User:Emerson bc/Emerson's Sandbox

User:Emerson bc

EMERSON'S AWSOME SAND BOX
I will be doing some back ground information about the Montana v. United States Case. I think that the the wikipedia entry of the Montana v. United States Case is missing alot of the background information that can shed some light on the the infor leading to the Supreme Court decision.

The first thing that I am going to do is to interview people. I will be interviewing 5 older people 60 years and up. my second group will be 5 people from 20 years to 60 years. the final group will be peopel from 18 years old to 20 years old. I am going to ask about what they know about the case. I will ask what they know leading up to the case and finally I will ask them how the they view the case and how it is affectim them. Initally I was only going to ask tribal members but I think it will good to interview non-tribal folks as well. One final question I will ask is if they know James Junior Finch or if they have ever heard of him.

The final addition I will put in the article is the research I am starting today about James Junior Finch. He was the guy that defied the resolution and fished. We do not know too much about this person. I will also review and input the information from the previous cases from U.S. District Court of United States v. Finch and show how the Judge James F. Battin had ruled one way and later reversed himself.

So we can write anything in our sandbox? YESSSSS

JUST SOME IDEAS FOR CHANGES PER ASSIGNMENT...LINE 2: DOUBLE "the's" and "infor" LINES 3 AND 4: REPLACE PERIODS WITH COMMAS, PEOPLE MISSPELLED, LINE 5: AFFECTTING MISSPELLED, LINE 5 AND 6: LAST SENTENCE CONSIDER CHANGING TO SOMETHING LIKE "Initially, I was only going to interview tribal members, but I may interview non-tribal members as well to see what they know or are familiar with the case and it's outcomes. LINE 7: CHANGE "the guy" to the person.  THanks  AL Eire's Son 18:41, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society
The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society is a non-profit organization and is a national tribal organization established informally during the early 1980's. NAFWS was incorporated in 1983 to develop a national communications network for the exchange of information and management techniques related to self-determined tribal fish and wildlife management.

Beginning in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s many tribes across the nation began to take a more proactive approach to the management of their natural resources, especially fish and wildlife resources. This was prompted by the increase of tourism on reservation lands which included recreational opportunities like hunting and fishing. This was set into motion by legislation established by Congress, Public Law 93-638 better known as the “Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act”. This was followed by several legal cases, the MescaleroApache Tribe vs. State of New Mexico, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation vs. State of Washington and the White Mountain Apache Tribe vs. Bracker just to mention a few, that were passed by the Supreme Court which recognized the Tribes sovereignty and jurisdictional right to manage their own fish and wildlife resources within reservation exterior boundaries. Even today these rights are being contested in various forms by the States and Federal governments.

It was these actions that lead to the formation of a national organization that would be established to assist tribes in the development and protection of Indian fish and wildlife resources. The Society was founded in 1982 prompted by a few dedicated individuals who came together in July of 1981 on the Warm Springs reservation to attend a Tribal Fish and Wildlife Workshop sponsored by the Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was there that a few dedicated folks, Nathan Jim “Eight Ball”, Buzz Cobell, Herschel Mays, Doug Dompier, John Smith, Levi George, Butch Blazer and a few others were instrumental in coming up with the strategy to develop a national organization now known as the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society (NAFWS). It was Buzz Cobell who organized the first national meeting in Great Falls, Montana in 1982. The Blackfeet Tribe hosted the national Indian/Eskimo Fish and Wildlife conference. This meeting provided the nucleus and impetus for the first Society meeting, whereby the first Board of Directors were elected. Mr. Cobell was elected the Societies first President. Since that first president, there have been eight others to serve in that capacity and they include; John Smith, John Antonio, Patricia Zakovec, Don Sampson, Ron Skates, Butch Blazer, Matthew “Cully” Vanderhoop and Joe Jay Pinkham III. During that period the Society has had five Executive Directors which include; Dewey Schwalenberg, Ella Mulford, Ken Poynter, Ira Newbreast and Donald “Fred” Matt.

To there are seven regions of the Society which include: Northwest, Southwest, Great Plains, Great Lakes, Northeast, Southeast and Alaska, which was the last region to join the Society in 1992. The Society was founded on the knowledge that without wild animals, life would be deprived and demeaned, that they move the people through the great mystery of creation. As Chief Sealth quoted in 1855, "if all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to man". All things are connected.

The NAFWS’s mission as a non-profit organization is to assist where possible the Tribes/Native Villages of Alaska with protection, preservation and to enhance the wise use of Native American fish and wildlife resources and associated habitats. The Society’s purposes are charitable, educational, scientific and cultural. The primary purposes are as follows:
 * assist in the facilitation and coordination of inter-tribal communications in regards to fish and wildlife matters
 * including treaty rights issues
 * court cases that may have an adverse impacts on the management of tribal fish
 * wildlife and hunting/fishing regulations
 * educate Native Americans involved in fish and wildlife management
 * inform policy decision makers and other natural resource managers of the best management practices
 * provide administrative support
 * expertise and advice to tribal governments as it relates to fish and wildlife and recreation resources
 * improve the general welfare of tribal people through education and technical assistance
 * provide professional publications, promotional activities and conferences that provide a forum for disseminating information to society members and other non-Indian organizations, public officials and the general public.

The primary funding source for the Society comes from annual appropriations from Congress that is administered through various federal agencies. However the Society also relies on funding from many sources that are non-governmental which include private and membership contributions. The society is an organization that is membership driven by 1300 plus individual members and the many tribes that are associate members, are the primary reason the Society has become so successful.

The many successes the Society has accomplished have been done through strong partnerships and the dedication of many individuals. The key is to much of what was attributed to the outreach efforts and the strategic planning that the Society continues to promote and pursue. Promotional videos were put together over the years to help the Society in their outreach efforts which included; “Our Native American Wildlife Heritage” (1987), “Circle of Life” (1992) and “Keepers of the Circle” in (1994). Perhaps some of the societies best accomplishments are centered on education/training. The Youth Practicum which was officially started in 1991 by Sally Carufel Williams. Many students have went through the program and quite a few of them have gotten involved in tribal natural resource management or have become tribal leaders in their own right. The Society has also offered many training programs that include; law enforcement, fish and wildlife management, chronic wasting disease, VHS, and avian influenza just to mention a few. The society most recently has hired its own biologists who provide much of the training and technical assistance concerning disease issues and other request for fish and wildlife management where possible. Another major accomplishment occurred in the early 1990’s when the Society went to Congress to seek funding for a Bison initiative, that would help bring Tribes together in their efforts to re-establish Bison herds are their lands. In 1991 several Society Board members and tribal bison managers held a meeting on how to better accomplish this. In 1992 the first funding was provided to the Society to accomplish the development of an Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) which it did. Because the cooperative would be made up of membership Tribes the Society made the decision that they should become independent of the Society primarily because it would be easier for them to pursue their own funding and it wouldn’t conflict with the overall mission of the Society. However the Society takes great pleasure in the fact that it has helped them to become the successful organization they are today.

The future of the Society will come from the youth and from the wisdom of the elders. As once quoted by Nathan Jim (Eight Ball) "our vision is to live a good life and to help our people and natural resources so that they can be enjoyed by future generations. If we don’t do that then perhaps we have failed our Creator and this would be unacceptable".

In 1993, member tribes of the Society banded together to acquire funding of their natural resource management offices through legislation. The Native American Fish and Wildlife Society took the lead in this fight. H.R. 2874 was introduced into the House of Representatives. The bill was entitled “Indian Fish and Wildlife Resource Enhancement Act of 1993.” The bill aimed to reaffirm and protect Indian hunting, fishing, and gathering rights and to provide for the conservation, prudent management, enhancement, orderly development and use of the resource. It would also maximize tribal capability and flexibility in managing fish and wildlife resources for the continuing benefit of Indian people. A management component was developed under the bill. The bill passed through the House of Representative. It was then introduce in 1994 on the Senate side under S. 1526 under the title “Indian Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Act of 1994.” The states showed up in full force to oppose the bill. Their main contention is that the monies generated from the Pitman-Robertson and Dingle-Johnson Acts (PRDJ) would be used for these programs under the bill. PRDJ is an excise tax on the purchase of all equipment for hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping. The funds are divvied out to the natural resource department in each state and US territory and is separated according to the land mass of each state and territory. The tribes contend that since the states use tribal reservations to calculate total land mass that the tribes deserve a cut of the funds for their natural resource departments. Of course the states do not want to part with any funds. The billed was tabled in the Senate. --Emerson bc (talk) 01:11, 7 April 2011 (UTC)Emerson_bc