OCTOBER 2023
WWW.OJIBWA.COM
ISSUE 12
KBIC NEWS
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KBIC Natural Resources Manoomin Camp
Hosts
Annual
2023 TRIBAL COUNCIL Doreen Blaker, President
Manoomin Camp 2023 was held on Saturday, September 30th at the KBIC Teaching Facility located on Brewery Road in L’Anse. Over 80 participants learned about manoomin, or wild rice, including the history of manoomin in this region and the importance of manoomin to the Anishinaabe people. The focus of the Camp was processing 100lbs of dried rice, received from harvesters in Minnesota. Teachers guided Participants are taught how to prepare the participants through the jigging pit. process of parching, jigging (dancing), and winnowing manoomin. A thrasher was on hand to show a newer way to finish rice. Participants also had the opportunity to try a number of recipes that IN THIS ISSUE included wild rice as a main ingredient and make apple cider using a manual press. Everyone that PRESIDENT'S REPORT attended Camp left with a pound of finished rice, The Good Berry CEO'S CORNER cookbook, and two spritzers (witch hazel and sweet grass). The event was hosted and funded by the KBIC BLAST FROM THE PAST Natural Resources Department and Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community ANISHINAABE College. Miigwech to all of the DENTAL OUTREACH teachers and participants for supporting this annual event.
SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
PICTURES ON PAGE 12 - ASHI-NIIZH
Toni J. Minton, Vice President Elizabeth "Liz" Julio, Secretary Robert R.D. Curtis, Jr, Asst. Secretary Theodore "Austin" Ayres, Treasurer Eddy Edwards Everett Ekdahl, Jr. Sue Ellen Elmblad Randall Haataja Kim Klopstein Susan J. LaFernier Rodney Loonsfoot
Donald Chosa jigging
Office of the President Boozhoo Anin Gakina, For the month of September, the Tribal Council had four Special Meetings and one Work Session. The Tribal Council took action on the following items listed below. 09/06/2023 Special Meeting Approved $200 travel donation for each tribal member going to the Leonard Peltier birthday event in Washington D.C. Approved $2250 sponsorship for the Marquette Economic Club. Approved $1000 travel donation for Jenna Messer to attend the International Conference for Indigenous Archives, Libraries and Museums. Approved a $500 donation for the Michigan Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media. Approved $5000 donation for the MTU American Indian Science and Engineering Society Powwow. Approved KB-042-2023 ICWA Committee ByLaws. Approved KB-048-2023 BIA Contract Renewal Approved KB-054-2023 Zeba Water Plant Generator Bid for $102,400 plus additional insurance costs up to $2500 from Northland Electric.
09/26/2023 – Work Session Started to review and edit a proposed Code of Ethics. 09/27/2023 – Special Meeting Approved a donation of $1500 and use of a tribal van for the 5th Annual People of the Heart Water Walk. Approved a donation of $500 and a basket for
the Baraga County Shelter Home Fall Fashion Show fundraiser. Approved $1000 donation to the Baraga/L’Anse Cross County team to host a cross country meet locally. Approved the bid of $60,000 from Nana’s Den for the Four Seasons Apartment roof replacement pending submission of business license and proof of insurance by September 28th. The second bid by V.I.P. LLC for $58,662.50 will be accepted if license/insurance are not submitted. Approved the Pre-GMP proposal for the KBIC Marquette Casino Motel and RV Park. Approved a $3000 donation for the United Tribes of Michigan.
09/13/2023 – Special Meeting Approved Tier III Service Agreement with Northland Electric. Allowed Lake Superior Performance Rally to utilize parking area at KBIC Negaunee property. The Brown family was chosen for the 2023 Elk Harvest Hunt. Agreed to put the following community events into the 2024 560 Budget-Feasts: Veterans Day Luncheon, Father’s Day Event, Harvest Feast, Marquette/Baraga Senior Christmas Parties.
09/20/2023 – Special Meeting Approved the reinstatement of the Natural Resource Committee. Agreed to sign onto an Amicus Brief regarding Line 5. Approved KB-055 Timothy Tilson Recreational Lease. Rescheduled the following Council Meetings: October 4th to October 6th and the October 7th Marquette Council Meeting to October 14th due the 14th Annual Chelsey LaFernier Memorial Walk being held the same day.
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OCTOBER 2023
Primary Election
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Primary Election
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OCTOBER 2023
CEO's Corner Happy Fall! Can you believe we are already into October? Crazy to think we will soon be in the midst of the holiday season and trekking through the mounds of snow to get anywhere. Sorry for painting that picture in your head so soon
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A few things I am looking forward to as we enter this new season are all the events on tap – 14th Annual Domestic Violence Awareness Walk, Mental Health Day Fair, 2nd Annual Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness walk, Halloween baking for the kids, and the annual KBIC Halloween parties with the Youth Department. Next month, look for a full calendar of events from the Promise Neighborhoods group in coordinator with Native American History month! They are planning an array of community events that includes a Pow Wow at the local schools. This past month we had great news around grant awards! We received major grant funding for Tribal Court, Tribal Police, Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, as well as a proposal to move forward with a Rural Readiness project. I plan to outline these more in a grant program review article next month.
Met with Housing, Realty, and Public Works staff and assisted in submission of Indian Community Development Block Grant application Attended the Path to Healing to Wellness conference in Bar Harbor, ME. Attended a webinar on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Attended two Tribal Council meetings As mentioned in my previous articles, the Tribe, as a whole, are in budget season. Department budget review meetings will kick-off the month of October and hopefully be wrapped up by October 15th. Meetings are schedule October 10th – 13th with Tribal Council and open to KBIC members. If you want to get a feel for what this process all entails, come on out to a meeting and get a glimpse. Next month, I will outline my goals in the CEO office as we enter a new fiscal year with a strong budget at hand. My last final note included a new face in the health clinic starting in early September, well look for a permanent new face in the dental clinic beginning early November as we welcome Dr. Stevens, DDS, who will fulfill our Dentist role! We are so excited to have him and cannot wait for our community to meet him. All my best, Brigitte
For the month of September, I: Held department head and employee Annual Performance Reviews Attended a Policy Review workgroup meeting Attended Rural Roadmap Report roundtable discussion Attended a Great Lakes Sports Commission board meeting Took part in the monthly GPO call with SAMHSA Held a touch-base meeting with UPHS-Portage and our KBIC Health Clinic leadership Attended NMU Board of Trustees meetings Participated in budget review meeting of Casino and businesses with tribal leadership Attended 2nd Annual Great Lakes Tribal Economic Summit in New Buffalo, MI Met with Great Lakes Recovery Centers
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A Blast from the Past
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OCTOBER 2023
A Blast from the Past
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A Blast from the Past
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OCTOBER 2023
Around the Community
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Natural Resources Manidoonsikaa - there are a lot of bugs By: Karena Schmidt, NRD Ecologist Among all the orders of Creation, the ways of the insects can really fill us with a sense of wonder. Consider the monarch butterflies who flutters from here all the way to Central Mexico over the course of four generations. While gathering food, a bee may fly up to 60 miles in one day. Ants can lift and carry more than fifty times their own weight. On earth today, there are approximately 1 quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) ants. Honey bees shape their waxy hexagonal hives near mathematical perfection without wasting any materials or space. Similar to bears, some insects undergo a kind of hibernation where they enter a state of deep sleep in which their metabolic processes slow to a stop. During this time, the bug survives off of stored energy, which can last up to a year. A bee’s wings beat 190 times a second. That's 11,400 times a minute. Beetles are the world's most diverse group of organisms - one in every four living species is some sort of beetle. Three-quarters of the food we eat depends upon the pollination services of bees. There are bees that are specific to the pollination of squashes. As the six-leggeds hum, chirp, and buzz, they have much knowledge to share with us, and getting to know them better is a great way to express our appreciation and respect toward them.
Jim will share the results of the insect surveys he has conducted at Sant Point and our Debweyendan Community Garden. Notable are some of the rare insect species he has observed. it is amazing that over 300 species of moths are flying about at Sand Point, in addition to many hundreds of other insects. Also, a Tribal Pollinator Protection Plan for our community is nearing completion, and community input is welcomed. A healthy lunch, insect identification books, and a display of our growing insect collection will be available for all attendees. A second program, focusing on engaging youth, will be held at the Ojibwa Community Library on 409 Superior Avenue in Baraga from 5 - 6 PM on November 2. This fun and informative after-school event will include gifts of insect field guides, insect collection supplies, and instructions on how to start a bug collection. Please be welcome to attend both these events and encourage your family, friends, and youth to join in. Be sure to come with lots of questions about manidoosh.
At every moment the air we breath is shared with the insect world. Over the past 10 years, KBIC native vegetation plantings at Sand Point have been rewarded with the return of many beneficial insects. As more suitable habitat has become available our insect relatives have responded in kind. To help us learn more about insects, especially those who live right here in our community please consider attending two programs scheduled for October 26 and November 2. We have invited Jim Bess, insect Ecologist to present a pair of programs for our community. One program will be a lunch and learn held at the Baraga Ojibwa Casino Conference Room on October 26 from noon - 1 PM.
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OCTOBER 2023
Natural Resources We are a community who grows our own food By: Karena Schmidt, NRD Ecologist Have you ever experienced the amazement and joy of reaching into the earth to lift out new grown potatoes? And then preparing recipes to experience the deliciousness of including new potatoes into a venison stew, or fresh hash browns, or roasted in the oven? On Saturday, October 14, from 9-noon, we will be having our final 2023 Saturday Garden for Heart at our Debweyendan (Believe in it) Indigenous Gardens. The harvest season is such a special time of year and you are invited to participate in the harvest of potatoes, carrots, grapes, and select herbs for preparing healing herbal teas. Please don’t hesitate to join in the joy of harvesting.
to the manidoosheg who pollinate our crops. On most volunteer days we are able to share whatever has been harvested with participants who can bring home fresh produce from the garden. Wholesome snacks are provided for all volunteers and in reciprocity for the help received, there is a selection of fine-quality garden tools and gardening books given to every participant. The Debweyendan Indigenous Garden is located at 16037 Brewery Road in L’Anse. If you are interested to learn more about the Garden For Heart program, please contact Karena Schmidt at kschmidt@kbicnsn.gov. To get details about renting a plot next spring and more about activities at the DIGs, reach out to Cindy Wiltse at cwiltse@kbic-nsn.gov. Coming up Saturday, November 4 there will be Waawaashkeshi Camp at the DIGs. Such an abundance of good activity! Hope to see you at the garden.
In 2013, as part of a Food Sovereignty Initiative, our community began the bemaadizijig ogitigaaaniwaa, or people’s garden. This is a special place where all are welcome. Community members can rent a garden plot and in this space grow their own garden fresh vegetables. This is a place where we have access to healthy foods and participate in growing our own foods. In addition to the individual plots, the garden has larger community beds and fruit orchards where fresh produce is grown, including our Three Sisters, potatoes, asema, sweet grass, sage, asparagus and more, with the intention of making the harvests available to our community. Many of the fruits in the orchards are native species, including serviceberries, elderberries, nannyberries, blueberries, cranberries, and strawberries. Garden for Heart is a reciprocity volunteer program that began five years ago because the needs of tending to the gardens are significant. The everyother-Saturday volunteer workdays have been a fun and meaningful way to engage community in caring for the gardens. There is the opportunity to work with dedicated gardeners and teachers. Volunteers can learn to care for the strawberry beds, blueberries, raspberries, fruit trees, vegetables and medicinal plants while meeting and learning from like-minded community members. Planting, watering, weeding, turning compost, and harvesting are the primary activities. We also care for the soil and give much gratitude
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Natural Resources
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OCTOBER 2023
Manoomin Camp
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Current Job Postings
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OCTOBER 2023
Around the Community
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Around the Community
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OCTOBER 2023
Around the Community
BINAAKWE GIIZIS - FALLING LEAVES MOON
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Around the Community
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OCTOBER 2023
Health System
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Health System
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OCTOBER 2023
Elders
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Elders
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Anishnaabe Dental Outreach Bone and Joint Health Action Week, October 12 – 20 Place your fingers just in front of your ears and open your mouth — that joint you feel working? That’s the Temporomandibul ar Joint (TMJ). It’s a complicated joint due to its complex movement and unique makeup. “TemporoMandibular Disorder” (TMD) encompasses a wide spectrum of abnormal conditions, including abnormal sounds coming from the joint such as clicks and pops, deviation of mandible on mouth opening, facial pain, arthritis, sore face muscles, joint tenderness, damaged teeth, and pain with mouth movements. TMD limits speech, chewing, facial expression and other functions and contribute to headaches and earaches, all of which can impact quality of life. The most frequent cause of TMD is bruxism, which is teeth grinding, especially during sleep. An unbalanced bite, muscle hyperactivity, clenching habits, past trauma, pain disorders and psychological stress can also contribute to TMD. Other physical conditions such as general pain disorders, sleep disorders, osteoporosis, arthritis, and advanced age can worsen TMD as well. A higher rate of bruxism is associated with caffeine, alcohol, and smoking habits. The dentist evaluates the TMJ at periodic examinations; and the dentist is often the first to diagnose TMD. The first line of treatment is to reduce the patient’s stress and teach relaxation techniques and therapeutic exercises to relieve jaw pain. Second, the dentist advises the patient to stop harmful habits. A professional occlusal mouthguard, also called a bite splint, fabricated by a dentist, may need to be customized for the patient. Other treatments which might be recommended are replacing missing teeth, eliminating gum disease, or orthodontics. Occlusal mouthguards fit over the lower or the upper teeth. They are fabricated from a composite material commonly, they are clear. An athletic mouthguard is NOT the same as a bite guard.
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Patient self-care may be helpful in easing symptoms, such as: · eating soft foods · avoiding extreme jaw movements (yawning); avoiding chewing gum and biting the nails · stress relief through practicing relaxation techniques · modifying the pain with heat packs · short term use of over-the-counter pain medicines such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); an example is ibuprofen. · A well-balanced diet can help the TMJ heal · Eliminating harmful habits Be sure to see your dentist every six months, so that any changes in the TMJ can be evaluated. Let your dentist know if you’ve had trauma to your TMJ or if you’ve noticed any changes in your TMJ. The sooner TMD is treated, the more successful is the return to health, form, and function. https://nationaltoday.com/bone-and-joint-healthnational-action-week/ https://www.usbji.org/ https://www.boneandjointburden.org/about/usbji #:~:text=The%20United%20States%20Bone%20an d%20Joint%20Initiative%20%28USBJI%29,move ment%20sanctioned%20by%20the%20United%2 0Nations%2FWorld%20Health%20Organization https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC75 18477/ https://aaop.org/ https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/sites/default/files/201712/tmj-disorders.pdf https://adanews.ada.org/adanews/2021/june/july-jada-finds-psychologicalconditions-other-pain-disorders-increase-tmdrisk/? _gl=1*xiq1tu*_ga*MTg5MDk3ODg3Ni4xNjEwMTk4NT Ix*_ga_NJ0EYRGSL1*MTY5NDQ2MTgwNy4xNi4xLjE 2OTQ0NjE5MDcuNjAuMC4w*_ga_X8X57NRJ4D*MT Y5NDQ2MT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporomandibular _joint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporomandibular _joint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_composite
Jessica A. Rickert, DDS, Anishinaabe Dental Outreach
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Education
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OCTOBER 2023
Around the Community
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Around the Community
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OCTOBER 2023
Sports
Kruze Ekdahl of the Baraga Vikings 5/6 grade Football team, battles against a Gladstone player.
Kroy Ekdahl, 2nd grade, of the Tigers soccer team, works to get past his defender.
Jordan Ekdahl of the Baraga Vikings 5/6 grade Football team, goes in for a tackle against Gladstone.
Kiana Loonsfoot and Madison Chaudier of the Baraga Junior High Cross Country team competed in the JH Regionals on October 5, 2023. Madison placed 19th, and Kiana placed 29th. Both girls set a PR in this race.
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Sports
Breyelle Bowers of the L’Anse 8th Grade Girls’ Basketball team shoots one beyond the arc against the Houghton Gremlins on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. The Hornets defeated the Gremlines 56-10.
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Princess Pierre of the L’Anse 8th Grade Girls’ Basketball team goes up after a fast break against the Houghton Gremlins on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. The Hornets defeated the Gremlines 56-10.
OCTOBER 2023
Around the Community
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Ojibwa Casino Promotions
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OCTOBER 2023
A low-interest, 30-year fixed mortgage (a fixed mortgage means your interest rate will stay the same over the full life of the loan). The current VA interest rate for NADLs starts at 2.5%. To find out what your interest rate will be, contact an NADL coordinator by email at NADL@va.gov or by phone at 888-349-7541 (TTY: 711). We’re here Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.
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