tagged w/ Rev. Jon Magnuson
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Marquette, Michigan - The Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers announced several projects for the next year on Thursday night (Nov. 13, 2008) as they received the Michigan Sierra Club prestigious White Pine Award for past projects that included recycling hundreds of tons of hazardous waste, energy conservation programs and the protection of Lake Superior.
Numerous Earth Keeper Initiative (EKI) faith leaders, volunteers and student members accepted the award on Nov. 13 at a meeting of the Sierra Club U.P. Group.
The White Pine Award recognizes "a group outside of the Sierra Club which has been doing things to help protect the environment," said Dr. Jon Rebers, chair of the Sierra Club Central U.P. Group.
The U.P. Earth Keepers, involving the congregations of over 150 U.P. churches and temples, held three annual Earth Day collections at dozens of sites across northern Michigan that removed almost 370 tons of household hazardous waste from the environment.
Earth Keepers collected one ton of pharmaceuticals & $500,000 in narcotics in 2007; 320 tons of computers, televisions & electronics in 2006; and 45 tons of household hazardous waste like pesticides, herbicides, oil-based paint and car batteries. Most of the waste turned in by the public.
Earth Keepers held a 2007 energy summit that helped hundreds of Michigan homes and businesses become energy efficient & helped organize classical musicians to form the Boreal Chamber Symphony for a Lake Superior Day 2007 concert in Marquette that raised funds to protect the world's largest body of freshwater.
"We are moving into our fifth year," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) ex. Dir.
Sponsors: CTI, Superior Water Shed Partnership (SWP), Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and 10 faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Quakers & Zen Buddhist.
Partners include the EPA, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Earth Keepers are "trying to honor the creation by preserving it," said Dr. Rodney Clarken, a Bahá'í. "One of the Bahá'í principles is that each human being is entrusted and is in some way the image of God. We can't be pure and holy unless...the environment is pure and holy."
The leader of a Marquette Zen Buddhist temple said "your environment is in trouble right now."
"Zen Buddhists tend to believe in the oneness of all - you are part of your environment - that is absolutely inescapable," said Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, head priest of Lake Superior Zendo.
Member Nancy Irish said her favorite EKI project is the "Adopt a Watershed" program.
"We've had a number of campouts for kids," said Irish of the Marquette Unitarian Universalist church. "There is nothing more wonderful than facilitating the meeting of the natural world with children .. children protect what they love & they love what they know.""
"One of the Quaker basic testimonies is the simplicity of living and of course this ties well into that (the Earth Keeper Covenant)," said David McCowen of Lake Superior Friends (Quakers).
The SWP and the CTI "facilitate what happens with the Earth Keepers," said watershed partnership representative Natasha Koss.
The Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Team goals include an "Eco-Christmas Initiative," said Sarah Swanson, project director. "We are going to encourage people to be more eco-conscious when they are purchasing gifts for family and friends over the holidays."
Students will recycle televisions in February, now that they are switching to high definition television, she said. And "planting a bunch of trees on Earth Day" plus "organize some community gardens."
People have "an inescapable relationship with their environment," said Ben Scheelk, NMU EK student team project coor. from the Student Leader Fellowship Program.
Rev. Jon Magnuson
906-228-5494
Greg
906-401-0109
earthkeeper@charter.netMarquette, Michigan - The Upper Peninsula Earth Keepers announced several projects for... more
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A documentary will be shown on Dec. 5, 2008 in Marquette Michigan about a mining giant with deep pockets and its plan to build a sulfide mine in Marquette County.
That mine will open the flood gates for dozens and maybe hundreds of sulfide and uranium mines.
Some brave citizens and groups are in an all-out war to protect the prstine land and the Salmon Trout River - while questions are raised about state officials and their relationship with Kennecott Minerals.
The state guardians of the environment eagerly jumped into the sack while wooed by Kennecott.
The film was financed by the Charles S. Mott Foundation and produced by the National Wildlife federation.A documentary will be shown on Dec. 5, 2008 in Marquette Michigan about a mining giant... more
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Some of Michigan's elected officials - like Governor Jennifer Granholm - are selling out the beautiful streams and lush forests of the Upper Peninsula in exchange for some quick cash.
Many people who once loved our governor - now think Granholm doesn't deserve to be a democrat - because she's acting like a Republican.
Granholm and others - like famous actor/director Jeff Daniels - proclaim their love for the Upper Peninsula but are remaining strangely silent in the fight to stop Kennecott Minerals and other mining companies from building sulfide mines nicknamed "acid" mines.
Granholm, Daniels and others with power should be leading the fight to stop the Eagle Project.
In fact - the governor's top Upper Peninsula aide - her point man on the mine issue - recently quit his job to take a lucrative position with Kennecott''s parent company. That speaks volumes as the gov remains tight-lipped.
The National Wildlife Federation has produced a documentary about the gallant fight to protect the Upper Peninsula.
The public is invited to a free showing of the film om Dec. 5, 2008 in Marquette at Northern Michigan University.Some of Michigan's elected officials - like Governor Jennifer Granholm - are... more
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The Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative promotes interfaith environment projects and America's top Muslim Imam brought just that message to Marquette, MI
Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America, spoke on Oct. 22, 2008 at the Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) Lothlórien House in Marquette.
Northern Michigan University (NMU) Health & Nutrition Professor Mohey Mowafy of Marquette introduced Imam Hassan Qazwini:
Imam Hassan Qazwini:
Quoting the Qur’an, Imam Hassan Qazwini said:
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).
“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.
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. 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. I am selfish. I want to enjoy myself. I don’t care about the environment. I don’t care about others. I want to use everything for my own benefit only.
Many of you love hunting. How many of you hunt?
Answering the Imam’s question, reporter Greg Peterson says “I am growing my beard (for deer season) right now.”
Imam Hassan Qazwini:
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.
But for someone to do it as a hobby - it’s prohibited (in Islam).
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.
You may tell me: “I am not going to waste 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.
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.
Imam Qazwini
http://www.icofa.com/aboutus/imam.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Al-Qazwini
Qur’an and environment:
http://www.blogtoplist.com/religion/blogdetails-17864-3.html
http://theislamicscience.blogspot.com/2007/04/man-and-pollution.html
Lutheran Campus Ministry Marquette
http://www.nmulutherans.org/
Rev. Jon Magnuson - Non-profit Cedar Tree Institute:
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.orgThe Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative promotes interfaith environment projects and... more
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The Native Village website does stories on Native Village youth and education. Each month this unique website puts out an issue of news about Native youth.
http://www.nativevillage.org
In the November 2008 issue, Native Village takes an extensive look at the Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The Zaagkii Project thanks and honors Native Village and its Editor Gina Boltz for the excellent story and all the work and effort that went into creating the impressive layout.
To contact Native Village staff or for more info, please email:
NativeVillage500@aol.com
Native Village is a supporter of the Link Center Foundation:
http://www.linkcenterfoundation.org
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This summer, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) youth and Marquette, MI teens built the first of dozens of butterfly houses and planted 26,000 native plants that help pollinators thrive.
The three-year project is important because bees are disappearing around the world at a shocking rate.
It's called Colony Collapse Disorder and the cause is unknown although human impact is suspected.
If all the world's bees disappear - all plant and human life will vanish in about 4 years.
The second biggest pollinator are butterflies - and that's why the Zaagkii Project is protecting butterflies and teaching youth about bees.
The Zaagkii Project contributors 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, with assistance from the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum in Marquette and the Borealis Seed Company in Big Bay.
The Zaagkii Project was founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) in Marquette whose other environment projects have included wild rice restoration (Manoomin Project) and Earth Day hazardous waste collections (Earth Keeper Clean Sweep).
The Zaagkii Project is sponsored by the KBIC, CTI, Marquette County Juvenile Court and the United States Forest Service (USFS).
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Keweenaw Bay Indian Community:
http://www.kbic-nsn.gov
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Rev. Jon Magnuson, Zaagkii Wings and Seeds founder & Executive Director of non-profit Cedar Tree Institute
906-228-5494
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.org
CTI volunteer media advisor Greg Peterson:
906-401-0109
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Jan Schultz, Botany & Non-native Invasive Species Program Leader
USFS Milwaukee, WI
(414) 297-1189
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Terry Miller, forest botanist
Hiawatha National Forest
Escanaba, MI.
906-789-3319
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Deb LeBlanc, WestSide Plant Ecologist
Hiawatha National Forest
Munising, MI
906-387-2512 ext. 19
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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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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.htmThe Native Village website does stories on Native Village youth and education. Each... more
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The Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative and the Earth Healing Initiative promote interfaith connections.
America's top Muslim Imam brought that message to Marquette, MI on Oct. 22, 2008 at the Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) Lothlórien House.
Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America, says all religions, people are basically the same.
Northern Michigan University (NMU) Professor Mohey Mowafy introduced the Imam:
Imam Hassan Qazwini:
“I was born in Iraq (1964) in a city called Karbala. It’s a holy city in Iraq. After that I went to Kuwait and then to Iran. (studied in Iran). In 1992 I came to the United States.
Up until I came to the United States in 1992, I knew there were Christians in Iraq but I never had any interaction with Christians. I never had any interaction with Jews in Iraq. I lived my own inner world. In Karbala, everybody is Muslim. There were Christians, there were Jews and obviously other denominations in Iraq, but I lived my own inner world. In Karbala, everybody is Muslim, so I really did not have any interaction beyond my little world.
It was in the United States when I have my first encounter with non-Muslims.”
Imam Qazwini told a story about riding in a car with his brother in California and stopping into a busy Christian church - and discovering that all religions believe the concept of love.
He said to Muslims - Jesus is as respected and revered as Mohammad.
Imam Qazwini said all religions and peoples basically “hold the same values - the same beliefs.”
“We passed by a church in a city called West Covina. So I see a church, it was Sunday, it was a church and the parking lot was full. Probably there was over 300 to 400 cars. So I asked my brother ‘What was going on here?’ He said the pastor is giving a sermon.”
“He said ‘Are you sure you really want to go inside the church?’
I said ‘Yes.’ He said “What do you do?’ I said ‘Come on, I’m not going to covert to Christianity. What’s going on here?” (laughter) I said ‘I have a chance to see what does the pastor have to say when he speaks to this congregation.’
“And I listened ...”
“All I heard him talking about was love. Jesus loving you. You love Jesus. And about the concept of love. So as he’s talking I am listening.”
“I said to myself ‘Look, in our religion we also talk about love.”
“Muslims believe that God has 99 names. And one of his names is Al-Wadud. And Al-Wadud is “The Loving One.”
“I said to myself ‘Look almost everything he is talking about is there in my religion.’ And how similar we look. And for every word he says quoting Jesus. I have a word to quote from Mohammad. As Muslims, Jesus to us - he is a prophet as well. He is as respected as Mohammad and as revered as Mohammad because we Muslims believe there are five superior messengers - Mohammad, Jesus, Moses, Noah and Abraham.”
“So we place Jesus almost in the same place - or status - as we place Mohammad.”
“In my mind as I am listening (to the Christian pastor) These words he was uttering are resonating in my mind. And reflecting my own faith system.”
“When we do not see each other, when we do not interact with each other. We think of each other - that we are weird. I think you are weird. You may think that I am weird. You may thing that I harbor some very weird thoughts. I could be a very weird person. I could be someone who does not think like you think. And probably I would have the same thought about you.”
“But when we meet, and we mingle, and we exchange thoughts, we find how striking our similarities are.”
Be Muslims, Christians, Jews or what else - non-denominational - basically we hold the same values - the same beliefs. And we worship God with different tongues and different languages and different styles - but the direction is the same.”
www.icofa.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Al-QazwiniThe Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative and the Earth Healing Initiative promote... more
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The Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project is helping to save butterflies in northern Michigan thanks to Native American Teens and Marquette youth.
Founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute, the three-year project involves teens building butterfly houses that offer protection and rest and planting over 26,000 native plants that are vital to reproduction of numerous pollinators.
The U.S. Forest Service says the project is a pollinator "success story."
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 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.The Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project is helping to save butterflies in northern... more
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In July 2008, a three-year initiative began called the Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project that involves Native American youth and Marquette teens building butterfly houses and planting over 26,000 native plants to help pollinators recover due to the shocking death of billions of honeybees across the Midwest and around the world.
Butterfly houses are slimmer than better known birdhouses and are lined with bark offering a place for butterflies to rest, be protected and in some cases lay eggs.
It's important as thousands of Monarchs pass thru the U.P. in the annual migration to Mexico of 3 million Monarchs.
Native plants indigenous to any region of the world are important for local pollinators that can be fooled by imported vegetation resulting in death or eggs not hatching.
The Zaagkii Project was founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson and his non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has long supported initiatives like the Zaagkii Project that were founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute (CTI) including wild rice restoration and Earth Day clean sweeps. The three-year Zaagkii Project is sponsored by the KBIC, CTI, Marquette County Juvenile Court and the United States Forest Service.
The Zaagkii Project would not be possible without contributors that 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, with assistance from the Upper Peninsula Children's Museum in Marquette and the Borealis Seed Company in Big Bay.
In July 2008, a three-year initiative began called the Zaagkii Wings and Seeds... more
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Above Photo of Lake Superior shoreline © Jim Kruger
Please read the Christian Century Article by Rev. Jon Magnuson on the "Acid Mine" that threatens Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
An ELCA Lutheran pastor, Rev. Magnuson is known across northern Michigan for creating numerous interfaith environment initiatives and other projects projects involving over 150 churches/temples, American Indian tribes, college students, at-risk teens, health care professionals and many others.
If this mine opens along Lake Superior, it could leak sulfuric acid into the Great Lakes.
It's the first of countless sulfide and uranium mines planned for Northern Michigan.
Besides unproven "new" technology, the mine will be open for only seven years - and create only about 150 short-term jobs. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the economic impact of the U.P.'s longstanding iron ore mines.
A lot of greed for a smattering of nickel and other minerals that will be sucked out of our precious soil.
The international mining company that wants to set up shop in Marquette County is Kennecott Minerals - an outfit with a dismal environmental record that has closed other acid mines without proper cleanup apparently finding it cheaper to fight in court than pay for the proper cleanup of the now vacent mine sites.
Photo of Lake Superior shoreline © Jim Kruger
Inland drilling: A debate over mining in Upper Michigan
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=5020
Many fear that the aicd mines - that will be joined by uranium mines - are a death-knell for northern Michigan and its bread-and-butter tourism economy.
Who will want to visit an area dotted by hundreds of acid pits and possibly polluted rivers, lakes and streams.
There are recent swirling rumors that Kennecott took state officials on junkets and other allegations of wrongdoing as their deep pockets wooed local and state leaders.
If true, it would not be the first scandal involving the local operation named the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company - as an important study critical of the mine were not made public by state officials until the information was leaked. Just an innocent oversight - the state claimed.
Do you hear the whirring sound? - it's Marquette's founding fathers are spinning in their graves.
For more information on the effort to stop the mines - visit Save the Wild UP website:
http://www.savethewildup.org
Above Photo of Lake Superior shoreline © Jim Kruger
Please read the Christian... more
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Menominee Tribal School students in Keshena, Wisconsin are learning valuable lessons about protecting the environment and learning their tribe’s heritage including keeping native language alive.
In April 2008 the tribal school’s 180 students participated in “Clean Up the Rez Day" by picking up garbage around the reservation. The many environment projects at the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin were part of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day challenge. During a drum & feast to honor the students, teacher Beth Waukechon and culture teacher Dana Warrington explained the importance of taking care of Mother Earth. During a field trip to Green Bay's Pamprin Park, students climbing a replica of the Planet Earth were reminded of their reservation clean up. The 234,000-acre reservation has thick forests and 24-miles of the pristine Wolf River. Sturgeons spawned in reservation portions of the river until two dams were built blocking annual migration. Fifth grader La-Rie Corn hopes to form an Earth Club at the tribal school. After whitewashing gang graffiti at a popular skateboard park, students replaced negative symbols with American Indian art. Corn, 11, knows about 500 Menominee words thanks to teachers & elders that care about saving their native tongue. Fourth graders Tahekiah Bourdon, Raven Webster, Shae Perez, Naneque Latender, & Sherlinda Nahwahquaw learned the importance of respecting the Earth and how it fits their heritage.
Teacher Beth Waukechon said students will hopefully continue environment friendly practices as they grow older. MITW Restorative Justice Coordinator Claudette Hewson said the Menominee Teen Court Panel picked up litter & removed graffiti from roads signs in the Middle Village housing area. Tribal school students learned about the sturgeon, a vital part of Menominee heritage. Named the “People of the Wild Rice,” Menominee legend calls the sturgeon “the protector” of the grain that grows in water.
Corn said sturgeon hold a high place in Menominee culture because they're one of three gifts the creator gave to the Menominee people. Language arts instructor Joe Awonohopay said Earth Week 2008 classes were devoted to the sturgeon including the effects of pollution on life cycle, habitat, biology and more.
The College of Menominee Nation Implementing Sustainable Development Class collected electronic waste & pharmaceuticals. Students collected 23 pounds of medicines including 100 bottles of pills. The college students won 50 recycling bins in the Coca-Cola National Recycling Coalition Bin Grant. The class participated in the 10-week Recycle Mania project for the second year in a row. College Prof. Dr.William Van Lopik said the class is “actually doing something." Including curbside collections, Menominee reservation residents recycled over four tons of electronics.
Sponsors: Community Resource Center, Menominee Tribal Police, Tribal Clinic, Maehnowesekiyah Wellness Center, Probation & Parole, Recreation Department, Community Recycling Project; Menominee County Sheriff’s Department, Keshena U.S. Post Office.
The Earth Healing Initiative assisted some challenge organizers with interfaith liaisons & encouraged churches/temples to participate in Earth Day events. Videos on 2008 Challenge projects made possible ban US Environmental Protection Agency grant, EPA Region 5 office in Chicago, EPA Great Lakes National Program Office.
The EHI involves American Indian tribes, churches/synagogues, other faith traditions working to heal, protect and defend the environment.
Websites:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
http://mtsbia.edu
http://www.menominee.edu
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org/keshenahtml
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/maehnowesekiyah/maehHomephp
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov/healthFamily/youthDevel/youthHomephp
Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain/Interfaith Resources/Special Ideas:
http://www.interfaithresources.comMenominee Tribal School students in Keshena, Wisconsin are learning valuable lessons... more
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(Keshena, Wisconsin) - 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 second of several videos explaining the numerous MITW projects including teaching youth about the legend of the sturgeon and its place in tribal culture, cleaning up the reservation, and replacing gang symbols with Native American art.
In part two, the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative looks at the sturgeon education classes.
The tribe was creative as it added other facets to the challenge like teaching the children about their culture and the close relationship to the earth and its many lakes and streams.
All classes at the tribal school taught the students about the sturgeon, that is a vital part of Menominee legend and heritage, said Joe Awanahopay, language arts instructor at the Menominee tribal school.
Earth Week tribal school classes applied subjects like math, history and others to different aspects of the life cycle, biology, habitat, legends, spawning grounds and the cultural and practical value of the sturgeon, an important fish to the Menominee people since the dawn of their tribe.
“The sturgeon are a historic importance to our people,” he said. “Since the beginning of time, our people have relied upon the sturgeons for various reasons including for food and scraping hides.”
“In our legends, the sturgeon are the protectors of our wild rice,” said Awanahopay of the slow-growing giant fish known for its thick hide and rubbery snout whose uses and related regulations have sometimes pitted white fishermen against American Indians. “We have been engaging the students in the culture, language, science and the social studies of what the sturgeon mean to our people.”
“They've been studying the anatomy and the physiology of the sturgeon and the students are looking at the sturgeon habitats and what the effects of pollution are.”
“They are looking at the different migrations, the geography, the path the sturgeon used to take to come to their home here - their traditional spawning grounds on the Menoninee Indian reservation,” he said. “Because of two dams that are here now south of our reservation, sturgeon are no longer able to come home here to their ancestral spawning grounds.”
“We are so fortunate to have so many elders that we still work with that are able to give us this knowledge and pass it from one generation to the next, despite all of the forced assimilation and the changes in our youth, who are trying to make their way in modern society yet integrate the traditions with the technology in today’s world," Awanahopay said.
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.
This video is possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the EPA's Region 5 office and the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office (both 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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Menominee Indian Tribe of WI:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
MITW Tribal School:
http://mts.bia.edu/
College of Menominee Nation
http://www.menominee.edu
Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community) of Interfaith Resources Special Ideas website:
http://www.interfaithresources.com
1-800-326-1197(Keshena, Wisconsin) - The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons... more
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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 videos 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.
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 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 to ancestral spawning grounds.
The students whitewashed gang graffiti at a skateboard park replacing it with American Indian art.
"The younger students put their hands in paint and made flower hand prints on the wall," said teacher Beth Waukechon.
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.
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.
More than four tons of e-waste and other recyclables were removed from the reservation during April.
At the College of Menominee Nation, 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.
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 and the U.S. Post Office in Keshena.
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.
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.
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 Region 5 office in Chicago, and the EPA Great Lakes national Program Office 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.The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin contributed over 4 tons of electronic and... more
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(Chicago, Illinois) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade celebrated Earth Day 2008 with crowds gathered at Daley Plaza in Chicago.
Gade encouraged everyone to participate in the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that runs through the end of April.
While some events were held last weekend, many of the challenge electronic and pharmaceutical collections are this Saturday, April 26 across eight states.
During the event, Gade and other EPA officials dropped their unwanted medications into a collection barrel. Based on early results, the EPA says the challenge is a big success and they expect to reach the goal of one million pounds of electronics recycled and one million pills properly disposed.
Gade noted how far the fight to protect the environment in America has come over the past 40 years - reminding Chicago residents there was a time when it was necessary to turn on their car headlights to navigate through steel mill pollution that hung thickly in the air on the south side of Lake Michigan.
Gade reminded those gathered of the times when American rivers caught fire from industrial pollution in big cities like the infamous blazes on the Cuyahoga River in Ohio.
Gade thanked the city of Chicago, the Chicago Police Department, the U.S. General Services Administration, the U.S. Post Office, the state of Illinois, the Illinois EPA and many others for working with the USEPA to make the challenge possible and for helping to ensure the busy collection sites operate without a problem.
The city of Chicago has another pharmaceutical collection scheduled this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 pm on Goose Island at the Household Chemicals and Computer Recycling Facility, 1150 N. North Branch St.(Goose Island), Chicago.
In addition to serving as EPA Region 5 Administrator, Gade is the EPA Great Lakes National Program Manager.
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Related Links:
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Flow of the River EPA Blog on Chicago Earth Day event:
http://flowoftheriver.epa.gov/greatlakeschallenge/2008/04/earth-day-in-re.html
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The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.earthhealinginitiative.org
---(Chicago, Illinois) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Mary... more
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(Marquette, Michigan) - The Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is in its biggest week with help from interfaith groups and American Indians in reaching the goal of one million pounds of electronics and one million pills.
The EPA issued the challenge to Great Lakes basin residents participating in over 100 projects that are collecting pharmaceuticals, electronics and household poisons. The EPA awarded grants to some of the projects.
Interfaith groups are involved in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. An EPA grant helped start the non-profit Earth Healing Initiative (EHI).
Trust between religions and interfaith environment projects are vital to protect the future of the earth, said a Lutheran bishop, who has participated in numerous Earth Day recycling projects.
"We are in an environmental crisis in many ways," said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. "The Great Lakes watershed is really a kind of a mother to all of us here in the upper Midwest."
The EHI involves American Indian tribes and "a coalition and partnership of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together and sharing their projects and resources to heal, protect and defend the environment," said founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) is holding a curbside pickup of electronics for members during Earth Week, April 21-24. Over 1,000 pounds of electronics have been turned in at the MITW transfer station since April 1. The College of Menominee Nation hosts pharmaceutical/electronics collections on April 22.
On Friday, April 25, students at the tribal K-8 school are picking up litter and cleaning up the a reservation community. Students recently created "Garbage Monsters" out of bottles other items found in their trash, said Diana Wolf, MITW Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator. Students gave presentations on other uses for the garbage.
"This interfaith earth healing effort is really a great gift that has been given to all of us," Skrenes said. “The church is called to bring people together to be part of the healing."
Examples of established interfaith organizations that are assisting the EHI include the University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Duluth Arrowhead Interfaith Council, Marquette University Ministry in Milwaukee, several Catholic interfaith groups and the ELCA office of Ecumenical Formation.
The interfaith EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan including the Earth Keepers who removed more than 370 tons of e-waste, pharmaceuticals and household hazardous waste during three Earth Day clean sweeps.
The northern Michigan Earth Keepers belong to ten faith traditions with 150 churches and temples including Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Quakers. The EHI is working with the same faith traditions.
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EPA:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
EPA Press Release:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/dc57b08b5acd42bc852573c90044a9c4/bb279434e6f40c6e8525743200582794!OpenDocument
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Earth Healing Initiative:
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
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Interfaith graphics by Justice St. Rain (Bah'i Community)
Interfaith Resources - Special Ideas website:
http://www.interfaithresources.com
1-800-326-1197
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Duluth
University of Minnesota LCM:
http://www.d.umn.edu/lcm/index.html
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Arrowhead Interfaith Council:
http://www.arrowheadinterfaith.org/home.html
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Milwaukee
Marquette University LCM:
http://www.mulutherans.com
http://www.marquette.edu/um
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Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin:
http://www.menominee-nsn.gov
College of Menominee Nation
http://www.menominee.edu(Marquette, Michigan) - The Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is in its biggest... more
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(Chicago, Illinois) - Faith leaders across eight Great Lakes states are urging their members to participate in an Earth Day 2008 challenge to collect one million pounds of electronics and more than one million pills because trust is needed between all people to stop “an environmental crisis.”
The U.S. EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge is in high gear with more than 100 projects involving hundreds of communities collecting pharmaceuticals, electronics and household poisons.
An EPA grant to the non-profit interfaith Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is mobilizing religious communities in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.
A Lutheran Bishop who has participated in numerous interfaith Earth Day recycling projects hopes people of all faiths will help protect the environment.
“We are in an environmental crisis in many ways,” said Lutheran Bishop Thomas A. Skrenes of the Northern Great Lakes Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). “The Great Lakes watershed is really kind of a mother to all of us" in the Midwest.
Interfaith environment projects like the challenge will help ensure a better future for all humans, Skrenes said, adding “sometimes it's trusting each other that really counts in environmental work.”
“The culture, the society and the environment are now connecting in some fantastic new ways to build relationships between people,” Skrenes said. “We are building trust along and across denominational lines.”
The EHI is a coalition of American Indian tribes and a "partnership of churches, synagogues and other faith traditions joining together and sharing their projects and resources to heal, protect and defend the environment,” said founder Rev. Jon Magnuson of Marquette, Michigan.
Saying “it’s not your grandfather’s environment movement anymore,” Skrenes said that environmental work is now more mainstream and no longer “an obscure thing for a certain group of people” unlike 40 years ago when he was in high school “and I dare say some of my relatives said it was kind of a hippie movement.”
“The church is called to bring people together to be part of the healing,” Skrenes said. “This interfaith earth healing effort is really a great gift that has been given to all of us."
Interfaith organizations assisting the EHI include the University of Minnesota Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Arrowhead Interfaith Council in Duluth, the Marquette University Ministry outlets in Milwaukee, several Catholic interfaith groups and the ELCA office of Ecumenical Formation and Inter-Religious Relations.
The interfaith EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan including the Earth Keepers, who removed more than 370 tons of e-Waste, pharmaceuticals and household poisons during three Earth Day clean sweeps.
The northern Michigan Earth Keeper project involves the congregations of over 150 churches and temples representing ten faith communities: Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Bahá'í, Jewish, Zen Buddhist and the Religious Society of Friends commonly known as the Quakers.
The EHI is coordinating the same interfaith relationships. For more info call 906-401-0109(Chicago, Illinois) - Faith leaders across eight Great Lakes states are urging their... more
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An Introduction: The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative and Earth Day 2008
Numerous faith communities, American Indian tribes and many others being encouraged to volunteer or participate in a large eight-state Earth Day 2008 project with events across the Great Lakes Basin through mid-May.
The new Earth Healing Initiative (EHI) is organizing faith communities. The EHI is one of numerous environment and Native American projects founded by the non-profit Cedar Tree Institute in Marquette, Michigan.
Collection sites will accept old/broken computers, cell phones, TVs and other electronics to be recycled, and old/unwanted medicines to be properly disposed during the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge.
The EPA is awarding grants to some of the collection sites where residents can drop off e-waste and old/unwanted pharmaceuticals.
The Michigan Earth Keeper Initiative, co-founded by the Cedar Tree Institute, have alliances with ten faith traditions across the Upper Peninsula, and the EHI is coordinating the same relationships with religious communities across the Great Lakes and beyond.
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Earth Healing official website::
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
EPA GLNPO Official challenge link:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.html
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EPA Press Release on challenge:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/D48F2AD96EC624E38525740B003AEE57
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The co-founder of the Michigan Earth Keepers, ELCA Lutheran Rev. Jon Magnuson created the Earth Healing Initiative in March 2008 to spread the word about interfaith and Native American environment projects.
The EHI is offering free media assistance to environment projects including press releases, press contacts, internet and high definition digital videos, podcasts and vast internet postings.
For more details call Greg at 906-401-0109.
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An Introduction: The interfaith Earth Healing Initiative and Earth Day 2008... more
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Numerous faith communities, American Indians tribes and many others being recruited to volunteer or participate in large eight-state Earth Day 2008 events across the Great Lakes Basin.
Collections sites will accept old/broken computers, cell phones, TVs and other electronics to be recycled, and old/unwanted medicines to be properly disposed during the Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge
The EPA is awarding grants to some of the collection sites where residents can drop off e-waste and old/unwanted pharmaceuticals. The new Earth Healing Initiative will be organizing faith communities
For more details read the article or check out these links: Or call Greg at 906-401-0109.
Earth Healing official website::
http://www.EarthHealingInitiative.org
EPA Press Release on challenge:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/D48F2AD96EC624E38525740B003AEE57
EPA GLNPO Official challenge link:
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/earthday2008/events.htmlNumerous faith communities, American Indians tribes and many others being recruited to... more
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During 2008 a solar fountain will flow - and wild flowers will bloom - in a native plants garden that has replaced the lawn at the Lutheran Campus Ministry "Lothlorien" house for students at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
An interfaith "Blessing of the Garden" ceremony included chanting, incense and other religious traditions from several faith communities.
Earth Keeper Initiative volunteer media advisor Greg Peterson has the story.
The producers thank Lutheran Campus Ministry student leader Sarah Swanson, NMU sophomore from Rapid River, MI for her videography and photography talents that helped make this video possible
(Marquette, Michigan) - In the spring of 2008 a solar fountain will flow and flowers will bloom in a northern Michigan native plants garden nurtured by university students that was blessed by a Buddhist head priest and a Lutheran pastor
A "Blessing of the Garden" ceremony was held in October 2007 at Lothlorien - the Northern Michigan University Lutheran Campus Ministry house near Lake Superior.
A heavy rain poured the entire day almost causing the ceremony to be moved inside, but the sun came out for 20 minutes and the rain resumed just as the blessing and a tour were completed.
Performing the blessing was Rev. Jon Magnuson, director of Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) at Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette, MI; and Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, head priest of Lake Superior Zendo, a Zen Buddhist temple.
The Lothlorien lawn has been turned into a native plants garden that includes rocks from three of the Great Lakes.
The LCM house name, Lothlorien, comes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The garden includes Michigan plants and others from the Boreal border regions of the northern United States including Black Eye Susan, aster, dogbane, bluestem, and Sensitive fern.
Prayers, incense, bells, and chants were part of the ceremony that included a tour of the garden by NMU Student Michael Joko Rotter, a member of Lake Superior Zendo.
"Lothlorien is a magical kingdom part of what Tolkien called Middle-earth - where time passes differently," said Rev. Jon Magnuson, a Lutheran pastor, who founded the NMU EarthKeeper Student Team. Many of the campus ministry students belong to the interfaith NMU EK Student Team.
"Our natural native plants landscaping - our Lothlorien garden - is a sign of a new way of living with the world," Magnuson said. "It honors the indigenous and native plants of our region."
"Lothlorien came into being first as a song," Rev. Magnuson said. "The garden will be a haven for birds and other small creatures."
"The fountain represents the water of Lake Superior and the waters of our baptism," Magnuson said.
The Central Upper Peninsula Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans donated $1,600.
"Students are involved - and we like to support things that young people are going to be enthusiastically involved in like this native plants garden," said Judy Quirk, president of the Thrivent central U.P. chapter.
A fountain in the garden is going to be converted to solar power in the spring of 2008 and the sun will charge a battery allowing the water to flow in cloudy weather.
"We hope this will inspire people to learn the benefits that native plants have, such as requiring a third less water, and no pesticides or fertilizers," said Rotter.
Rotter said the "garden represents the hope of the future."
Cedar Tree Institute:
http://www.cedartreeinstitute.org
Lake Superior Interfaith Communication Network:
http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans:
http://www.thrivent.comDuring 2008 a solar fountain will flow - and wild flowers will bloom - in a native... more
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