Urge the USDA to Protect Woman, Infants and Children from Mercury-laden canned tuna

Howka everyone, I know many of our people get WIC and I wanted to pass on this message I just received..


Urge the USDA to Protect Woman, Infants and Children from Mercury-laden canned tuna

Public Comment ends February 1, 2010

For more information please contact Buffy Martin Tarbox, Got Mercury Campaign Coordinator at buffy@gotmercury.org or 415-663-8590 x106

Methylmercury is a potent neurotoxin and an estimated 630,000 children born in the US are at risk each year from neurological defects due to mercury contamination, primarily as the result of consuming seafood high in mercury.

Low-income women enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) are allowed up to 30 ounces of chunk light tuna a week in their supplemental food packages. Studies have shown that "chunk light" or "light tuna" may contain mercury levels comparable to canned albacore tuna which has previously been eliminated from WIC.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service is accepting public comments on revisions to the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) allowable food items list. With the help of our members like you and our partner organizations, Got Mercury was successful in removing canned albacore from WIC food packages and urges the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to remove all canned tuna. Tuna is the number one source of mercury in the American diet and providing canned tuna in WIC food packages is dangerous to the health of pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children.

Currently, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service is accepting public comments and we need to send a strong message to protect low-income women and children from the toxic effects of mercury in canned tuna.

Send a letter today to the USDA to let them know they need to be doing more to protect vulnerable women, infants and children from mercury-laden canned tuna and should remove all canned tuna from WIC food packages.

HOW TO SUBMIT COMMENTS: Public Comment ends February 1, 2010

1. Click Here
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480370d00


2. Enter your first & last name under "Submitter Information"
3. List "Private Citizen" as your "Organization"
4. Cut and Paste the sample comment letter under "Public Comment or Submission" or write your own

SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER

Director, Supplemental Food Programs Division
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
3101 Park Center Drive, Room 520
Alexandria, Virginia 22302

Dear Director of Supplemental Food Programs Division,

RE: Docket No. FNS-2006-0037-0003

I am very concerned about "chunk light" or canned "light tuna" being included in food packages for women receiving assistance through the Women, Infants and Children program. Studies have shown that canned "light tuna" contains high levels of mercury, sometimes as high as canned albacore tuna. I applaud the USDA's decision to remove albacore tuna from WIC food packages due to mercury concerns and believe the USDA needs to do more to protect vulnerable women and children by removing all canned tuna.

Methylmercury is a known neurotoxin, with children being at greatest risks from its effects. As stated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency an estimated 630,000 children born in the US are at risk each year from neurological defects due to mercury contamination.

I would like to see the USDA take the following actions to reduce low income women and children's exposure to mercury:

• Eliminate all canned tuna from WIC food packages
• Offer canned fish alternatives such as canned wild salmon, anchovies, sardines and mackerel
• Embark on a public education effort in order to assist women in deciding which fish are healthiest for their diet

Sincerely,


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Got Mercury? Email News and Updates
PO Box 370, Forest Knolls, CA 94933 USA

WAYS TO SAVE WATER ON THE REZ

Howka sisters and brothers..as resources become more precious on our rez, I wanted to share some resources to help our families out.Because electricity and water are hard to get in certain places on the rez, I wanted to share some websites that have resources for gathering rain water. Maybe we can start incorporating these as a way to get water up on the mountain to houses that dont have running water.Please check out these sites
www.rainthanks.com/rain-barrels-and-tanks.html
or
h2o-me.com/
Maybe we could get our tribal leader to bring them up here for a demonstration and find out costs..
www.bushmanusa.com

FEB. 6TH 11:30 CEREMONY FOR UNCLE AUGUSTINE QUEVAS

Howka sisters and brothers.... I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the ceremony Feb. 6th for my uncle Augustine Quevas. He was a POW during WW2 and never returned home. The medals he was due were never given to our family, nor did anyone every come to our reservation to tell our family the truth about what happened to him. I had posted a note on a WW2 site thanks to roger mansell, and with that posting came emails from various people that either knew Uncle augustine or had a family member that was a POW with him. One of the men who's father survived the ship that Uncle Augustine died on is willing to give our family the medals that were due him. In turn I am loaning the medals to the local veterans museum along with photos and background info of Augustine. I am flying this man in and we will be having a ceremony of the giving of the medals from him to me and then from me to the museum. Please come out and honor our deceased Santa Ysabel tribal member's ceremony.The ceremony will be at the veterans museum in San Diego on Park blvd. on the west side. the cross street is Presidents way..

California Indian Arts Association Video Collection

I found this website that might be of interest to our basketmakers.


California Indian Arts Association Meetings 1994-2000
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt1t1nd7p9%3Bstyle=oac4%3Bview=dsc



Video recordings of California Indian Arts Association meetings. Recorded between 1994-2000

Online Resources at the University of San Diego

Howka sisters and brothers.. I first want to say I hope everyone comes out for the fundraiser at the casino to help raise funds for our children at Warner school. There appear to be many things they need and I am hoping we can all reach out and help them.

I have a great link that has a compilation of numerous resources about the history of San Diego. There are many links that would be about our people, so check it out.. It may even help some of you with homework or school projects.
http://history.sandiego.edu/GEN/local/main.html

SUMMER INTERNSHIPS

SEQUOYAH NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER SUMMER INTERNSHIPS The Sequoyah National Research Center (SNRC) seeks three triballyaffiliated student interns for summer 2010 during the period of June 1through July 31. Interns will work at least 25 hours per week in theCenter doing basic archival and research work under the direction ofCenter staff. The SNRC at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) housesthe papers and special collections of tribal individuals andorganizations, the world's largest archival collection of newspapersand other periodicals published by tribal individuals andorganizations, and the Dr. J. W. Wiggins Collection of Native AmericanArt, consisting more than 2,300 artworks, a massive archivedocumenting the collection, and a reference library on indigenous artof more than a thousand volumes. The goal of the American Indian Student Internship Program is toprovide students an experiential learning environment in which toacquire an understanding of the value of archives and the researchpotential of the collections of the Center and to engage in academicresearch and practical database building activities related to tribalculture, society, and issues. Interns will be expected to demonstratethe value of their experience by either a summary report of work,finding aids for collections, reports of research or other writtenwork that may be shared with their home institutions. To qualify for an internship, students must Be tribally affiliatedHave completed at least 60 college hoursBe in good standing at their home institutions of higher learning Applications should include A copy of the student's academic transcriptA reference or sponsor letter from the head of the student's majordepartment or from another relevant academic officialA statement of no more than one page expressing why the internexperience would likely be beneficial to the student's academic orcareer goals. To assist the student in meeting expenses during the two-month tenureof the internship, the Center offers On-campus housing paid for by the Center ($1,000)2,000 to defray other living expenses. Students interested in applying should send applications or inquiriesby e-mail to Daniel F. Littlefield at dflittlefiel@ualr.edu or RobertE. Sanderson at resanderson@ualr.edu or by U. S. mail to SNRC,University Plaza, Suite 500, University of Arkansas at Little Rock,2801 S. University Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72204. The SNRC mustreceive applications by March 15, 2010. The Center will select threeapplicants and three alternates. The Center staff will notifystudents of their decision by April 1, 2010.

NORDSTROM SCHOLARSHIP

Nordstrom's is giving away $10,000 scholarships to deserving students in our
community who plan on attending a 4 year accredited college of choice.
Application deadline is February 2010, so share with family and friends.

Elilee Greene, Nordstrom Corporate Program Scholarship Coordinator can be
reached at 206/373-4550 or
nordscholar@nordstrom.com.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/scholarship

LINKS FOR TEACHERS TEACHING ABOUT OUR PEOPLE

HOWKA, THERE IS A WEBSITE THAT IS AN EXCELLENT COMPILATION OF RESOURCES FOR TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT US.
http://www.powayusd.com/projects/EdTechCentralnew/Kumeyaay/KumeyaayWebLinks.htm

BOOK USING KUMEYAAY WORDS AND THE LUCAS NAME

Howka sisters and brothers, I stumbled across an authors website that has a book using our language and the Lucas families last name. This book is not about our people, it's one of those romance novels. I was shocked to see it .. I have not read it , but I am wondering who she talked to amongst our people to get the words. The name of the book is Dream Quest. Here are the website links
http://www.janetwellington.com/kumeyaay2.htm

http://www.janetwellington.com/excerpt.htm

If anyone has read the book let me know what they think.In the meantime I will try and find a copy. In the reviews I noticed it was only non Indians that commented.While she did get the language right,some of the things she described in the excerpt would be more of a Lakota culture not our culture. While I cannot say too much as I have not read it yet, but looking at her bibliography resources she researched books about our people.I am wondering until now if any of our people even know aboout this book, this is why I am posting this. If any of our tribal people have read the romance novel please let me know.

EDWARD CURTIS PHOTOS ONLINE

http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/curtis/browsetribes.html
Northwestern university has digitized the collection of images created by Edward Curtis. You can search by tribes using the link above.