Native American Identity by Perry G. Horse.

The essay “Native American Identity” the author Perry was talking about how the color of your skin doesn’t prove you are any less Native American for being white or black. It all depends on that person's identity and how they identify themselves. If they listen to what society has to say about them, then the parents of that child will have to choose which tribe or which ethnicity they are going to be more. The government has put into place a Certificate of Indian Blood, meaning you have to be this much Native American to say you’re enrolled into that tribe. For white people there was always privilege, whether you were racist or not. It was given to you right when you were born. In school education they were taught to understand and explain how race and racism in the United States affected white people. For many Natives it put a racial face on anti-Indian ideas.

Perry G. Horse. “Native American Identity” New Directions For Student Services. No 109. Wiley Periodicals. Inc.

2005. Print. Pp 61-68.

Community: "Sharing One Skin By Jeanette Armstrong.

The essay “Community: “Sharing One Skin”’ In this story the author talks about the Okanagan people and how they define themselves in many ways. They have different meanings to the actual word, they identify themselves as one person, one skin. But it also means “The ones who are dream and land together”. It doesn’t actually mean to “dream” but it actually means the spiritual self. Not just of what we pray to but the things we don’t see physically or what’s actually in the spirit world. In the chapter she talks about the four beings, The physical self is being able to connect to the earth and be as one with your community. The emotional self is being able to care for the people living in your community. Spiritual self is being able to talk in your native tongue and pray in your native tongue. Last but not least is the Thinking-intellectual self meaning that we all have our ways of thinking and learning. These four teachings have lived on for generations and that’s what has kept them alive.

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.

The article “After Eruption, a Dead Lake Revives” by Natural Geographic talks about how Mount St. Helens located in Washington state erupted in 1980. Five miles down Spirit Lake, a “pristine” lake, turned into a boiling and degrading body of water. Tens of thousands of volcanic debris filled the lake, raising the surface level almost 200 feet and enlarging the area by a third. Countless organisms from fish, to plankton, to macroinvertebrates were destroyed. But today Spirit Lake, it has flourished with living plankton and invertebrates “that borne by wind and birds.” Now the water has more nutrients than it did before the eruption. Before they couldn’t be able to support trout habitats but now they’re able to do sportfishing. Little things were done to help the lake by people but the U.S Forest Service, who oversees the area, says to let the lake recover naturally.

"After Eruption, a Dead Lake Revives." National Geographic Magazine, vol. 184, no. 5, Nov. 1993. National Geographic Archive 1888-1994, tinyurl.gale.com/tinyurl/Dopw83. Accessed 7 Oct. 2021.Ikenson, B. (2001).

In this article “Wing and a Prayer: Religious Freedom and Wildlife Restoration Converge at Zuni” the author, Ben Ikenson discussed that Zuni Pueblo, one of the largest pueblos. They have decided to make the “first-of-its-kind eagle aviary Malcolm Bowekaty.” The Zuni Pueblo realized that traditional ceremonies were the reason for the high demand for eagle feathers. For these eagle feathers are sacred. In Zuni beliefs, eagles are considered to be incarnations of their ancestors. Because of Congress enacting the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940, and later amended the Act in 1962, however the law did give the rights of Native American to use eagle feathers for religious purposes. The National Eagle Repository, near Denver, Colorado gave Native American eagle feathers but there were 5,000 people on the waiting list. The purpose of the eagle aviary was to hold eagles who are non-releasable. This requires proper permission from the U.S government. The tribe does not kill birds or store the carcasses in the facility. They help recover birds and see if they are able to survive in the wild. After private funding from the tribe, they were able to receive two non-releasable bald eagles not only to satisfy religious purposes but also to assist in golden eagle restoration efforts in the Southwest.

Ikenson, Ben. "Wing and a Prayer: Religious Freedom and Wildlife Restoration Converge at Zuni." Native Americas, vol. XVIII, no. 2, 2001, pp. 54.

This video talks about the importance of lakes. There are many things they are doing to help sustain the lake. They are looking at the watersheds and are looking at the lakes that are downstream from the main lake they are working on. They are getting rid of invasive species so that there’s a better flow of the water and revegetating with native beneficial plants. Some trees are being pulled out because they are affecting the watershed and how much water the downstream lakes are going to get. They looked at the watersheds and saw how if they do something to the main lake, it’ll affect the other lakes as well.

“Kewannee Lake Restoration” Youtube, Uploaded by Seminole County Government, May 4 2015, https://youtu.be/OioF_JcXFd4

The film that this in the article, talks about National Monuments or religious sites that have significance to Native People. This article is talking about a film that has been made for the sake of others to be aware of why Native Land is sacred to Native People. The film, titled “However Wide the Sky: Places and Power,” was broadcasted on November 4th. The film production has made a film that was guided by 27 tribal advisors from 11 tribes. From places like Chaco Canyon, Bears Ears, Pueblo of Santa Ana, Zuni Salt Lake, Blue lake in Taos, and Mount Taylor near Acoma and Laguna tribes. The word “sacred” has special meaning to the Native people. To the Native People it’s an effort to protect these sacred lands because that is what has kept them alive for a millenia. They are protecting their land from misuse of land, drilling for fossil fuels, mining, and land that has been taken from them by US governments. From a Native point of view Conroy Chino had said this film is “not a political statement about that. I don’t think tribes overall are opposed to every single extraction activity. I think what they would like to see occur as a result of this film is an understanding of why areas are sacred to them.”

ROMANCITO, RICK. "Why is land sacred to Native people?." Taos News, The (NM), sec. News, 4 Nov. 2021, p. A1. NewsBank: Access World News, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/1861104650248D98. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.

In the article “Scientists predict New Mexico slated for another dry winter” by Rebecca Hobart. She’s a writer who has talked to many scientists from The University of New Mexico. They have predicted that because of the “La Niña”, which is an event characterized by below-average temperatures and cooling of the Pacific Ocean surface. This will mean thar for the Southwest of U.S there will be warm and dry winters which will lead to a worsen drought. Which will be New Mexico’s second consecutive drought. “The impacts of already dry winters can be compounded by La Niña events due to the lack of precipitation” Stated Andrew Mangham, the Senior Service Hydrologist for the National Weather Service of Albuquerque. “One of the things that’s causing some of our surface water issues is that the ground is so dry due to the prolonged drought that a lot of water that’s melting from the snowpack goes into the soil (instead of the reservoir),” He said.

Hobart, Rebecca. “Scientists Predict New Mexico Slated for Another Dry Winter.” New Mexico Daily Lobo, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.dailylobo.com/article/2021/10/scientists-predict-new-mexico-slated-for-another-dry-winter.

In this video “Ancestral Lands Overview” They are a program that helps community investment and support in programs that are tribally and locally, combined with the network of operational support from Conservation Legacy. The Headquarters is located in Acoma Pueblo, they have since with other pueblos and with the Navajo Nation. They work on historical preservation, traditional agriculture, stream restoration and much more. The program is rooted in the culture and heritage of these tribal communities. They are to date there are 17 different ancestral lands programs operating both nationally and on a local level.

Legacy, Conservation, director. “Ancestral Lands Overview”. YouTube, Conservation Legacy , 21 Dec. 2020, Ancestral Lands Overview. Accessed 12 Nov. 2021.

In the past few years Chennai, India especially in 2015 had major flooding in the communities of Chennai Metropolitan Areas. The floods affected the towns, lakes, and ponds nearby. The community wanted to restore these lakes and ponds as an act of voluntary service because they saw there would be benefits for their environments. Unfortunately there was not any scientific research that could help them further their studies in restoring the lakes. They asked the Okapi Research and Advisory (an environmental research and consulting agency), and Care Earth Trust organization (a Chennai-based NGO) could help them with scientific studies, once that was finished. They noticed there were plenty of people willing to volunteer to help restore the lakes but they had no knowledge of how to restore a lake. The organizations decided to create a “science-based, easy-to-read ecological lake restoration handbook which is accessible by anyone interested in learning/implementing restoration work,” (paragraph 3). This handbook would go into how to restore wetlands such as lakes, ponds, kulams, and eris. It shows that if there is any cultural significance behind restoring a lake that it must be looked at before going ahead with the project. It shows how to make long term sustainable projects. It provides stakeholders that range from government departments, to local communities and other non-governmental organizations that can be related to the project. The handbook talks about what misconceptions you might come across when restoring lakes and setting long term goals. This has helped the metropolitan communities because they’re able to have clean air and also keep their lakes clean from pollutants.

Ayyangar, A., Padmanabhan, G., Prabhakar, B., Vats, S., says:, M., says:, L. A., & says:, R. (2022, February 7). How to go about lake restoration: Learnings from efforts in Chennai. Citizen Matters, Chennai. Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://chennai.citizenmatters.in/guide-to-lake-restoration-chennai-myths-and-reality-37988

The Utah Lake Restoration Solution had asked for a permit request to the United States Army Corps of Engineers to have a federal process review in Utah. The Utah lake is where the company wanted to have the permit. Their outlines of the “company’s proposal to transform Utah Lake into a cleaner, safer and more valued community resource.” After many look overs the project had been through, it had reached up to five separate phases. Their plans were to remove invasive species, dredge the lake floor and construct more than a dozen islands, some of which will be developed for residential use to fund the project. Though there is controversy about having the lake floor dredge, the non-profit Conserve Utah Valley was in disfavor of it. But the Restoration Solution group says there is no interest in the real estate, and they’re focusing on restoration to the lake as it will be beneficial to the environment. People of that community just need to be on the same page.

Tomco, Brigham. “Utah Lake Restoration Project under Federal Review to Evaluate Environmental Impact.” The Daily Universe, 11 Feb. 2022, https://universe.byu.edu/2022/02/11/utah-lake-restoration-project-under-federal-review-company-officer-and-community-leaders-urge-trust-in-the-process%EF%BF%BC/.

The West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation is a group that is in Oregon. They have helped the nearby lakes like Sturgeon lake and the Columbia River. Due to high floodings in the Columbia River area, they had to improve and clean out sediment that had gone into the lake. They had found out connecting Sturgeon Lake to the ocean. They found connecting the lake to the ocean was useful because fish are able to go into the lake and lay their eggs and still give the fish time to go bigger before they go back into the ocean. This took a lot of planning and lots of funds to help with this program but they are developing.

Multnomah SWCD, West. Celebrating 75 Years of Conservation: Rural Program Spotlight on Sturgeon Lake Restoration Project, 30 Sept. 2019, youtu.be/xMPDbCxyrQg. Accessed 17 Feb. 2022.