Announcements

Seattle Human Rights Commission Calls on City to Urge Water Quality Standards Protective of Health and Human Rights

Teresa Walrod

Seattle Human Rights Commission

1963 – 2015   ·   52 years of championing human rights and fostering a just future

March 9, 2015

Human Rights Commission Calls on City to Urge Water Quality Standards Protective of Health and Human Rights; Announces a Seattle Public Hearing on the Proposed Standards

For information contact:

Ethel Branch

(206) 344-8100

ethel.billie@gmail.com

SEATTLE–Today the Seattle Human Rights Commission sent letters to the Mayor and City Council, urging them adopt a position on Washington State’s proposed revised Water Quality Standards (WQS) supportive of health and human rights. The Commission stated in their letter that “Our City residents and our economy are strongly rooted in fish. City residents should be able to eat fish caught in Washington waters without fearing that they have exposed themselves to harmful levels of toxics or placed themselves at undue risk of cancer.” Accordingly, the Commission asked the City to support the proposed resetting of the State’s fish consumption rate to an amount that will allow Washingtonians to healthfully eat one fish meal a day (175 g/day). Existing standards only protect Washington fish consumers in safely eating one fish meal a month (6.5 g/day). The Commission also urged the City to oppose the State’s proposed tenfold increase to Washingtonians’ cancer risk level. The fish consumption rate and the cancer risk level feed into a formula that the State uses to set limits on the amounts of toxic pollutants that can be released into the State’s waterways. In the course of a week, over a thousand Washingtonians—many Seattleites—have signed onto comments via change.org that urge the State to take this more health and human rights-based approach to revising our Water Quality Standards. Continue reading →

Job Posting: Law Office Administrator at NARF

Kate Fort

Here.

JOB SUMMARY: Manages the day-to-day operations of the law office and, in that capacity, maintains responsibility for personnel administration (including compensation and insurance benefits) network and communications systems, physical facilities, and legal support functions. Provides administrative support for the Executive Director and the Litigation Management Committee. The LOA identifies and plans for the changing needs of the organization, shares responsibility with the appropriate senior managers for strategic planning, and contributes to cost-effective management throughout the organization.
See the full job description at: http://www.narf.org/contact-us/join-team/

ANNUAL SALARY RANGE: $75,530 + depending on experience. Generous benefits.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
Applications will be considered in the order that they are received. Submit resume with application letter and names and addresses of up to three references no later than April 30, 2015 to:
Katrina Mora, Administrative Assistant
katrina@narf.org
NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND
1506 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80302-6296

Poetry Submissions Sought from Native Americans in or from California

Ann Tweedy1 Comment

CALL FOR POETRY SUBMISSIONS FOR ANTHOLOGY

Deadline: June 1, 2015

Red Indian Road West:
Native American Poetry from California

To be published by Scarlet Tanager Books:
http://www.ScarletTanager.com

Who should submit? Native American poets from California tribes as well as poets from tribes nationwide who were born or currently live in California. All poems submitted should relate directly or indirectly to Native American experience in California. Please send 3 to 5 poems, tribal affiliation, and a short bio (no longer than 150 words) to Lucille Lang Day: lucyday[AT]scarlettanager[DOT]com. Either a Word .doc attachment or pasted text is okay. Payment is one copy of anthology.

Editors:

Luke Warm Water (Oglala Lakota) has been published in Shedding Skins: Four Sioux Poets (Michigan State University Press, 2008) and in many literary magazines and anthologies. He was a featured poet at the prestigious Geraldine R. Dodge 12th Biennial Poetry Festival. Luke’s poetry collection City Tree of Concrete and Hope received an Artists Embassy International literary/cultural award in 2013.

Lucille Lang Day (Wampanoag) is the author of ten poetry collections and chapbooks, including The Curvature of Blue, Infinities, and Wild One. Her chapbook Dreaming of Sunflowers: Museum Poems won the 2014 Blue Light Poetry Prize and Chapbook Contest and will be published in 2015. Her full-length collection Becoming an Ancestor will appear in 2015 from Červená Barva Press.

__._,_.___

Job Opening for Fredicks Peebles & Morgan, Omaha Office

Kate Fort1 Comment

Transactional and Tribal Government Attorney

Additional Call-in For Tribes on AFCARS Proposed Rules

Kate Fort

If you missed Friday’s call, here is another opportunity to call in. In addition, the government is taking written comments on the rule changes through April 10. This is a chance to get the federal government to add ICWA-related reporting requirements to AFCARS, which applies to states and some tribes. By adding ICWA reporting requirements, the federal government has the opportunity to force states to better track ICWA compliance.

Colleagues:

 As we announced earlier this week, the Children’s Bureau will hold national informational calls with stakeholders, states and tribal representatives on the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, February 9, 2015.

The first call with states and stakeholders was held on Wednesday, February 18th.  The second call for states and stakeholders will take place on Friday, February 20, 2015 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Eastern. 

We are pleased to announce that we have added a second informational call for tribal representatives.  The two informational calls with tribal representatives will take place on Friday, February 20, 2015 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern and Wednesday, March 4, 2015 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern. 

 Attached is the presentation that we use during the calls.  This presentation is the same for all calls and will be available on the Children’s Bureau website shortly.  The agendas with updated call-in information are attached.  The content of the agendas has not changed.

This is a reminder that these calls provide an overview of the NPRM for informational purposes only.  We will not take questions during any of the calls.  If you wish to comment on the NPRM, please submit comments to www.regulations.gov on or before April 10, 2015.  The text of the NPRM can be found here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-02-09/pdf/2015-02354.pdf

 Please forward this information to interested parties.

 

Call for Presentations for NAICJA Annual Conference

Kate Fort

Here.

Call for Tribes on Changes to Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Systems

Kate Fort

Call in information and agenda here.

This is an information session [for tribes] for the Children’s Bureau to provide an overview/summary of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which was published in the Federal Register on February 9, 2015

From NICWA’s press release:

A Notice of Proposed Rule Making on AFCARS was published in the Federal Register on Monday, February 9, 2015, announcing that ACF intends to change some of the AFCARS reporting requirements. The full text of this Notice of Proposed Rule Making and proposed changes can be found here and an overview is available here.

Currently, there is no requirement for states to report data related to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) as a part of AFCARS. In addition, AFCARS does not require states to identify children in their care who are eligible for ICWA’s protections. Without this data there is no national information about how and when ICWA is followed in state child welfare systems

Two Federal Members Added To Michigan’s Tribal-State Judicial Forum

Kate Fort

AUSA Jeff Davis and Magistrate Greeley. Order here.

NICWA Conference: Workshops for Legal Professionals

Kate Fort

The National Indian Child Welfare Association’s (NICWA) 33rd Annual Conference: Protecting Our Children National American Indian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect features a wide range of workshops for legal professionals looking to expand their knowledge of ICWA, including Looking Forward: Policy and Practice to Protect Against the Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl Decision and many others.

There will also be a legal professionals coffee hour sponsored by ILPC and TICA, on Monday, April 20th at 5:30 pm. NICWA’s own ICWA expert Addie Smith, Kate Fort from the ILPC, and other leaders in the field of federal Indian law will be in attendance. Come and see us!

Register for NICWA’s annual conference here.

Agenda is here.

2015 Young Native Writers Essay Contest

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here.

The description:

The Young Native Writers Essay Contest is a writing contest for Native American high school students and is designed to encourage young Native Americans to write about their experiences as a member of a Native American community and the culture that inspires them.

The voices that emerge from this program honor the legacy of every Native American who has ever lived. Add your words to the thousands submitted through this project – all writers receive a Certificate of Honor for their submission.

The Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation’s goal of promoting education and creating new opportunities for youth has inspired this essay contest. Partnering with Holland & Knight in this endeavor are the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Indian Education Association.