HOUGHTON -- Representing the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), Michigan Tech graduate Doreen Blaker offered an inspiring speech on contemporary Native American environmental issues and cultural traditions during Michigan Tech's Earth Week Speakers' Forum on March 19. The event was sponsored by Students for Environmental Sustainability (SfES) and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), MTU Chapter.
Doreen Blaker of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community speaks at MTU's Earth Week Speakers' Forum March 19. (Photo © 2009 Gustavo Bourdieu)Blaker, who works at KBIC Tribal Court as a defense advocate, is planning to attend law school next year. Meanwhile she has become involved in KBIC's efforts to protect areas of the Upper Peninsula from pollution by potential mining such as Rio Tinto/Kennecott's proposed Eagle Project for a nickel / copper sulfide mine near Marquette. The project would impact areas the Ojibwe people consider sacred and essential for their quality of life.*
Kalvin Hartwig of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and president of SfES, and Jessica Koski of KBIC, a member of AISES, representing the two student organizations sponsoring MTU's Earth Week activities, introduce Doreen Blaker of KBIC at the beginning of the Speakers' Forum. (Photo © 2009 Gustavo Bourdieu)Blaker began her talk with a reference to her Ojibwe ancestors, who signed a treaty in 1842, ceding much of their land but retaining rights to hunt, fish and gather on those ceded territories.
"The only thing they were concerned about was being able to take care of their future generations. I'm one of the future generations," Blaker said. "Over 150 years later our treaty is still standing."
Holding a symbolic eagle feather as she spoke, Blaker noted her ancestors handed down to her and future generations the "simple philosophy" that the right to hunt, fish and gather was necessary for survival. Included in this philosophy is the belief in leaving the earth the same as it is -- if not better than it is -- when you come to it.
During her presentation at the MTU Earth Week Speakers' Forum on March 19, Doreen Blaker of KBIC speaks about the Native American philosophy of respect for the air, land and water. (Video clip © 2009 Gustavo Bourdieu)
Blaker pointed out that, despite the treaty, her ancestors could be arrested for insisting on their rights to hunt, fish and gather. When testifying before the mining representatives as to the present-day cultural uses of their land, the Native Americans were accused of lacking documentation to prove these rights, which, for them, include the right to gather traditional medicines.
"We didn't even have religious freedom until 1978," Blaker noted. "One thing people don't understand is that we do things in quiet ways."
She explained that knowledge of traditional medicines requires a lifetime of learning on the part of a few people in her culture. The locations of the medicines or the places of prayer are not to be publicized, thus not documented.
"We intermingle with the non-native community," Blaker added, "and they too love the land and they love the water."
Blaker noted many local communities in the area rely on tourism, which can be destroyed if a mining company leaves a mess. Rather than a mining company showing a 10-year or even a 20-year study on how "safe" the mining is, they should produce a study to prove it is safe for 150 years, which is the Ojibwe people's idea of sustainability, she explained.
She gave an example of the copper mining in this area with its boom at the turn of the century and the waste that is still a problem.
"We had to apply for grants for (copper) mining waste (from the 1800s) -- stuff in the water -- and we were told to just leave it alone and plant grass on it," Blaker explained. "I don't want our future generations to be told to just leave it alone and maybe it'll go away."
Blaker said she believed many non-natives, like the farmers and sportsmen who have recently opposed mining in Wisconsin, share the love of the land and the view that mining lacks long-term feasibility.
She also mentioned the late Walter Bressette, an Ojibwe environmentalist who taught at Michigan Tech and who opened her mind to the fact that sportsmen also care about the land.
"I don't think color's going to matter in the future. I think we're becoming a global culture. I think large corporations are more of an issue," Blaker said. "It's about the love of the land. It's not what group you belong to. We all love the land and the water."
During a question and answer session, Patrick Martin, chair of MTU's Social Sciences Department and professor of archaeology, asked Blaker what she sees as the Tribal Council's view on the likelihood of the sulfide mining going forward.
"We're not going to give up," Blaker replied. "A great respect for the land and water is universal in our community."
After her Earth Week presentation, MTU graduate Doreen Blaker of KBIC chats with Susan and Patrick Martin, MTU professors of archaeology, under whom she studied while a student in Social Sciences. In the background is Paul White, who is doing post-doctoral work in the Department of Social Sciences. (Photo © 2009 Michele Bourdieu)
She mentioned KBIC has hired specialists to do careful scientific documentation -- a paper trail to assure future generations of KBIC's fight to protect the land and the water. The Tribal Council represents the views of the people, she added.
"The KBIC members do not see the mine as economically feasible. They see it as environmentally damaging," Blaker said.
To a question from Paul Campbell of Calumet on Native American prophecies that rivers would be poisoned in the future, Blaker said she views such prophecies as a warning -- how to avoid the environmental damage.
Blaker mentioned the recent KBIC mining ordinance that protects the land of the reservation.** She also noted Chuck Brumleve, geologist, has been doing great work to assist KBIC with the scientific documentation.
Traditional medicine
Shalini Suryanarayana, MTU Educational Opportunity executive director, asked Blaker to explain how traditional knowledge is passed on in the Native American community.
Blaker mentioned certain families who have such knowledge tend to pass it down to future generations. She noted again that healers -- both men and women who practice traditional medicine -- are answering a calling that requires lifelong learning.
"It's a very hard life," she said.
Blaker added that healers are quiet, humble people and that the community has a responsibility to take care of them. She noted, too, that traditional medicine includes both physical and spiritual healing.
Healers will tell patients to use Western medicine when necessary. Blaker gave an example of a healer who determined the cause of her own son's seizures was a b-b that had entered his head and gone into his brain. After giving her son a strawberry-leaf tea to stop the seizures, the healer recommended she take him to a doctor to remove the b-b. At the Mayo clinic, when a neurosurgeon removed the b-b, he found the healer's diagnosis of the cause of the seizures was correct.
Lori Muhlig, AISES counselor, also told a story about using both traditional and Western medicine -- a healer who treated her mother's eye trouble and a specialist at the Green Bay eye clinic. Muhlig said the specialist was very interested in what the healer had done to help.
During MTU's Earth Week Speakers' Forum, Lori Muhlig, center, counselor for the Native American students' organization (AISES), speaks about her own family's use of both traditional and Western medicine. In the foreground, right, is Shalini Suryanarayana, MTU Educational Opportunity executive director. (Photo © 2009 Michele Bourdieu)
Muhlig also mentioned the spirit of solidarity in the Native American community in which families help one another.
Blaker noted there are no homeless in their community. People take them in.
"We don't have homeless; we have couch-surfers," she said.
To a question on documentation of cultural traditions, Blaker said some work is being done to record cultural activities and beliefs, although respect for spiritual ceremonies prohibits recording certain private rituals, such as sweat lodges. Much is being done to encourage people to do their family histories and to preserve the Ojibwe language.
Although the two other KBIC speakers had to cancel their presentations because of illness and a death in the family, Suryanarayana was happy with the turnout at the Speakers' Forum.
"One thing that was especially heartening about this event was to see the diversity in the audience," Suryanarayana said. "It was a powerful venue to share information about culture and the environment."
Doreen Blaker receives a gift of ceremonial tobacco and a hug from Kalvin Hartwig and Jessica Koski who represent, respectively, SfES and AISES, the two MTU student organizations sponsoring Earth Week. (Photo © 2009 Michele Bourdieu)
Tianlu Shen, from China, an MTU student in environmental engineering who recently joined SfES, said it was good to learn about some Native American traditions.
"I'm kind of an ambassador," Shen said. "It will be very nice to tell these cultural things to my family."
* See the article by Gabriel Caplett, "Citizens' group opposes DNR lease to Rio Tinto/Kennecott for mining on public land.
** See the article on KBIC's mining ordinance on p. 1 of the March issue of Save the Wild UP's Splash publication.
"We didn't even have religious freedom until 1978," Blaker noted. "One thing people don't understand is that we do things in quiet ways."
She explained that knowledge of traditional medicines requires a lifetime of learning on the part of a few people in her culture. The locations of the medicines or the places of prayer are not to be publicized, thus not documented.
"We intermingle with the non-native community," Blaker added, "and they too love the land and they love the water."
Blaker noted many local communities in the area rely on tourism, which can be destroyed if a mining company leaves a mess. Rather than a mining company showing a 10-year or even a 20-year study on how "safe" the mining is, they should produce a study to prove it is safe for 150 years, which is the Ojibwe people's idea of sustainability, she explained.
She gave an example of the copper mining in this area with its boom at the turn of the century and the waste that is still a problem.
"We had to apply for grants for (copper) mining waste (from the 1800s) -- stuff in the water -- and we were told to just leave it alone and plant grass on it," Blaker explained. "I don't want our future generations to be told to just leave it alone and maybe it'll go away."
Blaker said she believed many non-natives, like the farmers and sportsmen who have recently opposed mining in Wisconsin, share the love of the land and the view that mining lacks long-term feasibility.
She also mentioned the late Walter Bressette, an Ojibwe environmentalist who taught at Michigan Tech and who opened her mind to the fact that sportsmen also care about the land.
"I don't think color's going to matter in the future. I think we're becoming a global culture. I think large corporations are more of an issue," Blaker said. "It's about the love of the land. It's not what group you belong to. We all love the land and the water."
During a question and answer session, Patrick Martin, chair of MTU's Social Sciences Department and professor of archaeology, asked Blaker what she sees as the Tribal Council's view on the likelihood of the sulfide mining going forward.
"We're not going to give up," Blaker replied. "A great respect for the land and water is universal in our community."
After her Earth Week presentation, MTU graduate Doreen Blaker of KBIC chats with Susan and Patrick Martin, MTU professors of archaeology, under whom she studied while a student in Social Sciences. In the background is Paul White, who is doing post-doctoral work in the Department of Social Sciences. (Photo © 2009 Michele Bourdieu)She mentioned KBIC has hired specialists to do careful scientific documentation -- a paper trail to assure future generations of KBIC's fight to protect the land and the water. The Tribal Council represents the views of the people, she added.
"The KBIC members do not see the mine as economically feasible. They see it as environmentally damaging," Blaker said.
To a question from Paul Campbell of Calumet on Native American prophecies that rivers would be poisoned in the future, Blaker said she views such prophecies as a warning -- how to avoid the environmental damage.
Blaker mentioned the recent KBIC mining ordinance that protects the land of the reservation.** She also noted Chuck Brumleve, geologist, has been doing great work to assist KBIC with the scientific documentation.
Traditional medicine
Shalini Suryanarayana, MTU Educational Opportunity executive director, asked Blaker to explain how traditional knowledge is passed on in the Native American community.
Blaker mentioned certain families who have such knowledge tend to pass it down to future generations. She noted again that healers -- both men and women who practice traditional medicine -- are answering a calling that requires lifelong learning.
"It's a very hard life," she said.
Blaker added that healers are quiet, humble people and that the community has a responsibility to take care of them. She noted, too, that traditional medicine includes both physical and spiritual healing.
Healers will tell patients to use Western medicine when necessary. Blaker gave an example of a healer who determined the cause of her own son's seizures was a b-b that had entered his head and gone into his brain. After giving her son a strawberry-leaf tea to stop the seizures, the healer recommended she take him to a doctor to remove the b-b. At the Mayo clinic, when a neurosurgeon removed the b-b, he found the healer's diagnosis of the cause of the seizures was correct.
Lori Muhlig, AISES counselor, also told a story about using both traditional and Western medicine -- a healer who treated her mother's eye trouble and a specialist at the Green Bay eye clinic. Muhlig said the specialist was very interested in what the healer had done to help.
During MTU's Earth Week Speakers' Forum, Lori Muhlig, center, counselor for the Native American students' organization (AISES), speaks about her own family's use of both traditional and Western medicine. In the foreground, right, is Shalini Suryanarayana, MTU Educational Opportunity executive director. (Photo © 2009 Michele Bourdieu)Muhlig also mentioned the spirit of solidarity in the Native American community in which families help one another.
Blaker noted there are no homeless in their community. People take them in.
"We don't have homeless; we have couch-surfers," she said.
To a question on documentation of cultural traditions, Blaker said some work is being done to record cultural activities and beliefs, although respect for spiritual ceremonies prohibits recording certain private rituals, such as sweat lodges. Much is being done to encourage people to do their family histories and to preserve the Ojibwe language.
Although the two other KBIC speakers had to cancel their presentations because of illness and a death in the family, Suryanarayana was happy with the turnout at the Speakers' Forum.
"One thing that was especially heartening about this event was to see the diversity in the audience," Suryanarayana said. "It was a powerful venue to share information about culture and the environment."
Doreen Blaker receives a gift of ceremonial tobacco and a hug from Kalvin Hartwig and Jessica Koski who represent, respectively, SfES and AISES, the two MTU student organizations sponsoring Earth Week. (Photo © 2009 Michele Bourdieu)Tianlu Shen, from China, an MTU student in environmental engineering who recently joined SfES, said it was good to learn about some Native American traditions.
"I'm kind of an ambassador," Shen said. "It will be very nice to tell these cultural things to my family."
* See the article by Gabriel Caplett, "Citizens' group opposes DNR lease to Rio Tinto/Kennecott for mining on public land.
** See the article on KBIC's mining ordinance on p. 1 of the March issue of Save the Wild UP's Splash publication.
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