Episode 4: Over the River, Across the Bayou, to the Heartland We Go!

More Video! -- Featuring Local, Organic Music

Here's another video – they're going faster than hotcakes now! Episode 4 is our first tribally-focused video, covering our stops with the United Houma Nation, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation's Native American Health Symposium, Haskell Indian Nations University, and the Haskell-Baker (Wakarusa) Wetlands.

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This episode, like all of our videos, features very special music. Jason Pitre, the son of Houma's Principal Chief, Brenda Dardar Robichaux, was kind enough to give me an album of songs of the Medicine Tail Singers recorded live at the IICOT Powwow of Champions, which he mixed himself. The album is called "We Sing For You," and for further information about the singers and Jason's recording business, Native Rhythms, you can contact him at nativerhythms [at] yahoo.com.

I'm trying to feature musicians local to the places we're visiting in each video documenting our trip. Please check out their web pages, give their other songs a listen, and support them, as well as the local music scene where you live!

By: Jen Baldwin

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The Udall Legacy Bus Tour Comes Home

On Aug. 3rd, our bus rolled into Tucson. Home. Not home to any of the riders -- but home to Mo and the Udall Foundation.

Andrew Lee (Scholar '06) leads the welcoming cheer (Photo by Tom Spitz)

And it was definitely a homecoming. We arrived to the loving welcome of the Udall Foundation staff. Not only were we received with open arms -- but also a full on cheer. The cheer on Friday was surpassed only by the cheer the following day from all the 2007 scholars led by Andrew Lee (Scholar 2006) in front of the Foundation's HQ in downtown Tucson.

The end of the tour coincided with the 2007 Udall Scholar Orientation -- the annual gathering of all the recipients of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship. It was an appropriate place to end the tour considering that it was two years ago at this same event that the idea of a big 'ol bus tour was first kicked around.

The energy at Orientation was infectious. It always is. Udallers, as we saw on the tour, and were reminded of again in Tucson -- are incredibly passionate, caring, and engaged. The "small talk" during Orientation is often about organizing a campus, researching a problem, or tackling policy issues head on. I always find it's such a recharge -- which was a great way to end our Tour.

The official finale of the tour included remarks from Carol West (Tucson City Councilor), Ramona Grijalva (who read a message from her husband, Rep. Raul Grijalva), Terry Bracy (Chair of the Foundation), and Anne Udall (Mo's daughter and vice-chair of the Foundation). After Bret, Jen, and I spoke about some of the most memorable moments of the trip we moved into the building where, amidst the mingling, there were photo and video slideshows showing images of the past two months.

Anne Udall speaking at the finale event in Tucson (Photo by Tom Spitz)

The photos and video -- as good as they are -- can't capture the tour fully. This blog can't do it either. Nor do they do a good enough job thanking everyone who made this tour possible: the Udall Foundation Education Team, the many alumni who helped plan stops, and the many friends who opened their doors to a traveling group of public servants. But we hope that all of it - stories, photos, and video -- have been able to convey at least a little bit of those thanks and communicate what the Udall Legacy Bus Tour was.

Thanks for riding with us!

By: Eli Zigas

P.S.
(Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more video posts ...)

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Seattle Day Off – Indigenous Experience

(Editor's Note -- a quick jump back a bit ago ...)

Who: Martina Gast, Bret Muter, Bret Strogen, Bob Filbin, Jen Baldwin, Jenny Vazquez, and I (Jessica)
What: United Indians of all Tribes Foundation 22nd Annual Seafair Indian Days POW WOW!
Where: Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington
When: Sunday July 22, 2007
Why: To learn about and celebrate native culture

During our Seattle stop, Tribal Co-Coordinators Jenny and Martina worked together to arrange an optional visit to the 22nd Annual Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow. What a great idea!

We all piled into a taxi van and traveled to Discovery Park from the University of Washington. The Pow Wow was a remarkable experience for all of us.

The Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow ran from July 20 through 22, and typically has approximately 10,000 spectators, 400-600 dancers in full regalia, 25 drum groups, and over 60 vendors.

The 60+ vendors displayed a wide array of native art & crafts such as clothing, jewelry, music, carvings, and paintings. We ate lunch at the Pow Wow, which included traditional fry bread and a salmon bake… yum. It was delicious!

My favorite part of the day was seeing the Grand Entry. At Grand Entry all of the dancers celebrated together. The Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow holds the purpose to “celebrate the richness of the Native American culture”. The Pow Wow included traditional singing, drum and dance competitions, traditional foods, and much more. The Pow Wow helped enlighten my awareness of native culture. It was an exceptional way to spend our free day.

By: Jessica Fagan

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A “Grand” Finale Stop

The final tribal stop of the tour was in Oregon at the community of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The confederation is composed of tribal communities from the area including the Umpqua, Molalla, Rogue River, Kalapuya, and Chasta. Tribal members totaling 8,000 are scattered throughout the world.

Thanks to Siobhan Taylor, Public Affairs Director, and the Grand Ronde community, we stayed at the lovely Spirit Mountain Casino. Our day began by meeting Angela Sears who directed us to the Natural Resources Division building to meet Siobhan, Kelly, and the Youth Conservation Corps who we would work with during the service project.

Siobhan discussed the history of the Grand Ronde community with us before we set off on our project. In the 1850s the United States government rounded up Native people in the extended area, most of which were hunter, gatherer, fishermen, and put them on reservations in hopes of making them farmers. One soldier said it was the “saddest experience he had ever seen.” The Chinook Jargon was the language that united the Native people that came to be the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Chinook is taught in preschools today and serves as a means of cultural renewal. The Grand Ronde community had to go through the same assimilation process that many Native communities experienced in the 1950s: termination. In the 1954, the tribe was federally terminated and left with the cemetery land and the caretaker shed. Siobhan described this process as a form of “ethnic cleansing.” The community worked together and successfully fought for federal restoration on November 25th, 1983. Land was given back in trust and the community was able to rebuild once again. The first big economic resource on the land came with the building of the Spirit Mountain Casino, which, to name a few, provides funds for schooling, housing, and the natural resource development.

Our service project consisted of helping in the restoration process of the Tillamook Trail with the youth crew who has been hard at work on it all summer. The boys worked extremely hard and put much effort into perfecting the trail. Each had a story or two or many, depending on who it was, to tell which made time fly by. The trail and woods are absolute beauties, and one can only hope that more people will venture out and enjoy it.

Siobhan was at the grill when we returned from our service project flipping burgers. We had a wonderful lunch with the youth crews and Grand Ronde community members and various other employees. We had the special treat of meeting and talking with Chris Mercier, Tribal Chairman and brother of Udall intern alumni Bryan Mercier. It is a tough call on who is the better looking brother. We also shared some laughs and stories with William “Wink” Soderberg, an elder Tribal Council member.

Chris Mercier, Tribal Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde

We were sent home with not only informational packets and cd’s of tribal member Jan Michael Looking Wolf Reibach, but also memories that will last us a life time. Thank you Siobhan, Kelly, youth crew and all of the Grand Ronde community.

By: Martina Gast

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Sustainability at UDub and Other Happenings in the Emerald City

Merrill Hall was built under unusual circumstances. Merrill Hall, at UW’s Botanic Gardens, was built to replace the Center for Urban Horticulture, which was burned down in May 2001 by arsonists from the Earth Liberation Front. The arsonists set the fire because they believed, incorrectly, that a professor at the center was carrying out research on genetically modified trees. As the university made plans to rebuild at the site, several students encouraged the administration to make the new building a green one. Given the reasons for the fire, one can imagine how receptive the University was to the idea. Professor of Forest Resources Tom Hinckley, however, quickly took up the cause and spearheaded the effort to build green. In 2005, LEED-certified Merrill Hall opened its doors.

Professor Hinckley met with us on the morning of July 23rd to tell us a little bit about the architectural features of Merrill Hall. He emphasized that every feature of the building – every different kind of wood used for the doors, trim, and siding of the building – had a story behind it. Was it more environmentally responsible to use wood from a Forest Stewardship Council certified forest half a world away, or wood from a clear-cut right here in the Northwest? Should the building have incorporated donations of conventional materials in order to allow for more environmental features elsewhere in the building? Collectively, the stories presented both the successes and the difficult trade-offs that were made in attempting to build a sustainable structure.

UW Sustainability Panelists J.R. Fulton, Anite Bowers, and Clara Simon

Our tour of the building was brief, however, as the focus of the morning was a panel addressing the sustainability initiatives at the University of Washington. Our panelists included Anita Bowers, Assistant Director of Housing and Food Services; Clara Simon, Sustainability Manager for Capital Projects; Tony Guerrero, Director of Facility Services for UW Bothell; A.J. Van Wallendael, Programs Operations Specialist for the Environmental Programs Office; Sterling Luke, Shop Safety Representative for Facility Services; and JR Fulton, Capital Planning and Sustainability Manager for Housing and Food Services. The topics addressed during the panel ranged widely from local food in the dining halls and biodiesel in the power washers, to corn husk buildings and the use of goats to manage weeds on the Bothell campus.

The weed-whacking goats on the Bothell campus were just one of many examples of how progressive the new UW campus is. At Bothell, the facilities staff use Green Seal certified cleaning products and only organic fertilizers – including compost tea from their on-site vermicompost project. The campus also manages its own stormwater through bioswales and the on-campus wetlands. As of July 1, 2006, the Bothell campus became herbicide free. In August, the campus will be reviewed for its Salmon Safe certification. I was amazed by these and other achievements at this relatively new campus. I was particularly impressed because these progressive programs were driven primarily by the staff of the college, not by the students. The same cannot be said for sustainability initiatives at many other colleges.

Equally impressive were the efforts of Food Services on UW’s main campus in Seattle. In the dining halls, conventional french fries have been replaced with fries from local, organic potatoes, and all the beef now comes from grass-fed cows. Tully’s Coffee even developed its own organic, fair-trade regular coffee, decaf coffee, and espresso to sell in the campus cafés – oh, the advantages of an $18 million food budget! So many colleges – including my own – have no such sway when it comes to food orders. My favorite of the food initiatives on campus was that regarding water. Sales of bottled water at UW are high, but the enormously detrimental environmental consequences of bottled water have moved Food Services to replace this product. Beginning this fall, the dining halls and cafés will no longer sell bottled water. Instead, they will sell reusable water bottles that can be filled with filtered tap water. Bottled water was not widely sold even ten years ago, but now we take it for granted. As customers we demand it and food suppliers are loathe to deny us what many believe to be a healthy alternative to soda. But, if you ask me, bottled water is something akin to clean coal: fine – perhaps – for the consumer, but a disaster – undeniably – for the source. I commend UW for having the conscience to make the switch.

Bill Rodgers and Eric Eberhard with Bret M.

After our wonderfully informative panel on sustainability, we headed back to the heart of campus to meet with Eric Eberhard and Bill Rodgers. Eberhard is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney in Seattle, as well as a member of the Udall Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Rodgers is a professor at UW Law School. Between them, Eberhard and Rodgers have over eighty years of experience with Indian law. We all enjoyed a tasty lunch while listening to the men’s stories about Mo Udall, issues in Indian Country, and some of their past cases. As there are several members of the crew interested in the law, and Indian law in particular, the luncheon offered a fabulous opportunity to ask questions we have not been able to present to other guests.
That afternoon we bid farewell to the Emerald City, clicked our ruby slippers, and glided down the yellow brick – read: black asphalt – road to the City of Roses and Bridges. We haven’t been in Kansas for weeks!

By: Savanna Ferguson

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Missoula and Pablo -- What a Place to Call Home !

What a place to call home, the northern Rockies! I sound like a nature writer already! I really enjoyed our time spent in Missoula and on the Flathead Reservation north of Missoula. Throughout college I spent a lot of time studying agriculture and working on different farms in northern Wisconsin, and I feel pretty passionate about the role food can play in fostering a positive environmental ethic, as well as the importance of reinvesting in rural America. In this vein, it was so wonderful to hear about the efforts of the Farm to College program, which is instituting major changes in how both the University of Montana (UM) and Salish Kootenai College (SKC) purchase food for its dining halls.

UM is currently spending 14.6% of their annual budget on local and regional foods, and available that day were cherries from Flathead, along with local chicken, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, safflower oil, salsa, honey, and regional beef, bread, and cheese. Products and produce from the state of Montana are considered local, and regional is defined as agricultural products grown or produced in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota—which is a pretty huge region. The program is about 4 years old and focuses on the importance of local economy (cycling 14.6% of the total $3 million spent annually by the school within the region is pretty huge), the greater reliability of local food sources, along with the strengthening of community that comes with knowing where your food comes from and building local partnerships. And as Marc LaPoco (pictured at left), head of UM’s dining services put it, the research on the nutrition of fresh food is rolling in, and, as many have intuitively known, fresh food, and organic foods, are typically higher in nutritional value than conventionally grown foods.

Laure Pengelly Drake gives the riders a tour of UM's Native American Journalism program

Interestingly, one problem that both schools face is helping make it affordable and feasible for farmers to sell to the schools at wholesale prices, not prices found at farmers markets, the main venue for smaller market farms. Organized by Udall alumna Lauren Caldwell, the Farm to College Program at SKC in Pablo is in its second year and already the school is purchasing 10% of its food from local sources. At SKC, local has been defined as being from within the reservation. This is a pretty important difference between the two programs. While many of the growers living on the res are themselves not members of the confederated tribes, I hope that having a program like Farm to College can encourage new growers by providing a reliable place to sell their products. The Three Wolves cafeteria at SKC is more like a diner, where you can order individual items, and I wonder if this may make it easier to purchase local foods if there are fewer issues with waste, as it isn’t buffet style. At the same time, the vegetables found at most diner type places include salads, lettuce, and tomatoes, which are available for a few months in the year. We ate lunch at Three Wolves and most everyone, myself included, had an Indian taco, some for the first time. The frybread was made with regional flour and then topped with local beef, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese, among other fixings. It was definitely delicious (though I didn’t eat the beef…).

Riders and SKC students on Salish Kootenai College's campus

We did so much during our time in the northern Rockies, in addition to learning about the Farm to College programs. We toured the schools, learned a little about Native American Journalism at UM; met with two potential Udall scholars from SKC, the Marceau brothers, who told us about their work and gave us a tour of the biochemistry lab; we saw the art gallery at SKC; and the new and huge community garden. We picked up trash in a park along Flathead Lake before jumping in. Our alumni meet-up the night before was at a park in Missoula, where we were guests of the Bridges to Baccalaureate and Project TRAIN programs, both programs that provide research and internship opportunities for American Indians working in a wide range of science and health fields. We met lots of really cool people there and were the judges for a side-dish tasting competition (the winners got some fancy Udall t-shirts). All in all I thought it was a ton of fun and we learned so much about the different communities living in Missoula and in Flathead.


I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who made our stop possible. I’m moving to the Missoula area after the trip (having made the decision last February ;)) and I am nothing but excited to be there again.

By Jenny Vazquez

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“Bugles, Rules, and a Rich Gravy Diet”

It was a first in Kansas for most of the riders, and the college-town of Lawrence was a great introduction to this mid-western plains state. Our morning was divided between projects highlighted by KU’s Center for Sustainability (see Kayanna’s limerick about bio-diesel at KU), and tours of Haskell Indian Nation’s University. Haskell is a federally funded school, one of only a handful in the U.S., with enrollment open to members from federally recognized tribes and direct descendants. Originally started as a boarding school in 1884, Haskell has come a long way in controlling the type and experience of education students receive while at the school. We started our tour that day at the Cultural Center and Museum, where we were welcomed by Lori Tapahonso, Haskell’s Public Information Officer, who gave us a brief history of the museum and school and then let us loose to roam the exhibits. Organized in a circular pattern, the museum focuses on Haskell’s rich history, as told from the students’ perspectives.

“Bugles, Rules, and a Rich Gravy Diet”, was one display heading that caught my interest. Many of the bus riders had little knowledge of the role boarding schools played in institutionalizing assimilation and forcing changes in traditional lifeways. I think something else that struck many people, myself included, was the negative impacts the schools once had, especially on families.

Lori Tapahonso gives a tour to the Udall riders at the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum

The Cultural Center and Museum is also home to a collection of photos taken by Frank Rinehart at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition and Indian Congress, held in Nebraska in 1898 (many of the original glass plates are housed in the climate-controlled basement). The photos are quite striking and paint an interesting picture of the diversity of Native cultures attending the Expo. Many of these images have come to represent and stereotype much of Indian country today, though the beauty of these original photos still rings true. We also checked out the archival library and gathered around a few art pieces created by Haskell students and faculty. I really recommend checking out the website to get a little more information, see the different programs they have at the Center and Museum, and view a few examples of the Rinehart photos. It’s pretty amazing that Haskell started out as an Industrial Indian Training School if you look at it today.

After touring the rest of campus, looking at the medicinal gardens, and finding some shade with Haskell students in a traditional switch grass structure (busy campus), we headed back to KU for a great lunch with the Center for Sustainability and the Ecumenical Christian Ministries (ECM). It was appropriate to be talking about environmental justice, social equity, and diversity issues and education after touring Haskell. We also talked about the concept of Earth Ethics with Thad Holcombe, the pastor from ECM, all while eating a wonderful, almost entirely local meal prepared and provided by Community Mercantile, Lawrence’s long-standing health food cooperative. It was such a well-thought-out and kind meal that was so tasty, and the company was equally as wonderful. It’s amazing how much you can talk about in an hour!

Leaving lunch we headed back in the direction of Haskell, this time to the wetlands adjacent to the school. Originally an official part of the Training School grounds, the Wakarusa Wetlands, or the Haskell/Baker Wetlands, have long been a part of the school’s history. We learned quite a bit of this history in detail as we walked the land with Mike Caron, a member of Save the Wetlands and a handful of students from Haskell. During the settling of Kansas by Europeans (I kept imagining a bloody free for all), wetlands were viewed as unproductive land, and along the way, came to be federally-owned lands used for the school. In the 70’s different parcels of Haskell lands were sold off and Baker University, located about 30 miles south of Lawrence, bought the majority of the wetlands. This was interesting to me, given the cultural significance of the wetlands to Haskell students from the beginning of the school to the present day, where students still go to relax, pray, study the ecosystem and traditional uses of plants. Mike told us about a road, the “49 Road”, in the wetlands where students could get away to party, drum, flirt, and as a result learn about other lifestyles and cultures.

Mike Caron talking about the history of the Wakarusa Wetlands

There is currently a controversial proposal to construct an 8-lane highway through the wetlands. While we didn’t hear anything from the proponents’ side of things, it seems to me that the proposal presents a solution that is unnecessarily destructive in more ways than one. The issue, which has actually been in contention for over 20 years, has brought together diverse groups of people, from ecologists, environmental activists, and members from the over 135 tribal nations represented at Haskell, in an effort to prevent the highway from going through the wetlands. I can see this as a great success story, as this coalition of people have worked together to change something from happening in their “backyard”, to use a common phrase. While frustrating at times, I think this issue may also provide a great learning experience for a student; for example in how to handle her or himself while dealing with a large entity, or how to work within a coalition to try and create change. (This experience may also further illuminate issues that may have been potentially experienced within their own communities at home—I’d be interested to learn more). Personally, I hope the highway is built elsewhere, in lands less ecologically sensitive, and as equally important, in lands that are less culturally important.

By: Jenny Vazquez

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Native American Health Symposium - Oklahoma City

I was really looking forward to the Native American Health Symposium that took place on July 9 in Oklahoma City. Kudos to Dr. Steve Prescott for proposing the symposium and hosting a wonderful welcome dinner for us the night before, and to the team at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for organizing the flawless event.

Dr. Steve Prescott with Jenny, Martina, and Bret S.

Health care is a really important issue I haven’t studied in depth, and I was curious to learn about the unique ways it effects the American Indian population. The speakers focused on how to address dementia, arthritis, and diabetes that are disproportionately impacting Native communities, and how to work with traditional elders who might have different perceptions about ailments and treatments than their caregivers.

I was particularly struck by Kenneth Copeland’s presentation on youth obesity and diabetes. He elucidated connections between children’s health and the riders’ main focus areas of environmental and Native American issues that I didn’t anticipate. Increasing numbers of children are developing Type II Diabetes Mellitus, due to decreasing physical education programs and the lack of readily available nutritious food. He called upon Udallers to seek holistic solutions to these problems. We need to rethink our city and town planning to provide sidewalks and safe places for children to exercise outdoors, decrease toxins in the environment, and increase access to nutritious foods while eliminating products with high amounts of corn syrup, refined sugars, and palm oil.

By: Jennifer Baldwin

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Up the Bayou, Down the Bayou, and Across the Bayou

The United Houma Nation of Louisiana is a 17,000 member tribal community located throughout lower bayou settlements in St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, and St. Bernard. We were given the opportunity to tour these communities and meet tribal members July 6th, all thanks to the United Houma Nation.

We spent the day traveling between the five United Houma Nation communities and meeting tribal members at every stop. Brenda Dardar-Robichaux, Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation, began our tour by taking us to the Hurricane Relief Center Office, located in the lower level of her home. There we viewed a slideshow and listened as Brenda discussed the issues surrounding Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Together the hurricanes affected 8,000 of the 17,000 Houma members, not only causing destruction of property but also tore apart families through relocation and interruption of livelihoods and careers. It was nice to hear that most of the immediate post-hurricane help came from Wal-Mart and various volunteers. Brenda noted that at one time there were more than 80 tents pitched on the front lawn with volunteers from all over the country. She also commented on how media like Indian Country Today and public outreach through National Congress of American Indians increased the amount of awareness and attention that came to the United Houma Nation.

Brenda, her son Jason and daughter Felicite, and tribal member Curtis Hendon led us on a tour of the other tribal communities. At one location we met with many tribal members to discuss the history and present situation with the education system. Fair and adequate schooling were not concepts that tribal members were able to obtain. Attending school up the bayou was not allowed until fairly recently, and when it was allowed, discrimination was always there. The teachers that taught down the bayou were those that were ‘brave enough’ to teach Indian students which often resulted in teachers that were not qualified for the position. At one time, close to ninety percent did not finish high school. Along with education, we also learned about the United Houma Nation’s application for federal recognition. They were told in 1984 at the start of the process that it would take around eighteen months. In the beginning they met four out of the seven criteria for federal recognition so they sent in a rebuttal explaining the three that were supposedly not met. They are currently awaiting a ruling after 23 years in the application process.

We went to back to Brenda’s home for a wonderful lunch of local seafood, vegetables, and desserts. Numerous community members were there to eat and talk on a personal level. After lunch and socializing, we set out on a tour provided by Annie Miller’s Son’s Swamp and Marsh Tour. We saw all sorts of wildlife including turtles, jumping fish, Great Blue, Little Blue, and Little Green Herons, egrets, and lots of gators!

We set out for more touring of the surrounding tribal communities after the swamp tour. Our bus picked up Louise Billiot, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the Houma Nation, who discussed the importance of how it only takes one to make a difference. In this case she referred to Willamena Hooper who worked to open a community center for the United Houma people.

Finally we met Miss Marie Dean, a treasured elder who has a great skill of basket weaving. Her simple style of living and big heart is one that most everyone can learn from. Our day with the United Houma Nation ended with Brenda welcoming us back into her home for dinner and more socializing.

Riders meet with Miss Marie Dean in her home

I think most of the riders would agree that our first visit to a tribal community was amazing. The United Houma Nation of Louisiana were absolutely wonderful people who offered us not only great food and hospitality but knowledge that we can all use throughout our travels.

By: Martina Gast

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Fun Facts about the United Houma Nation

Demographics (Five parishes of residence)

• Terrebonne 36%
• Lafourche 23%
• Jefferson 20%
• St. Mary 11%
• St. Bernard 7%

Language and Health Care

• 4% report Houma/French as the primary language in the home
• 40% speak Houma/French in addition to English
• 30% of tribal members have used traditional healing

Education

• 43% of the total population have less than a high school education
• 8% of the total population have advanced degrees (associates, bachelors, or greater)

Cultural Events

• Elders Fest
• Festival of Houma
• Jazz and Heritage Festivals
• Pow Wows
• Summer Camps

* Information taken from the pamphlet “The Houma People: Culture, History, and Traditions” *

More information at: www.unitedhoumanation.org

By: Martina Gast

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Cornell University … what!

Ithaca, NY welcomed us with open arms. As we rolled into Cornell, we found Scott Perez, Udall Scholar 2001, waiting there for us. We stayed on the Cornell campus in the Ecohouse and had almost all of our meals catered there thanks for to Beth Fiori, fellowship coordinator. Ding Kong, a 2007 Scholar, tagged along to most of the events. Cornell was our first stop with a tribal emphasis.

On Friday night Beth and Scott took all the riders and Joel to Moosewood Restaurant. Saturday morning we went to the Ithaca Farmers Market and had front row parking. We ran a public outreach project which went very well. Jenny V. bought a plant for the bus. We came back to the Ecohouse and Scott gave a talk on some tribal issues in the Ithaca/New York area. We then took a walk to the Herbert R. Johnson Museum of Art to check out the “Walk in Beauty: Discovering American Indian Art” show. Native people from all across the country had art on display at the museum, which offered a great variety for the public to see. After spending about a half hour there we broke up into different groups to hang out and go on our own. Some went to an organic farm, others went for a walk around campus, and some went to Akwe:kon, the Native American house on campus.

We had a nice dinner on Saturday night with many guests including Jane Mt. Pleasant, Director of the Cornell University American Indian Program.

Cornell was fun and after Ithaca, we headed to Penn State.

By: Martina Gast

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Udall Legacy Bus Tour Gets a Capitol Send-Off

And we’re off! At noon on Capitol Hill – we got our first glimpse of the bus – and it’s a beauty.

A crowd of folks – including alumni of the Udall programs, family, friends, sponsors and others gathered to hear a series of send-off speeches from:

• Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT)
• Rep. Peter Welch (VT)
• Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)
• Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ)
• Rep. Harry Mitchell (AZ)
• Rep. Nick Rahall II (WV)
• Rep. Mark Udall (CO) [Mo’s son]
• Dr. Anne Udall [Mo’s daughter]

Each successive speaker emphasized just how strongly Mo’s legacy is still felt on Capitol Hill to this day. And there’s also no question that energy independence and biofuels is an issue many of the members of Congress are focusing on in this session.

At the end of the event ... you could say the crew was pretty excited!

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Welcome to the Udall Legacy Bus Tour Blog

The Countdown Begins.

On June 12th, thirteen crazy Udallers are hoppin' on a ride so pimped out -- it would make Arnold Schwarzenegger jealous. We're taking our motor coach coast-to-coast highlighting people -- especially young people -- who are finding solutions to pressing environmental and Native American issues (full itinerary). And we're going to be documenting the whole trip -- with text, photo, and video -- right here.

We want you to join us; There are a couple of ways to do it

1. Join our email list. On the right hand navigation bar, a little bit down, there's an easy place to sign up for it. We'll be sending updates from the road with news from the communities we visit, links to stories about the tour, and links back to the blog. We promise not to flood your inbox (i.e. no more than two emails/week).



2. If you're tech savvy -- sign up for our RSS feed. See the button at the bottom of our blog or copy this link into your feed reader.



3. If you hate computers but love Mo & Udallers, just bookmark our site and keep checking back here: blogs.udall.gov
   

We also want your help spreading the word.

1. If you're on Facebook, MySpace, or have your own blog/website -- please link to us. The bookmark button at the bottom of our blog makes it easy.



2. Send your friends and family a link to our blog. We all know there are problems out there. Our tour --and blog -- will be highlighting some of the solutions.
   



3. And, if you really want to be our favorite person ever -- tell any reporter you know about our tour and point 'em in the direction of our media resources.

While we're posting updates from the road, we hope to get your feedback. At the end of every post there's a link that says 'comments.' Just click on that link to leave your thoughts. If you've got any suggestions for the blogs, drop us a line at : legacybustour@udall.gov

THREE WEEKS 'TILL KICK-OFF IN D.C.

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