The Indigenous Film Festival would not be possible without the generous support of Indian organizations, corporations, foundations and individuals. If you would like to support the Indigenous Film & Arts Festival, you can send your tax-deductible contribution to: IIIRM, 444 South Emerson Street, Denver, CO 80209. Click here if you prefer making your donation on-line.
Denver, June 4, 2005. An Institute with a reputation for well-designed research projects should have a yard to match. That was the philosophy that brought together a group of AmeriCorps volunteers and several local businesses to give the Institute offices a landscaping face-lift.
 Trevor Mason, manager of our local Safeway, presents Jeanne Rubin with a gift certificate to support the AmeriCorps workday at the Institute. |
 Laura Permuter receives two New York Style pizzas from the Institute's neighbor, Abo's Pizza. |
 Alexis Margolin, Erica Nelson, Laura Permuter, and Michelle Perc take a break from landscaping chores for a photo with Merv Tano. |
AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. AmeriCorps members serve through more than 2,100 nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based organizations. They tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, run after-school programs, and help communities respond to disasters. Created in 1993, AmeriCorps is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which also oversees Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. Together these programs engage more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service each year.
Laura Permuter, an AmeriCorps volunteer learned about the Institute through our website. Intrigued by our work, she called Jeanne Rubin, the Institute's general counsel to volunteer the services of a 17-member crew for a Saturday project. Unfortunately, steady rain starting the day before we were scheduled to break ground made the yard too wet to dig. Undaunted, Laura quickly reorganized a smaller crew to carry out the project over a couple of evenings. After much hard work, lots of camaraderie, and just a few blisters, the yard was transformed and well on its way to becoming an urban garden to be proud of.
We could not have completed the project without the help of our community partners. Tom Degerlia, owner of Abbo's Pizza, Washington Park , made sure the crew was well fed with a donation of his signature New York style pizza. The Safeway at 560 Corona Street supported the project with a gift certificate to cover the cost of our other meal items, and Institute staff took up a collection to provide the plants and garden supplies .
The Institute extends a sincere thanks to all who supported the project.
Denver, June 7, 2005. The headlines almost leap from the pages of recent journals. "Pandemic flu outbreak could kill 500,000 in U.S." was the lead for a June 25, 2005 Associated Press article by Kevin Freking reporting the findings of a Trust for America's Health report. According to the report, more than a half-million people could die and more than 2.3 million could be hospitalized if a moderately severe strain of pandemic flu virus hits the United States. The July/August 2005 edition of Foreign Affairs includes a special section, The Next Pandemic? as a call to action because international health officials are warning that a deadly avian influenza virus (H5N1) may soon spread rapidly, overwhelming unprepared health systems in rich and poor countries alike. Nature magazine is providing additional information on the medical and scientific aspects of the H5N1 virus.
Preparing for a flu pandemic involves myriad issues and policy questions. "What Do We Do About Flu?" a public engagement project sponsored by the Lounsbery Foundation, Institute of Medicine, The Keystone Center, Center for Disease Control National Immunization Program, Department of Health and Human Services National Program Office, and the Study Circles Resource Center, and Emory University will address just one of those issues. The project will engage a broad range of federal, tribal, state, and local officials, academics, NGOs, and health care providers who will focus on the narrow question of how to prioritize the use of influenza vaccine. The result of the project will be a set of proposed guidelines for determining which groups in the population require the earliest protection against influenza at the outset of an influenza pandemic when supplies of vaccine are still limited. The first of two national meetings of the project will take place on July 13-14 at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC.
Mervyn Tano, president of the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, was asked to participate in the project. Tano said at first, the idea of establishing and ranking potential goals for a pandemic influenza vaccination program gave him pause. "But," he said, "if the project is going to determine which categories of people should be associated for each of the ranked goals, then it's important that indigenous peoples's interests are considered and that care be taken that indigenous peoples are not defined out of any prioritization program." Based on the work the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management has done on cultural risk with Stuart Harris of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Barbara Harper who was with the Yakama Indian Nation, Tano said it's clear that not only the health of individuals is at risk but that of the tribe's culture and identity as well. Tano said he is uncomfortable with a goal that talks of maintaining the health of persons who provide the greatest economic benefit to the community. "I think we need to ask Indian tribes and other native peoples how they would rank the preservation of language, stories, and other elements of native culture. It seems to me that when there are only one or two remaining speakers of a language, we need to make the preservation of the maintenance of their help one of the highest priorities" Tano is also concerned that definitions of clergy, public health professionals, and direct health care providers consider Indian and other indigenous peoples's definitions of those terms.
IIIRM invites your comments on this issue. Call Mervyn Tano at 303-733-0481 or e-mail him at mervtano@iiirm.org.
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| Dr. Mark A. Calamia, the Institute's most recent associate specializes in cultural resources management issues. |
Denver, June 10, 2005. Mark A. Calamia has joined the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management as an Cultural Resources Management associate. Dr. Calamia beefs up the Institute's already powerful cadre of cultural resources management experts that includes Dr. Lyndel Prott, Dr. Patrick O'Keefe, and Dr. David Stephenson.
Dr. Calamia's interests and experience in assisting indigenous peoples with their resource management needs crosses both cultural and geographic areas. His interests are primarily in the application of traditional knowledge in the conservation of marine and terrestrial resources. However, his interests also involve the protection of cultural and ethnographic resources, especially traditional cultural properties, sacred sites, and gathering grounds occurring both on and off reservation lands. He has begun working with American Indian Tribes and federal agencies to show how various instruments, including legal, policy, and media tools, can be used to protect sacred sites and gathering grounds. A related interest of his is pertains to Native American rights and environmental justice.
In addition to being an associate with the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, Dr. Calamia has an appointment as an affiliate with the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland . He earned his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology (emphasis ecological/environmental anthropology) from the University of Colorado at Boulder (2003) and holds two master's degrees: one in anthropology and one in planning and community-development. In addition, he has earned a multidisciplinary certification in environmental policy from the University of Colorado at Boulder .
Dr. Calamia's geographic areas of interest include the American Southwest and Great Basin Area of the American West. Currently, he is active in working with various American Southwest and Great Basin American Indian Tribes to protect sacred sites and cultural landscapes both on and off reservations. He is of half Mexican descent and has lived in the American Southwest for half his life; his research interests include resource use of the Native American Southwest and the adaptation of Hispanic populations to changing landscapes and environments in the borderland region.
His experience in and knowledge of the American Southwest were obtained by working with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Geological the Survey (both under Department of the Interior). While working for the Bureau of Land Management he had the opportunity to engage with State Historic Preservation Officers and federal program leaders on issues surrounding National Historic Sites, cultural landscapes, tribal consultation, and the application of GIS technology for managing natural and cultural resources in the Southwest. In addition, he has traveled extensively throughout the American Southwest and is knowledgeable of the cultural history and ethnology of the region.
Mervyn Tano, IIIRM president said "Mark's work in Nevada with the U.S. Department of Energy involving an ethnographic assessment of two traditional cultural properties affected by rnodifications to transmission systems fits nicely with the Institute's work on right-of-way valuation, NEPA, and cultural resources management. Furthermore, Dr. Calamia's experience examining the impact of local and global forces on traditional community-based systems of marine tenure and associated marine resource management in Melanesia and Polynesia should prove valuable to the tribes and communities we work with."
At present, Mark is involved in research on community-based marine protected areas in Fiji and has just submitted a manuscript for peer review on the topic. Finally, Dr. Calamia recently received a research scholarship from the Macmillan Brown Center for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, Aotearoa (New Zealand) . The research scholarship will provide him 6 months of protected time to conduct further library study and write-up his Fijian research for eventual publication in peer-reviewed journals. While in Aotearoa, Mark will be consulting with former Institute interns and fellows and Morrie Love, an Institute director to identify potential Institute projects in Aotearoa. He will also be presenting seminars on his research in Fiji.
The International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management is a law and policy research institute based in Denver, Colorado in 1997, is soliciting applications for interns to conduct research on the following topics:
The Institute will provide airfare to and from Denver, housing, and a $500 per month stipend. Applicants should send a resume, two writing samples, and three references to:
Mervyn L. Tano, President
International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management
444 South Emerson Street
Denver , Colorado 80209
U.S.A.
FAX: 1-303-744-9808; E-mail: mervtano@iiirm.org
Wellington, Aotearoa, June 27, 2005. The Maori Party today released its party list of 62 election candidates including former Olympic skier Simon Wi Rutene in the top five. Heading the list is party co-leader and Te Hauauru MP Tariana Turia with her fellow co-leader Pita Sharples in the No. 2 spot. At No. 3 is Atareta Poananga, who is also standing in Ikaroa Rawhiti electorate against Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia. Wi Rutene, who had a skiing career that spanned four Olympic Games from 1984 to 1994, is No. 4 on the list. Environmentalist Glenis Philip-Barbara is at No. 5. Treaty of Waitangi practitioner and author Robert Consedine is No 6, Pakake Winiata is at No. 7 and former Waitangi Tribunal director and member of the IIIRM board of directors is Morrie Love is at No. 8.
Emerging Northwest Tribal Economies
July 15, 2005
Vashon, Washington
For information call: 800-574-4852
StormCon, The North American Surface Water Quality Conference & Exposition
This is the place to be to learn about technical, managerial, and technological solutions to stormwater management.
July 18-21, 2005
JW Marriott Grande Lakes
Orlando, Florida
See the conference program at www.StormCon.com.
10th Annual Conference on Genetics & Ethics in the 21st Century: Direct to Consumer Marketing of Genetic Services and Genetic Tests
The Given Institute of the University of Colorado
The focus of this year's conference is direct to consumer marketing of genetic services and genetic tests. This broadly-based conference targets health care professionals and physicians, researchers, businesses, ethicists, attorneys, ethics committee members, institutional review board members, and individuals interested in the impact of genetic medicine on personal and institutional action.
July 22-24, 2005
Aspen, Colorado
Information and registration at http://www.uchsc.edu/cbh/genetics/
UIDA Native American Small Business Conference & Trade Show
July 25-28, 2005
Walt Disney World Disney's Coronado Springs Resort
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
For more information call: 770-494-0431
4th Annual Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) Conference
July 31 – August 2, 2005
Cleveland State University
The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs
Cleveland, Ohio
The PPGIS Conference will bring together participants with a rich diversity of experiences that include citizens and citizens groups, public officials, planners, technicians, librarians, policy scientists, and researchers. Presentation topics will range from urban neighborhoods to indigenous people, developing nations, environmental organizations, and virtual communities.
For program and registration information see
http://www.urisa.org/PPGIS/2005/PPGISprogram.htm
White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation
August 29-31, 2005
St. Louis, Missouri
Conference Purpose: Strengthen Shared Governance and Citizen Stewardship
For program and registration information see http://www.conservation.ceq.gov/about.html
Mapping for Change: International Conference on Participatory Spatial
Information Management and Communication
September 7-10, 2005
Nairobi, Kenya
The conference will bring together people with extensive practical
experience in Participatory GIS (PGIS) and community mapping in Developing Countries and First Nations.
The focus of the event will be on sharing experiences and defining good
practices for making geographic information technologies and systems available to less-favored groups in society in order to enhance
their capacity in generating, managing and communicating spatial
information.
For more information on the conference and other relevant links please see http://pgis2005.cta.int
Community Health Assessment Conference
September 20-22, 2005
Renaissance Seattle Hotel, Seattle, WA
Sponsored by the CDC Assessment Initiative and the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems Leadership Institute to share information on innovative systems and methods that improve the way data is used to inform public health programs, services, and policy at the state and local level.
Register at http://www.psava.com/cha2005/register1.asp
SWANA's WasteCon 2005
September 27-29, 2005
Austin, Texas
For more information see: http://www.wastecon.org or call: 800-467-9262
Brownfields 2005 Conference
November 2-4, 2005
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado
Information and registration at http://www.brownfields2005.org/en/index.aspx
WM '06 (Call for Abstracts)
February 26-March 2, 2006
Tucson, Arizona
Abstract submission deadline: August 31, 2005
Information at http://www.wmsym.org under "Latest News."