Thursday, October 23, 2008

Let's Hear It for Tribal Librarians


This week I attended the National Institute of Tribal Librarians conference held in Catoosa, Oklahoma at the Cherokee Casino. The conference attracted participants from as far away as Alaska and Hawa'ii. It was amazing to meet and talk with tribal librarians who work on reservations and in tribal villages with very small budgets and very few staff. Yet everyone I met had such a demonstrable enthusiasm and love for their work that it was infectious and inspirational to share ideas and stories with each of them.

From the presentation given by the librarian at Jemez Pueblo, NM (Tammy Sandia) to a private discussion with Lena Fall (Whiteriver Apache, AZ), I learned so much about the day-to-day struggles and successes that occur everyday in small, rural tribal libraries across the country.

The conference programs ranged from information on using Wikis as a communication tool within libraries to a very valuable session on how to apply for basic grants from the Institute of Museums and Library Services. I made a presentation on resources and materials that would make up a core Indian law collection. I began by explaining the difference between Federal Indian Law (the law imposed on Indian people by the Federal and, to a much lesser extent, State government) and Tribal Customary Law (the internal ways that Tribal people have resolved conflicts since time immemorial). I also shared my vision - a concept introduced to the conferees on the first day of the conference by noted Choctaw storyteller and keynote speaker, Tim Tingle.

Here is the vision that I read at the beginning of my presentation:
My vision is to see the courts of this country filled with Native attorneys and Native judges who are fighting for, litigating and deciding cases that advance Indian rights, land claims, and other issues that impact and improve the lives of Indian people across the country (and throughout the world). My vision includes the revitalization and growth of tribal courts that will serve to keep alive and promote traditional values and customary law that will go on to be incorporated into federal and state law and influence the decisions that federal and state courts make. My vision also is that tribal court decisions and tribal codes and constitutions and regulations will take their rightful place alongside other cases and laws as precedential authority of the third sovereign, and that someday a Native Justice will sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Through discussions prompted by my presentation and conversations that I had in the hallways outside the meeting rooms, I offered to send boxes of surplus law books to nascent tribal libraries whose budgets are so very small or non-existent.

Finally, I took away from this conference a renewed commitment to supporting tribal libraries as places where children (and in some cases, adults) may first encounter books and learn a love of reading that will stay with them and see them through their lives - no matter what their aspirations may be. To be a life-long reader is a great gift that is often imparted by a local librarian, and by giving that gift, a world opens up before a child's eyes and what a wonderful thing that is!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Colin Powell Endorses Obama - Wooo Hooo!

The first thing I heard on NPR this morning was the great news that Colin Powell had endorsed Barack Obama for President :) You all can read all about his endorsement by clicking on the link above, but Powell's endorsement of Obama got me thinking about the other significant endorsements that Obama has garnered both before and after he earned the Democratic nomination on June 3, 2008, That is the date when Barack Obama secured enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination for president. Here's my list of the most important Obama endorsements (in no particular order):

1. Oprah Winfrey (Come on, that $2300/head partay she held for Obama was HUGE).

2. Stephanie Miller (a true Momma for Obama right from the get-go).

3. Senator Teddy Kennedy (when the patriarch of Camelot got behind Obama, people took notice).

4. Caroline Kennedy (another member of Camelot compares Obama to her father).
5. FourFreedoms Blog (a great example of the power of the blogosphere).
6. Many, many Newspapers and Magazines (among them the NYTimes, Chicago Tribune, Esquire, The New Yorker, etc....).

7. The rest of the world (Check out this ABC Poll: World Wants Obama as President).
Here's another web site that breaks down world opinion country-by-country: If the World Could Vote.
8. All but 7% of Hillary-supporters, AKA PUMAs (We knew that most of you grrrls would come around).
9. Bill Clinton (come on, Big Dawg, you can say his name!).
10. Obama's fellow candidates (Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden - duh!).

11. I know, I know, I said I would stop at ten, but I just gotta mention all of those older, white, working class folks (not to be confused with PUMAs) who put down their guns and their bibles long enough to pin an Obama button on their lapels. Here's a case in point, check out Republicans for Obama.

Way to go people - there are numerous important endorsements that I didn't have room to list, but I must give them a shout out here - Kalyn Free (Founder and Leader of INDN's List and DNC Superdelegate), Senator Claire McCaskill (an early and ardent support of Senator Obama), Al Gore (the man who will always be the 43rd president in my mind), I could go on and on, but I want to get this posted while the Powell endorsement is still hot in this 24 hour news cycle that we all live in. Go Obama/Biden 2008!