Village of Solomon Tribal Membership Newsletter (2014)

Village of Solomon Tribal Membership Newsletter

Fall/Winter 2014

Village of Solomon Box 2053 Nome AK 99762 phone (907) 443-4985 facsimile (907) 443-5189

S o l o m o n ’s A n n u a l M e e t i n g S e t f o r

September 26, 2014 in Nome

The tribal council selected Friday, September 26th to have the annual meeting this year here in Nome at the XYZ Senior Center.

During the annual meeting tribal members will hear reports from the

tribal council and VOS staff. Results of elections will also be announced.

Dinner will be provided at 5 PM and the meeting will begin at 6 PM.

Teleconference lines will be available to those that wish to attend

telephonically and every tribal member 18 and over will receive a

meeting stipend of $100 dollars. An agenda and teleconference information will be mailed separately.

SAVE THE

DATE!!

Tribal

Membership

Meeting

is Scheduled in

Anchorage

October 19, 2014

at the Courtyard

by Marriot Hotel

3:30—5:30 PM

E m e rge n cy S h e l t e r C a b i n F u n d e d

In May 2014 Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation’s

(NSEDC) Outside Entity Funding Program partially funded Village

of Solomon’s grant application for the construction of an emergency

shelter cabin in the Solomon area. The cabin will be used as a safety

dwelling and as a base for a satellite phone for use in case of an emergency. VOS collaborated with the Northwestern Alaska Career and

Technical Center’s (NACTEC) summer high school carpentry class

in the construction of the cabin. It is located at mile 31 of the Nome

Council highway.

Inside this issue:

President’s Report

2

VOS Cruiser Funded by

Rasmuson Foundation

3

Environmental Coordinator

Report

4

Environmental Planning

Team Meets Twice

5

Solomon Youth and Elders

Camp

6

Available Housing

Programs

8

FAI Elders and Youth

Conference

10

2

P re s i d e n t ’s Re p o r t b y K i rs t e n

T i m b e rs

2013-2014 AT A GLANCE

The Village of Solomon has concluded another very exciting year! We have for the fourth year in a row held our

tribal youth spirit camp in Solomon with the help of Helen

Bohn and Jennifer Curran as our camp coordinators. And,

we held our third Anchorage based Solomon Tribal Membership meeting during December of last year. We were

able to visit with tribal members, provide door prizes and

give brief reports from the IGAP program with Richard

Schulling, a report from Vice President Brian James on the

B&B operation and Kirsten Timbers on VOS in general including Kawerak, ICWA and BSRHA.

LEDP Commitment

We have also been working diligently on meeting the needs

in our LEDP. Our first priority was to hold more tribal gatherings. We held one in June here in Nome, another

in Solomon in celebration of another successful youth camp in August and our last gathering of the year will

be held in October this year in Anchorage. We are entering our third year of a 3 year grant with EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. This grant funds our Environmental Coordinator position occupied by Deilah

Johnson. Deilah Johnson has also been employed this past year through Kawerak’s Grant Writer Program.

She has been working diligently on applying for a variety of grants on our behalf to meet our LEDP. Between

the IGAP position and the grant writer position we have met a number of our LEDP priorities including;

1. More Solomon Gatherings and Involvement-4 each year (3 in Nome and 1 in Anchorage)

2. Waste Management –IGAP funded Bear Proof garbage cans for the B&B and other tribal members

who camp at Solomon

3. Emergency Communication – NSEDC funded the construction of the Okitkon shelter cabin which

will open in October to the public with access to a SAT phone for Emergencies

4. Community Potable Water- IGAP funded the purchase of a 200 gallon potable water tank for tribal

members use at the B&B.

5. Salmon Enhancement ( Is being addressed currently by SNC, NSEDC in an agreement with SNC is

rehabilitating chum salmon in Solomon River, Fish & Game counting towers to track number of salmon

yearly)

Conclusion

Thank you all for your continued support and commitment to the VOS. I look forward to the coming year and

providing continued service to our members.

3

H o m e E n e rg y S av i n g T i p s

Look for the ENERGY STAR® label on light bulbs, If recommended by the manufacturer, install an insuhome appliances, electronics, and other products. EN- lating blanket.

ERGY STAR products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Do not block air vents, radiators, fans, air exchangers

or registers.

and the U.S. Department of Energy

Caulk cracks and gaps less than ¼ inch wide.

Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.

Air dry clothes.

Check your refrigerator temperature. Keep your fridge

between 36F and 38F. Set your freezer between 0F

and 5F, you’ll lose money if you keep it too cold.

Turn things off when you are not in the room such as

lights, TVs, entertainment systems, and your computer

Keep the freezer full. Works more efficiently full than

and monitor.

empty.

Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players,

Clean the coils. Most older fridges have exposed coils

into power strips; turn the power strips off when the

where dust can build up and lower the efficiency, you

equipment is not in use -- TVs and DVDs in standby can use a coil brush to clean these.

mode still use several watts of power.

The water heater is the 2nd largest energy user in most Monitor your usage. Look at your energy bill each

month. Compare to past bills. Become aware of your

homes.

habits and usage.

Set the thermostat on your water heater to 120F.

Resources:http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/

Install low-flow showerheads. They use one-third to

energy-savers-guide-tips-saving-money-and-energyone-half the water that regular showerheads use and

home

still provide adequate water pressure.

“Energy Savers Tips for Alaska Second Edition

Fix leaky water faucets and running toilets. Thirty

2011,” by Rebekah Luhrs.

drops of water per minute can waste up to 19 gallons

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation offers energy

of water per month.

efficiency and conservation programs that serve AlasInstall low-flow aerators on faucets. Maintain your

kan families and homes.

water heater.

‘ V O S C ru i s e r ’ F u n d e d b y R a s m u s o n Fo u n d at i o n

VOS was pleased to receive a $25,000 grant from

the Rasmuson Foundation for the purchase of a 15

passenger van replacing our old van that was

mainly used for transportation during our annual

youth camp. For the past two summers, our youth

held a car wash during youth camp as their contribution to the purchase of the van. Several Tribal

Council members donated their monthly meeting

stipend to help cover the shipping costs.

The tribe should receive their van, pictured at left,

by the end of September.

4

V i l l a ge o f S o l o m o n I n d i a n E n v i ro n m e n t a l G e n e ra l A s s i s t a n c e

P ro gra m ( I GA P ) U p d at e

The Village of Solomon has hired a new Environmental Coordinator, Deilah Johnson, who will carry-out the remainder of the

EPA IGAP grant.

Invitations were sent out to create a short term Environmental

Planning Team. We now have a 5 member planning team charged

to review the results of last year’s assessment and brainstorm

ideas for long term and short term solutions within a period of 4

meetings.

Pictured to the right is Deilah at home holding her newborn son,

Tristan Hudson. Below is the watertank and trash container.

With this IGAP grant the Village of Solomon has been able to order a 200 gallon

water tank and 5 bear resistant trash containers. The water tank will be stationed

down by the Community Center provided

for tribal members to use as potable water

when the Solomon Community Center is

closed.

There are 5 bear resistant trash containers,

32 gallons in size that look similar to residential trash containers. The difference is that these are made of hard

plastic and have locking lids that have been

tested. There will be 3 for the Solomon Community Center to use, 1 for Frances Wright’s

camp and 1 for Kirsten Timber’s camp.

D O N ’ T F O R G E T TO

R E C YC L E

REUSE

REDUCE

5

S o l o m o n ’s E n v i ro n m e n t a l P l a n n i n g Te a m M e e t s

VOS’s Environmental Coordinator conducted an envi- maintained. The long term idea is to insulate a 500

gallon potable water tank and bury it in Solomon, and

ronmental assessment in April of this year. The assessment was designed to obtain tribal members input to refill an empty tank to haul back and forth.

to develop the tribe’s village environmental plan. The These ideas were in response to the 2 community surgoal is to make our community a healthier place to

veys collected in 2013.

camp and subsist.

The top 5 environmental issues were:

These assessments will assist us in reaching our vision ·

Lack of waste disposal resources which has

and defining our community’s needs. The next step is caused trash to fly around the Village. Waste material

to find possible solutions.

has not been disposed of properly.

A Committee was formed on June 25th, 2014. This

committee is comprised of 5 members. They represent different parts of our community. Their job was

to make sure that our plan fits our community and will

work best for our community. Between two meetings,

their IDEAS included:

·

§ Making sure that we find solutions that are environmentally safe, economical and effective to

benefit the whole community.

·

Unsafe drinking water

·

Decrease in salmon population in our Solomon

River. Salmon has always been a very active healthy

part of Solomon’s subsistence way of living. Old broken down equipment left all over the village is a risk

for contaminants in the soil and River.

Gravesite land bank erosion

·

Landfill dumpsite – Waste management has become obsolete.

§ Creating a solid waste management program by The committee will meet two more times. The followpurchasing a trailer to haul gathered waste using ing people have served on our committee:

the bear safe trash cans that were purchased under

§ Grace Davenport, Tribal member

the IGAP grant. User policies will be signed in

order to receive a trash bin to ensure clean organ§ Cheryl Komakhuk, Tribal member

ized trash disposal.

§ Greg Timbers, President & CEO of SNC, Tribal

§ Recycling program. Crushing our aluminum

member

cans to combine with home recycled aluminum

cans. The plan is to send the cans using our Alas- § Deilah Johnson, Environmental Coordinator

kans for Litter Prevention and Recycling

(ALPAR) account for free on Northern Air Cargo

to Anchorage and get paid $0.35/lb. Proceeds will

go to trash collectors.

Amber Gray is the Winner of

§ To purchase clean up supplies for a fall and

spring clean-up. It is suggested that VOS provides $ 1 0 0 ! !

lunch.

Last year the tribal membership was given an opportu§ Work closely with NSEDC’s program to innity to fill out a family tree chart. All members that

crease salmon counts. SNC has been working

submitted the chart to VOS were entered in a drawing

with NSEDC and Alaska Department of Fish &

to win $100. The winner was Amber Gray. She is the

Game for the last few years on chum rehabilitation. VOS plans to follow updates and offer sup- daughter of Cynthia Olanna and niece of our tribal coordinator Liz Johnson. Congrats to our lucky winner

port in ways they can.

Amber!

§ To fill our existing 200 gallon potable water tank

purchased through the IGAP grant and to keep that

6

S o l o m o n Yo u t h & E l d e r C a m p 2 0 1 4 b y J e n n i f e r C u r ra n

This year’s Solomon Youth Camp was another great

success! Jennifer Curran was able to return to help

Helen Bohn as a co-camp coordinator. We had 6

campers, all who had attended the camp in previous

years. The weather was great most of the week. It

led to lots of swimming and water activities. This

year we were lucky to have three sewing machines at

camp and the campers were able to pick out their

own fabric from the King Island fabric store to design their own kuspuks. Making the kuspuks proved

to take more time than was expected, but the campers

were proud of the work they put into it and some

even made other sewing projects with their leftover

fabric. We had no luck catching fish, but had lots of

fun in the water swimming and collecting treasures

on the beaches. Elder member, Helen Larsen joined

us during most of the camp and offered some stories

of her time growing up in Solomon. The campers

made drawings for the annual calendar about ways to

conserve energy and in being more environmentally

responsible. We discussed the importance of recycling and conserving energy as a way to save our

planet and resources for future generations. The

campers enjoyed making various crafts like stepping Above is Jennifer Curran holding a walrus ivory tusk.

stones, friendship bracelets, tie dye shirts, and buttons.

Below left is Solomon’s youth camp kids participating in “how to

save the environment” exercise.

We presented some of the completed crafts to tribal

members at the tribal gathering on Saturday. During the gathering we

offered time for socializing and then played a Solomon History version

of Jeopardy. Tribal members and campers really enjoyed learning more

about Solomon and had many laughs answering questions during the

game. Categories for the game included Settlement, School Days, Sustenance, Splashworthy, and Say it don’t Spray it. The most challenging

questions included “What name was Solomon originally noted as on the

map?” “This creek has a huge fun name…it leads to a gold mine that

was active until 2008” and “What is the native Inupiaq word for family?” All the campers expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to

camp and can’t wait to return next year.

They asked if we could charter a plane to explore more of the Solomon

land to do more sight seeing. The also expressed wanting to get on a

real dredge to see how it works. Their favorite activities were swimming, fishing, and making the kuspuks. We had a great time and are

counting down the days until the 2015 camp!!!

7

Clockwise starting L: Derek Henry helping in the kitchen, Helen

Bohn holding Tristan Hudson, Deilah, Amy and Autumn Johnson

and Bronson Bohn with his eye on the camera.

8

$ 2 N o m e C a b Vo u ch e rs

Purchase a voucher from XYZ for $2 and get

your discounted cab ride for appointments, community events, or other transportation needs. Eligible Applicants include:

People with Disabilities

Senior Citizen

People with low income ($20,000 and under)

For more information stop by XYZ between

12pm—3pm or call:

Tabitha Patino 443-5238 or Audrey Aanes at

Arctic Access in Anchorage at 1-877-442-2393.

Sponsored by Arctic Access and Nome Community Center

V O S O f f i c e Re cy cl e s & R e u s e s

Village of Solomon’s office started recycling its paper

products and aluminum cans by separating using recycling bins.

Copier paper is used as scratch paper and sometimes

reused for the fax machine. Once both sides of paper is

used, it is tossed into the recycle bin for paper products.

President Kirsten Timbers, Vice President Brian James

also started recycling at home using the same bins for

paper and aluminum products.

The office has a few bins to provide to any tribal members who wish to recycle. Contact the environmental

coordinator at 443-4985 if interested.

A simple solution for keeping batteries from polluting

the landfill is to reuse the plastic coffee cans.

For the most up to date storage and collection information contact Total Reclaim in Anchorage or visit http://

www.totalreclaim.com/alaska.html

B S R H A ’s H o u s i n g P re s e r v at i o n P ro g ra m Av a i l a b l e

The Housing Preservation Program provides a loan to fund services to repair or renovate housing owned by low income qualified families having substandard

housing or housing and have no

other source of funding the work.

The program is set up as a loan to

be repaid over a five (5) year period, however if the family continues to occupy the housing there

is a forgiveness of the payment

based on 20% for each year the

family occupies the home. Should

the family move from the property prior to the end of the fiveyear period, the Housing Authority may require the family to pay

any unpaid outstanding balance.

The maximum loan award will be

up $5,000.00 to $25,000.00 for

materials, shipping, and labor.

Labor must be paid at the Davisbacon wage scale. For small purchases of $5,000 or less, the grant

will have no repayment provisions as long as it is for materials

and freight.

a BSRHA Housing Preservation

Application, a HIP application for

Kawerak Inc., a Weatherization

Program from RuralCap, or the

USDA Rural Housing Services

application for their preservation

grant program. The application

must be completed, signed, dated

and sent to BSRHA.

Important Exceptions: Priority is

given to Tribal Members of Solomon, King Island, Council and

Marys Igloo who reside in the

Bering Straits Region and are eligible to apply no matter where

they live in the state.

Other programs BSRHA offers

are Emergency Utility Voucher

assistance, Substance Abuse

youth grant, housing management—in Bering Strait villages

and Nome; and Down Payment/

Closing Cost assistance.

To apply for this program, a person may use one of the following

as an application for this program:

For more information please contact BSRHA administrative office

at 443-5256.

9

R e cy cl i n g Fa c t s & T i p s

Recycling is the process of turning used waste and materials into

new products. This prevents potentially useful materials from being wasted as well as reducing energy use and pollution.

US citizens use 4 million plastic bottle every hour! However, only 25% of these

plastic bottles are used for plastic recycling.

Did you know that, over 46,000 pieces of plastic debris float on every square

mile of the ocean? How often are we eating food directly from the ocean?

Around 80% of energy gets saved when plastic is created from waste plastic, rather than the raw materials.

Recycling 1 ton of aluminum cans, saves up to 27 cubic yards of landfill space.

Did you know that recycling aluminum can save up to 95% of energy which is required to make aluminum from

bauxite ore? Bauxite is the first step in producing aluminum.

Recycling one ton of paper saves around 17 trees, 463 gallons of oil, 6,953 gallons of water, and 3 cubic yards of

landfill space.

Glass can be reused infinitely if recycled.

Inconvenience and being too lazy to put forth the effort is one of the biggest reasons people choose to not recycle.

It doesn’t take too much of your time, it’s rewarding in the end.

RECYCLING NEAR YOU:

Anchorage Recycling Center, Location: 6161 Rosewood Street, Anchorage. Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;

regular weekday business hours for redemption of aluminum cans. Accepts: Aluminum cans, steel cans, mixed

paper, corrugated cardboard, newspaper, #1 PET plastic bottles, #2 HDPE plastic jugs, plastic bags and film, glass

bottles and jars

Anchorage Regional Landfill Recycling Area. Location: Hiland Road, Eagle River. Hours: During regular landfill

hours; Mon.-Fri. 7:30am - 5pm, Sat. 8am - 5pm. Sun closed. Accepts: Aluminum cans, mixed paper, corrugated

cardboard, newspaper, #1 PET plastic bottles, #2 HDPE plastic jugs, glass bottles and jars. The Municipality is

evaluating the need to establish additional community recycling centers, potentially on the east side of Anchorage

and Girdwood. Other drop-off locations for specific items exist throughout Anchorage. For More information call:

(907) 343-6262 (customer service line)

Nome City Recycle Center. Located on Warren Place. Open 24/7. Accepts: Newspapers, Lead-acid batteries, cardboard, glass, Electronics, aluminum cans. Does not accept, tin cans, plastics, Styrofoam or fluids of any kind.

Please be courteous when dropping off recyclables by putting your items in appropriate piles for organization.

Nome City Landfill, located at 3.0 mile Beam Road, open every Saturday. Winter Hours: 11-4 pm, Summer hours:

9-4pm. segregated piles and bins at landfill for: wood, glass, metals, copper, aluminum cans,

electronic waste, cardboard and burnables, refrigerators and freezers.

For folks in the Lower 48, go to http://www.call2recycle.org/locator/ and type in your zip

code for a list of recycling center locations.

Remember the 3 R’s-------------------------à REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE

10

2 0 1 4 F i rs t A l a s ka n ’s I n s t i t u t e ( FA I ) E l d e rs & Yo u t h

C o n f e re n c e

The Village of Solomon’s tribal council is pleased to Limited travel funds are available for 2 youth and 2 eldinvite Solomon’s youth and elders to attend the an- ers that require travel to attend.

nual Elders and Youth conference this year. The

VOS considers youth to be 13-18 years old and elders

dates of the conference are: October 20-22, 2014.

55 and older.

The conference stimulates dialogue between young

people and Elders and encourages them to maintain Please submit a letter of interest to VOS by emailing Liz

traditional Native values and practices while thriving Johnson, Tribal Coordinator at tc.sol@kawerak.org by

in the modern world.

October 1, 2014.

2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the Elders &

Youth Conference, and the 10th year that the InstiS o l o m o n ’s R o y Ke n i ck Pa s s e s

tute will support and manage the event.

Roy Kenick was born on February 19,1945 at Mekoryuk,

The 2014 conference theme is “Get Up! Stand Up!”

and is focused on catalyzing and growing the voice Alaska. As a young man, Roy enlisted in the United

States Army during the Vietnam War. After military

and spirit of our youth and our Elders as critical

service, he worked for the State of Alaska Employment

leaders in our communities. The theme calls to inspire and engage participants to elevate solutions

Rights Division as well as AVCP Incorporated.

they create to the challenges of our time by amplifyRoy was sensitive and kind to others and he did whatever

ing and utilizing our Native knowledge, cultures,

he could to help others in need. He lived in Nome, Beand values. This is a movement to strengthen our

advocacy for one another, empower our collective

thel, and Anchorage and he enjoyed the outdoors fishing

voice, and celebrate the vibrancy of who we are as

and hunting. He died on February 3, 2014 at his home

indigenous peoples!

and leaves his loving family.

I C W A S e r v i c e s Av a i l a b l e

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed

in 1978 in response to the high number of Native

children who were removed from their families and

tribes by non-tribal public and private agencies, and

placed in non-Native foster homes or made available for non-Native adoption.

He served on the Solomon Native Corporation board, its

first board of directors back in the early 80’s and was a

tribal member of the Village of Solomon.

Roy is survived by his loving wife, Mary Kenick, children

Julie, Angelina, Robert, and Andrew Kenick, Chris Parkhurst (step-son), and grandson Cade Kenick. He leaves his

sisters, - Leora, Ethel, and Lydia; and nephew Jacob Kenick

and Stosh Labinski. He's preHow does ICWA work? The main goal of ICWA

ceded in death

is the protection of Native children. ICWA applies

by his parents,

when a state court determines that a Native child is

Timothy

involved in a proceeding. This includes child cusKenick and

tody proceedings, foster care placement, termination

Della

of parental rights, pre-adoptive and adoptive place(Hendrickson)

ments. A tribal court or tribe may properly exercise

Kenick, Dora,

their rights in any and all of these types of proceedTimothy Jr, and

ings. For ICWA services, please contact the VOS

Hilma Kenick.

office at 443-4985 or email to tc.sol@kawerak.org.

11

Sara James, daughter of Brian and Donna James, at the Solomon

playground displaying a bag, a door prize she won during one of

Solomon’s tribal gatherings. This bag was handmade by Helen

Bohn aka “Pretty One Bags and Sew Much More”

Above: Sarah Huntsman marries Manuel Tumulak on

April 14, 2014.

Below: L to R: Franklin Okitkon, Walter Kalerak and Garfield

Okitkon standing in front of Solomon’s old BIA school. Solomon’s Shelter cabin is named the “Okitkon Shelter” in honor and

memory of Garfield Okitkon. (photo taken in early 1970’s)

Mia Piscoya, daughter of Benny and Jackie Piscoya, making fry

bread with Luella Tumulak, Sarah Huntsman’s daughter.

We l c o m e N e w Tr i b a l M e m b e r

Carol Vickie Lee Olson, Alice Kalerak’s grand daughter

Village of Solomon

Box 2053

Nome, Alaska 99762

Save the Date!!

The Village of Solomon is hosting a tribal

membership meeting in Anchorage on

Sunday, October 19, 2014

3:30-5:30 PM

at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Meeting

Room “A” located at 4901 Spenard Road.