Susan Bodine - Environmental Protection Agency - Articles - Zimbio

U.S. Islamic Leader Imam Hassan Qazwini: Selfish people abuse environment; humans should not hunt animals for pleasure

Sun, 27 Oct 2008 01:30:29 GMT

posted by kellytv

Northern Michigan University (NMU) Health & Nutrition Professor Mohey Mowafy (above left) of Marquette introduced Imam Hassan Qazwini (center) to an eager audience of mostly Christians for a living room chat.

Rev. Warren Geier (right) of Bethany Lutheran Church in Ishpeming, MI was among several Lutheran pastors on hand.

Imam Qazwini answered a wide range of questions including the murder of many of his family members in Iraq, the War in Iraq, hunting, interfaith environment projects and common perceptions and misconceptions between religions. (Photos by Greg Peterson)
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Imam Hassan Qazwini: Humans are selfish and don’t treat the environment with justice - it’s the responsibility of all humans and all religions to respect the environment

The Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative has always promoted interfaith connections - and America's top Muslim Imam brought just that message to Marquette, MI

Talk by Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America on Oct. 22, 2008 at the Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) Lothlórien House in Marquette, Michigan

Northern Michigan University (NMU) Health & Nutrition Professor Mohey Mowafy of Marquette introduced Imam Hassan Qazwini:

Verbatim comments by Imam Hassan Qazwini:

In the Qur’an God says:

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“Thahara alfasadu feealbarri waalbahri bima kasabat aydee alnnasiliyutheeqahum baAAda allathee AAamiloolaAAallahum yarjiAAoona.” Qur’an (Ar-Rum: verse 41)

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Qur’an (Ar-Rum: verse 41) translated:

Corruption (Mischief) has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned, that (Allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from Evil). Qur’an (Ar-Rum: verse 41)
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“Corruption has appeared on the sea and on the land due to what the man did - or what the man does.”

Meaning that God created this very beautiful, splendid planet. And he gave it to us as a gift. But he asked us not to corrupt it, not to ruin it, not to destroy it. Use it for our benefit.

Did you know that in this country, we only form five percent of the world’s population, but we consume 25 percent of the world’s energy. What does this mean? This means that I am taking my own share - yet I am taking the share of five other people in this world. I am using my own share plus the share that belongs to five other people - I am consuming.

It means that I am stepping over my limits. And I am doing such injustice to the environment. Why? Simply because I am selfish. I want to enjoy myself. I don’t care about the environment. I don’t care about others and I want to use everything for my own benefit only.

Artwork by Esteban Barahona of San José, Costa Rica and courtesy Wikipedia

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I always remind my friend - I say many of you love hunting. How many of you hunt?
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Answering the Imam’s question - news reporter Greg Peterson says “I am growing my beard (for deer season) right now.”
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Imam Hassan Qazwini continues:

Hunting is a hobby that many people love to do.

In Islam, my religion, two people can hunt only.
A hunter - meaning whose career is hunting, someone who makes a living out of hunting.
And the second one: A man who is wandering the desert or the woods. And he got so hungry, and he could not find anything to eat, he went and he hunted something. He ate. That’s fine.

Photo by Greg Peterson

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But for someone to do it as a hobby - it’s prohibited (in Islam).
Why?

Because God allowed me, permitted me as a human being, he gave me the right to take the life of an innocent animal only when I need it. When I need to fill my stomach. When I am hungry. Or when I need to make a living because I have to make a living.

But for me to go out and enjoy myself with the cost of killing an innocent animal - God says: ‘Here your freedom is over.’ You can not take the life of an innocent animal simply because you wanted to enjoy yourself. Simply because you wanted to have some fun.

But obviously, you may tell me: “I am not going to waste it. I will take it.”

I know, but what was my incentive when I hunted this animal. My incentive was to enjoy myself not because I was hungry.

My point that I am trying to say is this: That God want this equilibrium to be kept and to be preserved.
We Muslims refrain from eating so many kind of fish - the kind of fish that does not have scale on the skin - we cannot eat. Why?

Because we know that if we are allowed to eat everything in the ocean then the balance the equilibrium in the ocean will be upset.
Therefor - not only my well-being - the well-being of the environment will be in danger.

Photo by Greg Peterson

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So the bottom line is - that Islam is one of the religions that emphasizes protecting the environment.

You can use from the environment as much as you need - not as much as you enjoy.
You can use the environment as much as you need - not as much as you enjoy.

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Related Links:
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Mosque photo courtesy the Islamic Center of America website

Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America

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Critic of Imam Hassan Qazwini:

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Qur’an and the environment:

http://www.blogtoplist.com/religion/blogdetails-17864-3.html

http://theislamicscience.blogspot.com/2007/04/man-and-pollution.html

http://Qur’an.al-islam.com/Targama/DispTargam.asp?nType=1&nSora=30&nAya=41&nSeg=1&l=eng&t=eng

http://www.Qur’anexplorer.com/?gclid=CISVuKeYw5YCFSMeDQodMnDFKw

http://uniqueislam.com/MAN%20AND%20POLLUTION.htm

http://www.islamforall.net/qur%27an.htm

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/Qur'an/scislam.html

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1157962482299&pagename=Zone-English-HealthScience%2FHSELayout

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Saddam Hussein:

http://www.answers.com/topic/saddam-hussein

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Movie "W" by Oliver Stone:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/02/georgebush.usa

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175491

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg7vwicPx98

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Imam Hassan Qazwini taped NPR interview May 12, 2005 on opening of new Islamic Center of America Mosque in Dearborn - the largest in the U.S.

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Qur’an explained by Wikipedia:

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Wikipedia Islam, Qur’an & Allah related artwork by Esteban Barahona of San José, Costa Rica:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Allah-eser2.png

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Esteban.barahona

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:IslamSymbolAllah.PNG

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Dcp7323-Edirne-Eski_Camii_Allah.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Allah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Allah-eser2.png

http://anagami.deviantart.com

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Qur’an photos new & old:

http://www.bornrich.org/entry/13th-century-quran-sold-for-a-world-record-at-christies

http://foreninger.uio.no/mss/bilder/quran%20001.jpg

http://foreninger.uio.no/mss/bilder/quran%20002.jpg

http://foreninger.uio.no/mss/bilder/quran%20004.jpg

http://foreninger.uio.no/mss/bilder/quran%20006.jpg

http://foreninger.uio.no/

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Mohammad photos on the University of North Florida website:

http://www.unf.edu/classes/freshmancore/core1images/muhammad-westernimage.jpg

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Prophet Muhammad & Other Islamic Prophets on Wikipedia:

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Wikipedia article on Karbala, Iraq:

Wikipedia article on "People from Karbala" (Iraq):

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Muslim 99 names for God: Al-Wadud is“The Loving One”:

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Articles about Muslims & Quran: Muslims believe there are five superior messengers - Mohamad, Jesus, Moses, Noah and Abraham:

http://www.shiatv.net/search_result.php?search_id=Blessing

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Imam Hassan Qazwini NPR interview May 12, 2005 on opening of new Islamic Center of America Mosque in Dearborn - the largest in the U.S. (Recording of NPR interview)

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Photo courtesy NMU website

Mohey Mowafy
NMU Health & Nutrition Professor
906-249-9133 (hm)
906-227-2366 (wk)
Professor of Health, Physical Education and Recreation
201C Physical Education Instructional Facility
Began teaching at NMU in 1976
mmowafy@nmu.edu

NMU Health & Nutrition Professor Mohey Mowafy is member of speakers bureau with talks on biodiversity:

Mohey Mowafy, a 63-year-old Northern Michigan University professor, brought 32 students to the Democratic Party rally with former Pres. Bill Clinton & an effort to recruit Rudy Giuliani into presidential bid:

Meet NMU Professors:

NMU President’s Council & Prof. Mohey Mowafy:

Northern Michigan University Professor Mohey Mowafy on health and nutrion:
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Lutheran Campus Ministry - Marquette, MI
http://www.nmulutherans.org

Rev. Jon Magnuson, founder & executive director of the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute, welcomes Imam Hassan Qazwini to the Lutheran Campus Ministry house in Marquette, MI.

Northern Michigan youth protect pollinators

Sun, 25 Aug 2008 17:10:20 GMT

posted by EarthKeeper

Native American youth and other Northern Michigan teens are protecting pollinators like butterflies because honeybees are dying by the billions across the world

Monarch Photos by Author Lynn Rosenblatt

Other photos by Greg Peterson

The Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project is the latest youth environment project founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan in cooperation with the Marquette County Juvenile Court, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and the United States Forest Service (USFS).

The teens spent the summer building butterfly houses that offer protection, rest and an egg laying environment to Monarchs and other butterflies. The white cedar butterfly houses are lined with bark with slits that allow entry and are slimmer and longer than birdhouses.

The teens potted 26,000 native plant seeds at the Hiawatha National Forest greenhouse that will be transplanted across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula including 2.5 miles along Sand Point, a Lake Superior beach that was the first Native American Brownfield site in the Midwest after being contaminated 90 years ago by a copper refinery.

Monarch Photo by Author Lynn Rosenblatt

Other photos by Greg Peterson

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This was the first summer of a four-year project that will include numerous efforts to protect pollinators. Called Colony Collapse Disorder, honey bees are dying by the billions across the world and experts say feral and commercial bee colonies have declined by 70 to 90 percent in the past 25 years.

Over the centuries, bees have faced challenges including deadly mites but what alarms experts is how quickly the hives are collapsing. Possible reasons include climate change, stress and pesticides.

Monarch Female photo (bottom left) from Wikipedia by Ken Harrelson

Monarch Butterfly Male photo (bottom right) from Wikipedia by Derek Ramsey

Wikipedia Honeybee Photos by Björn Appel, Wikipedia (Username Warden) and by Waugsberg

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“The mystery of the dying bees” by COSMOS Magazine:

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1087

The Zaagkii Project contributors and sponsors include the Marquette Community Foundation, the Negaunee Community Fund, the Negaunee Community Youth Fund, the M.E. Davenport Foundation, the Kaufman Foundation, the Phyllis and Max Reynolds Foundation, the Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum in Marquette, Mich. and the Borealis Seed Company in Big Bay, Mich.

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Contacts and Links related to the Zaagkii Project, the Cedar Tree Institute and related topics:

Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Contacts:

KBIC Tribal Chair Warren C. “Chris” Swartz Jr.
906-353-6623 ext. 4104
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KBIC Vice Chair Susan LaFernier
906-353-6623
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KBIC Natural Resource Department (NRD)

Todd Warner, Director of KBIC Natural Resource Department
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Ph: (906) 524-5757 ext. 13
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Evelyn Ravindran, KBIC NRD Natural Resources Specialist
906-524-5757 ext. 11
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KBIC NRD Staffers interviewed:
Katie Kruse, NRD Environment specialist
Char Beesley. Environment Specialist
Kit Laux, NRD Water Quality Specialist
(906) 524-5757
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Kim Klopstein, one of the summer youth supervisors for the KBIC Summer Youth Program
906-201-0020
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United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees United States Forest Service (USFS)
USDA USFS
Forest Service Eastern Region
626 E. Wisconsin Ave.
Suite 700
Milwaukee, Wis.
53202
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Jan Schultz, Botany & Non-native Invasive Species Program Leader
USFS Milwaukee
(414) 297-1189 (wk)
(414) 944-3963 (fax)
jschultz@fs.fed.us
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Jane Cliff, USFS Public Relations in Milwaukee
(414) 297-3664
jcliff@fs.fed.us
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Angie Lucas, contractor, Hiawatha National Forest Greenhouse Manager
(906) 228-8491
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Terry Miller, forest botanist
Hiawatha National Forest Office
Escanaba, Mich.
(906) 789-3319
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Deb LeBlanc, West Side Plant Ecologist
Hiawatha National Forest
Munising, Mich. Office
Does Monarch Workshops
(906) 387-2512 ext. 19
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Beekeeper Jim Hayward (Marquette Dentist by trade)
103 Buffalo Road.
Negaunee, Michigan
49866

(906) 475-7582
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Carole Touchinski, Marquette & Negaunee community foundations
(906) 226-7666
http://www.mqt-cf.org
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Rev. Jon Magnuson, Zaagkii Wings and Seeds founder & Executive Director of non-profit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI)
(906) 228-5494 (hm)
(906) 360-5072 (cell)
(906) 226-5072 (alt. home phone)
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Links:
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United State Forest Service (USFS) celebrating wildflowers website:

http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/index.shtml

http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/index.shtml
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Cedar Tree Institute - non-profit in Marquette, Michigan:
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.org
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Keweenaw Bay Indian Community:
http://www.kbic-nsn.gov
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Marquette County Juvenile Court:
http://www.co.marquette.mi.us/probate.htm
http://www.co.marquette.mi.us/courts.htm
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Marquette County Juvenile Coutr & Project WEAVE:
http://www.reclaimingfutures.org/?q=locations_marquette
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Borealis Seed Company
Big Bay, Michigan
Run by mother-daughter team of Judy Keast and Suzanne Rabitaille cultivating about 5 acres of a 20-acre spread three miles south of Big Bay, Michigan.
http://www.ltbbodawa-nsn.gov/index.html
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Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum
http://www.upcmkids.org/
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Monarch Watch::
http://monarchwatch.org/

Monarch Author Lynn M. Rosenblatt
http://www.monarchbutterflyusa.com/Magic.htm

Numerous Monarch related links:
http://www.kidsgardening.com/pollinator/curriculum/resources.php
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/butterflies/monarch/index.html
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/monarch.htm
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch
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Wikipedia on Monarchs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_Butterfly
Female Monarch photo:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Monarch_In_May.jpg
Wiki May 2007 Photograph of a Monarch Butterfly by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson

Male Monarch Photo by Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) at the Tyler Arboretum
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Monarch_Butterfly_Danaus_plexippus_Male_2664px.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ram-Man
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Bees disappearing around the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollinator_decline
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bees_and_toxic_chemicals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_toxicity_to_bees
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid_effects_on_bee_population
http://www.burtsbees.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?contentPageId=531&catalogId=10051&storeId=10001&langId=-1
http://www.polinator.org/
http://www.vanishingbees.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_arthropod

Wikipedia Honeybee Photos by Björn Appel, Wikipedia Username Warden.
Edit by Waugsberg (cropped)
A honeybee on an apiary, cooling by flapping its wings in Tübingen-Hagelloch.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Honeybee-cooling_cropped.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Honeybee-cooling.jpg

Wiki Bee photos by Waugsberg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Biene_88a.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Biene_88a.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Bienen_im_Flug_52e.jpg
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Keweenaw Peninsula: Michigan’s Copper Country:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_mining_in_Michigan
http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/westernh.html
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West Virginia White Butterfly & killer Garlic Mustard Seed plants:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Virginia_White
http://www.cbgarden.org/blog/index.php/tag/west-virginia-white-butterfly/
http://leapbio.org/west_virginia_white.php
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5a/3402_white_WV_ws.jpg

West Virginia White, Pieris virginiensis on wild mustard Photo by Randy L Emmitt
http://www.rlephoto.com/butterflies/white_wv01.htm
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Butterflies/Moths:
The Butterfly Site:
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/
Children’s butterfly links:
http://www.monarchbutterflyusa.com/Links.htm
Butterfly Encounters:
http://www.butterflyencounters.com/
Butterflys and Moths of North America:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org
Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. 2006. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: NBII Mountain Prairie Information Node. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org
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Deciduous forests:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deciduous
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Viceroys:
Viceroy Butterfly mimics Monarchs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroy_butterfly
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Viceroy_Butterfly.jpg
Wikipedia Viceroy photo by Piccolo “Pic” Namek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:PiccoloNamek

Viceroy:
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/viceroy.htm
Photo by William T. Hark
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Butterfly & endangered species hibernacula:
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/lists/michigan-cty.html
http://www.naturenorth.com/summer/bgarden/bttgrdF.html
http://entweb.clemson.edu/museum/buttrfly/local/bfly12.htm
http://actazool.nhmus.hu/48/konvicka.pdf
http://earthcaretaker.com/naturalization/llamb.html
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Mourning Cloaks aka Morning Cloaks:
http://www.sierrapotomac.org/W_Needham/MourningCloak_060319.htm
http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/insects/mourning-cloak.aspx
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/mourningcloak.html
http://www.naturenorth.com/spring/bug/mcloak/Fmcloak.html
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Mason bees - bee houses in wood:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_bee
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Osmia_rufa_couple_(aka).jpg
Photo of an Red Mason Bee couple (osmia rufa) by André Karwath of German Wikipedia also known as AKA (André Karwath):
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Aka

Mason Bees:
http://www.farminfo.org/bees/mason-bees.htm

http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bees/mason_bee/
Photo by Kim Taylor of Bruce Coleman Inc.

http://www.masonbeehomes.com/bee_houses.php
http://www.pollinator.com/mason_homes.htm
http://www.insectpix.net/Homes_for_bees.htm
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Brownfield sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownfields
http://ncrs.fs.fed.us/4902/focus/restoration/brownfield/
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Mass Mill - copper processing waste (stamp sands) cleanup:
(Search for KBIC in following document)
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/tribalgov/ImprovingPartnerships.pdf
http://www.uprcd.org/projects.asp
http://www.upea.com/filesfordownloading/Baragadraft.pdf
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/tribalgov/ImprovingPartnerships.pdf
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Dave Anthony & Northern Michigan University Center for Native American studies:
http://webb.nmu.edu/Centers/NativeAmericanStudies/SiteSections/Calendar/IEDSHighlights.shtml
http://webb.nmu.edu/Centers/NativeAmericanStudies/SiteSections/AboutUs/AboutUs.shtml
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Manoomin Project:
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416108
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.org/wildrice2007.html
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,215966.%20shtml
http://blog.americanfeast.com/indigenous_food
http://www.goodnewsdaily.com/show_story.php?ID=3500

Manoomin Project Videos:
http://blip.tv/file/549632
http://blip.tv/file/341528/
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Dreamcatcher:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcatcher_(Native_American)
http://www.dreamcatcher.com/home.php
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Northern white cedar:
http://forestry.about.com/library/tree/blntwh.htm
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Honeybee decline:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollinator_decline
http://www.masterbeekeeper.org/pdf/pollination.pdf

The Value of Honey Bees As Pollinators of U.S. Crops in 2000 by Drs. Roger Morse and Nicholas Calderone of Cornell University (2000) :

Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a poorly understood phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term Colony Collapse Disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North America in late 2006.
European beekeepers observed a similar phenomenon in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree. Possible cases of CCD have also been reported in Taiwan since April 2007.
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Earth Healing Initiative: Faith groups, Native Americans vital part of EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

Sun, 21 Apr 2008 00:32:49 GMT

posted by EarthKeeper

“Garbage Monsters” teach lessons to tribal students in Wisconsin; Native Americans and interfaith groups help collect a million pounds of e-waste, and a million pills to reach goal of EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge

(Kesenha, Wisconsin) - Tribal school students and their parents recently learned a creative lesson about the environment and the human capability to waste as they rummaged through their trash to find discarded items that were used to make the heads, legs, arms, eyes and bodies of “Garbage Monsters.”

The students even named their multi-colored Garbage Monsters.

These same students will be cleaning up a town on their Wisconsin reservation this week as part of a Great Lakes environment project involving hundreds of cities in eight states.

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has three projects underway to honor Earth Day 2008.

Earth Healing Initiative & College of Menominee Nation: Great Lakes recycling

Wed, 1 May 2008 01:27:02 GMT

posted by EarthKeeper

College of Menominee Nation: EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge and a lesson in Great Lakes recycling 101

Dr. William Van Lopik, College of Menominee Nation professor of the Implementing Sustainable Development classes

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and pharmaceutical waste to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

This is the first of several vidoes explaining the tribes numerous projects that included cleaning up the reservation, replacing gang symbols with Native American art, teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture.

In part one, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the many recycling projects of the College of Menominee nation.
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(Keshena, WI) - The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin in Keshena is being praised for its massive cleanup projects during the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge - involving over 100 projects across eight states that comprise the Great lakes basin.

The college of Menominee Nation held a pharmaceutical and electronic waste collection as part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.

Other tribal projects during the challenge included the clean up of two reservation communities by tribal school students, The Menominee Teen Court Panel, and many other volunteers.

All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage.

Called the protector guardian of Menominee wild rice, the sturgeon used to spawn on the reservation until a man made dam blocked the route so the sturgeon could not reach their ancestral spawning grounds.

The students also whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.

Adults participated in the challenge in a big way - as the tribe’s Solid Waste and Recycling Department held curbside e-waste collections during Earth week 2008 - and all month accepted e-waste at the transfer station. Cardboard and other items are also recycled by the Menominee tribe.

Native American and other students also made garbage monsters at the Keshena Public Schools with help from their parents using common every day trash from home. The students made a presentation on how to be reuse stuff they normally thrown in the trash like plastic jugs.

More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables - plus litter - was removed from the reservation during April.

Faculty and students brought their old computers, cell phones and medicines to an e-waste and pharmaceutical collection site at the tribal college in Keshena, Wisconsin to help a federal Earth Day challenge to clean up the Great Lakes Basin, while younger students cleaned up the reservation and whitewashed gang graffiti.

At the College of Menominee Nation, the Earth Day 2008 e-waste and medicine collections went smoothly as people turned in hundreds of items.

Over 23 pounds of medicines were turned in including 100 bottles of pills, more than 25 computers and dozens of related components like hard drives, printers, keyboards and speakers; televisions, radios, DVD players, 12 cell phones and over 100 small batteries.

The collection is among numerous Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) projects that are part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.

Gang graffiti was whitewashed from a skateboard park wall near the tribal school by K-8 students. The MITW youth honored Earth Day and replaced graffiti with positive Native American symbols.

“The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall,” said teacher Beth Waukechon. “All week students have been cleaning up the reservation, and one student was so inspired she wants to start an Earth Club.”

On Friday, April 25, over 180 students cleaned up litter around the community of Neopit.

“The students are giving thanks to Mother Earth for all that she had done,” Waukechon said. “They are taking a moment each day to do that.”

“We know that Mother Earth can shake us off at any moment,” she said. “We are the ones that need her, she doesn’t need us.”

“Clean up the Rez Day” was held on Thursday, April 24 at the tribe’s Youth Development and Outreach program. The Menominee Teen Court Panel and volunteers cleaned up garbage, said Claudette Hewson, MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator.

The teen panel, ages 14 to 17, is a peer review for youthful offenders sentenced in tribal court who “need to learn healthy behaviors,” Hewson said. On May 2, at-risk teens will paint over more reservation gang graffiti.

Sponsors include the tribe’s Community Resource Center, Menominee County Police, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic Wellness Program (Maehnowesekiyah), Probation and Parole, Community Recycling Project, Recreation Department, EarthHealing.org and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.

Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology and value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee tribe.

Overseeing the pharmaceutical collection was Heidi Cartwright, pictured on the left above, a part-time Manawa police officer and college police science instructor.

While hosting the collection, the college’s Implementing Sustainable Development class found out they won the National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola, said professor William Van Lopik, Ph.D.

“One of premises of the class is to do things, not just talk about what we are going to do and how the world is going to be changed, but having students do things,” Dr. Van Lopik said.

The grant pays for 50 recycling bins that the college plans to share with the tribal school.

The class has participated in the ten-week Recycle Mania project two years in a row that involves weighing recyclables as they leave the building. This year, the class ranked 136 out of 200 colleges and universities with 8 pounds of recyclables per person, beating out Ohio State and Georgetown, Van Lopik said.

The MITW held curbside pickup of electronics during Earth Week. A couple thousand pounds of electronics were turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The total is expected to reach several tons.

Native American students recently created “Garbage Monsters” out of bottles, paper and other items found in their trash in a project at the Keshena Public Schools, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. After naming their monsters, the students explained other uses for the garbage.

This video on the projects connected to the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago, the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office, also in Chicago, in cooperation with the non-profit Interfaith Earth Healing Initiative in Marquette, MI.

The EHI involves American Indian tribes and “a coalition of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said EHI founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
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I’m Greg Peterson and you’re watching Earth Healing TV
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Related website about Keshena, Neopit, the College of Menominee Nation and Menominee County, WI:
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Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin official website - homepage:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov

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MITW Tribal School website:
http://mts.bia.edu/

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College of Menominee Nation
http://www.menominee.edu
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Earth Healing Initiative Keshena, WI page:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshena.html

Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
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MITW Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHome.php
http://www.wcadv.org/index.cfm?go=about/news_pressrelease&id=26
http://www.reznetnews.org/article/news/scared_and_scarred
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University of WI Cooperative Extention wesbsite page for Menominee tribe info like schools, college:
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/menominee/index.html
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Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Youth Development & Outreach
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHome.php
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Youth Development and Outreach
W3191 Fredenberg Drive
P.O. Box 910
Keshena, WI 54135
715-799-5137
715-799-5227 (Fax)
Director: Darwin Dick
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Great Lakes Inter Tribal Council
http://www.glitc.org/pages/mtw.html
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Samuels Recycling - Green Bay, WI:
http://www.samuelsrec.com/mapmenu.htm
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Links to sites about Samuel’s Recycling in Green Bay (Buyer Mike Zastrow - 1-920-494-3451)
http://www.altermetalrecycling.com/Green_Bay_WI.jsp
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/matcompany.asp?sortby=city
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/markets/comp_detail.asp?id=400
http://search.greenbaypressgazette.com/sp?aff=109&catId=19220500
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From Wikipedia:
The College of the Menominee Nation (abbreviated CMN) is one of 34 tribal based community colleges in the United States. The college’s main campus is in Keshena, Wisconsin and has another campus in Oneida, Wisconsin. The college is one of two tribal based colleges in Wisconsin.
The tribal college was chartered in 1993. The college began offering classes in the 1993 Spring semester. The College of Menominee Nation was granted full accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission on August 7, 1998. The college is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_the_Menominee_Nation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keshena%2C_Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopit%2C_Wisconsin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menominee_County%2C_Wisconsin

http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/
http://www.wisconline.com/counties/menominee/data.html

Recycle Mania:
http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/overview.htm
http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/university_detail08.asp?ID=4018

National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant through Coca-Cola:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/bingrantrelease.aspx
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/coca-colanrcbingrantprogram.aspx
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-22-2008/0004797928&EDATE=