Hearing in

Lansing. I urge all of you and your friends to become educated and learn all there is regarding sulfide mining.

There is great information on

SaveTheWildUP.org website, YellowDogWatershed.org, and NorthwoodsWildernessRecovery.org. I believe that many still do not understand

what sulfide mining is. Sulfide mining is a term for

hard rock mining. Sulfide mining is not the process

used to mine sulfides, but actually the practice of

extracting metals (such as copper and nickel) from

the sulfide ore body. Sulfides exposed to oxygen

and water create sulfuric acid. Precipitation (rain

and snow) can cause sulfuric acide to drain from

the mine site, a process called acid mine drainage.

It has been described as the “most important and

widespread” source of pollution associated with the

mining industry throughout the world. SULFIDE

MINING IS NOT A DONE DEAL. Remember that

we have the power to effectively stop developments of unpopular mining plans and must do so.

Continue to write letters, tell your friends, go on

support walks, and pray. We must do all we can to

protect our beautiful share of the Earth before it is

too late. I pray that our ancestors’ vision and our

determination will be honored and that we will allow

our water to continue to purify itself as it knows

how to do best since creation through Earth’s natural process of purification.

The Tribal Council, Community and I thank all of

you for your great and noble efforts in stopping this

proposed mine and protecting our Earth. It has

been a long journey, and you are to be commended. Have a great September as we approach

the Fall and Winter season, be safe, enjoy, and

may God, the Creator, be with you all and bring

you peace. MIIGWETCH.

~ Susan J. LaFernier, Vice President

OJIBWEMOWIN

Manoominike Giizis —

Rice Making Moon—September

Word List

nookomis-grandmother

nimishoomis-my grandfather

nimaamaa-my mother

imbaabaa-my father

nimisenh-my older sister

nishiime-my younger sibling (sister)

nisayenh-my older brother

nishiime-my younger sibling (brother)

Word Search

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m i

s e n h n i

m n b a m i

m h s n i

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o n i

s i

m n s e

m b a a b a a

n s y m n i

e n o

m a a m a a d n i

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b n

h s o h n b e m s h y i

g h

o h k i

e a n i

m e

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b i

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h b n o b s j

m k m m a n p i

i

s h i

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a n m

e p m k n a e b m i

s o s i

m o o h s i

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The language page was designed from reference of “A Concise

Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe” by John D. Nichols and Earl

Nyholm.

September 2008 Calendars Events

Sept. 1 — Labor Day, Gov’t

Offices Closed

Sept. 6 — Saturday Tribal

Council Meeting, Chippewa

Room 9 a.m.

Sept. 26 — Michigan Indian

Day, Gov’t Offices Closed

Events occurring throughout KBIC are welcome to be

listed on the Calendar of Events.

Contact newsletter@kbic.nsn.gov to list your events. Events are more

detailed FYI within the newsletter. For up-to-day event

listings, visit www.ojibwa.com and click on calendar. For

Youth events, see @ www.ojibwa.com, click on youth

club, or contact 353-4643/Main Office at Youth Club, or

353-4644 for the facility attendants or the Kitchen/craft

rooms.

Tribal Government Employee Picnic

Tribal

Government employees

enjoyed an afternoon in the sun

at their Annual

Tribal Employee

Picnic held August 8th.

Winners of events

were: Pineapple

on a string—

Cody

Blue;

Limbo—Kit

(Racette) Laux; Waterballoon toss— Ev Ekdahl and

Tony Loonsfoot; Canoe race—Liz Julio and Kit

Laux; Horseshoes—Jesse Forcia and Brad Dakota;

Reggae relay— Donna Fredricson and Suzy Carlson; Hula dancing (men’s) Arlan Friisvall and

(women’s) Kathy Lanczy; Tug of War— Tribal Maintenance and Tribal Construction. More pictures

are available at www.kbic-nsn.gov.

AFDO/Seafood Alliance HACCP 3-Day Training Course

HACCP training certification is required to obtain a Keweenaw Bay Indian Community commercial fishing

license. There will be a certification course offered in Brimley, Michigan, during December 2008. Registration fee is $90. A course agenda may be obtained at the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Licensing

Office or Natural Resource Department. Registration and travel costs will be paid for Keweenaw Bay

Indian Community tribal members who wish to attend this training, through prior arrangement.

Course Information

Date:

December 9-11, 2008

Times:

8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. daily

Location: Bay Mills Community College –

Migizi Hall, 12214 W. Lakeshore

Drive, Brimley, Michigan

For registration please contact: Ronald Kinnunen, Michigan Sea Grant, Michigan State University,

(906) 226-3687. For more information please contact the Natural Resource Department at (906) 5245757.

(11) Ashi bezhig

To place an ad or

input information,

contact:

Lauri Denomie at

Newsletter @

kbic-nsn.gov

or call 906-2010263.

To be added to

the mailing list or

to correct your

mailing address,

contact the enrollment office at

(906) 353-6623

ext. 4113.

h

as

W

r

Ca

Bay Shore

Car Wash & Laundromat

Hwy U.S. 41

Baraga, MI 49908

Keweenaw Bay

Indian Community

Employment Opportunities

For current job listings, complete

job announcements, applications

and closing dates contact: KBIC

Personnel Department, 16429

Bear Town Road, Baraga, MI

49908-9210 or 906-353-6623,

ext 4176 or 4140 or visit:

http://www.kbic-nsn.gov/html/

personnel.htm

On Call positions:

Owned and operated by:

Larry Denomie

* LPN

* RN

* Unit Manager

* Account Executive/Sales

* Child Care Provider

* Cashier

* Receptionist/Clerical Worker

(12) Ashi Niizh

Permit No. 5

Calumet, MI

PAID

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

16429 Bear Town Rd-Baraga, Mi 49908-9210

U.S Postage

PRESORTED STD