Tribal News
Summer 2011
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Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention and
Tribal Environmental News Exchange
www.epa.gov/opptintr/tribal
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Bios of Contributing Fine Artists
Irene Klar
Irene Klar was born in Montreal in 1950. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
from the University of Alberta in 1977 and has degrees in Physical Therapy and
Science. People, textiles, and pattern decoration serve as her inspiration. Her water
colors prints have graced the covers of several books and her artwork is displayed
internationally. For more information on this talented artist, please visit her website at
www.ireneklar.com.
Judith Durr
Judith Durr is Choctaw and Cherokee and she resides on the Navajo reservation.
She studied fine art at the Scottsdale Artist School with Jim Daly for three years in
figure studies. She is listed on the official Choctaw Nation Artist Registry, is a signa-
ture member of Women Artist of the West (WAOW), and is a signature member of
Southwestern Premier Artists. Ms. Durr's love of history and archeology is the inspira-
tion for her oil paintings. For more information on this talented artist, please visit her
website at www.judydurr.50megs.com.
Joanne Shenandoah
Joanne Shenandoah is a Grammy Award and 11-time Native American Music award
winning artist and Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy who has fulfilled
the promise of her Native American name, Tekaliwah-kwa (she sings).
Since emerging as an artist in 1990, she has performed at such high-profile gigs as
Carnegie Hall, the White House, Kennedy Center, Earth Day on the Mall, Woodstock
'94, the Parliament of the World's Religions in South Africa, for the famous Sagrada
Familia in Barcelona Spain, Istanbul, Hwa Eom Temple, South Korea, and thousands of
venues in the United States. She has been heralded by the Associated Press as "...one
of the most acclaimed Native American Recording artists of her time."
For more information, visit the Joanne Shenandoah website at www.joanneshenan-
doah.com.
List of Contributors
Beth Anderson
Emma Avant
Todd Barnell
Shanita Brackett
JoAnn Brant
Mary Cushmac
Francis A. Desselle
Maria J. Doa, Ph.D.
Steven Dodge
Amanda Gokee
Greta Hansen
R. Eric Hollinger
Eric Hornbuckle
Secody Hubbard
Rhoda Jensen
Nancy John
Shannon Judd
Teresa Kuklinski
Kirk Laflin
Jean Mclnnis
Chris Mooney
Ella Mulford
Caren J. Robinson
Lydia Scheer
David Tomsovic
Octaviana V. Trujillo, Ph.D.
Catherine Tunis
Gerald Wagner
Dan Webster
Mary Cathleen Wilson
Felicia Wright
Vic Zielinski
Contributing Fine Artists
Irene Klar
Judith Durr
Joanne Shenandoah
Internal Contributors:
Mary Lauterbach, OCSPP Editor
Irina Myers, OCSPP Editor
Lynn Petrazzuolo, Assistant Editor
Jessica Bayliss Brown, Assistant Editor
Brian Adams, Graphic Designer
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) is pleased to include the comments
and opinions of contributors. Byline articles and interviews represent the opinions and views of
contributors and not necessarily those of EPA. All websites and URL's were true and current at the
time of publication.
Tribal News is a publication of EPA and is intended for noncommercial, scientific, and educational
purposes. As a federal governmental agency, neither EPA, its programs, nor the producers of this
publication can endorse any products or services.
This publication may contain materials that may be subject to U.S. and foreign copyright laws.
The editors of Tribal News request interesting, relevant stories about pesticide and pollution preven-
tion programs and projects in Indian country from our readers. If you want to share your experience
with our readers, please write or send an email to Irina Myers, EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue (MC7408M), Washington, DC, 20460 or myers.
irina@epa.gov.
Publication Number: 745-N-11-001
To be placed on our mailing list,
write to:
Irina Myers
EPA Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue (MC7408M)
Washington, DC 20460
myers.irina@epa.gov
Tribal News may be viewed on line at
www.epa.gov/opptintr/tribal.
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Ladders are objects we step on. They move our bodies
upward and downward allowing us to get a new perspective
on things. Ladders are tools. They are often used to reach
a place that would otherwise be difficult to access. They
allow us to mend and fix. If you have a rich imagination, it is
fun to think about where a ladder would go if it continued
forever. Ladders are of this world and other worldly...they
are conduits for story and fuel imagination about the space
within and beyond them.
-Excerpted from "Marie Watt: Blanket Stories, Ladder"
with permission from Marie Watt, Seneca Tribe
Table of Contents
From Our Editors... [[[3
Index of Training Resources in this Issue,
..,
Articles on Tribal Training & Resources 8
Articles on Protecting Tribes from Lead Exposure
Articles on Tribal Innovations
Kid's Page,
.40
^^H
.48
V
.55
Important Announcement: on April 22,2010, ERA'S
Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS)
officially changed its name to the Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention (OSCPP). This new name reflects the EPA
Administrator's priority of assuring the safety of chemicals and
-------
"Who Imagined?"
Permission ©2007 Sam Nappi/Joanne Shenandoah
Verse 1
If only ... you could soar like an eagle ... and see all he sees...
Ice caps melting, glaciers calving...shorelines giving way to the sea..
Envision ... life as a fish in the water .. .blood stream, .no mercury
No deformed creatures, or rivers rising, earthquakes, or tsunami's in the sea.
WHO imagined., it could be this way.
And WHAT about those we leave behind
(Our children)
WHY don't you care.. WHERE we'll stay?
WHEN will we learn - human kind - To Imagine
Verse 2
Envision living life on the planet... with water, untainted and pure..
No green house gases, industrial revolutions, no bombing, no fighting, no war?
If only you could soar like an Eagle... and land atop a great white pine tree?
With weapons buried and people joined together might there be peace for you and me?
WHO imagined., it could be this way.
And WHAT about those we leave behind
(Our children)
WHY don't you care.. WHERE we'll stay?
WHEN will we learn - human kind - To Imagine
WHO imagined., it could be this way.
And WHAT about those we leave behind
(Our children)
WHY don't you care.. WHERE we'll stay?
WHEN will we learn - human kind - To Imagine
-------
From Our Editors...
First, we want to give thanks again to
many who contributed to the last
issue on Alaska, Volume One and Two.
We cannot express how much apprecia-
tion there was from our readers, who
felt they learned so much about Alaska's
environment and life ways, especially
information coming from Alaska's indig-
enous peoples.
We would like to especially thank
Carol Jorgensen, Tlingit from Alaska
and former Director of EPA's
American Indian Environmental
Office, for her never ending
support on the Alaska issue.
Most of you may already
know about Carol's tragic
and unexpected passing on
September 3, 2009. Her life
on earth may have ended but
she remains in our hearts — as
we were the fortunate ones to
have been touched by her in a
profound way. This "Training
and Innovation" issue is being
dedicated in her memory.
Carol was passionate about
many things, including her deep
connection to Mother Earth,
which made her an advocate
for the environment. She was
passionate about the role and
importance of tribal elders.
Tribal elders have played a vital role
through the ages passing down indig-
enous knowledge that they possess to
their respective tribes. Without them,
the invaluable training, learning, indig-
enous knowledge, and wisdom that they
teach to their young would be forever
lost. The negative impact would be felt
in every tribal culture. Carol was so
dedicated to conveying the importance
of the tribal elders and the indigenous
knowledge in the environmental arena,
that she was responsible for EPA hosting
the first Convening of Indigenous
Peoples for the Healing of Mother
Earth in Chiapas, Mexico in 2008. This
meeting brought together tribal leaders
and elders from United States, Canada,
and Mexico. Also, Carol was deeply
committed to the "Working Effectively
with Tribal Governments Training"
video and believed that all govern-
Carol Paddock Jorgensen dancing at a friend's
wedding in Pelican, Alaska. Photo courtesy
Rhoda Jensen.
ment employees should be provided
basic training in the principles, policies,
and their legal responsibilities to the
American Indian tribes and to Alaskan
Natives. For more information refer to
page 28.
We would like to also thank all the
contributors to this issue on training
and innovation, and Frances Desselle,
in particular, from the Office of Water,
for giving this important topic some
needed context and for raising the bar in
providing electronic training information
via the internet to the tribes. Finally,
Tribal News was very fortunate to have
the energetic and talented Amanda
Gokee, a native student intern. Amanda
has family ties to the Red Cliff Band
Ojibwa of Northern Wisconsin and
currently lives in Vermont. She
was accepted and now attends
Harvard University. Amanda
contributed to this publica-
tion by writing an article about
an environmental and cultural
concern and provided an innova-
tive solution involving her own
tribal ancestry. Making this
internship opportunity special
for both Amanda and EPA, she
was able to contact the Red
Cliff Tribe, of which both of
her paternal grandparents were
members, to research her article.
Although Amanda has not
lived on the reservation herself,
through conversations with the
Tribe she was able to learn more
about her family's history with
the Tribe and about current
day environmental issues. The
Red Cliff Band Ojibwa of Northern
Wisconsin article is on page 51.
We mention in closing that Carol
Jorgensen often made it a practice to
meet with EPA's tribal interns. We are
confident that Carol was able to impart
her important messages to them as well.
Mary Lauterbach and Irina Myers,
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention, Tribal News Editors
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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Training Resources in this Issue
Over 50 websites are referenced in this publication. The following matrix provides a breakdown of the websites by program areas for quick
and easy reference.
American Indian Tribal Portal on Education & www.epa.gov/tribalportal/edutraining.htm
Training
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals www4.nau.edu/itep
(ITEP)
Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI)
Air Toxics Data Analysis
www.epa.gov/apti
www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/toxdat.html
Asbestos
Training Courses for Asbestos Professionals www.epa.gov/oppt/asbestos/pubs/ndaac.html
nforcement & Complian'
National Enforcement Training Institute (NETI) www.netionline.com
Tribal Compliance Assistance Center www.epa.gov/tribalcompliance
10, 19
10, 16, 20
•
10
10
•
9, 11
10, 12, 21
9, 11
Accredited Lead Renovation Training
Programs
EPA Lead Program
EPA Region 8 Lead Program
Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP)
Program for Lead-Based Paint
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Healthy Homes Campaign
http://cfpub.epa.goV/flpp/searchrrpJ:raining.htm
www.epa.gov/lead
www.epa.gov/region8/toxics/leadpnt
www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
www.hud.gov/healthyhomes
11
9, 11, 42, 55
41
9
43
Pesticide Inspector Residential Training (PIRT) www.epa.gov/oecaerth/monitoring/programs/fifra/pirt.html
Pesticide Worker Safety and Training
Pesticide Regulatory Education Program
(PREP)
Tribal Pesticide Program Council (TPPC)
www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/worker.htm
www.prep-gov.net
www.epa.gov/oppfead1/tribes/tppc.htm
9
9
9, 11
9, 11
www.icfi.com/docs/2009-cercla-aai.pdf
www.epa.gov/brownfields/pubs/acres
All Appropriate Inquiry
Brownfield Assessment, Cleanup and
Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES)
Computer-Aided Management of Emergency www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/cameo/cam-evnt.htm
Operations (CAMEO)
Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA) http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp
Emergency Management Institute (EMI)
Indian Country Environmental Hazards www.epa.gov/air/tribal/announce/pdfs/envirol.pdf
Assessment Program (ICEHAP)
20
20
20
20
20
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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National Incidence Management System
(NIMS)
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA)
Resource Conservation Challenge - Web
Academy
Superfund Training and Learning Center
Training Exchange (TRAINEX)
Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network (TSWAN)
Tribal-specific Underground Storage Tank
(UST) Training
UST Inspector Training
Water Security and Emergency Response
Technology Transfer
National Partnership for Environmental
Technology Education (PETE)
http://ccrf.hhs.gov/ccrf/NI MS_training.htm 20
www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/train.htm 21
http://epa.gov/waste/rcc/web-academy/index.htm 21
www.epa.gov/superfund/training/index.htm 21
www.trainex.org 10, 20
www.tswan.org 21
www.epa.gov/swerust 1/tribes/training_resources. htm 21
www.epa.gov/OLJST/virtual.htm 21
http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/outreach.cfm 20
^^^^^^^^^^^m
www.petetribal.org 25, 26
Clean Water Act (CWA) Tribal Training
^^^^^^^^^|
Collision Repair Campaign
Alternative Dispute Resolution at EPA
Design for the Environment
EPA Region 9 Tribal Program Office
Newsletter
Inter-Tribal Environmental Council
National Environmental Information Exchange
Network
National EPA-Tribal Science Council (TSC)
Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange
(P2RX™)
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
U.S. Federal Government Regulations
Working Effectively with Tribal Governments
www.epa.gov/water/tribaltraining/index.html
^^^^^H
www.epa.gov/collisionrepair
www.epa.gov/adr/cprc_adratepa.html
www.epa.gov/dfe
www.epa.gov/region09/tribal/newslet.html
www.itecmembers.org
www.exchangenetwork.net
www.epa.gov/osp/tribes/who.htm
www.p2rx.org
www.epa.gov/TRI
www.regulations.gov
www.tribalgov.golearnportal.org
18, 19
•
53
10
53
21
32
10
10, 15
50
10
49
28, 29, 30
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson,
Leads EPA's Efforts to Protect Human
Health & the Environment
Administrator
Jackson
A dministrator Lisa P. Jackson leads
-t\_EPA's efforts to protect the environ-
ment and health of all Americans. She
and a staff of more than 17,000 profes-
sionals are working across the nation to
usher in a green economy, address health
threats from toxins and pollution, and
renew public trust in EPA's work.
As Administrator, Jackson has
pledged to focus on the core issues of
protecting air and water quality, prevent-
ing exposure to toxic contamination in
our communities, and reducing green-
house gases.
She has promised that all of EPA's
efforts will follow the best science,
adhere to the rule of law, and be imple-
mented with unparalleled transparency.
Ms. Jackson is the first African-
American to serve as EPA Administrator.
She has made it a priority to focus on
vulnerable groups including children,
the elderly, and low-income communi-
ties that are particularly susceptible to
environmental and health threats. In
addressing these and other issues, she has
promised all stakeholders a place at the
decision-making table.
Administrator Jackson (center) reaffirming the
In her first year, Administrator Jackson
was proud to officially reaffirm EPA's
Indian Policy and follow in the tradition
that began in 1984. By this action, EPA
is continuing to recognize that the United
States has a unique relationship with tribal
governments which includes recognition of
the right of tribes to operate as sovereign
governments.
On May 4, 2010, EPA became one
of the first federal agencies to finalize
its tribal consultation policy in response
to President Obama's Executive Order
13175 to establish regular and meaningful
consultation and collaboration with tribal
officials in the development of federal
policies that have tribal implications.
The policy establishes a new, broader
standard for the types of actions that
may be appropriate for consultation
and makes clear the two-way nature of
government-to-government consulta-
tion by inviting tribes to request issues
for consultation. Actions that may be
appropriate for consultation include
developing standards, guidance, policies,
permitting decisions, and activities under
international agreements. The policy also
establishes a manage-
ment, oversight and
reporting structure
that will help ensure
accountability and
transparency by
identifying respon-
sible individu-
als in each office
and requiring
EPA program and
regional offices to
identify actions
1984 Indian Policy. appropriate for
consultation at least twice a year. More
information on the policy: http://www.
epa.gov/indian/
She is also sending a clear signal that
EPA is leading the way in addressing the
critical environmental issues affecting
Native American communities— starting
with $90 million in Recovery Act funds
for clean water on tribal lands.
Administrator Jackson wants every
community to be involved in making
decisions. In the first few months on
the job, she strengthened ties with EPA's
tribal partners, and will continue to do
so in the years ahead. Administrator
Jackson consulted with the National
Congress of American Indians, National
Tribal Caucus, and EPA leadership.
She also relocated the American
Indian Environmental Office (AIEO)
within the Office of International Affairs,
under Assistant Administrator, Michelle
DePass. The AIEO had been located in
the Office of Water since 1994.
Before becoming EPA's dministrator,
Ms. Jackson served as Chief of Staff to
New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine and
Commissioner of the State's Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Prior to joining DEP, she worked for 16
years as an employee of EPA.
Ms. Jackson is a summa cum laude
graduate of Tulane University and earned
a master's degree in chemical engineering
from Princeton University. She was born
in Pennsylvania and grew up a proud
resident of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Jackson now resides in Washington,
D.C. She is married to Kenny Jackson
and is the proud mother of two sons,
Marcus and Brian. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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Meet Steve Owens, Assistant
Administrator, EPA's Office of
Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention
Assistant
Administrator
Owens
Steve Owens is
responsible for
managing EPA's
regulatory and
scientific programs
on pesticides and
industrial chemicals,
as well as many
collaborative pollu-
tion prevention
programs.
As a long-
time resident of Arizona and the
state's longest-serving director of its
Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ), Mr. Owens has had the oppor-
tunity to work with tribal governments
on a daily basis. He understands first-
hand the challenges tribes face, and is
strongly committed to continuing EPA's
support for tribal chemical safety and
pollution prevention programs
As an attorney and director of
Arizona's DEQ, Mr. Owens provided
executive leadership and set the
agency's overall policies and priori-
ties. Protecting children from toxic
exposures was - and is today - among
his top priorities. As director of
Arizona's DEQ, he helped launch
Arizona's Children's Environmental
Health Project and its Office of
Children's Environmental Health.
Today, with EPA Administrator Lisa
P. Jackson, Mr. Owens is committed to
building strong tribal partnerships. In
December 2010, he created the National
Tribal Toxics Council (NTTC) to give
tribes greater input on issues related to
toxic chemicals and pollution preven-
tion. Meeting for the first time June
1-2, 2011, the committee has begun to
give tribes a forum to advise EPA on the
development of chemical management
and pollution prevention programs that
affect them.
Given the uniqueness of tribal
cultures, communities and environ-
mental problems, the council is aimed
at helping EPA better tailor and
more efficiently address a variety of
issues, including preventing poisoning
from lead paint, expanding pollution
prevention and safer chemical initia-
tives in Indian country, and better
evaluating unique chemical exposures
on tribal lands.
"This new council can help increase
our already close collaboration and
communication with federally recog-
nized tribes on critical chemical safety
and pollution prevention issues that
affect Native peoples," Mr. Owens said.
The OCSPP Assistant Administrator
plans to issue a new tribal strategic plan
to guide OCSPP management and staff
as they work with tribes to promote
chemical safety and pollution prevention
in Indian country and other tribal lands
including those in Alaska.
He also intends to develop a set
of actions or initiatives to achieve the
goals and objectives of the new strategic
plan through discussions and consulta-
tion with various tribal-partner forums,
including the Tribal Pesticide Program
Council (TPPC), the National Tribal
Caucus (NTC), and the recently formed
National Tribal Toxics Council (NTTC).
Efforts are underway, also, to
align the plan with the larger Agency-
wide planning efforts, most notably,
the FY2011-FY2015 EPA Strategic
Plan's Goal 4 "Ensuring the Safety of
Chemicals and Preventing Pollution,"
at http://www.epa.gov/planandbudget /
strategicplan.html.
Read more about Steve Owens at
http://www.epa.gov /aboutepa/ocsppaa.
html. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
I
Resour
Tribal capacity to manage a variety of
environmental programs (i.e., air, water,
waste, toxics, pesticides, enforcement,
and compliance assistance), activities,
and actions have grown tremendously
over the past several decades. Along
with this growth, environmental prob
lems and issues that tribes have to face
are more prevalent and seemingly more
complex to resolve. Tribes need to have
access to and knowledge about the
availability of EPA and other relevant
training resources that will enable them
to enhance their program expertise,
technical skills, knowledge base, criti
cal thinking, and problem solving skills.
The outcome can result in effective im
plementation and responsible decision-
making. This section features some
valuable training information from
EPA's different program offices and also
some examples of training that tribes
offer to themselves and others.
r
I
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Highlights of EPA's Tribal
Resources & Training Courses
Compiled by Mary Lauterbach and Irina Myers, EPA's
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
EPA's Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)
National Tribal Toxics Council (NTTC)
Website: www.epa.gov/oppt/tribal/pubs/
chemmgmt_pollprev.html
Contact: Anna Kelso, kelso.anna@epa.gov
The National Tribal Toxics Council
(NTTC), a new tribal council, has been
formed to provide input on tribal issues as
they pertain to chemical concerns and pollu-
tion prevention within tribal communities.
The NTTC will help EPA better tailor and
more efficiently address a variety of issues,
including prevention of lead poisoning from
paint, expansion of pollution prevention and
safer chemical initiatives in Indian Country,
and better evaluation of unique chemical
exposures on tribal lands. The Council
will be administered by the National Tribal
Environmental Council (NTEC) and tribes
are invited to contact NTEC if they are inter-
ested in taking part in the NTTC.
EPA's Renovation, Repair, and Painting
(RRP) Program for Lead-Based Paint
Website: www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm
Contact: Michelle Price, price.michelle@epa.gov
Individuals performing lead-based paint
activities including abatement, inspection,
and risk assessment in target housing and
child-occupied facilities must be trained
and certified. Trainers are accredited to
ensure quality and certified individu-
als must follow specific work practices
ensuring that lead hazards are addressed.
Training Courses for Asbestos
Professionals
Website: www.epa.gov/oppt/asbestos/pubs/
ndaac.html
Contact: Lynn Vendinello, vendinello.lynn®
epa.gov
Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response
Act of 1986 (AHERA) requires asbestos
control professionals to take training on
how to properly inspect for the presence of
asbestos and to repair and remove it. This
training covers the entire required Model
Accreditation Plan (MAP): training for
worker, contractor/supervisor, inspector,
management planner, and project designer.
/Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan
(MAP) training for Salish Kootenai
College and Salish Kootenai Tribe
Contact: Irina Myers, myers.irina@epa.gov
As part of a memorandum of under-
standing (MOU) agreement between
EPA and Salish Kootenai Tribe, the first
set of Asbestos MAP training courses
was offered in the following asbestos
disciplines in January 2011: Asbestos
Inspector, Contract/Supervisor and
Asbestos Worker. In 2012 both the
initial and refresher training in each
of the disciplines will be offered. The
free training will take place in Poison,
Montana and members from other tribes
are welcome to the open spaces.
EPA's Office of Pesticides
Programs (OPP)
Worker Safety and Training
Website: www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/
worker.htm
Contact: Mary Powell, powell.mary@epa.gov
In August 1992, EPA revised the
Worker Protection Standard (WPS) for
Agricultural Pesticides (40 CFR Part
170). The WPS is a federal regulation
designed to protect employees on farms,
forests, nurseries, and greenhouses from
occupational exposures to agricultural
pesticides. The WPS offers protections
to approximately 2.5 million agricultural
workers (people involved in the produc-
tion of agricultural plants) and pesticide
handlers (people who mix, load, or apply
pesticides) that work at over 600,000
agricultural establishments.
Pesticide Inspector Residential
Training (PIRT)
Website: www.epa.gov/oecaerth/monitoring/
programs/fifra/pirt.html
Contact: Amar Singh, singh.amar@epa.gov
PIRT courses are offered annually for
state and tribal inspectors and include
training to improve basic inspec-
tion skills, mock inspections and
worker safety. In 2008, EPA's Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assistance
(OECA) developed a tribal-specific
PIRT course in Structural Pest Control.
Tribal Pesticide Program Council (TPPC)
Website: www.epa.gov/oppfead1/tribes/
tppc.htm
The TPPC is a tribal technical resource
and program and policy dialogue and
development group, focused on pesticide
issues and concerns. It is composed of
authorized representatives from federally-
recognized tribes and Indian nations and
intertribal organizations.
Pesticide Regulatory Education
Program (PREP)
Website: www.prep-gov.net
Contact: Mary Powell, powell.mary@epa.gov
The goal of PREP is to provide training
in leadership, management, and program
skills that could benefit both the
individual tribal programs and the TPPC
organization as a whole.
EPA's Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assistance (OECA)
Tribal Compliance Assistance Center
Website: www.epa.gov/tribalcompliance
This is a Web-based tool that serves as
a resource for tribes to access compre-
hensive, easy-to-understand compliance
information targeted specifically for
environmental issues in Indian Country.
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
National Enforcement
Training Institute (NETI)
Website: www.netionline.com
Contact: Jeff Lightner, lightner.jeff@epa.gov
A wide array of courses and other
EPA-sponsored classroom training is avail-
able at NETI and all local, tribal, state,
international and federal government
environmental enforcement employees are
eligible to receive a NETI account.
EPA's Office of Environmental
Justice (OEJ)
Collaborative Approaches and
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to
Address Environmental Issues in Indian
Country
Website: www.epa.gov/adr/cprc_adratepa.html
Contact: Danny Gogal, gogal.danny@epa.gov
ADR and other collaborative approaches
can reduce the cost of action and create
more satisfying and long-lasting relation-
ships between stakeholders.
EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD)
National EPA-Tribal Science Council
(TSC)
Website: www.epa.gov/osp/tribes/who.htm
Contact: Monica Rodia, rodia.monica@epa.gov
The National EPA-TSC was created in
partnership with tribal representatives to
help integrate Agency and tribal inter-
ests, specifically with respect to environ-
mental science issues. The TSC provides
a forum for tribes and EPA to identify
priority environmental science issues and
collaboratively design effective solutions.
The Council seeks to increase tribal
involvement in EPA's scientific activi-
ties - building bridges between tribal and
Agency programs.
EPA's Office of Air and
Radiation (OAR)
Institute for Tribal Environmental
Professionals' (ITEP) American Indian
Air Quality Training Program (AIAQTP)
Website: www4.nau.edu/itep/air
Contact: Lydia Scheer, ITEP, Lydia.Scheer®
nau.edu
ITEP's AIAQTP program provides
training and educational outreach for
tribal environmental staff all over the
United States, including Alaska. The
various projects and services highlighted
below help the AIAQTP to accomplish
the following goals:
• Assist in the building of tribal
capacity for air quality management
Provide high-quality, up-to-date training
that is immediately relevant to tribes
Enhance communication skills to
promote collaboration and networking
Air Toxics - Data Management/Analysis
Website: www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/toxdat.html
Contact: Darrel Harmon, harmon.darrel®
epa.gov
EPA's Air Toxics website includes
information on the Air Toxics Studies
Webinar Series; Air Toxics Data Analysis
Workbook and Training Presentations;
Air Toxics Data; and Related Links.
Training was offered in 2010 to support
the release of the new Air Toxics Data
Analysis Workbook.
Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI)
Website: www.epa.gov/apti
APTI primarily provides technical air
pollution training to state, tribal, and
local air pollution professionals, although
others may benefit from this training.
APTI's goal is to facilitate professional
development by enhancing the skills
necessary to understand and implement
environmental programs and policies.
The institute offers 20 different courses
annually from a total of 38 titles avail-
able through the Air Training Centers.
EPA Office of Water (OW)
American Indian Tribal Portal's focus on
Water Training
Website: www.epa.gov/tribalportal/edutrain-
ing.htm#water
Contact: Frances Desselle, desselle.frances®
epa.gov
The American Indian Tribal Portal
focuses on a variety of tribal training
including those specifically geared towards
water instruction such as Clean Water Act
(CWA) Tribal Training and Drinking Water
Training for Tribes and Tribal Operators.
EPA's Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER)
The Training Exchange (TRAINEX)
Website: www.trainex.org
Contact: Felicia Wright, wright.felicia@epa.
gov
TRAINEX offers training for EPA,
federal, state, and tribal personnel
involved in solid and hazardous waste
management, cleanup, and emergency
response. This links to training offered
in all OSWER programs, at both the
HQ and Regional level.
EPA's Office of Environmental
Information (OEI)
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
Website: www.epa.gov/TRI
Contact: Christine Arcari, arcari.Christine®
epa.gov
TRI is a publicly available EPA database
that contains information on toxic
chemical releases and waste manage-
ment activities reported annually by
certain industries as well as federal
facilities. Information on the 2010
National Training Conference on the
TRI and Environmental Conditions in
Communities in Washington, D.C., may
be accessed from the TRI website. The
next National Training Conference is
tentatively planned for the Spring of 2012.
National Environmental Information
Exchange Network
Website: www.exchangenetwork.net
Contact: Kurt Rakouskas, kurtr@sso.org
The Exchange Network is a partnership
among states, tribes, and EPA that is
revolutionizing the exchange of environ-
mental information. Partners on the
Exchange Network share data efficiently
and securely over the Internet. This new
approach is providing real-time access
to higher quality data while saving time,
resources, and money for partner states,
tribes, and territories. •
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety
and Pollution Prevention's Lead,
Asbestos, & Pesticide Training
EPA's Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics
Training
Lead Renovation, Repair
and Painting Training
As of April 22, 2010, contractors who
perform renovation, repair, and painting
jobs in homes or schools built before
1978, must be EPA certified and trained
in lead-safe work practices. The list of
training providers who have been accred-
ited by EPA to provide training for
renovators under EPA's Lead Renovation,
Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule is avail-
able at www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/training-
providers.htm.
Please note that individuals who have
previously completed an eligible renova-
tion training course may take the 4-hour
refresher course instead of the 8-hour
initial course from an accredited training
provider to become a certified renova-
tor. Visit www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/train-
erinstructions.htm for a list of eligible
training courses. Renovation firms must
be certified as well. This involves filling
out a two-page application and sending
it in to EPA with the appropriate fee,
which is reduced for tribes. For more
information, visit www.epa.gov/lead.
Lead Abatement Training
EPA requires individuals conducting
lead abatement, inspections, and risk
assessments in target housing and child-
occupied facilities to be trained and
certified. Abatement means permanently
eliminating lead-based paint hazards.
Measures that are taken to prevent lead-
based hazards during renovation, remod-
eling, painting or other activities when
they are not designed to permanently
eliminate lead hazards does not consti-
tute abatement. To locate accredited
trainers in the 11 jurisdictions where
EPA administers the lead-based paint
abatement training and certifications
programs, visit EPA's website at http://
cfpub.epa.gov/flpp/searchrrp_training.
htm. For assistance identifying training
providers in one of EPA's 44 autho-
rized programs (39 states, three tribes
(Cherokee Nation, Lower Sioux,
and Upper Sioux), Puerto Rico, and
Washington D.C.), contact the National
Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-
LEAD (5323).
Asbestos Training
Requirements
Federal law requires asbestos control
professionals to take training on how
to properly inspect for the presence of
asbestos and to repair and remove it.
Training is also required to develop
asbestos management plans for schools
and to manage and design asbestos
abatement projects. Training for asbestos
abatement professionals includes five
required training disciplines (worker,
contractor/supervisor, inspector, manage-
ment planner, and project designer) and
one recommended discipline (project
monitor). Find courses offered by each
state by visiting www.epa.gov/oppt/
asbestos/pubs/ndaac.html.
EPA's Office of Pesticides
Enforcement and
Compliance Training
Enforcement and compliance training
provides tribes with knowledge and
experience to implement effective
pesticide enforcement and compliance
programs in Indian Country.
EPA's Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides
Pesticide Inspector Residential Training
(PIRT) courses annually for state and
tribal inspectors. All PIRT courses include
training to improve basic inspection skills,
mock inspections, and worker safety. In
2008, OECA developed and provided a
tribal-specific PIRT course on Structural
Pest Control. Participants were tribal
inspectors who conduct pesticide use
inspections and investigations to assure
that pesticides are sold, distributed, and
used in accordance with federal and
tribal pesticide laws. This course provided
information about conducting use inspec-
tions and investigations for pesticides
used in structures such as schools and
other buildings. OECA also offers a Tribal
Compliance Assistance Center at www.epa.
gov/tribalcompliance. This is a Web-based
resource for tribes to access comprehensive,
easy-to-understand compliance informa-
tion targeted specifically for environmental
issues in Indian Country.
Pesticide Regulatory
Education Program (PREP)
Training
Training improves the effectiveness
and efficiency of tribal programs and
the Tribal Pesticide Program Council
(TPPC). In 2009, EPA's Office of
Pesticide Programs (OPP) offered a course
targeted specifically to tribal environ-
mental and pesticide program managers
and TPPC members through PREP.
The goal of this course was to provide
training in leadership, management, and
program skills that could benefit both the
individual tribal programs and the TPPC
organization as a whole. For more infor-
mation about the TPPC, see www.epa.
gov/oppfeadI/tribes/tppc.htm. For more
information about PREP courses, visit
www.prep-gov.net. •
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Inspector Health and Safety Training Online
Catherine Tunis, EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
EPA's Safety, Health and
Environmental Management
(SHEM) Program is now available online.
These courses are essential for inspec-
tors conducting on-site (field) work. The
course for new inspectors is called "EPA
SHEM Training for Field Activities."
This course consists of seven modules:
information on rights and responsibili-
ties, chemical hazards, physical hazards,
biological hazards, personal protection,
general safety, and field operations and
support activities. Inspectors may also
need to take the OSHA "Collateral
Duty" course. "Radiation Safety" and
"Laboratory Activities" safety courses are
also available.
Information on these courses
and other EPA-sponsored classroom
training is available at EPA's National
Enforcement Training Institute (NETI)
online at www.netionline.com. All
local, tribal, state, international, and
federal government environmental
enforcement employees are eligible to
receive a NETI account to access the
online information. •
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Asbestos Awareness Training
in EPA Region 8
Dan Webster and Vic Zielinski, EPA Region 8
The National Emission Standards
for Hazardous Air Pollutants
(NESHAP) for asbestos requires inspec-
tion, reporting, and pollution preven-
tion measures prior to the renovation
or demolition of most "facilities."
Implementation is delegated to the
states in EPA Region 8, while EPA
implements and enforces asbestos
NESHAP on tribal lands.
State enforcement counterparts and
citizen tips suggest that there is frequent
noncompliance with NESHAP require-
ments on tribal lands. This may be due
to both a lack of awareness of the law
and the lack of an enforcement presence.
For this reason, EPA believes that
better compliance can be achieved
through greater awareness of the asbestos
NESHAP regulation among both the
tribal communities and the regulated
community. Some tribal environmental
programs have requested support from
EPA in raising the awareness level among
decision-makers in their communities.
To address this situation EPA Region
8 awarded a grant to develop an asbestos
awareness presentation. The five-hour
presentation discusses asbestos health
affects, how to identify asbestos, and
the applicable laws and regulations.
During the summer and fall of 2009,
this training was presented at 13 differ-
ent tribal locations where 18 tribes were
represented and 254 tribal members
attended. The audience included tribal
environmental directors and staff, tribal
housing directors and staff, and several
other tribal members.
During the presentations, several
tribal members voiced concern that they
Prior to any renovation or demoli-
tion work, EPA advises the owner or
operator of the property to test for
asbestos. For a list of common materi-
als that contain asbestos and many
other facts please visit www.epa.gov/
asbestos. By ensuring you are not
disturbing asbestos, you will protect
yourself, your family and your children.
Contact EPA at 1-800-227-8917 to
determine how the regulations apply to
your specific project.
• For tribes in Montana and
Wyoming, contact Jim Maley at
(303) 312-6351.
should have been informed about the
hazards of asbestos several years ago.
For example, the practice of demoli-
tion by fire appears to be very common
on tribal land where asbestos has not
been removed prior to the demolition.
The ash pile becomes a highly asbestos
concentrated dust pile where the asbestos
fibers are easily inhaled.
In 2010, five tribes in Wyoming,
Montana, and North Dakota were
visited. Vic Zielinski, an EPA Asbestos
Inspector hired through an EPA grant,
will continue the training for the eastern
South Dakota tribes. EPA hopes to
ensure that all tribal members in Region
8 that may encounter asbestos in their
job duties will attend this asbestos aware-
ness presentation.
To further address awareness of the
requirements, Region 8 will provide
a condensed course for tribal council
members when an asbestos inspector
visits a tribe. EPA Region 8 feels it is
very important for council members
to be aware of asbestos hazards so they
can use this knowledge to protect their
people and their lands from asbestos
contamination. •
• For tribes in North and South
Dakota, contact Vic Zielinski at
(303) 312-6365.
• For tribes in Colorado and Utah,
contact Chris Maksimuk at (303)
312-6406.
This project could not have been
possible without the hard work of
Vic Zielinski in initially setting up the
project and his training events for the
tribe. We would like to also thank Jim
Maley and Chris Maksimuk for their
efforts at their training events.
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
The National Pesticide Tribal Program: Achieving
Public Health and Environmental Protection in
Indian Country and Alaska Native Villages
This article was adapted from the 2009
EPA publication "The National Pesticide
Tribal Program: Achieving Public Health
and Environmental Protection in Indian
Country and Alaska Native Villages," EPA
Publication No. EPA-735-F-09-007.
The publication may be found on-line at
www.epa.gov/oppfeadl/Publications/tribal-
brochure.pdf
EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs
(OPP) provides training and circuit
rider programs that can benefit multiple
tribes, where appropriate. Circuit riders
maximize our resources because one
tribal pesticide expert can offer several
tribes pesticide technical assistance,
education, training, and in some cases,
assistance with assuring compliance
with pesticide laws and regulations. This
initiative has allowed significant increases
in program coverage — an increase in
the number of tribes, population, and
acreage covered — on how to safely use
pesticide products. To date, eight tribal
circuit riders have been established,
providing program coverage for 30 tribes
and more than 330,000 people on more
than 12.8 million acres.
Between 2007 and 2009, EPA
funded four new pesticide tribal circuit
riders, covering an additional 13 tribes,
283,000 people, and approximately 7.9
million acres in Indian Country.
For example, EPA Region 10 provides
funding through a Cooperative Agreement
to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe located in
northern Idaho, to conduct pesticide
program activities on behalf of EPA within
that reservation, as well as for five other
participating tribes: two in northern Idaho
(Kootenai, Nez Perce) and three in eastern
Washington (Colville, Spokane, and
Kalispel). Eric Gjevre, who has served in
the Coeur d'Alene Circuit Pvider position
for over 10 years, conducts inspections
to assure that pesticides are sold and used
properly within the six reservations. Mr.
Gjevre provides technical assistance, educa-
tion, and training on the legal and safe use
of pesticides. He also works closely with
Idaho and Washington State pesticide
agencies on cross-jurisdictional issues and
shares training opportunities.
This Circuit Pvider program benefits
participating tribes by providing low-cost
or no-cost access to a trained pesticide
specialist who can provide pesticide
education and compliance monitoring
activities within their reservations. The
program also benefits EPA by provid-
ing cost-effective pesticide program
coverage over a large geographic area of
special tribal projects. The Agency also
welcomes opportunities to collaborate
with tribal organizations.
Basketweaving
EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs
(OPP) worked with the California
Basketweavers Association to develop a
brochure informing tribal basketweav-
ers about potential exposure to pesti-
cides while collecting native plants and
weaving baskets.
Case Study: Collaboration
Promotes Expertise and
Efficiency
"It's essential that all tribal pesticide
programs, especially a one-man-show
like many tribes operate, including Salt
Pviver Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
(SPvPMIC), reach out to one another and
outside agencies to pool resources and
work with the allocated grant funds. All of
these tribal programs, SPvPMIC included,
are at some intermediate growth stage and
look outside to the horizon for opportuni-
ties to learn from others facilitating their
growth to successful maturity."
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
- Mark Aaron, Indian Community
Senior Environmental Specialist, Pesticides
and Hazardous Substances, Salt River
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, AZ
Environmental Protection and Natural
Resources Division
The regulation and use of pesticide
products are complex. Sharing knowl-
edge and collaborative learning oppor-
tunities can accelerate development of
expertise, thereby enhancing protection.
SRPMIC has aggressively pursued such
opportunities.
Mark Aaron has established a
network with the two Arizona agencies
that regulate pesticides (Arizona
Department of Agriculture and the
Office of Pest Management), the Navajo
Nation, Gila River Indian Community
(GRIC), and the Colorado River Indian
Tribes (CRIT). The Arizona Department
of Agriculture and the Office of Pest
Management have scheduled special
training sessions for tribal inspectors
at the SPvPMIC's requests. Mr. Aaron
has been allowed to shadow inspectors
who coordinate personnel within their
agencies to answer questions regarding
verification of state licensure, product
registration verification, and compliance
and enforcement actions they have taken
in their jurisdiction, and to provide
forms, boilerplate language, and training
manuals.
Mr. Aaron has also attended multi-
agency inspections with GRIC coordi-
nated by EPA as a training exercise at
producer establishments, and joined the
Navajo Nation on State of Arizona follow-
up inspections, and WPS and maintenance
yard inspections. He has shadowed CPJT
on an inspection and attended meetings
with agricultural applicators to provide
Worker Protection Standard compliance
awareness. CPJT has also provided Mr.
Aaron with an in-depth look at how it
manages its database of 1080 Notice of
Intent Pesticide Applications, which allows
CRIT to plan an effective schedule of daily
inspections before arriving on site. •
EPA-TSC's Hosts Environmental
Science Workshops throughout
the United States
The National EPA-Tribal Science
Council — commonly referred to as
the Tribal Science Council (TSC) — hosts
or sponsors workshops and events across
the country on specific environmental
science issues. Information on these
workshops and events are posted under
the "Events" tab located on the EPA
Science and American Indians website at
www.epa.gov/osp/tribes/tribes.htm. You
may sign up to receive e-mail notifica-
tions of events by filling out the required
information located under the "E-Mail
Updates" tab. The EPA Science and
American Indians website also provides
information on Web-based training
opportunities as well as links to other
scientific training resources such as the
Drinking Water Academy, and the Clean
Water Act Tribal Training.
Scientific Training Events
Supported by TSC:
• Climate Change and Contaminants
in Subsistence Foods: A Tribal
Program to Monitor the Health of
Alaskan Yupik Women and Children
(Webinar)
• Introduction to Section 319 of the
Clean Water Act (CWA): Nonpoint
Source (NPS) Management Programs
Inspector Health and Safety Training
Online
Ongoing and Web-based
Scientific Training
Opportunities:
• Computer-Based Training Course on
Risk-Based Air Toxics - Focuses on
risk-based air toxics, providing a basic
understanding of air pollution toxicol-
ogy, epidemiology, and risk assessment.
• Environmental Hazard Assessment
in Indian Country: Indian Country
Environmental Hazard Assessment
and Management Systems Training
Project (ICEHAP)
• Toxicology Tutor - Intended to
provide a basic understanding of
toxicology as an aide for users of
toxicology literature contained in
the National Library of Medicine s
Chemical and Toxicological databases.
The TSC is composed of a single
tribal representative from each of the
nine EPA Regions with federally-recog-
nized tribes, with an additional tribal
representative in Region 10 to represent
Alaska Native communities. There is a
single Agency representative from each
headquarters program office and region.
Tribal representatives are nominated
by their Regional Tribal Operations
Committees through the National
Tribal Operations Committee. Regional
contact information is located at www.
epa.gov/OSP/tribes/who.htm.
For additional information on TSC,
visit www.epa.gov/osp/tribes/tribes.htm.
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Institute for Triba
Environmental Professionals
The Tribal News editors would like to
thank Todd Barnell and
Lydia Scheer, ITEP,for their contri(
to this article.
The Institute for Tribal
Environmental Professionals (ITEP)
was established under a Memorandum
of Understanding between EPA's Office
of Air and Radiation and Northern
Arizona University in 1993. ITEP
provides free training sessions to tribal
members throughout the United States
on various environmental topics includ-
ing air quality, environmental compli-
ance, environmental education outreach,
professional assistance, and tribal solid
waste education and assistance. Proposed
2011 ITEP training sessions within the
different disciplines are:
American Indian Air Quality
Training Program (AIAQTP)
Introduction to Tribal Air Quality
Practical Applications for GIS in Air
Quality
Air Quality Computations
Air Pollution Technology
Air Quality in Alaska Native Villages
Tribal Data Toolbox
Indoor Air Quality in Alaska
• Management of Tribal
Air Quality in Alaska
Adapting to Climate Change
• Air Quality System (AQS)
• New Source Review (NSR)
• Emissions Inventory/TEISS
Environmental Compliance
and Inspection Program (ECI)
• Developing Environmental
Codes and Ordinances
• Tribal Basic Inspector Training
Tribal Air Monitoring
Support (TAMS)
• Practical Applications for
GIS in Air Quality
• Air Pollution Technology
Tribal Data Toolbox
Indoor Air Quality in Alaska
• Air Quality System (AQS)
• Air Monitoring Data Management
Tribal Solid Waste Education
and Assistance Program
(TSWEAP)
Source Reduction Strategies for Tribal
Solid Waste Programs
• Developing a Tribal Integrated Solid
Waste Management Plan
Addressing and Managing Illegal
Dumps in Indian Country
Managing Tribal Transfer Stations
Web-based: Online
training courses
Self-Paced Tutorials: Tribal Emissions
Inventory Software Solution (TEISS)
and Mapping Air Data using GIS
• Instructor-Assisted Online Courses:
Air Monitoring Data Management
and Tribal Data Toolbox
An entirely new training session,
Tribal Waste and Response Assistance
Program (TWRAP) is being developed
under a grant from EPA OSWER. The
courses under TWRAP will include
Tribal Co-Regulatory Framework
and Activities and Tribal Hazardous
Substance Research.
For more information, contact
the Institute for Tribal Environmental
Professionals toll free at 1 (866)
248-4576 or (928) 523-9555 or itep@
NAU.EDU. The ITEP website is
www4.nau.edu/itep. •
From February 2007 through March 2011, the Tribal Solid Waste Education and
Assistance Program trained approximately 380 students in 10 states and held 20 training
sessions. Since 2002, over 450 students have successfully completed the Environmental
Compliance and Inspection Program.
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
EPA Supports Indian
Tribes in Protecting their
Waters and Lifeways
Frances A. Desselle, EPA's Office of Water
Indian tribes are developing and imple-
menting a wide variety of Clean Water
Act (CWA) programs to protect the
health of their people and to preserve,
protect and restore water bodies (lakes,
rivers, and wetlands) and aquatic
resources that are vital to the tribal way
of life.
EPA's Office of Water (OW) is
helping to enhance tribal staff skills
in these areas by developing innova-
tive training approaches to assist tribes.
Efforts have focused on: 1) creating a
user friendly website to enable tribes
to access training opportunities and
2) providing a progressive, structured
approach to training.
Background
OWs past approach to providing
training for tribes on CWA programs
was on a program-specific basis with
little or no coordination, integration, or
progressive structure for learning. Results
from an extensive review of this training
approach led OWs Tribal Steering
Committee* to adopt a new structured,
consolidated, and progressive approach
for helping tribes develop and imple-
ment their water quality programs.
The steering committee reached
out to tribes, tribal organizations, and
professors of tribal colleges and universi-
ties as part of its review. It also sought
input from other federal agencies and
from other EPA offices. Feedback
provided by tribes, tribal groups, and
other internal and external organizations
and entities was factored into OWs new
framework.
The new framework significantly
changes the way OW plans, designs,
markets, and offers training to tribes.
This is OWs first attempt to develop a
tribal training strategy that unifies efforts
from all CWA programs. It is also a
first-ever attempt to increase accessibil-
ity to training opportunities via an easily
navigable tool for tribes across the nation.
Training Website Provides
"One-Stop Shopping"
During the review, tribes asked for a
single point of access for all of EPA's
CWA-related training. As a result, OW
provided a single website for information
about EPA-sponsored CWA training
opportunities in a system that is easy
to access, navigate, and use. The CWA
Training website, released in late summer
of 2008, lists training opportunities,
course descriptions, dates offered, regis-
tration deadlines, pre-requisites, contact
information for technical experts for
each course, and other information. The
website also provides links to helpful
documents, tools, and other resources.
In addition to being a source of
information about training opportuni-
ties under the CWA, the website also
provides links to training opportunities
available to the tribes for several other
EPA programs (e.g., Office of Air and
Radiation, Office of Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance, and others). The
website has, in essence, become a source
of "one-stop shopping" for the tribes for
information about training offered by a
large number of EPA program offices.
To develop a user-friendly website,
OW requested input from tribes and
tribal organizations on its design, format,
and content, including photos and other
materials to customize and enhance
the website. OW sought tribal input
by conducting a webcast to share the
draft website with tribes and by making
presentations during national confer-
ences and regional meetings. OW also
demonstrated the draft website, allowing
users to test it and provide feedback.
Finally, OW established an electronic
mailing list to distribute information
about upcoming training opportuni-
ties, tools, and resources to tribal water
quality professionals.
You may join this electronic mailing
list by sending a blank email to: join-
tribal_training_cwa@lists. ep a.gov (you
will receive a welcome message once you
have joined).
To access the CWA Tribal Training
website, log on to: www.epa.gov/water/
tribal training/index.html.
*The OW Tribal Steering Committee is chaired by the OW Deputy Assistant
Administrator. Other members of the Committee consist of high ranking officials in
the OW.
**The National Tribal Water Council (NTWC) is a technical and scientific body
sponsored by OW. The Council assists OW with research and information for
decision-making regarding water issues and water-related concerns that impact
federally-recognized tribal entities.
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
The CWA Tribal Training can also be
accessed via EPA's Tribal Portal website
at: www.epa.gov/tribalportal/edutraining.
htm#water.
Tribal Water Quality Experts-
Trainers
One integral aspect of OW's new frame-
work is to utilize tribal water quality
experts as trainers, instructors, and facili-
tators for face-to-face and Web training
sessions. Tribal experts bring an added
dimension to a learning environment
by sharing their knowledge, experience,
and skills with other tribes, serving as
mentors, and being a valuable resource
for other tribal employees. OW and the
tribes strongly support the concept of
peer-to-peer training.
Several of the Web training sessions in
the summer series featured tribal experts
who shared their experiences developing
and implementing tribal water quality
programs through case examples, lessons
learned, and a sharing of personal experi-
ences. Based upon feedback from attend-
ees during the series of webcasts, the case
examples and personal stories presented
by the tribal experts were among the most
successful aspects of the Web series.
OW will continue to expand upon the
successful series of webcasts held in 2009
by adding additional CWA topics.
Input From Tribes
OW regularly queries tribes about their
training needs and relies very heavily
on input from tribes to guide the tribal
training framework. The National Tribal
Water Council (NTWC) established by
OW also plays a significant role in helping
to identify, design, and develop appropri-
ate water quality training for tribes.
Conclusion
OW has been at the forefront in working
with tribes to address their CWA training,
education, and information needs and will
continue in its leadership role. Feedback to
date indicates that these efforts are paying
off, with positive ratings on training survey
forms from participants. OW plans to
continue to provide and enhance CWA
training for tribes, and welcomes feedback
on how it can improve this important
aspect of its programs.
Feedback may be submitted to
Frances Desselle at desselle.frances@epa.
gov. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
EPA's Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response (OSWER)
Training Resources
Felicia Wright, EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
OSWER Training
Program Topics Audience
OSWER-Wide
EPA, federal,
state, and tribal
personnel
Training Description
Training Exchange Website (TRAINEX) was developed by OSWER to coordi-
nate training for EPA, federal, state, and tribal personnel involved in solid and
hazardous waste management, cleanup, and emergency response. It links to
training offered in all OSWER programs at the HQ and Regional level.
Website
Tribes
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) training includes solid
waste and will be expanding into other OSWER-related training areas in the
future.
www.trainex.org
www4.nau.edu/itep
Brownfields Site
Revitalization
State & tribal
Brownfields
grantees
The Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES)
is an online database for Brownfields grantees to electronically submit data
directly to EPA.
On-line training for state and tribal grantees.
www.epa.gov/acres/
trainingschedule.htm
Tribes
Training for tribes on All Appropriate Inquiry
www.icfi.com/
docs/2009-cercla-aai.
pdf
General
audience
Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) on-line
offers training in software applications used widely to plan for and respond
to chemical emergencies. It is one of the tools developed by EPA's Office of
Emergency Management (OEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Office of Response and Restoration (NOAA), to assist front-line
chemical emergency planners and responders.
www.epa.gov/
emergencies/content/
cameo/cam-evnt.htm
General
audience
National Incidence Management System (NIMS) administered by the
Department of Homeland Security provides a consistent nationwide template to
enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to
work together during domestic incidents.
http://ccrf.hhs.gov/ccrf/
NIMS_training.htm
Emergency
Preparedness
and Response
& Emergency
Management
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offers self-paced courses
for people who have emergency management responsibilities and the general
public. All are offered free-of-charge to those who qualify for enrollment.
http://training.fema.
gov/IS/NIMS.asp
Tribes
Indian Country Environmental Hazards Assessment Program (ICEHAP)
offered by the United Tribes Technical College is an on-line, interactive, semes-
ter-long course that teaches participants to recognize environmental conditions
that may cause harm to tribal community health; develop work-plans which can
be used in writing grant proposals; survey their communities to identify specific
environmental problems that may cause harm to tribal communities; and identify
available and potential resources for environmental problem resolution.
www.epa.gov/air/tribal/
announce/pdfs/envirol.
pdf
General
audience
Water Security and Emergency Response training is geared at improving the
security of our nation's drinking water and wastewater infrastructures.
This website provides resources for water utilities, state and local governments,
public health officials, emergency responders and planners, assistance and
training providers, environmental professionals, researchers and engineers, and
law enforcement officials, among others, to: assess and reduce vulnerabilities
to potential terrorist attacks; plan for and practice response to emergencies and
incidents; and develop new security technologies to detect and monitor contam-
inants and prevent security breaches.
http://cfpub.epa.gov/
safewater/watersecu-
rity/outreach.cfm
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
If we wonder often, the gift of
knowledge will come. -Ampaho
You already possess everything
necessary to become great. - Crow
We will be known forever by
the tracks we leave. - Dakota
OSWER Training
Program Topics Audience
Superfund
Cleanup Program
General
audience
Training Description
Superfund Training and Learning Center offers training opportunities that
are geared towards professional audiences involved in site cleanup. While some
courses are open to the public as part of a broad spectrum of environmental
education, many training opportunities are reserved specifically for federal and
state regulators.
Website
www.epa.gov/super-
fund/training/index.
htm
Underground
Storage Tanks
State and EPA
LIST inspectors
and staff, as well
as others inter-
ested in learning
about USTs
UST-LUST Virtual Classroom site provides internet-accessible training of
introductory-level courses on the LIST program (including explanation of the
LIST regulations; identifying the differences between the LIST and leaking LIST
programs (LUST); financial responsibility; and orienting new users to the compo-
nents of an UST system). Basic LIST Inspector Training describes how inspec-
tors can prepare for and conduct compliance inspections at typical UST sites.
www.epa.gov/OUST/
virtual.htm
Tribes
Tribal-specific Underground Storage Tanks Training offered by the Inter-
Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., is a training program that helps tribes address
petroleum contamination, certify tribal representatives as UST inspectors,
develop tribal UST laws and regulations, and enact tribal UST cleanup standards.
www.epa.gov/
swerust!/tribes/
training_resources.htm
General
audience
Solid and
Hazardous Waste
Management
& Resource
Conservation
General
audience
Tribes
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-related website consoli-
dates online courses, seminars, webinars, podcasts, and videos that are posted
throughout the Wastes Website. Both introductory and more advanced courses
are included for federal and state regulators, the regulated community, organi-
zations, associations, and even consumers who are interested in environmental
laws and regulations and their implementation.
www.epa.gov/
epa waste/education/
train.htm
Resource Conservation Challenge - Web Academy provides information on
key issues, successful projects, and a variety of best management practices for
creating stellar waste management programs. Hear from experts around the
country on what works and what doesn't, and how to make your program more
successful. The format for the calls will be a formal presentation followed by a
question and answer session and discussion time.
http://epa.gov/waste/
rcc/web-academy/
index.htm
ITEP and Tribal Solid Waste Education and Assistance Program (TSWEAP)
offers courses such as Source Reduction Strategies for Tribes, Developing
Integrated Solid Waste Management Plans, and Managing Illegal Dumps in
Indian country.
www4.nau.edu/itep/
waste/train ing_tsweap.
asp
Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network (TSWAN) offers courses such
as Financial Management & Grant Writing, Solid Waste Programs,
Methamphetamine Lab Identification and Assessment on Tribal Lands, Integrated
Solid Waste Management Plans.
www.tswan.org/main/
main.asp
Regional
Newsletters
Tribes
First page of Tribal Newsletter lists upcoming training, including OSWER-related
training.
www.epa.gov/
region09/tribal/
newslet.html
OECA
Tribes
National Enforcement Training Institute (NETI) includes a tribal strategy and
courses such as Tribal Inspector Training which includes OSWER programs.
www.netionline.com/
default.asp
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Environmental and Public Health
Training and Technology Transfer
at a Tribal College
Mary Lauterbach and Irina Myers, EPA's Office of
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
Tribal college and universities were
founded by American Indians to
train and educate their youth to meet
the growing demands of the twenty
first century and beyond while allowing
their tribal cultures, practices, customs,
and traditional knowledge to grow and
endure for future generations. During
the last several decades, enrollment at
the tribal colleges has seen tremendous
growth and currently there are approxi-
mately 30,000 students in attendance.
Tribal colleges and universities play
an ever increasing and critical role in
addressing many of the environmental
and economic issues facing Indian tribes
today. Promoting technical education
and technology transfer can provide the
necessary and vital tools and expertise to
support the future well-being of tribal
communities. Over the years, tribal
colleges and universities have received
assistance from a variety of public and
private sources. EPA has provided tribal
colleges and universities with resources
for efforts to establish and implement
environmental programs. The Agency
has also provided expertise and resources
in environmental sciences, engineering,
and math to promote these programs.
Through its long-standing Indian
policy, EPA has built tribal capacity for
the development and sustainment of
environmental protection programs on
tribal lands. EPA maintains that tribal
colleges are considered as some of the
most important vehicles in building
A-iTTvrri^/f
\£^^4r
^* - .1^ j—vJC
2007 Memorandum of Understanding MOU Agreement
The Official Signing of the MOU between EPA's Office of
Administration and Resources Management (OARM), Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Salish Kootenai College,
and the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe took place at the U.S.
State Senate Committee on Indian Affairs at the U.S. Senate in
February 2007.
capacity. Therefore,
EPA supports
technology transfer
programs includ-
ing: environmental
program curriculum
development; profes-
sional and technical training; and certi-
fication programs to provide protection
and safeguard tribal communities from
environmental hazards.
In following with this impor-
tant concept, the Office of Pollution
Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) within
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety
and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP)
which was formerly named the Office
of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic
Substances (OPPTS), is updating its
OPPTS Tribal Strategy. The original
Strategy was developed in consultation*
with tribes as a way to promote two-way
exchange programs between tribes and
EPA staff and to develop mechanisms to
promote knowledge and understanding
of OCSPP programs. A similar process
is being conducted for developing the
updated Strategy.
B^
OCSPP engaged in its first
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) agreement with a tribal college
for purposes of training and technology
transfer. It is of special note that a large
portion of the MOU was dedicated
to EPA's Office of Administration
and Resource Management (OAPvM)
efforts to work with the National
Environmental Science Partnership
Program with tribal colleges to promote
science and engineering programs. This
effort helps create opportunities to
ensure a pool of qualified and diverse
candidates for EPA in the environmen-
tal field.
A Training Proposal
The MOU with the Salish Kootenai
Tribe and College began with discus-
sions to identify a mutually agreeable
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Tribal Colleges and Universities
Bay Mills Community College
www.bmcc.edu
Blackfeet Community College
www.bfcc.org
Cankdeska Cikana (Little Hoop)
Community College
www.littlehoop.edu
Chief Dull Knife College
www.cdkc.edu
College of Menominee Nation
www.menominee.edu
College of the Muskogee Nation
www.mvsktc.org
Comanche Nation College
www.cnc.cc.ok.us
Dine College
www.dinecollege.edu
Fond du Lac Tribal and
Community College
www.fdltcc.edu
Fort Belknap College
www.fbcc.edu
I Fort Berthold Community
College
www.fbcc.bia.edu
Fort Peck Community College
www.fpcc.edu
Haskell Indian Nations University
www.haskell.edu
project that would benefit EPA, the
tribe, and the tribal college in achiev-
ing their mutual missions. From
these informal discussions, the Salish
Tribe's Environmental Department
chose a project to focus on the need to
prevent asbestos exposure and manage
existing asbestos risks on tribal lands.
Additionally, the project aims to increase
capacity-building at the tribal college
by expanding its environmental science
course offerings to include asbestos
Ilisagvik College
http://webspace.ilisagvik.cc
Institute of American Indian Arts
www.iaia.edu
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa
Community College
www.kbocc.org
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa
Community College
www.lco.edu
Leech Lake Tribal College
lltc.edu
Little Big Horn College
www.lbhc.edu
Little Priest Tribal College
www.lptc.bia.edu
Navajo Technical College
www.navajotech.edu
Nebraska Indian Community
College
www.thenicc.edu
Northwest Indian College
www.nwic.edu
Oglala Lakota College
www.olc.edu
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal
College
www.sagchip.org/tribalcollege
training and "train-the-trainer" technol-
ogy transfer. This project supports
the development of tribal experts by
offering asbestos accredited training as
stipulated under EPA's Asbestos Model
Accreditation Program (MAP) (40 CFR
Part 763, Appendix C to subpart E).
The project offers at least three asbestos
training courses: Asbestos Inspector,
Asbestos Contractor/Supervisor, and
Asbestos Worker. The project also
builds the tribes' capacity by provid-
Salish Kootenai College
www.skc.edu
Sinte Gleska University
www.sintegleska.edu
Sisseton Wahpeton College
www.swc.tc
Sitting Bull College
www.sittingbull.edu
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic
Institute
www.sipi.bia.edu
Stone Child College
www.stonechild.edu
Tohono O'odham Community
College
www.tocc.cc.az.us
Turtle Mountain Community
College
www.turtle-mountain.cc.nd.us
United Tribes Technical College
www.uttc.edu
White Earth Tribal and
Community College
www.wetcc.org
Wind River Tribal College
www.wrtribalcollege.com
ing assistance to the tribe and college
for establishing an approval process for
offering the on-going annual refresher
courses within Salish Tribal College or
community.
The first set of training courses
was delivered in January 2011 with
identical training sessions planned for
2012. The Salish Kotenai Tribe and
other tribes explained that there is a
great need for assistance with making
this accredited training available to
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
'Y
XI
DANGER
X ASBESTOS
r A/lkl/^fn /I im I llftl/t rtisN^B A_
CANCER
DISEASE HAZARD
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY
Asbestos is a mineral fiber that has been used commonly in a variety
of building construction materials for insulation and as a fire retardant.
Because of its fiber strength and heat resistant properties, asbestos has
been used for a wide range of manufactured goods, mostly in building
materials, friction products (automobile clutch, brake, and transmission
parts), heat resistant fabrics, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.
When asbestos containing materials are damaged or disturbed by repair,
remodeling or demolition activities, microscopic fibers become airborne
and can be inhaled into the lungs, where they can cause significant
health problems.
tribal members. Having access to this
training, should greatly assist the tribe in
improving compliance with the TSCA's
Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response
Act (AHERA) and with the National
Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air
Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations.
This project proposal also supports
EPAs 1984 Indian Policy, which states in
part that the "Agency will take affirma-
tive steps to encourage and assist tribes
in assuming regulatory and program
management responsibilities for reserva-
tion lands." Within the constraints of
EPAs authority and resources, this aid
includes providing grants and other
assistance to tribes, similar to what is
provided to state governments. Where
EPA retains such responsibility, the
Agency encourages the tribe to partici-
pate in policy-making and to assume
appropriate lesser or partial roles in the
management of reservation programs.
This project through the tribal colleges
and universities is one way that EPA
accredited trainings and other technol-
ogy transfer workshops are now offered
to tribes and tribal employees.
For further information regarding
this MOU and training proposal, please
contact Irina Myers at 202-564-8822 or
via email at myers.irina@epa.gov. •
Environmental Sciences
Quick Facts about Salish
Kootenai College
Salish Kootenai College
is a tribally-controlled
college chartered in 1977
by the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai
Tribes.
The College is located in
Pablo, Montana, in the
heart of the Flathead
Indian Reservation in the
scenic Mission Valley of
northwestern Montana.
• President: Joseph
McDonald, EdD.
Since 1977, the College
has graduated 2,536
bachelors and associate
degrees and certificates of
completion.
The D'Arcy McNickle
Library contains over
60,000 volumes and
provides access to online
reference databases. The
Library also houses the
Special Archives Collection
for the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai
Tribes.
In 2005-2006, SKC
students represented
107 federally-recognized
tribes.
• Salish Kootenai offers
a four year degree in
Environmental Sciences.
*Consultation consists of a meaningful and timely two-way exchange with tribal officials in developing agency actions, providing for open sharing of
information, the full expression of tribal and EPA views, a commitment to consider tribal views in decision-making, and respect for Tribal self-govern-
ment and sovereignty." (Citation taken from EPA's EP 13175 Draft Guidance)
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
New EPA Administrative and Financial Grant
Management & Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise Rule Training Initiative Launched
Kirk Laflin, National Partnership for Environmental Technology Education
EPA's Office of Grants and Debarment
(OGD) and Office of Small
Business Programs (OSBP) have entered
into a multi-year contract with the
National Partnership for Environmental
Technology Education (PETE), a national
not-for-profit organization, to develop
a tribal training and technical assistance
initiative. The cutting-edge program
involves a multifaceted approach to
provide tribes, trust territories, and insular
areas with training in the proper manage-
ment of EPA funds through assistance
awards, and OSBP's new Disadvantaged
Business Enterprise (DBE) Rule.
There are four essential components
to the process of managing EPA assistance
agreement awards:
1. Application and Review Process
2. Management Systems
3. Financial Systems
4. Closeout Process
The training involves the presenta-
tion of 10 modules explaining how each
process works by outlining EPA and
grantee roles and responsibilities from
first application through the grant awards
closeout.
After taking the training, participants
will have a better understanding of how
to manage an EPA grant, in addition
to an awareness of the new DBE Rule
which is designed to help ensure that
small, minority, and women-owned
businesses are given the opportunity
to benefit from and participate in EPA
grants. The program is designed to
enhance Administrator/Tribal Council/
Project Manager understanding of how
to administer a federal grant, improve
compliance with documentation require-
ments, and increase cost accounting
knowledge.
The National PETE will provide this
training and technical assistance nation-
ally through the development of interac-
tive training available through workshops,
webinars, and a non-interactive web
course. Leech Lake Tribal College (Cass
Lake, MN) and United Tribes Technical
College (Bismarck, ND), two tribal
community colleges, have been competi-
tively selected to serve as satellite tribal
college training centers for grant manage-
ment and the DBE Rule Implementation.
These colleges will assume the training
and limited technical assistance
capacity and will also provide technical
assistance in the form of an assistance
call-in center. The National PETE serves
as a third training entity, working to
disseminate the training on the east coast,
out to trust territories and insular areas,
and in other areas of the country not
covered by the tribal college centers.
Additionally, six tribal community
colleges have been competitively selected
to pilot the integration of the training
into their existing tribal administrative
or related business programs that will
prepare the next generation of tribal
administrative personnel with baseline
knowledge to assist them as they enter the
work arena:
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
United Tribes Technical College
(Bismarck, ND)
Oglala Lakota College (Kyle, SD)
Sitting Bull College (Fort Yates, ND)
Sinte Gleska University (Mission, SD)
Cankdeska Cikana (Fort Totten, ND)
Little Priest Tribal College
(Winnebago, NE)
There is also a comprehensive
website (www.petetribal.org) devoted to
the project. Visitors to the website can:
• Download the 700+ page manual (in
its entirety or individual modules)
and appendix
• View the Training Calendar
• Read answers to Frequently Asked
Questions
• Find the asynchronous online course
Access links to:
o The Training Centers,
o OGD and OSBP
o Rules and Regulations, and
Points of Contact.
If you are interested in attending
and/or hosting training, would like
additional information, or would like to
be added to the email list, please visit the
website (www.petetribal.org), or contact
any of the following people:
• Kirk Laflin, National PETE
Executive Director and Project
Principal Investigator
(klaflin@maine.rr.com)
• Sarah Gross, National PETE Project
Coordinator/Environmental Analyst
(sgrosse@maine.rr.com)
• Elizabeth January, EPA Program
Analyst and OGD Point of Contact
(January.elizabeth@epamail.epa.gov)
• Teree Henderson, EPA Program
Analyst and OSBP Project Officer
(Henderson.teree@epamail.epa.gov)
It is the intent of this project to reach
all of the tribes, trust territories and
insular areas either through face-to-face
training and/or via online access. •
American Indian
and Alaska Native
Recruitment at EPA
JoAnn Brant, EPA's Office of Administration and
Resources Management
To increase the number of American
Indians and Alaska Natives working
at EPA, recruitment efforts have been
geared toward tribal colleges and
universities, especially those with large
numbers of Native students enrolled.
Recruitment efforts have been geared
toward internship programs offered
through EPA through the Student
Career Employment Program (SCEP).
The paid internships are designed to
provide students currently enrolled in
a degree program with work experi-
ence that compliments their academic
program and introduces them to Federal
Government Career Opportunities.
Upon completion of the required
number of work hours and graduation,
students become eligible for the direct
hire into the federal government for the
type of position for which they have
trained. The results have been very
good in having Native students become
permanent employees of EPA.
Outreach programs have also been
effective in helping students become
aware of their environment and pursuing
studies in the environmental sciences. A
Summer Enrichment Program was held
with East Central University, Chickasaw
Nation, and EPA. This program focused
on educating high school students about
the protection of human health and
provided them with an opportunity to
learn about educational and career oppor-
tunities in the field of environmental
health. The program included hands-on
classroom activities at EPA's Kerr
Laboratory and East Central University.
They covered the following topics: air
pollution measurement and control;
epidemiology and communicable diseases;
water pollution and water resources;
solid and hazardous waste management;
and occupational safety and health. The
students were housed at East Central
University dorms and Chickasaw Nation
provided cultural events in the evening
and transportation for the students.
Some of the students came from tribal
schools in Montana and the Ada,
Oklahoma area.
If you have any questions or need
more information, please contact JoAnn
Brant at (202) 564-0375. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Training Available
from National Triba
Environmental Counci
Established in 1991, the National
Tribal Environmental Council
(NTEC), a member-based organization,
serves all federally-recognized tribes in
the U.S. With over 186 member tribes,
NTEC's primary mission is to assist
tribal governments, analyze issues, and
meet the challenges of developing effec-
tive environmental protection efforts.
NTEC achieves this mission through
grants. Programs include the Western
Regional Air Partnership (WPvAP),
a regional planning organization, a
partnership between NTEC and the
Western Governors' Association, and
the NTEC Water Program, responsible
for implementing Technical Assistance
and Training (TAT). In 2007, USDA
awarded the NTEC Water Program a
grant to (1) evaluate TAT needs and (2)
prepare work plans of service based on
tribal needs and grant objectives. Finally,
the National Tribal Air Association
(NTAA) — an Association sponsored by
NTEC through a 2002 EPA grant -
works on issues in the tribal air policy
arena. During the week of October 5-9,
2009 NTEC conducted a series of listen-
ing sessions with tribes throughout the
United States which helped to prepare
for the White House Tribal Nations
Conference held on November 5, 2009.
For more information, visit the
NTEC website at www.ntec.org. •
"And we
have a lot to
learn from
your nations in
order to create
the kind of
sustainability in
our environment
that...we so
desperately
need."
— President Barack Obama, White
House Tribal Nations Conference,
November 5, 2009
**
-1
** Jf- -,
r
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Government Wide: Working
Effectively with Tribal Governments
An On-Line Training Course Designed for Federal Employees to
Better Understand How to Carry Out Duties and Responsibilities
within Indian Country
Caren J. Robinson, EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
In Memory of Leigh Price and Carol
EPA has long made a high priority
of working effectively with tribal
governments to protect the health and
environment in Indian Country. This
tenet was further institutionalized by
issuance of EPA's 1984 Indian Policy.
The policy formalized the principles by
which it would deliver its programs and
entrust responsibilities with respect to
American Indian tribes. At the core of
the policy is the recognition of tribes as
sovereign nations, who are the appropri-
ate governments for making decisions
and carrying out EPA programs affecting
their lands and people. Another critical
principle found in the policy is to work
on a government-to-government basis
with the federally-recognized tribes.
Since its inception the policy has been
re-affirmed by all EPA Administrators.
The entire policy is available at: www.
epa.gov/indian/pdf/indian-policy-84.pdf
This policy and EPA's Tribal program
exist within a historical context that shapes
many of the United States' policies, laws,
and general relationships with the tribes.
In general, the amount of knowledge and
understanding that the United States'
population acquires through the educa-
tional system about tribal relationships
and tribal culture is minimal. This results
in many who enter the federal workforce
having a very narrow understanding of the
necessary interactions between the federal
Working Effectively With Tribal Governments
\l\lhen you hear us
Our voices,
Our stories,
Our knowledge
We weave a
future together
Wiser and stronger
For the generations to come
Images from the Working Effectively with Tribal Governments website
(www.tribalgov.golearnportal.org).
government and federally-recognized
tribes. The programs, services and resourc-
es delivered to the tribes are fiduciary
responsibilities that stem back to the
treaties and other legal expressions that the
U.S. government entered into with tribes.
A 1994 "Memorandum of Actions to
Strengthen EPA's Tribal Operations" calls
for EPA staff to attend training to obtain
the necessary sensitivity and knowledge
of Indian affairs to better understand
tribal issues and to facilitate effective
communication with the tribes. With
tribal input, EPA's small group of experts
Continued on page 30
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Thoughts on the Training
from Key Contributors
"For most of us, our education—and knowledge—of
Native Americans was learned in school. The "history
of Indians" that we are taught is cursory, usually
stereotyped, and ends about 1900. The "Working
Effectively with Tribal Governments" training course
fills in much background that is necessary to work
with tribes today. I would like everyone in my
bureau to take this course. It is concise and pleasant
(very visual, includes music). There are opportuni-
ties throughout the USGS to work more effectively
with tribes though our mission-related science, and
through procurements, training, career development,
facilities. The information that we learn from this
course can be used to find work-related opportunities
to cooperate with tribes, individual Native Americans,
and tribal organizations and businesses. The course
explains why tribal governments are unique in their
relationship with the federal government. It identifies
why Native Americans have different legal rights than
other minorities. Those rights are relevant to USGS
research, making the course relevant to our scien-
tists."
— Susan M. Marcus, Native American Tribal Liaison, Office of
the Director, U.S. Geological Survey
"Treating federally-recognized tribes as one of
three sovereigns in this country is an important and
critical role for federal employees. As EPA imple-
ments its programs for protecting human health
and the environment in Indian Country, it must
do so with awareness and knowledge of histori-
cal and current events which shape federal-tribal
relations. The success of any federal program in
Indian Country depends not just on the ability to
develop policies, programs, regulations, and guide-
lines but also the ability to implement it at the tribal
level where it affects tribal communities and its rights
for self government and sustainability of its tradi-
tional lifeways. The online training course, "Working
Effectively with Tribal Governments," was developed
for federal employees, as a first step in becoming
better aware of the status of more than 500 federally-
recognized tribal governments."
— Ella Mulford, Workgroup Member, EPA Region 5 Indian
Environmental Office
"Few people would condone driving a car without
knowing the traffic laws or basic information on what
that car needs to operate properly. However, in the
past too many federal employees were not given suffi-
cient training to understand basic concepts essential
for their work with tribal governments. Without a
grasp of key concepts such as tribal sovereignty, the
federal trust responsibility, and the government-to-
government relationship, employees cannot adequate-
ly represent the federal government in its consultations
and collaborations with federally-recognized Indian
tribes. The free, on-line training program, "Working
Effectively with Tribal Governments," addresses that
previous lack of a designated primer available to all
federal employees charged with the important respon-
sibility on working with Indian tribes.
The training program's modules include "Introduction
to Tribal Concepts," which introduces users to
concepts essential to understanding the unique politi-
cal status of federally-recognized Indian tribes, such
as tribal sovereignty, the government-to-government
relationship, and the federal trust responsibility. It also
contains information on Native American demograph-
ics, explains tribal land status, and the definition of
"Indian Country."
Other modules include "Federal Indian Law and
Policy" which lays out the history of tribal-federal
relations, explains the complex issues of jurisdiction in
Indian Country, and provides links to various federal
statutes that pertain to Indian tribes.
The "Cultural Orientation and Tips for Working More
Effectively with Tribal Governments" module provides
essential cultural information that greatly increases
the quality of cross-cultural communications. It also
contains links to numerous federal agencies and
statutes, regulations, and policies that affect Indian
tribes.
The course, as noted above, is free and takes about
an hour to complete. It is section 508 compliant, and
is presented in a colorful and accessible format. It's a
much needed resource for today's federal workforce
and an important contribution toward improved
relationships with federally-recognized Indian tribes."
— Monique Fordham, Tribal Liaison, U.S. Forest Service •
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
developed a curriculum on "Working
Effectively with Tribal Governments."
In order to make the training more
broadly available to the EPA workforce
and to maximize resources, an electronic
multi-media version was developed. The
training was piloted across the Agency
in November 2003 - 2006 in honor of
Native American Heritage Month.
The Federal Employee/Workforce
Native Education and Training
(FEWNET), a sub-working group of the
White House Indian Affairs Executive
Working Group (IAEWG), was formed
in January of 2007 to address how to best
improve federal consultation and collabo-
ration with Indian tribes. FEWNET
recognized that there was no designated
primer available to all federal employees
charged with the important responsibility
of working with Indian tribes.
There was a need for an easily acces-
sible curriculum that could introduce
key concepts and concerns relevant to
Indian tribes, along with vital historical,
legal, and cultural background infor-
mation. The FEWNET, comprised of
Native and non-Native members, set
out to produce such a training program.
The workgroup decided to base the
federal-wide training in part on EPA's
WETG on-line course. Each agency/
department provided its own expertise
and perspective to the training. EPA
was pleased to collaborate with the
other federal agencies and departments
through the White House IAEWG to
realize the goal of improving federal
consultation and collaboration with our
tribal partners. The training was rolled
out on November 1, 2007, and is rich
with information that can help create a
federal workforce that is better prepared
to engage with the tribes in fulfillment
of each of our mandates and responsibil-
ities. It is now housed on the Office of
Personnel Management Go-Learn Portal.
It is available to the federal workforce
and beyond at the following website:
www.tribalgov.golearnportal.org •
Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation
Act Pesticide Paradox:
Contaminating the Sacred
Mary Cathleen Wilson, Tohono O'odham Nation
Under the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA), federally-recognized
tribes can take back certain items from
museums and federal agencies. However,
many of these items were contaminated
with toxic substances from museums
and federal agencies that were trying to
preserve them for their respective collec-
tions and study. As demonstrated in the
cases of the Hopi and other tribes, some
of these repatriated cultural items have
shown a paradox of monumental propor-
tions. Many of the returned items now
contain toxic substances that can and
do pose serious health risks to anyone
exposed to them. Tragically, this has
rendered many items - some which are
considered "sacred" by the tribes - poten-
tially dangerous. Many of these items
were especially vulnerable since they were
made of skins, feathers, textiles, fibers,
and paper rich in protein on which pests
thrive. So, pesticides were often applied to
American Indian cultural items found in
museums and private collections. To date,
no evidence exists that museum board
members, scholars, staff, donors or collec-
tors considered the dangerous impacts on
aboriginal communities, as the notion of
returning the items to their caretakers was
never a consideration. In fact, this early
use of toxics to preserve many natural
history and botanical items has not been
well recorded.
What's likely to be revealed from exami-
nation of such historical pesticide usage
was the prevalence of the use of arsenic and
Tohono O'odham Nation
Cultural Center & Museum
The Cultural Center & Museum is working
to instill pride by creating a permanent tribal
institution to protect and preserve O'odham
"jewe c himdag." Working with elders, the
Cultural Center & Museum will promote
understanding and respect of O'odham
"himdag" through educational programs and
public outreach.
The Cultural Center & Museum is located
in Topawa, AZ. For more information call
(520)383-0211.
mercuric compounds which were applied
during much of the nineteenth century.
Just as problematic are the multiple appli-
cations of various toxic substances to the
same artifact. It is estimated that about
90 chemicals have been used as pesticides
within museums. Presently, tribes have an
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
opportunity to strengthen tribal sovereignty
by urging Congress to allow EPA to take
action on chemicals that present the greatest
health risks to tribal people and relatives
that are found on NAGPRA repatriated
objects.
This could be done by highlighting
the need to reform the Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA), the law governing all
industrial chemicals on the marketplace, so
that it includes all known toxic substances
used to preserve these tribal cultural items.
According to Joe Joaquin of the
Tohono O'odham Nation Cultural
Center and Museum, "tribes could also
benefit from federal funds specifically
allocated to pay for expensive investiga-
tions necessary to assess pesticide use on
NAGPPvA items" because pesticides are
not easily seen on American Indian items
and artifacts, since they do not usually
leave stains. Lengthy investigations of
documented records and museum staff
interviews are required and can be quite
expensive. Additionally, conclusive tests
require highly trained people who can
use sophisticated analytical equipment
and develop scientific techniques to
detect pesticides contamination.
What are the signs of pesticide
contamination? Unfortunately, there are
few indications that an artifact may have
been treated with pesticides. However as
a guide, Nancy Odeegard, in "Caring for
American Indian Objects" notes:
1) Immediately suspect an item of
contamination if it is in markedly better
condition than other similar items of the
same materials, age, and storage conditions.
2) Sometimes items that have been
treated have a poison tag attached to them.
3) Be suspicious of any fine white
dust you see on an item even though this
could be just dirt.
4) Beware of crystals or colored
efforescence on an item.
5) Suspect anything you cannot
identify. •
*j4p*K£t
•*j^
Tohono O'odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum.
TRIBAL NEWS
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
| .
Regional Approach to
Developing GIS and
GPS Capabilities
Nancy John, Inter-Tribal Environmental Council
The Inter-Tribal Environmental
Council (ITEC) is a tribal consor-
tium formed in 1993 and is currently
comprised of 41 tribes from Oklahoma,
New Mexico, and Texas. The Cherokee
Nation serves as the lead agency for
ITEC and is funded by EPA. The
training program also features a mobile
classroom capability.
The most requested courses are
related to Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) and Geographical Information
Systems (GIS). A regional training
approach reduces registration and travel
expenses by providing a mobile class-
room setting with the ability to provide
GPS and GIS courses locally at a cost
savings to the tribes and pueblos.
The "GPS 101" course is two days
of instruction that provides partici-
pants with an introduction to GPS data
collection utilizing Trimble GPS units
such as the GEO XT/XH/XM, Recon,
and Nomad. Course content includes
accurate point, line, and area collection
utilizing the TerraSync GPS software.
The class also introduces the use of the
Trimble Pathfinder Office software to
create data dictionaries and perform data
correction to enhance data accuracy.
The GPS 101 course is taught through
lectures, field exercises and "hands on"
activities.
The GIS course "ArcGIS Desktop I:
Getting Started with GIS" is a two-day
course introducing the fundamental
concepts and basic functions of GIS,
the properties of GIS maps and the
structure of a GIS database. This course
was designed for those who have no
prior experience utilizing the GIS or
ArcGIS software. Course exercises assist
participants with developing the skills to
visualize geographic data, create maps,
query GIS database and analyze data
with data analysis tools.
The second level GIS course offered
is "ArcGIS II: Tools and Functionality"
and is a three-day course designed
for those with GIS experience, but
limited ArcGIS software experience.
This course emphasizes practice with
ArcMap and ArcCatalog to perform
GIS tasks and workflows. This course
also covers the range of functional-
ity available in the ArcGIS Desktop
software and the tools utilized for
visualizing, creating, managing and
analyzing geographic data.
The development of technical skills
utilizing the GPS and GIS applications
is beneficial to tribal environmental
programs to analyze geographic and
tabular data for creating maps and charts
for various projects addressing different
EPA media programs.
Through this regional training
approach, the tribal programs are
encouraged to assist by providing
training site locations and logisti-
cal coordination. All of the tribes are
provided opportunities to determine the
training courses held each year. Both
the training schedule and course curri-
cula are determined based on the staff's
needs to develop specific technical skills
required to build tribal environmental
infrastrucure.
For more information, visit the
ITEC website at www.itecmembers.org.
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Scholars of Traditiona
Knowledge - Our Elders
Dr. Octaviana V. Trujillo, Northern Arizona University
Mission Statement
The mission of Applied Indigenous
Studies (AIS) at Northern Arizona
University (NAU) is to prepare students
to assume leadership roles within indig-
enous communities and institutions in
the 21st century. By providing students
with in-depth knowledge of tribal histo-
ries and cultures, federal policies, and
contemporary reservation conditions,
our curriculum offers critical tools and
experience needed to work productively
within tribal communities. The AIS
Department at NAU combines intern-
ship experience with classroom learning
to instill in our students a deep respect
for global indigenous cultures and the
traditional knowledge, values, and beliefs
they represent.
What is Traditional
Knowledge?
Traditional Knowledge, or the under-
standing, innovations and practices of an
indigenous people related to the world
in which they live, is part of the collec-
tive oral tradition of a community. It
takes the form of stories, songs, folklore,
community laws, and language, as well
as specific agricultural, horticultural
and other land management practices.
The skills, techniques and extensive
knowledge indigenous communi-
ties have of local environment—often
overlooked by modern science—makes
traditional knowledge critical to advanc-
ing sustainable development, not only
for those indigenous communities,
but globally. Understanding how to
effectively conserve and utilize tradi-
tional knowledge is an important part
of the AIS program. NAU's location on
the Colorado Plateau and its partner-
ships and collaborative programs with
numerous tribes in the region make
NAU the ideal location for resident
and visiting experts in Traditional
Knowledge—tribal elders willing to
share their wisdom and experience with
the next generation.
The AIS Resident and
Visiting Elder Program—
Benefits to our Students
A recent survey of AIS students
indicated that Native American students
benefit greatly from the opportunity to
study the history, culture, and language
of their own people as taught by their
own elders. Learning from tribal elders
helps students better understand their
identity as a member of an indigenous
community with its own distinct and
ancient way of life. Students also gain a
profound understanding of the cultural
values and way of life of their people,
enhancing their self-esteem as Native
Americans and giving them a renewed
sense of pride in their history. This
sense of pride is a necessary component
of reinforcing any community's well-
being. The wisdom and guidance of a
visiting elder enables the incorporation
of vital Native American traditions into
the curricula, support and guidance for
Native students, and an ability to address
issues from a perspective that a perma-
nent facility cannot provide.
Through the AIS Resident and
Visiting Elder Program at NAU, current
issues of great importance to Native
communities can be discussed includ-
ing: nutrition, diabetes, substance abuse,
family violence, human rights, nuclear
waste and global warming. In addition,
Elders can interact with students on issues
of cultural revitalization and traditions.
Faculty and Elders co-teach AIS courses
such as "Traditional Ethnobiological
Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples" and
"Medicinal Plants of the Southwest: Uses
and Conservation."
The AIS Resident and Visiting
Elder Program not only provides AIS
students with an important resource
for in-depth study into the complexi-
ties of current issues and Traditional
Knowledge, it offers students from other
disciplines an opportunity to broaden
their cultural and experiential horizons
within an academic setting. By invest-
ing in the idea that students and faculty
can humanely address the needs of
indigenous communities in concert
with traditional knowledge, NAU can
simultaneously prepare for change
and maintain a culture that values a
community's right to exist. This focus
on community, students and traditional
knowledge reflects a humanistic perspec-
tive that recognizes the contributions
of indigenous cultures and the inter-
connectedness that students and faculty
have with the world around us. •
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Museums Addressing the Problems
of Contaminated Collections
R. Eric Hollinger and Greta Hansen, National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
For as long people have been interest-
ed in preserving objects made from
biodegradable materials, they have tried
to treat them with various substances
to slow or halt the process of degrada-
tion. For thousands of years, relatively
simple methods like smoking, tanning,
and salting were used to preserve food,
clothing and other perishables, but
even these methods did not prevent the
depredations of insects; and so, stronger
and more complex approaches evolved
relatively recently alongside increased
efforts to preserve biological specimens
and objects of material culture by
museums. As a result, museums today
are full of plant and animal remains,
and cultural items made from them
that have been treated with pesticides or
other preservatives. The legacy of such
treatment practices can pose challenges
for both the museums and for Native
Americans and other researchers who
work with the collections or receive
them back into their communities
through processes like repatriation.
Over the past few decades, as broader
awareness of the potential hazards of
pesticides to the environment and to
humans has grown, so too has the
museum community's awareness grown
regarding health and safety risks associ-
ated with contaminated collections.
At the same time, Native American
tribes have increased their interactions
with museums because of the passage
of legislation requiring repatriation of
Comanche feather headdress (E1475a) collected between 1826 and 1851.
human remains and certain cultural
items and an increasing interest in estab-
lishing tribal museums. Tribes have
recognized the potential problems such
hazards present and have begun working
together with museums to address them.
The efforts, when compared to the scale
of the problem, are just beginning, but
they show great promise.
Smithsonian History
The Smithsonian Institution, the largest
museum complex in the world, has faced
the full gamut of issues associated with
contaminated collections and has shared
in the experiences of Native Americans
coming to grips with the problems. The
Smithsonian, founded in 1846, currently
consists of 19 museums and galler-
ies, research facilities and the National
Zoological Park. It serves as custodian
of the U.S. national collections which
currently number more than 137 million
objects ranging from giant squids and
the Hope Diamond to a space shuttle
and samples of DNA. With its founding
mission as "the increase and diffusion of
knowledge," the Smithsonian is respon-
sible for preserving specimens of nature,
history, art and science and for facilitat-
ing their use for research and education.
The majority of the Smithsonian's collec-
tions, more than 125 million catalog
records representing many more speci-
mens, are in the care of the National
Museum of Natural History (NMNH).
The NMNH's Anthropology Division
collections include Native American
archaeological and ethnological objects
numbering in the millions.
From the beginning of the
Smithsonian, the institution experi-
mented with methods for preserving
collections from attack by insects and
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
fungi, beginning with a wide range of
substances from nicotine to arsenic and
mercury. From sporadic records in the
museums archives, NMNH conserva-
tors were able to document that dozens
of different substances were used to
treat the collections over the previous
150 years (Goldberg 1996; Hawks and
Williams 1996).
Early curators were not fully aware
of the potential risks the poisons they
used to treat the collections posed to
human beings. Otis T. Mason, a Curator
of Ethnology at the U.S. National
Museum, developed and published
procedures used for ethnological materi-
als which he "sent to the poisoning
department, where it is subjected to a
close scrutiny. The curator has devoted
much time to this subject, for it is
encumbered with many difficulties, each
kind of material demanding a different
treatment" (Mason 1886:87-88). Mason
labeled the treated items with warning
tags displaying a skull and crossed bones
and the word 'poisoned,' clearly reflect-
ing an awareness of the importance of
warning any future handlers.
Although protection against insects
and other pests superseded concerns for
human exposures, even Mason noted
that one of the problems of treating
collections was "to reduce the danger
to the curator and others to the lowest
amount" (Mason 1886:88). The goal of
preserving collections for future genera-
tions while reducing the danger "to
the lowest amount" has not changed
today. However, the methods used to
preserve collections, and for minimiz-
ing dangers, have benefited from both
simpler common sense approaches and
from more sophisticated applications
of scientific solutions. Poisons, except
in cases of extreme infestations, are no
longer applied to vulnerable artifacts
added to the museums anthropological
collections; instead they are frozen to kill
insects and their eggs before they can do
damage or infest the rest of the collec-
tions. Sometimes, new acquisitions are
treated with CO2 and other anoxic gases
to kill insects without leaving behind
dangerous pesticide residues.
The Legacy of Pesticide
Treatments
Even though the vast majority of
museums no longer apply chemical treat-
ments for pest control, the routine appli-
cation of treatments over the last one
hundred years has left behind a legacy of
potential hazards for anyone who might
handle collections in the future. In
museums around the world employees
are in contact with potentially contami-
nated objects on a daily basis. Contact
can result in ingestion through inhala-
tion, swallowing, and/or absorption
through the skin or eyes. Their training
and experience has usually prepared
them to avoid or limit contact through
use of personal protective equipment
(PPE) such as lab coats, dust masks,
and most commonly, gloves. Such
measures also serve to protect the objects
themselves from potentially damaging
dirt and oils from human skin.
Most museums have no idea exactly
what pesticides were used on which
objects or how much was applied during
any particular treatment. Past treatments
were rarely recorded and the effects of
pesticides on humans were poorly under-
stood then, but are better understood
now. Most museums began regularly
recording pesticide treatments in the
1980s. Use of pesticides may predate
when collections arrived at museums.
As early as the 1800s and early 1900s
many objects were obtained by collec-
tors who treated them with pesticides
in the field to help preserve them
on the long journey to the museum.
Collectors sometimes took quantities of
poisons with them to the field to treat
feathers, leather, furs and plant materi-
als. Museum records from the period
include accounts of shipments reaching
the NMNH which upon opening were
found to have been completely destroyed
or riddled with holes made by stow away
insects; thus was the fate of untreated
collections. This was also the time when
shipping and storage materials provided
more friendly environments for insects
and other pests. Wooden barrels and
crates were used and straw and saw dust
were employed in packing. Storage and
exhibit areas of museums were easily
accessible to pests because these areas
lacked air conditioning and were vented
by simply opening the windows. Because
different chemicals may have been
applied during different treatments over
time, it is also possible that substances
have combined in ways that might make
them more hazardous than any single
treatment.
Repatriation Focuses New
Attention on the Issue
The collections of research museums,
like the NMNH, are available for
study by curators and outside research-
ers including representatives of Native
American tribes. In recent decades access
by Native Americans has increased
due to the passage of federal legisla-
tion requiring repatriation of Native
American human remains and specific
objects. Regulations for the curation of
federally-owned collections (36 C.ER.
Part 79) had already required that collec-
tions be accessible to Native Americans
for religious purposes, but increasing
interest in what was then called the
"reburial movement" during the 1970s
and 1980s led to creation of repatriation
laws which formalized the access into a
consultation process.
At the Smithsonian Institution, the
NMNH began repatriating human
remains and sacred objects in the
early 1980s, before being required to
do so by law. In 1989, the National
Museum of the American Indian Act
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I
m
111 IIHIIIlll
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
(NMAIA) (20 U.S.C. Section 80q)
was passed creating that museum and
requiring the Smithsonian to repatri-
ate human remains and associated
funerary objects to related tribes upon
request of the tribe. A year later, these
repatriation provisions were extended
to the rest of the United States by the
Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990
(25 U.S.C. 3001-3013) which required
museums to return remains, funerary
objects, sacred objects, and objects of
cultural patrimony when requested by
the culturally affiliated tribe, Native
Hawaiian organization or Alaska Native
Village. The Smithsonian voluntarily
adopted these additional object catego-
ries and then a 1996 amendment to the
NMAIA formally required repatriation
of sacred objects and objects of cultural
patrimony. When returned to cultur-
ally affiliated tribes, human remains and
funerary objects, because they usually
were exhumed from graves, are typically
reburied in the ground. Sacred objects,
as defined by the repatriation laws, must
be objects that were used in traditional
ceremonies and are needed again today
by traditional religious leaders to either
renew or continue the practice of those
ceremonies.
Objects of cultural patrimony are
also objects which were of such histori-
cal, cultural or religious significance to
the tribe as a whole that they could not
have been sold or otherwise alienated by
any individual who lacked the author-
ity to do so. Although the NMAIA and
the NAGPRA make no mention of
pesticides or other treatments, in 1995
the regulations for carrying out the
NAGPRA were promulgated requiring
that museums inform tribes receiving
repatriated items if the objects had been
treated "with pesticides, preservatives,
or other substances that represent a
potential hazard to the objects or to the
persons handling the objects" (43 C.ER
10.10 (4)e). As one can imagine, the
prospect of reburying human remains
and/or funerary objects that might have
been contaminated with pesticides is
very unpleasant to an affiliated tribe.
Repatriated sacred objects and objects
of cultural patrimony must be put back
into ceremonial use by the tribe, but
if the objects have been treated with
pesticides the ceremonial functions of
these items may be hampered signifi-
cantly. Many sacred objects are handled
intimately by elderly religious leaders
and in traditional contexts some items
will be touched by the very young or the
infirmed.
The NAGPRA regulations require
only that museums inform tribes when
the museum has information that the
repatriated objects had been treated,
but as mentioned previously, such treat-
ments were not typically documented
among the museum's records, especially
in the early years of museum practice.
Museums are not required to test objects
to determine if they have been treated.
Even so, some major museums, such as
the NMNH, voluntarily go beyond the
requirements of the law and the regula-
tions and strive to test objects for pesti-
cides or other potential contaminants.
Testing objects for contaminants can be
a complex, time consuming and expen-
sive undertaking, so it is usually limited
to objects requested for repatriation or
being loaned to other institutions for
exhibit or research.
Although destructive testing of small
samples of objects is one of the most
accurate approaches, both tribes and
museum conservators tend to favor non
destructive methods to test for contami-
nants. Wipe tests are used to determine
what substances may be adhering to the
surface of an object and can be trans-
ferred on contact. Given the large range
of potential contaminants that might be
found on collections, lead, arsenic and
mercury are the most typically sought
since they were commonly applied as
pesticide ingredients, linger as residues,
and are often considered among the
most toxic. Another testing method
involves sealing an object in a plastic
bag and then testing the air from the
confined space for contaminants in the
gas and dust given off from the object.
This too can be costly and requires
looking for specific substances antici-
pated to be present. Finally, a method
growing in popularity because of its
ease and rapidity is the application
of portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF)
testing. XRF analysis directs x-rays at
an object to excite particular elements
and then detects their distinctive x-ray
photons reflected back to the analyzer.
XRF analysis can detect heavy metals
such as arsenic, mercury and lead.
The Smithsonian's NMNH has
utilized a wide range of approaches to
test for contaminants on anthropology
collections. The museum's Anthropology
Department has adopted a policy of
testing objects that have been either
requested for loan to other museums
or requested for repatriation by Native
American tribes. Different testing
techniques are sometimes combined
to learn as much as possible about
the possible presence of contaminants
as different objects or materials may
be more suited to testing by differ-
ent methods than others. For instance,
XRF testing can show the presence of a
particular heavy metal such as mercury,
but it does not necessarily mean that
mercury is available for transfer and
ingestion. Therefore, wipe tests are used
to determine how much mercury might
come off on one's hands if the object is
touched and personal air sampling can
show if mercury vapor or dust contain-
ing other contaminants is stirred into
the air when handled where it might
be breathed in. Staff of the museum's
Anthropology Conservation Laboratory
and Repatriation Office systematically
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
sample all surfaces, materials and areas of
handling using XRF analysis. The results
of this testing are then provided to
health professionals in the Smithsonian's
Office of Safety Health and
Environmental Management (OSHEM)
for toxicological interpretation and risk
assessment that can be used to identify
the safest object handling methods.
As the museum continues to gain
experience and better technology and
consults with tribal representatives,
XRF and risk assessment experts, the
museum's protocols will continually
evolve. We have come to recognize that
testing for contaminants is consider-
ably more complex than it might first
appear. Most XRF analyzers are designed
to present results as simple numbers of
the element in parts per million (ppm),
giving the impression of being a simple
point and shoot method for quantifi-
able amounts. However, the radiation
physics are much more complicated and
the instrument's software can produce
misleading results or even false positive
readings. Rather than relying on simple
ppm numbers, the museum now recog-
nizes the importance of interpreting the
raw spectra generated from each reading.
The NMNH Anthropology Department
emphasizes full disclosure, with all
sampling data and raw XRF spectra
provided to object recipients along with
the interpretations and recommenda-
tions for handling.
Remediation of Pesticides
on Contaminated Museum
Collections
Whenever someone first learns that
museum collections might be contami-
nated, their next question is inevitably
"can they be cleaned?" Only a few years
ago we would have said that it is probably
not possible to remove pesticides from
museum objects without irrevocably
damaging them. Now we have hope that
for some objects it might be possible to
A diversity of Porno baskets in storage.
remove contaminants without damaging
the object. Researchers in the United
States and Germany have made great
strides experimenting with different
techniques for cleaning contaminants
from museum collections. More precisely,
these techniques have potential to reduce
the presence of pesticides on collections
to safer levels, but they may not be able
to remove all traces of a contaminant.
The experimental approaches
underway fall into three main groups
(Charola and Koestler 2010):
Chemical solution remediation - one
chemical technique uses alpha lipoic
acid, a naturally occurring chemical,
in a solution to wash mercury and
arsenic from objects.
• Bio-remediation - has received much
attention and is the use of bacteria for
decontamination of museum objects.
• Supercritical gas remediation
technique - has met with some
success in testing. Supercritical
carbon dioxide has been utilized
for some time in the dry cleaning
industry as a 'green' cleaning
approach. Under pressure carbon
dioxide penetrates the object being
cleaned and then converts to a gas
when the pressure is released.
Although some of the techniques
for cleaning pesticides from museum
objects have been applied to real cultural
items, they are all experimental, and most
museums and tribes will be interested
in seeing considerably more research
and experimentation before they will
be willing to risk damaging important
objects. The long-term results of cleaning
treatments remain to be seen since some
substances can take quite a lot of time
before their damaging effects become
evident. The approaches described here
have shown potential to remove or reduce
hazardous substances without altering
the visible physical characteristics of the
objects. Some of these approaches may
be more culturally acceptable than others
if tribes choose to apply them to objects
repatriated to them.
Conclusions
Although we often refer to the problem
of contaminated museum collections
as pesticide contamination, we have
found that the issue is not quite so
simple. The potential hazards are not
always from pesticides and they are not
always applied by museums or collectors.
Vermillion was applied as red paint to
many Native American objects during
their original creation but it contains
concentrated mercury. Commercial
manufacture of felt also used mercury, so
objects made with some felts test positive
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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TRIBAL TRAINING & RESOURCES
Tlingit Killer Whale Hat, an object of cultural patrimony, being repatriated to Dakl'weidi Clan Leader Mark Jacobs Jr. in 2005.
for high levels of mercury. Similarly, lead
and arsenic were used by some tribes in
the creation of some types of objects.
These inherent contaminants may pose
as much of a potential hazard as applied
pesticides, but efforts to 'clean' them
from cultural objects would certainly
result in substantial alteration or even
destruction of the original object. Such
substances, although a potential hazard,
are best left alone so as not to change the
cultural or physical nature of the item.
Rather than sealing away these
or other contaminated collections,
basic common sense personal protec-
tive measures are probably sufficient
in most cases. If contamination is a
concern, limiting direct exposure by
avoiding contact with unprotected skin
and working in well ventilated spaces
has become a standard approach. Some
repatriated objects continue to be used
in ceremonies by just having them
present. For some objects intended to be
worn, liners can be attached or inserted
to prevent unprotected contact with the
skin, hair or clothing. In some cases,
when handling was considered essential
to the ceremony, contaminated objects
have been physically replaced but spiri-
tually recreated or restored so the object
can continue to serve its ceremonial role
without risk to practitioners.
References
• Charola, A. Elena, and Robert J.
Koestler (editors) 2010. "Pesticide
Mitigation in Museum Collections:
Science in Conservation Proceedings
from the MCI Workshop Series.
Smithsonian Contributions to Museum
Conservation Number 1. Smithsonian
Institution Scholarly Press.
• Goldberg, L. 1996. A History
of Pest Control Measures in the
Anthropology Collections, National
Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution. Journal of
the American Institute for Conservation
35(l):23-43.
Hawks, C. A., and S. L.Williams.
1996. Arsenic in Natural History
Collections. Leather Conservation
News 2(2): 1-4.
• Mason, O. T. 1886. Report on the
Work in the Department of Ethnology
in the U.S. National Museum for Year
Ending June 30, 1886. Smithsonian
Institution Annual Report for the
year 1886, Part II, Report of the
United States National Museum,
pp. 87-92. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
Contact Information
• R. Eric Hollinger, Supervisory
Archaeologist
Anthropology Department,
Repatriation Office MRC-138
National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
hollingere@si.edu
Greta Hansen, Head of Conservation
Anthropology Conservation
Laboratory
National Museum of Natural History
Museum Support Center, MRC 534
Smithsonian Institution
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746
hanseng@si.edu •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
Protecting
from Lea<
Lead is a highly toxic metal
used for many years in products
found in and around our homes.
It was a common ingredient in
paint up until 1978 and can still
be found in old toys, furniture,
lead crystal, lead glazed pottery
and porcelain. Additionally, lead
may be emitted into the air from
industrial sources and may enter
drinking water from plumbing
materials. Lead exposure can
result in potential negative health
effects, especially in children and
pregnant women. These effects
may include behavioral problems,
learning disabilities, seizures, and
sometimes death.
Tribe
EPA regulates lead under the
Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA) and is committed to
providing tribal government
leaders with tools to help
understand and communicate
the hazards of lead to the
community. EPA also assists
communities with lead tests and
solving targeted lead issues.
The articles included in this
section highlight successful
partnerships between EPA and
tribal governments in solving
lead issues that threaten the
health of tribal members and tl
environment.
-------
PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
Poisoning Prevention
Renovate Right Lead-based
Paint Safe Work Practices
Video
This two minute video outlines lead safe work
practices when renovating a pre-1978 home, child-
care facility or school. It is closed caption and is in
four different formats.
For copies of this DVD contact the EPA Region 8
Lead Program at 303.312.6966 or go to the EPA
Region 8 Lead Program website at www.epa.gov/
regionS/toxics/leadpnt/
Lead Training Manual
for Native Americans
"Approximately
250,000 U.S.
children aged
1-5 years have
blood lead levels
greater than 10
micrograms of
lead per deciliter
of blood, the
level at which
CDC recommends
public health
actions be
initiated."
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2010
An EPA lead education training
manual was revised for Native
American audiences. The revisions
include the use of culturally sensi-
tive graphics throughout the
manual. The manual, "Reducing
Lead Poisoning in the Home," (EPA
747-B-OO-OOla, August 2000), was
designed to increase awareness about
simple things that can be done in
and around the home to help reduce
potential hazards and minimize
children's chances of being exposed
to lead. Copies of the EPA manual
may be obtained from the National
Lead Information Center at 1-800-
424-LEAD.
A Lead Poisoning Prevention
Manual for Tribal Day Cares
and Families
Little Moccasins is an illustrated manual, published by
the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians that explains blood
lead screening, healthful diet, and basic steps towards lead
poisoning prevention. Funded by U.S. EPA Region 1,
the manual lists regulations and resources on lead poison-
ing and includes input from tribal members, educators,
and environmental staff. It contains songs, recipes, and
a variety of other activities that can be used in a day
care setting. To order the manual in hardcopy, video, or
CD-ROM, contact Jim Bryson, U.S. EPA Region 1, One
Congress Street, Suite 1100-CPJ, Boston, MA, 02114-
2023, tel: 617-918-1524. The interactive CD-ROM is
currently being field tested. For information on being a
field tester, contact Jim Bryson at the number above.
-------
PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
Help Ensure a Lead-Free
Environment for Tribal Children
Maria J. Doa, PhD, Director, EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics,
Chemical Control Division
Is your school or child-care facility
planning to make repairs or renova-
tions? If so, there are new federal regula-
tions that must be followed in order to
protect children from lead-based paint
hazards that can result from this type of
work. Children can be exposed to toxic
dust from lead-based paint when older
housing or buildings are renovated or
repaired. Because many children spend
a great deal of time in schools or child-
care facilities, it is especially important
for administrators, child-care business
owners, and parents to be aware of poten-
tial lead hazards associated with renova-
tion or repair work in older buildings.
The Dangers of Lead
A million kids are affected by lead paint
poisoning which can cause irrevers-
ible damage, such as lower intelligence,
learning disabilities, and behavioral
issues. New cases of childhood lead
paint poisoning are diagnosed every
year. Many more may go unreported.
Research shows that new cases can be
directly linked to renovations where the
work environment was inadequately
contained. It's not just lead paint chips
that poison. Even a small amount of lead
dust can harm a child.
Lead poisoning can affect nearly every
part of the body, but because symptoms
can be vague, it frequently goes unrec-
ognized. Children age 6 and younger are
at particular risk, in part because young
children's growing bodies absorb more
lead and because they tend to put things
in their mouths, including paint chips, old
toys that may contain lead-based paint,
and objects that may be covered with lead
dust from renovations. If not detected early,
children with high levels of lead in their
bodies can suffer damage to the brain and
nervous system, and behavior and learning
problems, such as hyperactivity, slowed
growth, hearing problems, and headaches.
New Federal Regulations
EPA is taking action to protect children
from the dangers of lead-based paint
dust with a regulation that applies to
renovation, repair, and painting in
homes, child-care/day-care facilities,
preschools, kindergartens, and many
elementary schools—any facility in
which children 6 years old or younger
spend considerable time—built before
1978. The regulation requires that
contractors and maintenance staff
who repair or renovate these facilities
provide their occupants and the parents
of children attending the facilities a
brochure with important information
about the hazards of lead.
EPA's rule requires these workers
to distribute a lead hazard information
pamphlet called Renovate Right before
the work begins. They also must make
this information available to parents
of children using the facility by either
mailing the pamphlet to each parent or
posting the information prominently at
the facility. The new requirements apply
Test Your School or Child
care Facility for Lead
To reduce children's exposure to
lead, a school or childcare facility
can be tested by having a lead-
based paint inspection or risk
assessment performed. For more
information on lead, including
inspections and risk assessments,
visit EPA's website (www.epa.gov/
lead) or call the National Lead
Information Center (NLIC) at 1(800)
424-LEAD [5323], The NLIC provides
the general public and professionals
with information about lead hazards
and their prevention.
to all renovation, repair, or painting
activities except for very minor work
affecting less than six square feet of
space on the inside of a building. This
exemption does not apply to demoli-
tion or window replacement of any size.
Contractors who must comply with
these requirements include builders,
painters, plumbers, and electricians.
EPA's pamphlet describes ways
renovators and individuals can protect
themselves and others from lead-based
paint hazards. The pamphlet contains
helpful information regarding lead-based
paint, including information about the
health impacts of lead, ways children can
be exposed to lead, how to identify lead
hazards, how to protect against exposure
during a renovation, and where to find
more information on lead.
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
The EPA rule requires firms to submit
an application to EPA to obtain certifica-
tion which will be good for 5 years. In
addition, contractors and maintenance
staff must:
Take a one-day class to be trained
to perform lead-safe renovation and
repair jobs and
Use lead-safe work practices to prevent
contamination and potential exposure
to building occupants.
EPAs new rule requires contractors to
use some simple, but effective, lead-safe
work practices, including:
Containing the work area by covering
floors and furniture, and sealing off
doors and heating and cooling system
vents so any dust generated by the
renovation is not spread outside the
work area.
Posting warning signs that clearly
define the work area and notify
occupants to remain outside of the
work area.
• Minimizing the dust. Using water to
mist areas before sanding is one way
this can be accomplished.
• Conducting a thorough clean-up using
special cleaning methods, such as a
high efficiency particulate air (HEPA)
filter vacuum and wet mopping.
What Parents, Schools, and
Staff Can Do
You have the ultimate responsibility for
the safety of your family or children in
your care. Make sure your contractor is
certified and can explain the details of the
job and how the contractor will minimize
lead hazards during the work.
You can verify that a contractor is
certified by checking EPAs website at
www.epa.gov/getleadsafe or by calling
the National Lead Information Center
at 1-800-424-LEAD (5323). You can
also ask to see a copy of the contrac-
tor's certification.
Ask whether the contractor is aware of
state regulations (some states may have
their own regulations, which may be
more stringent than the federal regula-
tions).
Ask what lead-safe methods the
contractor will use to set up and
perform the job in the facility.
After the job is over, take a look
around. There should be no dust,
paint chips or debris in the work
area. If you see any dust, paint chips
or debris, request that the area be
thoroughly recleaned. B
Innovation on Lead
Eric Hornbuckle, U.S. Department of
Housing & Urban Development
U.S. Department of Housing &
Urban Development's (HUD)
efforts to eliminate childhood lead
poisoning began in 1991 through the
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead
Hazard Control's (OHHLHC) grant
program, designed to establish lead
hazard control programs in eligible
communities to make housing lead-
safe. Since that time we've learned
two important things: that we can
beat childhood lead poisoning and that
lead is usually not the most dangerous
hazard in the home. There are often
times more severe threats to health
in the home than lead paint such as:
mold, poor indoor air quality, fall and
trip hazards, radon, and
inadequate warmth.
That's why, in addition
to our lead grants,
OHHLHC has devel-
oped a comprehensive
home assessment that
looks for all hazards in the home,
not just lead paint. This approach is
called the Healthy Homes model.
Healthy Homes efforts began with
lead grantees who performed lead
hazard work but had to leave behind
more severe threats to children and
the elderly as lead dollars would not
cover these other severe hazards. The
Healthy Homes model provides us with
the opportunity
to reduce child-
hood asthma,
injuries from falls
and trips in the
home, and a myriad
of other housing-
related health
hazards. OHHLHC
is committed to
helping tribes succeed
in creating the healthi-
est housing possible
through developing
healthy homes programs
in your communities. Please visit the
Healthy Homes website to learn more
at www.hud.gov/healthyhomes, or
contact Eric Hornbuckle to find out
more information (202) 402-7599,
eric.w.hornbuckle@hud.gov. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
EPA Grants Helping to
Eliminate Childhood Lead
Poisoning in Indian Country
David Tomsovic, EPA Region 9
EPA's tribal partners in Arizona,
California, and Nevada have made
significant progress in working to
substantially eliminate childhood lead
poisoning as a major health threat. The
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
authorizes EPA to award grant funds
to federally-recognized tribes and tribal
consortia to help achieve this.
From 2000-2010, EPA Region 9
awarded TSCA grants to the following
federally-recognized tribes and tribal
consortia in Arizona, California, and
Nevada:
• Big Valley Rancheria (CA)
Colorado River Indian Tribes
(AZ-CA)
• Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe (NV)
Federated Indians of Graton
Rancheria (CA)
• Gila River Indian Community (AZ)
• Hoopa Valley Tribe (CA)
• Hopi Tribe (AZ)
Hopland Band of Porno Indians (CA)
• Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.
(AZ)
• North Fork Rancheria (CA)
• Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (NV)
Soboba Band of Luiseno Mission
Indians (CA)
South Fork Band of the Te-Moak
Tribe of Western Shoshone (NV)
• Torres Martinez Tribe (CA)
• Washoe Tribe (NV-CA)
• Yavapai-Prescott Tribe (AZ)
Yurok Tribe (CA)
These TSCA grants provide funding
to enable the tribes to accomplish three
main objectives:
1. Inform tribal community
members of health hazards associated
with exposure to lead, especially health
risks from exposure to lead-based paint;
2. Screen children between 18
months to 72 months to identify
elevated blood lead levels; and
3. Conduct lead hazard evaluations
at pre-1978 tribal housing and pre-1978
child-occupied tribal facilities to reduce
potential health risks associated with
exposure to lead-based paint.
Success Stories
The Colorado River Indian Tribes
conducted a lead hazard evaluation that
identified lead-based paint hazards at
their Head Start building which provides
educational services for young children.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes deter-
mined that more than 10 young children
had elevated blood lead levels higher
than the federal level of health concern
Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe conducting lead hazard evaluations at tribal housing and child
occupied facilities. Images courtesy Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe in Nevada.
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
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PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
set by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The blood lead
screening efforts by the tribes prompted
additional follow-up efforts with the
parents or legal guardians of these
children by tribal nursing staff. This
effort enabled the tribes to ensure they
managed these elevated lead levels in
accordance with published guidelines set
by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The tribes were then able to have the
lead hazards at the facility remediated to
avoid future risks to children from lead
hazards at the facility.
The Hoopa Valley Tribe used the
technical expertise of its tribal lead risk
assessor to evaluate lead levels in soil
at a tribal housing area. Soil from sites
within this housing area, including child
play areas and family gardens, contained
hazardous levels of lead. The tribe
took action and prohibited access to
these lead-contaminated sites until soil
remediation efforts were undertaken in
coordination with EPA and U.S. Bureau
of Indian Affairs.
The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe
in Nevada utilized EPA tribal lead grant
funding to identify potential lead-based
paint hazards at pre-1978 tribal housing
and pre-1978 child-occupied facilities.
EPA commends the work of the Fallon
Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and other tribes
for significant efforts in helping to elimi-
nate childhood lead poisoning.
Taking the Next Step:
Informing Other Tribes
Several of these tribal partners have
taken the extra step of sharing informa-
tion and technical expertise on lead
hazards with other tribes and adjacent
non-tribal communities.
The Torres Martinez Tribe shared
lead hazard information with non-tribal
neighbors in Riverside County,
California. Big Valley Rancheria and the
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
shared information on reducing lead
hazards with medical professionals,
educators, and community members at
a lead hazard forum in Lake County,
California.
In October 2008, five tribes (Big
Valley Rancheria, Colorado River
Indian Tribes, Federated Indians of
Graton Rancheria, Fort Bidwell Indian
Community, and Hoopa Valley Tribe)
shared their technical expertise and lead
hazard identification and reduction
accomplishments with 140 tribes that
attended the annual tribal EPA environ-
mental conference in San Francisco,
California. The participation of these
five tribes on a panel discussion on
"Eliminating Childhood Lead Poisoning
in Indian Country" was invaluable in
increasing the understanding of lead
hazards in Indian Country and increas-
ing practical tools to help eliminate
childhood lead poisoning.
Tribal consortia also have contributed
to efforts to inform the tribal commu-
nity at large. The Inter-Tribal Councils
of Arizona, California, and Nevada and
the Native American Environmental
Protection Coalition continue to share
information on lead hazards with their
member tribes, which includes approxi-
mately 115 tribes of the 146 federally-
recognized tribes located throughout
EPA Region 9.
For more information, contact David
Tomsovic, EPA Region 9 Toxics Office,
at tomsovic.david@epa.gov or (415)
972-3858. •
Blackfeet Tribal Childhood
Blood Lead Screening
Article adapted from Gerald Wagner's
presentation on "Blackfeet Tribal
Childhood Blood Lead Screening" funded
by EPA OCSPP and conducted by the
Blackfeet Environmental Office.
Background
The purpose of the Blackfeet Tribal
Childhood Blood Lead Screening project
is to compile a baseline assessment of
children's blood-lead levels associated
with exposure to lead on the Blackfeet
Reservation. The main goal of the project
is to reduce the risks from lead and the
negative impacts of lead poisoning on
the children. Through a blood-screening
program, the tribe hopes to identify
children affected by lead paint and work
with EPA and other partners to treat
those affected. Outreach and education
are key components of this project and
the Blackfeet Tribe will provide outreach
materials including short video feeds that
educate the community on recogniz-
ing lead hazards and ways to mitigate
lead poisoning. A Lead Program within
the Blackfeet Tribe s Environmental
Department also will be established. This
new program will include appropriately
trained staff to coordinate activities associ-
ated with Blackfeet Head Start, Blackfeet
Tribal Health, and the Blackfeet Housing
programs to provide education and
oversee all lead activities on an ongoing
basis.
The Blackfeet Tribal Childhood
Blood Lead Screening project includes
the following goals:
Decrease the number of tribal children
suffering from lead poisoning;
TRIBAL NEWS
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PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
Increase the number of tribal
children tested for lead poisoning;
Increase the number of tribal
communities educated in lead
poisoning prevention; and
Identify funding and set-up a
process to monitor, educate, and
treat children affected by elevated
lead levels in their blood based on
baseline assessment activities.
The project served the following
seven communities on the Blackfeet
Reservation:
Browning
• Heart Butte
• East Glacier
• Seville
Babb/St. Marys
Blackfoot
• Starr School
Blood Screening
Preparation
To prepare for the blood screening
activities under the Blackfeet Tribal
Childhood Blood Lead Screening
project, the tribe first hired a blood lead
screening coordinator. This person
holds a masters degree as well as key
networking contacts. The blood screen-
ing coordinator is responsible for
working within the tribal Head Start
program as well as coordinating with the
nurse at Head Start. The coordinator
reviewed blood lead material available
on-line from EPA and other resources
as well as on-site resource material. A
contract lab was identified that is certi-
fied in the state and provided costs
acceptable to the tribe. The lab had
done previous work with the Indian
Health Service Hospital. The lab utilized
the "finger stick" method for screening
blood levels for lead. The coordina-
tor and staff worked with the lab to
% Children Affected
36.7
17.6
17
10
7.4
7.4
2.9
Micrograms pj
deci liter (ug/dl) of Lead
<1
Table 1. Percentage of Children Affected from Lead on the Blackfeet Reservation
schedule screening dates and develop
consent forms based on existing Head
Start health forms. Outreach and educa-
tion activities included: a float in the
cultural celebration days parade;
a booth at pow-wow events in Browning
and Heart Butte blood lead screening
information on the tribal website; video
clips on the public cable station; articles
in the local news paper; and activities
during the summer 2008 tribal housing
outreach program.
Blood Screening
The screening utilized the community
health nurses and was performed at
Head Start sites in a classroom-like
setting. Screening participants watched
a video prior to screening and were
provided a treat. Follow-ups with the
parents of the children screened were
scheduled. The results of the initial
screening are as follows:
• 215 students screened
• 140 samples (65%) readable
• 65 samples (32%) non-readable;
retesting required
• 95 students are waiting to be tested
Results to-date on the 140 eligible
screens is in Table 1.
Summary
In summary, the Blackfeet
Environmental Office in conjunc-
tion with the Blackfeet Tribal Health
and Housing programs are requesting
additional grants to proceed with testing
160 children who need to be retested
or are waiting to be tested for the first
time and to follow-up with the children
tested with elevated blood lead levels.
The Blackfeet Tribe recognizes the great
resource they have in their young tribal
members and how susceptible they are
to lead poisoning at such a young age.
The Blackfeet Tribal Childhood Blood
Lead Screening project has helped the
Tribe obtain knowledge regarding the
affects of lead poisoning and determine
who is most vulnerable. •
TRIBAL NEWS
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PROTECTING TRIBES FROM LEAD EXPOSURE
Direct Implementation Tribal Cooperative Agreements
Implementation in EPA Region 5
Emma Avant, EPA Region 5
A uthorized in the Fiscal Year (FY)
J~\2001 Appropriations Act, the Direct
Implementation Tribal Cooperative
Agreements (DITCA) provides assistance
to EPA to forge partnerships with Indian
tribes to implement federal environ-
mental programs. Since FY 2007, EPA
Region 5 has entered into three DITCAs
with Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
Indians of Minnesota; Inter-Tribal
Council of Michigan; and Oneida Tribe
of Indians of Wisconsin. The purpose
of these DITCAs is to assure that tribes
located in EPA Region 5 are compli-
ant with the Federal Lead Based Paint
Program requirements.
Under the DITCA with the Bois
Forte Band of Chippewa Indians in
Minnesota, the Bois Forte Tribe provides
outreach, education, and compliance
assistance for their own reservation as
well as other reservations and tribal
communities throughout the state.
Under the DITCA, EPA requested
Boise Forte to obtain Letters of Support
from the tribes wanting to receive lead
program services to respect the fact that
each reservation is a sovereign nation.
The Letters of Support were indicative
of the tribes' willingness to embrace
EPA's effort to foster an environment of
cooperativeness and partnership. Bois
Forte provided lead services tailored to
the needs of each participating reser-
vation and is currently supporting
seven tribes in Minnesota. Bois Forte
provides outreach and education to the
tribal council and the tribal housing
and environmental staff. Outreach
and education is also provided to tribal
members during health fairs, Pow Wows,
and PTA meetings.
In FY 2008,
EPA Region 5
entered into a
DITCA with the
Inter-Tribal Council
of Michigan (ITC),
a tribal consortia.
ITC currently
provides lead based
paint program
support to 10 tribes
in Michigan.
Bois Forte and
ITC have assisted
their tribal housing
authority clients in
determining and
documenting the
location of pre-1978
housing and child-
occupied facilities.
This information
is reported in a
housing registry
database. Though
this information
is not required
under the DITCA
program, it is
helpful to both the
DITCA coordinators
as well as the tribal housing authorizes.
In collaboration with EPA Region
5 under a compliance assistance grant,
Bois Forte and ITC hosted lead abate-
ment worker training and renovation
and remodeling training in Minnesota,
Michigan, and Wisconsin.
ITC currently provides lead based
paint program support to the following
10 tribes in Michigan:
• Bay Mills Indian Community
Indian lands in EPA Region 5. Images courtesy Tom Brody.
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians
Hannahville Indian Community
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa
Indians
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Lac Vieux Desert Indian Community
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Potawatomi Indian Nation •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
INNOVATION
Increasingly complex
environmental problems
challenge EPA tribal
programs' efforts to protect
the environment and
safeguard public health. Past
approaches and tools are not
always effective in resolving
new environmental problems.
Innovative environmental
solutions are critical to
addressing these challenging
issues.
In this section, EPA has
highlighted innovative
projects, including those in
which new solutions were
actively sought and old
approaches were regarded
in a new light by using new
technologies. Collaboration,
information exchange, and a
convening of tribes to discuss
priorities and goals are all
innovations in the protection
of global resources.
V
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-------
INNOVATION
An Innovative Way
To Participate in the
Regulatory Process
Shanita Brackett, EPA's Office of
Environmental Information
A re you aware that U.S. departments
-iVand agencies like the Department
of Interior s Fish and Wildlife and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs publish
their proposed and final regulations
in the Federal Register? These regula-
tory documents, along with many
other related documents and support-
ing materials, are also published and
made available for public comment
at the Regulations.gov website (www.
regulat1ons.gov
regulations.gov). Anyone, anywhere can
submit comments on these regulatory
documents using Regulations.gov - an
easy, efficient, and innovative way to
participate in the regulatory process.
Currently, over 32 major U.S.
departments and agencies utilize the
Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) to manage draft regulations
and related public comments. Through
the FDMS website (www.fdms.gov), this
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reguloHons.gov
b* ti tafcnf UK b>cf «tt ofi
•
application provides these organizations
with one-stop, secure on-line access to
federal rulemakings, proposed rules,
notices, significant guidance documents,
as well as other non-rulemaking
documents, such as: adjudications,
petitions, applications, and data quality
documents.
FDMS also makes over 2 million
regulatory documents available to the
public for review and comment through
Regulations.gov. This site is a publicly
accessible website that also provides users
with the ability to find, view, download,
bookmark, receive email alerts, and
establish Really Simple Syndication
(RSS) feeds. Regulations.gov receives
millions of hits and tens of thousands of
comments each month. In the first 10
months of 2009, Regulations.gov saw
over 109 million hits from the public,
averaging 10.9 million hits per month,
and accepted over 372,000 public
comments via its online Web form.
The publicly accessible website is
now used by nearly 300 federal agencies,
commissions and organizations that
publish over 90 percent of the 8,000
regulations produced every year.
For more information, contact
Shanita Brackett, Program Analyst,
eRulemaking Program Management
Office, EPA, at (202) 566-1008 or
brackett.shanita@epa.gov. The eRule-
making Program, an inter-agency
program led by the EPA and authorized
under Section 206 of the Electronic
Government Act of 2002, operates
Regulations.gov. •
•
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
INNOVATION
Pollution Prevention
Resource Exchange
Tribal News editors would like to
thank Beth Anderson, EPA, for her contri-
butions to this article.
Created in 1997, the Pollution
Prevention Resource Exchange
(P2Rx™) provides easy access to high-
quality pollution prevention (P2) infor-
mation that promotes waste reduction
throughout the United States. It includes
the following information:
• Comprehensive resources compiled,
reviewed, and rated by experts
• Up-to-date contact information
for more than 800 programs and
business services
• Relevant P2 news culled from national
headlines and industry bulletins
Fast assistance with technical
questions
P2Rx™ Topic Hubs™ are innova-
tive Web based guides to peer-reviewed
P2 information. They are contributed
to by the eight regional P2Rx™ centers
and conform to structural and content
standards. To access a Topic Hub,
view: www.p2rx.org/p2infonexpert/
topichubs_2.cfm or any P2Rx™ center
website. •
Regional P2Rx™ Center Regional Websites
Northeast Waste Management Officials' Association (NEWMOA)
www.newmoa.org
3 &4
Waste Reduction Resource Center (WRRC)
http://wrrc.p2pays.org
Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR)
www.glrppr.org
Southwest Network for Zero Waste (ZeroWasteNet)
http://p2ric.org
Pollution Prevention Regional Information Center (P2RIC)
http://p2ric.org
Peaks to Prairies
http://peakstoprairies.org
Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network (WSPPN)
www.westp2net.org
10
Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC)
http://pprc.org
P2Rx™ centers provide webinars,
success stories, and other information
on P2 on over 65 topics, including:
Auto Repair
Auto Salvage Great Lakes
Region
• Clean Snowmobiles
Community Growth
Construction Science f
Household Hazardous Mate
Lead Sinkers
Lead and Environment
Marinas & Small Boat Harbors
ion & Mac
Product Stewardship
Public Lands
Publicly Owned Treatment
Works
Technology Diffusion
Wood Furniture Man
Youth Education
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
INNOVATION
Innovation and Collaboration
at Red Cliff
Amanda Gokee, Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe, Wisconsin
This article is a, retrospective. Amanda,
was EPA's summer tribal intern to the
"Tribal News," in 2009. A part of the
intern experience is to develop an article
for publication that features the intern's
environmental interest area.
The Red Cliff Band of Northern
Wisconsin has a tradition deeply
connected to the water. In the Ojibwe
history, water is the purifying force that
cleansed the earth of corruption and
violence when mankind went astray. As
the "life-blood of our mother earth,"
water is central to the traditions and
beliefs of the Ojibwe people. Today,
the Red Cliff reservation is located on
a 14-mile stretch along Lake Superior
near the Apostle Islands, and the sacred
water is a constant presence for the
1,000 tribal members that inhabit the
reservation. Lake Superior, known as
Anishshanaabeg-gichigami in the Ojibwe
language, shapes the lives of the tribe
on a daily basis. However, due to insuf-
ficient infrastructure on the reservation,
heavy storms and floodwaters can be
devastating for the tribe. A cemetery on
Blueberry Road on the reservation has
been an area of special concern, as this
sacred land is threatened by the high
water table.
To address these problems, tribal
members joined a partnership with
students from University of Wisconsin at
Madison (UW-Madison) in September
of 2007. Through the engineering
program, Engineers Without Borders
(EWB), the students approached Red
Cliff to start an initiative, brainstorm-
ing with the tribe to pick their first
project. EWB is a non-profit organiza-
tion that works within a community for
a minimum of five years.
The Blueberry Road Cemetery was
chosen for the project and the Cemetery
Council was formed. The Cemetery
Council is an established forum for the
tribal voice, allowing opinions to be acces-
sible and heard throughout the project.
The Council is made up of tribal members
who work with the students to create
infrastructure that will offset the flooding
problems. EWB partnered with the
Wisconsin Idea Endowment, a creative
solution that provides generous funding
for the project. Kevin Lee, a student
from UW-Madison, has been primarily
responsible for the funding aspect of the
program, securing the grant money.
The Red Cliff Band has been instru-
mental in the project, working with the
students and providing lodging during
their various trips to the reservation.
Tribal members, like Tracey Ledder who
has been checking groundwater levels
and monitoring shallow groundwater
wells, are active participants. By gather-
ing this information, the students have
been able to come up with a compre-
hensive plan to address the groundwater
issues.
In the Blueberry Hill Cemetery
Project, as well as with upcoming
projects, the students' creativity and
tribal enthusiasm give these projects
momentum. The community is left
with a practical solution and strong
intercultural bonds and connections. At
a recent feast with both tribal members
and the EWB students, the collaboration
was strong, with many ideas and input
from both parties. With the Blueberry
Cemetery project near hopeful comple-
tion, the students have been especially
open to ideas from the tribe for their
next project focus. Potential projects
range from water-control in a housing
development to a cost-benefit analysis of
the current drainage system. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
The Mohegan Tribe's Integrated
Energy Management Approach
This article was adapted from the 2008
presentation on Mohegan Tribe's Integrated
Energy Management Approach given
O./ O £ £ O
by Jean Mclnnis, CHMM, Mohegan
Environmental Protection Department
Administrator. The presentation may be
found on-line at www.tribalp2.org/nppr/
minutes/2008-07/NTEC_Presentation.pdf.
"V\7"7brk on Mohegan Tribe's
W Integrated Energy Management
Approach was started by Dr. Norman
Richards, the predecessor to Jean
Mclnnis, CHMM, as Mohegan
Environmental Protection Department
Administrator. In 1995, the tribe entered
into a memorandum of understand-
ing (MOU) with the Connecticut
Department of Environmental
Protection. Through this MOU, the
tribe adopted the State Implementation
Plan (SIP) to ensure that tribal activi-
ties would not negatively impact the
attainment of the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards. At first the
tribe offset their nitrogen oxide (NOx)
and volatile organic chemicals (VOC)
emissions through Emission Reduction
Credits (ERCs). In 2000, they proposed
investing the money in energy conserva-
tion rather than in ERCs and obtained
approval to proceed with a purchase of
fuel cells totalling $2.4 million. Benefits
from fuel cell use include reduced
emissions, revenue from trading renew-
able energy credits, and operational
cost savings for the tribe. In 2007, $7.1
million in energy conservation projects
was preliminarily approved by the state.
The fuel cell report, written with the
help of UTC Power, is available on
Mohegan's website at www.mohegan.
nsn.us.
Other energy conservation projects
undertaken by the tribe include the
installation of photovoltaics and energy
efficient lighting and occupancy sensors,
hybrid vehicles in their fleet, ground
source heat pumps, vehicle emission
control retrofits, and low-sulfur fuel.
Some of their law enforcement officers
use bicycles rather than a motorized
vehicle. In order to offset the carbon
dioxide (CO2) from the fuel cells,
Mohegan voluntarily purchased (for
about $150,000) a carbon sequestra-
tion forest in Costa Rica. This includes
two 50-acre plots that were once a sugar
cane crop and a research plot that are
now maintained as forest. The forest
sequesters 1,600 tons of carbon a year.
Additionally, fruit and nut trees were
planted under the larger trees, providing
food for wildlife, including an endan-
gered parrot and monkeys. A farmer is
paid to maintain this forest and benefits
more from this practice than from
farming sugar cane.
For more information, contact
Jean Mclnnis, CHMM, Mohegan
Environmental Protection Department
Administrator at (860) 862-6112 or
jmcinnis@moheganmail.com. •
"We are the Wolf People, Children of
Mundo, a part of the Tree of Life. Our
Ancestors form our roots; our living
Tribe is the trunk; our grandchildren
are the buds of our future...we
survive as a nation guided by the
wisdom of our past. Our circular trail
returns us to wholeness as a people."
— Mohegan Tribal Quotation
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
INNOVATION
Design for the
Environment
Automotive Refinishing
Partnership Program
Mary Cushmac, EPA's Office of
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
EPA's Design for the Environment
(DfE) Program works in partner-
ship with the auto refinishing (collision
repair) industry and career/technical
schools to encourage best practices and
cost-effective technologies that reduce air
toxics in the workplace and surrounding
community. DfE conducts best practices
training workshops across the country
for this industry sector. The workshops
provide information on health and
environmental best practices, pollution
prevention, small business assistance, and
federal, state, and local regulations that
affect auto body shops.
There are over 50,000 auto refinish
shops and 1,400 high school/community
college programs in the United States.
Many shops are located in low-income
communities near schools, day care
centers, and residences. Automotive
refinishing involves the use of toxic
chemicals, including diisocyanates,
organic solvents, lead, and chromium.
Diisocyanates, in particular, are the
leading cause of work-related asthma
and it is important to prevent skin, eye
and inhalation exposures to vapors and
aerosols generated during spray painting
and related activities. The DfE program
has demonstrated in over 100 auto
refinish shop and school best practices
site visits that 80 percent of partici-
pants implemented improvements that
Design for the Environment
Auto Refinish Project
www.epa.gov/dfe/projecls/auto
reduced emissions of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air
pollutants (HAPs), improved the health
of the workforce and community, and
saved businesses money by reducing
paint costs and hazardous waste.
DfE collaborates on other Agency
initiatives focused on reducing air toxics
in communities with sensitive popula-
tions. The DfE Program provides techni-
cal support to Community Action for a
Renewed Environment (CARE) grantees
that are working with auto refinish-
ing businesses in environmental justice
communities. DfE also works with EPA's
Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards (OAQPS) and the Regional
Air Toxic Coordinators to provide
best practices training and compliance
assistance, as part of the Community
Air Toxics Collision Repair Campaign
(CRC), a joint EPA/Regional initia-
tive to reduce air toxics in communi-
ties across the country. In 2008, EPA
issued a National Emissions Standard for
Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for
surface coating and automotive refinish-
ing operations that includes a number of
DfE best practices to reduce emissions of
lead, chromium, and other air toxics in
communities.
DfE has developed numerous tools
to enhance the awareness of health and
safety issues associated with automotive
refinishing and reduce air toxics. DfE
tools include a best practices outreach kit
and CD, case studies, a self-evaluation
checklist of best practices, an emissions
reduction calculator, and a virtual auto
body shop (with CCAR-Greenlink, a
small business compliance assistance
center). All materials can be downloaded
from the DfE Web site.
The DfE Program provides a model
for enhancing community awareness and
reducing toxic chemical exposures and
potential adverse health effects in the
workforce and surrounding community
through adoption of cost-effective best
practices and safer alternative chemicals.
Sensitive populations, especially children,
are especially vulnerable to environ-
mental release of toxic auto refinishing
chemicals that are linked to asthma,
cancer, central nervous system, and other
adverse health effects. Implementation
of best practices and conversion to safer
alternative chemicals by auto body shops
nationwide could reduce VOCs and
hazardous air pollutants by about 175
million pounds each year.
For more information on DfE, visit
the DfE website at www.epa.gov/dfe/
pubs/projects/auto.
For more information on the CRC,
visit the CRC website at www.epa.gov/
collisionrepair. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
Solid Waste Management
Issues in Indian Country:
A Training Perspective
Secody Hubbard, Navajo Nation
As a member of one of the south-
western tribes, I often drive through
the reservation to see the beauty of the
landscape, from high mountains with
pristine Ponderosa pines to the beautiful
red rocks of Monument Valley. Having
been off the reservation for close to ten
years, I have come to appreciate the
serenity and beauty that characterizes
many Indian reservations. When I go
back to the reservation, I often take the
unpaved back roads to see the myriad of
wild plants and the abundance of wildlife.
But as I keep driving deep into the reser-
vation, all of a sudden my appreciation
for its environment is interrupted by a
glaring make-shift landfill! "What is going
on here?", I think to myself in awe and
shock.
Solid waste management on Indian
reservations creates a serious health and
environmental problem that has resulted
from unmanaged disposal and accumu-
lation of waste. Although many tribal
governments have, to the extent possible,
addressed the problem of illegal open
dumps, the problem is still pervasive in
many Indian communities. However,
the bigger question still remains: How to
effectively and permanently address open
dump sites, illegal trash burning, litter-
ing, etc., in Indian Country?
Conventional means of solid waste
management assume a typical commu-
nity having institutionalized regulations
and rules, enforcement mechanisms,
personnel and monetary resources, and
an integrated solid waste management
implementation plan. These assumptions
are generally superimposed on reserva-
tion communities by local, state, and
other governmental officials in solid waste
management and other environmental
management initiatives. But Indian reser-
vations and communities are significantly
different and do not conveniently lend
themselves to the dictates of various
environmental laws such as the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
because the provisions are based on the
assumptions of a community system well
institutionalized with modern technol-
ogy and operation of modern solid waste
management systems, adopted codes and
regulations, enforcement schemes, etc.
Indian reservations and communi-
ties are still developing, and they are
still far behind in terms of infrastruc-
ture, conventional community support
systems, facilities, and technology.
Many of the facilities are remnants of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-
run facilities. Tribal communities face
circumstances that inhibit implemen-
tation of a comprehensive solid waste
administration.
Tribal communities also are differ-
ent in that they retain strong traditional
cultural value systems. This cultural
belief and philosophy is not only the
identity of the individual, but also the
life of the community. Herein is perhaps
a key point yet to be acknowledged and
integrated in addressing the problem of
solid waste management. A paradigmat-
ic shift in perception and training that
recognizes the cultural and traditional
aspects of Indian communities is impera-
tive. Government officials have histori-
cally imposed a unilateral "fix" mentality
without understanding Indian commu-
nities at the grassroots level. Perhaps
government agencies and officials and
professional consultants (tribal members
included) need to understand the philo-
sophical underpinnings of native tradi-
tions. For example, the Navajo Nation in
the southwest has instituted a commu-
nity capacity building initiative at the
grassroots level to make positive public
health choices. They have integrated the
traditional Navajo belief and philoso-
phy of "Walking in Beauty" into their
community capacity building initiative.
If we can harness and incorporate the
deep rooted traditional philosophy of
keeping human and nature in balance
into a training module and build from
the identity and philosophy of tribal
communities, perhaps collaboration and
cooperation can be instilled in reserva-
tion communities. •
TRIBAL NEWS
SPRING 2011
-------
Lead has no taste or odor but it can
be very harmful to both children and
adults if you come into contact with it.
Following are some helpful tips to help
protect your family from the hazards of
lead. Once you are done reviewing the
tips, find the highlighted words in the
crossword puzzle. The words can be
upside down, across, backwards, and
forwards. Good luck! The answer key
is found at the bottom of the page.
Keep an eye out for peeling or
chipping paint.
• Clean up paint chips immediately.
Clean floors, window frames,
window sills, and other surfaces
weekly. Use a mop or sponge
with warm water and a general
all-purpose cleaner.
Thoroughly rinse sponges and mop
heads after cleaning dirty or dusty
areas.
• Wash children's hands often,
especially before they eat and
before nap time and bed time.
Keep play areas clean. Wash
bottles, pacifiers, toys, and stuffed
animals regularly.
• Keep children from chewing
window sills or other painted
surfaces.
Clean or remove shoes before
entering your home to avoid
tracking in lead from soil.
• Make sure children eat nutritious,
low-fat meals high in iron and
calcium, such as spinach and dairy
products.
For more information on lead, re-visit
the "Protecting Tribes from Lead
Exposure" section in this publication or
visit EPA's lead website at www.epa.gov/
lead.
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SPRING 2011
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