News from the Mashkiiziibiing Community

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians

November 6, 2019

Minogizhebaawagad (Good Morning),


	Photo by the National Museum of the American Indian

We have welcomed Gashkadino-Giizis (November), the Ice is Forming Moon. Gashkadino-Giizis is also Native American Heritage Month, which is a time to celebrate the rich and diverse cultures, traditions and histories of Native Americans, and to acknowledge our important contributions.

As we celebrate our achievements, it's also important to remember our past and the progress we have made. Minnesota Public Radio recently shared a story of the history of Native Americans being uprooted and relocated to urban areas. Click here to read and hear the story, "Uprooted: The 1950's Plan to Erase Indian Country".

The National Museum of the American Indian has many online resources including stories, photos and upcoming events to celebrate this month.

Scroll down to see the good news and other activities happening in the Mashkiiziibiing community.

Elders Birthdays

Mino-dibishkaan (Happy Birthday) to Our Elders

November 2nd
Darryl Rosen
Mary Jo Rose
John Wilmer, Sr.

November 3rd
Mike Whitebird

November 5th
Gloria Gilles

November 6th
Ardis Cloud
Bernie Nelis

November 9th Mary Maday Ken Wilmer, Sr.	November 15th Philip Soulier Rose Corbine
November 16th Teryl Lynn Soulier	November 17th Mike Barbano

News

Election Results

"Sweeper Van" Helping Students Get to School

By KBJR6.com

For students of the Bad River Band, missing the school bus is a big issue. Missing the bus typically means missing a day of school, until now.

Youth Coordinator Fred Pero says, "If a parent works at 7:30 am and they're worried about their kid not getting to school or if they miss the bus. Their kid calls and says, 'Hey I missed the bus', and that's where we come in."

Last week the band started the "Sweeper Van". When students miss the bus they call Fred. He picks them up and drives them the 15 miles to school.

Lynn Bigboy the Director for Tribal Youth Services says, "Our goal is to really help parents and get those students to school because the Tribe really believes in education. And they can get an education and learn at the same level as their peers."

For Pero, as a father, education is a top priority, "Education is important, I mean that comes first before everything. I have kids of my own, so education is big."

For fifth-grader Tony Gill, it'll help him get to school on days his parents work. "Pretty much all the classes I need to get to because I'm going to have a lot of homework."

Pero says bringing the kids to school helps build closer relationships with the youth in their community. "I know each and every one of them, most of them personally. But it's just something I love doing."

The van runs from 7:30 to 9:00 am and is open to any child who lives on the reservation. Members of the reservation expect more students will use the service come wintertime.

Natasha Verhulst Advocates for Native American Music

By the Herald Times Reporter


	Photo Courtesy of Natasha Verhulst

Natasha Verhulst, music teacher at Kiel Middle School, has been recognized as a Feierabend Association of Music Education (FAME) Spotlight Teacher for her work on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee that is working to revise music curriculum.

FAME was founded in 2012 to share the teachings of Dr. John Feierabend. Dr. Feierabend's music curriculum encourages movement in music education through developmentally appropriate steps and sequencing. The titles of the curriculum include First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege.

Verhulst graduated from St. Norbert College in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in music education with certification in general, vocal and instrumental music. She is working on her master's in music education with an emphasis in Kodaly at Holy Family College in Manitowoc, where she is studying under Dr. John Feierabend and the rest of their notable summer program staff.

In September, Verhulst was invited to join the conversation on the committee of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Missy Strong, the current president elect of FAME, has described the DEI committee as "a diverse group of outstanding educators, scholars, and ethnomusicologists (that includes black and Indigenous people of color) whose immediate work is two-fold. First, they will develop criteria by which current and future repertoire in First Steps in Music will be evaluated before it is revised and republished by GIA Publications, and they will also work to describe and define what constitutes modern American Folk song in order to ensure that the repertoire contained in Dr. Feierabend's work truly reflects the diverse students in today's American classroom."

Verhulst sits on the DEI committee to help as a resource to include Native music in the curriculum as it is being revised. She is an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and a descendant of the Menominee Nation. She has always been passionate about including First Nations/Indigenous culture, history and music in education, specifically in the music classroom.

Through her immersion in her culture and traditional practices, and work in her master's program, Verhulst has found that folk music, which is the main source through Kodaly and Feierabend's approach, is comparable to Indigenous music. These similarities include that they are both passed down orally and have stood the test of time. She describes Indigenous music as the original folk music of the United States.

Verhulst's hope is that all people can experience First Nations music and learn from it so others have a better understanding of the culture, and so young native students can experience a part of their own identity in the music classroom.

Verhulst presented at the 2019 Wisconsin Music Educators Association Conference for the first time this year on October 25th at the Monona Terrace Conference center in Madison with her cousin Kamewanukiw Paula Rabideaux on this topic. The title of their presentation was "Native American/American Indian Music: How to Approach it in an Authentic Way." Together, the pair offered resources and lesson plans to educators who are looking for an appropriate way to approach Native music in their classrooms.

Verhulst is also serving in the Wisconsin Public Television Education & Wisconsin State Music Association General Music Project Advisory Group to address the need heard from music educators around the state for authentic, current resources that represent the diverse cultures and experiences of Wisconsin's students.

Facilities Department Ready for Winter


	Don Neveaux, left, and Scott Vaughan.

Winter is coming and the Bad River Facilities Department wants to make sure you're as ready as possible, and Scott Vaughan and Don Neveaux are working hard to make sure Winter's visit is as pleasant as possible. That's part of their jobs as the leaders of the Facilities Department.

Scott, the Tribe's Facilities Maintenance Supervisor, and Don, the Facilities Manager, are the team leaders of a workforce that is tasked annually with the job of keeping things running during Winter. When the temperature plummets, the wind blows hard and the snow flies, Scott, Don and their staff will turn a warm shoulder to the chill of Mother Nature.

"Right now, we have a total of 15 staff," Don said. "Out of that 15, we have one woman in the maintenance department."

The Facilities Department works in concert with, but apart from, the Bad River Tribal Roads Department. Each has important jobs to do. "We pretty much stay on Tribal property," Don said. "We take care of all the Tribal buildings. They (the Roads Department) are responsible for the main roads, and they also do driveways. We have to have all these buildings open by 8:00 am - all the buildings, the parking lots, everything."

Don and Scott believe they have enough equipment and plenty of sand-salt to do the job but, of course, would welcome more. "You never have enough equipment," Don said, laughing. "You've got to have more. But this year we should have four plow trucks, a skid steer, and we have a snowblower and a box blade for the skid-steer. That makes moving snow a lot easier."

Winter storms, of course, follow no schedule, so Don and Scott, try to anticipate and react to the weather. "We adjust the workforce, the time," said Don, who has served the Facilities Department for almost two years. "We also look ahead to see if there is another storm coming and then we make plans. We've got more people now than we've ever had here in this department, which is nice, because now we can get more work done in one day."

Scott said five staff members are qualified snow-plow drivers. And they have limited-term employees who pitch in. "We have to make sure we have staff on hand to do it, and we have to have everything opened up by the time work starts."

But ultimately, Mother Nature holds the trump card. "A lot depends on the weather," said Scott, who has served the facilities department for 20 years. "That's the easiest way to say it - it depends on the weather."

Scott said the workload in Wintertime isn't any heavier than warm weather seasons. It's just different. "No, we just shift from doing lawn care to snow removal," Scott said. "There is never a shortage of stuff to do."

But Winter presents daily, unpredictable issues. "You've got to take it day-by-day," Scott said. "Because on days when you're not plowing snow, you're pushing the banks back. You're cleaning it up so that you have room for the next time it comes. So, you're constantly on the go."

Or as Don might tell you, when Mother Nature howls, it's best to come running. "When it comes to snowplowing, I like to do it as all hands on deck and get 'er done right away, as soon as you can."