ČuhyeθáØkye 2015€¦ · since 2008, the svalbard seed vault (svalbard, norway) and its...

ČuhyeθáØkye 2015

Skaru:ręØ Monthly, August 2015

Volume 6, Issue 7

August 2015 Haudenosaunee Grand Council

Tuscarora Council of Chiefs and

Clanmothers

HAUDENOSAUNEE ENVIRONMENTAL

TASK FORCE (HETF)

Oren Lyons, Political Co-Chair

Henry Lickers, Scientific Co-Chair

David Arquette, HETF Director

Noah Point, Assistant Director

TUSCARORA ENVIRONMENT

PROGRAM (TEP)

Neil Patterson, Jr. Director [email protected]

Rene Rickard, Office Administrator [email protected]

Bryan Printup, GIS/Planning [email protected]

Clint Farnham, Habitat Technician [email protected]

Following the United Nations Earth

Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the

Haudenosaunee held a Grand Council to

discuss the environmental degradation of

our communities. In accordance with the

Great Law of Peace, the Grand Council

passed and agreed, based on

Haudenosaunee protocols and cultural

beliefs, to establish the Haudenosaunee

Environmental Task Force (HETF).

The SKARU:RE MONTHLY is the

official publication of the Tuscarora

Environment Office. You can submit

articles, artwork, photographs, editorials

and letters of adulation to:

SKARU:RE MONTHLY

c/o: Tuscarora Environment

5226E Walmore Road

Tuscarora Nation

Lewiston, NY 14092

Or call: #716.264.6011

www.tuscaroraenvironment.org

or our Facebook page

“Tuscarora Environment”

September 24, 2015 - Conference: Revisiting Basic Call to

Consciousness: Peace, Equity and Friendship, Onondaga Nation WILC

Village, Event Tent, Onondaga Nation, NY. Free and open to the public,

this event is part of the Onondaga Nation’s hosting of the World Indoor

Lacrosse Championship. Event Schedule: 9am-Peace building in the

context of cultural sustainability; 11am-Equity and fairness in

incorporating indigenous knowledge in modern-day society; 12:30pm-

lunch; 1:30pm-Friendship building between neighbors; and 3:30pm-

Consciousness, what has been achieved since 1977. Sponsored by

Syracuse University, Harvard University, Cornell University, Ska:nonh

Great Law of Peace Center, NCAI, American Indian Institute and

Tewaaraton Foundation.

October 2-4, 2015 - Conference on Iroquois Research, Hilton Garden

Inn, Rochester, NY. 70th Anniversary of the Conference, it fosters and

promotes research on the Haudenosaunee since 1945. FMI:

www.iroquoia.com.

October 16-17, 2015 - Symposium on Eastern Woodland Material

Culture & Art, Seneca Art & Culture Center, Ganondagan, Victor, NY.

The first event to take place at the new Seneca Art & Culture Center, this

symposium is the study of material culture - the clothing, housing, tools

and art - helps bring humanity to life. Through images and lectures, there

will be eight speakers who will synthesize classical study of material

culture with the unique Native American perspectives on cultural meaning

and value. FMI: www.ganondagan.org or #585.742.1690.

October 19-21, 2015 - 6th Annual Indigenous Language Institute

Symposium, Isleta Resort & Casino, Albuquerque, NM. The theme this

year is “To App or Not to App: Look at How Technology Impacts

Language Learning” and it will bring presenters to showcase language

applications and programs that: engage community members or program

staff to design them; utilize easy-to-use and affordable programming tools

to develop them; and develop apps/programs that have impact on language

learning. Sponsored by the Indigenous Language Institute. FMI:

www.indigenous-language.org.

November 16-20, 2015 - 2015 National Tribal GIS Conference,

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Albuquerque, NM. The 6th year

of fostering education and professional connections at its annual

conference. The conference includes 2 days of workshops that will provide

access to hands-on and greater networking opportunities to support the

utilization of Geospatial Information Technologies with Indian Country.

FMI: www.tribalgis.com.

Brush-hogging the fields that are part of

our grassland restoration project. To be a

part of this project give Clint a call in

our Office for more information.

Coming up ...


Residential Curbside Recycling Update - Modern Recycling customers only


By Bryan Printup

ABOVE: 1954. Tuscarora basketball team. Front row (l-r): Donald,

Leander, Titus and Kenneth. Back row (l-r): Franklin, Harry, and

David.

ABOVE: Woman’s singing group. You recognize these ladies?

Farm Discloses Evidence of Former

Indian Village

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

Monday, June 23, 1952

This is one of a series of stories of Lockport

pioneers written from information furnished by

County Historian Clarence O. Lewis, who

describes the following circumstances:

In 1823, an Indian skeleton was discovered by

Ellakim Hammond on his farm in the town of

Cambria. Not realizing the importance of the fine,

he made no further investigation until Eli Bruce,

learning of the discovery, proposed to Mr.

Hammond that they dig further on the spot where

the skeleton was found.

This they did and uncovered a pit 24 feet square

by 4 1/2 feet in depth, which was filled with the

skeletons of Indians of all ages and both sexes,

piled in layers. They estimated the number to run

into the hundreds. Arrowheads were found

embedded in some and others showed evidence of

having been killed by tomahawks.

The conclusion of Mr. Bruce was that a great

massacre of Indians had occurred there centuries

before. The soil being of light sandy texture and

on an elevation and the top of the pit being

covered over with sandstone accounted for the

remarkable preservation of the skeletons.

Other relics found nearby indicated there once

had been quite a large Indian village on the farm.

Mr. Bruce and Mr. Hammond commercialized on

the find by charging 10 cents admission to the

site. One hundred and fifty persons on the

average per day visited the spot the first season,

each one carrying away some souvenir from the

pit.

The Hammond farm on which this ossuary was

discovered eventually came into the possession of

the John Gould family. Benjamin F. Gould, a

grandson, lived there until 1946 when he sold it to

its present owner, Richard N. Lein. It is located

between the Thrall and Blackman Roads and

extends to the escarpment of the Mountain Road.


T his September 2015 marks National Preparedness Month, which is a great opportunity to remind our families the

importance of putting together a family emergency response plan and an emergency supply list.


Y es, you can save vegetable

seeds from your garden

produce to plant next year. Seed

saving involves selecting suitable

plants from which to save seed,

harvesting seeds at the right time,

and storing them properly over the

winter.

Once you have planted an open-

pollinated crop, select the plants

from which you want to save seed.

Choose only the most vigorous plants

with the best-tasting fruit as parents

for the next year’s crop. Do not save

seed from weak or off-type plants.

The enemy of seeds are similar: heat,

light and humidity. Some sources

also indicate that oxygen is a

problem with seed storage. Here are

some tips for storing your seeds:

Keep seeds at a cool to cold

temperature of 40 degrees or less.

Avoid fluctuations in

temperature such as a garage or

storeroom that is cold in winter but

blazing hot in summer.

Avoid light and never store seeds

in direct sunlight or a well lit room.

Keep your seeds in a moisture

proof container. A Mylar bag or

mason jar is perfect as is a food saver

bag. Even a standard Ziploc bag will

work if you take care to squeeze out

all of the air first.

Storing seeds with a desiccant

(silica gel) or oxygen absorber may

prolong their life.

As with your food stores, rotate

seeds every few years. This is not

100% necessary but if you are

gardening anyway, why not rotate?

When you are ready to use your

seeds, keep them in their closed

storage container until the seeds

come to room temperature. This will

prevent unwanted condensation from

settling on the seed packets.

To store your own saved seeds,

spread them out and allow them to air

dry. Once dry, put them in envelopes

or even repurposed medicine bottles

and label them. You can then store

them in your refrigerator or freezer

just like store-bought seeds.

There are different methods to store

your seeds. Some universities and

seed banks agree that storing seeds in

the freezer is the best way to keep

your seeds for an extended period of

time. The international seed bank in

the Netherlands stores the world’s

seeds in large freezers that are

guarded year round.

Since 2008, the Svalbard Seed Vault

(Svalbard, Norway) and its guardians

have been entrusted by the world’s

governments with the safekeeping of

the most prized varieties of crops on

which human civilization was raised.

As of December 2014 it contained

the seeds of nearly 4,000 plant

species - more than 720,000

individual plastic-sheathed samples.

The site was built to be disaster-

proof: 130 meters up the mountain in

case of sea-level rise, earthquake

resistant and with a natural insulation

of permafrost to ensure the contents

were kept frozen for decades to

come.

Recently the USDA, Africa Rice

Centre and Seed Savers Exchange

made deposits to the Vault, bringing

the total up to 865,000 different

samples. Almost every country in the

world has deposited seeds - with

some notable exceptions. Japan and

China have yet to join in. India

remains wary and there are not

enough specimens of green leafy

vegetables, which are important

staples in Africa. Italy has deposited

only two samples and there has been

a drop-off in deposits from

developing countries in the last two

years, since the vault stopped paying

for shipping.

There are some resources available to

help you save your seeds. Check out

your local library for books and

resources. Additional internet sites:

* “A Seed Saving Guide” by

Organic Seed Alliance

(seedalliance.org)

* Seedsavers.org

* MotherEarthNews.org

Seed Saving Time: How To Prepare For Next Year

ABOVE: Storage bins full of seeds in

the -18° C facility in Svalbard, Norway.


T his past August was our annual

rabies bait drop in conjunction

with the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA.) Our Office has

been working with them to eradicate

the rabies virus, facilitating vaccine

bait drops from small airplanes since

1995.

The new bait consists of a blister

pack containing the vaccine

ONRAB. The packets are slightly

larger than a 25 cent piece and are

often coated with sweet attractants

like vegetable-based fats, wax, icing

sugar vegetable oils and artificial

marshmallow flavor.

Humans and pets should leave the

bait undisturbed if encountered. If

contact with the bait occurs, the

contact area should be rinsed with

warm water and soap. Additional

information can be found at the

USDA APHIS website,

aphis.usda.gov.

I t s a continuous battle to dispose

of electronics properly. It’s a

problem that many residents,

counties, towns and communities

face, including Tuscarora. This past

year the NYS Electronic Equipment

Recycling and Reuse Act was

implemented which completely

changed the electronics recycling

game. Refuse disposal companies (ie.

Modern Disposal) can no longer

accept electronics at their landfills or

at their roadside services. Instead, all

electronic manufacturing companies

are now required to recycle their

electronics (and one additional

electronic by a different company)

free of charge. Whether they do it via

a drop-off site or through free

shipping to their facility. Most

companies work with municipalities

to allow the disposal of electronics

free of charge, but municipalities are

now requiring that the drop-off sites

are for residents only. So how do

others recycle their electronics with

ease?

If you check out the NYS

DEC website for the list of

electronic companies and

their websites, you can

request shipping labels from

them (free of charge) and

mail them your electronics.

This process may be tedious

but you can do it for free

and at your convenience.

The electronics chain store, Best

Buy, will accept recyclable

electronics right at their stores,

including our Best Buy in Amherst,

NY. They are a drop-off site only and

they will not pick-up electronics.

Contact them or check out their

website for details about what's

acceptable or not.

Other options include the Salvation

Army, and AmVets locations. They

will recycle electronics for you, free

of charge. Contact their locations for

more specifics. In addition, Sunn

King will help you recycle

electronics as well. Their website,

sunnking.com, provides a listing of

locations they work with that will

recycle electronics in our WNY

region.

Here at Tuscarora we will be

conducting a electronics and

household hazardous waste

collection day this Fall. The event

will also include free disposal of

refrigerators, freezers and AC

units. Open to Tuscarora residents.

Please keep an eye out for a

specific date and time. If you have

any questions give our Office a call

and we can do our best to help out.

Electronics Recycling: The What and The Where

Annual Bait Drop

By Rene Rickard

Skaru:rèØ Monthly Tuscarora Environment Office 5226E Walmore Road Tuscarora Nation Lewiston, NY 14092

Skaru:rèØ Resident

Did You Know . . .

The National Big Tree Program celebrates

its 75th anniversary in 2015 as a leader in

recognizing the beauty and critical

ecosystem services provided by our biggest

and oldest trees. More than 781 champions

are crowned and documented in their

annual American Forests Champion Trees

national register. New York has 14 trees

listed on the register including trees like

Northern Red Oak, Shinning Willow,

Carolina Silverbell, Common Juniper and

Witch Hazel. www.americanforests.org

Beavers have big flat tails to store fat because

their hairless body releases body heat, and

they need regulating their body temperature.

They also use their tails as a way to warn other

beavers in the vicinity that danger is near, by

slapping the water with their tail when diving

after being frightened. Other purposes for their

tails include: in the water the animal uses it

flexible tail as a four-way rudder; and on land

the tail acts as a prop when sitting or standing

and acts as a counter balance when carrying building material.

www.landscouncil.org

Generally, 2-8 million

gallons of water may be

used to frack a well. Some

wells consume much

more. A well may be

fracked multiple times,

with each frack increasing

the chances of chemical

leakage into the soil and

local water sources. The

NYS DEC estimates each

well, per frack, will

require 2.4 to 7.8 million

gallons of water. This

translates into roughly 400 to 600 tanker truckloads

of liquids to the well, and 200 to 300 tanker

truckloads of liquid waste from the well. An 18-

wheeler weighs up to 80,000 lbs. day-in and day-

out, these trucks destroy roads and bridges, leaving

towns to clean up the mess.

www.gaslandthemovie.com

ČuhyeθáØkye 2015€¦ · since 2008, the svalbard seed vault (svalbard, norway) and its...

Documents