April 19, 2015 Sunday Services Announcement and Follow Up

Good Morning:

My name is Mike Rominger.

Today is Native American Sunday in our UM Conference. 

Tomorrow I’ll be attending the webinar   described on the monitor.

Wednesday,  April 22 is  Earth Day.  The first Earth Day was in 1970 and became the impetus for the CWA, the CAA, and the ESA.

Three events that are linked.

Today we’ll take an offering to

1.    Help Native-American members establish new congregations.

2.    Provide job training, childcare, and cultural education.

3.    Provide scholarships for Native-American students pursuing church related vocations.

The offering is something tangible we can do.

But what about the issue noted in the webinar?

This webinar will examine the impacts of sea level  rise and  other issues  on Native American  communities. Across the United States,  land  degradation presents challenges to their   homes  and livelihoods. As many Native American  communities contemplate their potential  displacement, one tribe  in southern Louisiana  is already preparing to move.  The webinar  will  discuss the tribe's ambitious strategy to   become one of the first coastal indigenous  groups to relocate as a community in modern  times, and why they feel it is necessary. So, what can we do about this issue? If you go to the Green Team Idea Blog on the  SP website, you’ll see some easy and effective  ways to reduce your effect on SLR. Your  Native American brothers and sisters will  appreciate it. Thank you. ****************************************************************************** More details and Mike Rominger’s Notes from the   Webinar: What If the Water Can’t be Stopped? Tribal Resilience  Plans in an Age of Sea Level Rise Monday, April 20 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE Nearest metro stations: Union Station (red line) Twitter hashtag:   #eesitalk    @eesionline Experiences such as the Isle de Jean Charles Tribe's  inspired the White House to convene a State, Local  and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate   Preparedness and Resilience, which met from  2013 to 2014. Last November, the Task Force  published a report of 35 recommendations on how  the federal government can assist local climate  resilience efforts. This briefing will examine some  of the recommendations from tribal communities,  such as encouraging the incorporation of climate  resilience into land use development and  management  practices. Speakers for this forum are: Albert Naquin, Chief, Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw,  Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana @IJCBCC Bob Gough, Secretary, Intertribal Council on  Utility Policy Dr. Julie Maldonado, Anthropologist and climate  justice expert The Isle de Jean Charles Tribe, which has made its  home for 170 years on the Isle de Jean Charles in  the bayous of southern Louisiana, has seen decades  of oil and gas extraction operations, restrictive  levees, and salt water intrusion from sea level rise  severely diminish the freshwater marsh around its  island. The dwindling marsh can no longer protect  the island from ocean tides, which will eventually  destroy it. Chief Albert Naquin is leading the Isle  de Jean Charles Tribe as they preserve their  community and culture by moving together to a  new home. The tribe's vision for their new  community will emphasize agricultural sustainability,  healthy living, and pride in the culture and tribal  identity of the group. The briefing will include a 10-minute screening of  Can't Stop the Water, a short film examining the  struggle and optimism of the Isle de Jean Charles  Tribe. The tribe hopes its story and innovative  relocation plan can serve as a model for other  tribal communities facing displacement due to   land loss. Chief Albert Naquin, Bob Gough and  Dr. Julie Maldonado are visiting Washington, DC  as part of an East Coast tour to build awareness  of tribal relocation issues. Other stops include  New York and Philadelphia. This briefing is the second in a two-part series  examining local resilience efforts across the  country. The first event was held April 1, 2015,  and can be viewed at  www.eesi.org/040115resilience. Mike Rominger’s Notes: Many Native American communities – from  Alaska to the southern US coast – will be  forced to relocate due to the impacts of  coastal flooding, salt-water intrusion, and  other climate effects on their homes and  livelihoods (Primarily fishing). The tribe at the focus of the webinar has  an interesting heritage. They were part  of the forced migration of Native Americans  from Florida in the 1830’s - the Trail of  Tears that took many to Oklahoma.  This  tribe, however, wished to preserve their  fishing way of living, so they took a detour  and ended up on a small island south of  New Orleans.  No one really cared since  they were out of the way and not bothering  “whites”.  They’ve been there ever since. Their small island (and getting smaller) is  connected to the mainland by a road that  will eventually not be maintainable with  the storm surges and sea level rise and the  sinking land due to oil and gas extraction.  The tribe numbers about 650 people, half of  whom are age 20 or younger.  But the  majority  have already left for the  mainland.   Only 25 homes remain occupied on the  island. The challenge is to regroup everyone on  the mainland and preserve their community. The biggest  hurdle they face is to get support  (both regulatory and financial) for moving  their communities intact.  There are   programs available to relocate individuals  but not communities.  And there is little  thought given to relocate communities to  an area where they can continue to  practice cultural and historic  methods of living such as fishing.