Mark Trahant is a writer, speaker and Twitter poet. He is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and lives in Fort Hall, Idaho. Trahant’s recent book, “The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars,” is the story of Sen. Henry Jackson and Forrest Gerard, now available at www.lastgreatbattle.com Follow him on Twitter @trahantreports and daily “news” poems @newsrimes4lines

Mark Trahant

While Republicans pretend they can instantly repeal the complicated law, the actual implementation continues to moves forward. Sort of.

One provision that is not going to happen is the long-term care program known as CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports). This program was the brainchild of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on October 14 that she did not see a “viable path forward” for CLASS. “… the law passed by Congress required me to design a plan that would be actuarially sound and financially solvent for at least 75 years,” Sebelius said. “The provision protected both taxpayers and beneficiaries. After all, if CLASS failed, no one would be hurt more than those who would pay into it and would be counting on it the most.”

The problem is, of course, demographic. The baby boom generation is huge, much larger than the generation of workers and taxpayers that must pay for such a program.

But, as Sebelius pointed out in her news release, the problem is not going away. “By 2020,” she said, “we know that an estimated 15 million Americans will need some kind of long-term care and fewer than three percent have a long-term care policy.”

Long-term care is a complicated issue for Indian Country. There are only a little more than a dozen nursing homes serving American Indians or Alaska Natives. There are also several initiatives promoting care for tribal members either in their homes or in facilities. Unlike the CLASS program, many argue that because of Medicaid funding, there is a “business model” for long-term care in Indian Country. Medicaid is an entitlement program, so if people are eligible, the money is there. At least for now.

The other big “sort of” for health care reform is money. Most of the Indian health system does not have an adequate funding stream. Even with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the system remains seriously underfunded. The current congressional budgeting process through a Continuing Resolution (a short-term spending bill) only makes that problem worse.

One measure of that problem is the money appropriated for Contract Health Services. Nearly anyone who’s ever used the Indian Health Service (or a contracted, tribal program) understands the shortage of money for contract services (those outside of IHS).

A study last month by the U.S. General Accountability Office put this in perspective: “Sixty of the 66 federal and 73 of the 103 tribal CHS programs that responded to GAO’s survey reported that in fiscal year 2009 they did not have CHS funds available to pay for all services for which patients otherwise met requirements.”

Moreover 11 of 60 CHS programs reported running out of money before the end of fiscal year (the source of the “don’t get sick after June” narrative).

Some health facilities told the GAO that they found a way to pay after the money ran out. “For example,” the GAO said, “some federal CHS programs reported helping patients locate free or low-cost health care. Tribal CHS programs reported using a variety of strategies not available to federal CHS programs. For example, 46 of 103 tribal CHS programs that responded to GAO’s survey reported supplementing their CHS programs’ funding with tribal funds, which are earned from tribal businesses or enterprises.”

So what does GAO think IHS should do about this? Get better data to more accurately reflect the needs of Indian people. I can’t argue with that, but the government investigators also ought to tell Congress to do its damn job and appropriate enough money.

But there is a bigger issue here. Namely: What is the business model for the Indian Health Service and the Indian health system?

The IHS is a federal agency that directly operates clinics and hospitals; the Indian health system is broader, using money from IHS (and other sources) to fund tribal and other health providers. In some ways that means IHS, the funder, almost has to act like an insurance company instead acting like a government agency.

It’s that diffusion of mission — IHS as funder, operator and insurance company — that makes it far more complicated to be clear about the meaning of health care reform to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Especially when the health care reform law and the funding for the Indian health system remain on separate (and unequal) tracks.

As a lot of you may know, the crises I write about here on Intercontinental Cry usually don’t get much exposure in the press.

It’s pretty infuriating, to be honest, and it’s something that I’d really like to get into at some point; but for now, let me just say that I’m glad we can create our own spaces to talk about what we want to talk about, even if the number of spaces is lacking.

Actually, that’s the whole reason I started this website, and I can’t even begin to tell you how hard I’ve worked to carry it forward. All I can say is that I’ve always done my best. But even so, I never ever thought I would get and award for for my efforts, let alone one from Project Censored! I actually got the news a few months back, but I wanted to wait until the book Censored 2011 was on the shelves before I really mentioned it.

I must say, it’s bitter sweet. On the one hand I’m honoured to get the recognition. It’s a pretty big coup for me. But it’s also a little painful because of the actual story that was chosen and the fact that it was ignored by NGOs and all those well paid professionals out there who’d rather write about Britney Spears or “how to bake bran muffins”.

The story, chosen to be #7 in the top 25 most Censored Stories for 2009-2010 is “Stop Killing and Starvation of Samburu People in Kenya,” published November 20, 2009, http://intercontinentalcry.org/stop-killing-and-starvation-of-samburu-people-in-kenya

I must admit, I didn’t even blink when I wrote that. I was still reeling from the images in my mind of what was happening. In any case I’m thankful for the honour and that this crisis finally received some much-needed exposure.

On an even brighter note, things are looking up for the Samburu. Following my initial report, Cultural Survival (CS) went to Kenya to investigate. Their trip resulted in the report, When the Police are the Perpetrators which really turned out to be a blessing for the Samburu and the other Pastoralists in Kenya.

With the help of Paula Palmer, one of the CS delegates and authors of the report, I was able to put together this update for Project Censored:

In the months following this report, Kenyan police forces led two more full-scale attacks against the Samburu, one of Kenya’s seven distinct indigenous peoples. These attacks, like the ones that occurred throughout 2009, were unprovoked.
For centuries, the indigenous peoples have competed with each other for scarce water resources, to replenish cattle stocks in times of drought, to covet pastures for grazing their animals, and to gain favor in their communities. But for the past fifteen years, arms traders have made weapons available to the population, turning the peoples’ traditional struggle of survival and dignity into one of needless violence.

The government therefore ordered the police to get rid of the illegal weapons and restore peace and stability to the region. However, once they arrived, the police immediately criminalized the Samburu and began to attack their villages, steal their possessions, and confiscate their cattle.

“The brutal intrusion . . . [has] altered and dismantled our oral history. We shall never be the same again,” states Michael Lolwerikoi, in a heartfelt letter on behalf of the Samburu to the US-based group Cultural Survival (CS).

In January 2010, CS sent a research delegation to gather evidence of the attacks. They had been receiving reports from Africa since February 2009. The research delegation was not able to verify some of the reports, including those concerning the military; but after spending two weeks in Kenya, the reason for the Samburu’s “limbo state” was clear. In April 2010, they published a report on their findings: “When the Police Are the Perpetrators.”

Ultimately, the organization’s visit to Kenya played a key role in ending the unnecessary attacks on the Samburu. After their report was received by Kenya’s Minister of Internal Security, the police were ordered to stop using force and to conduct the disarmament operation peacefully. Since then, CS says there have been no further full-scale attacks on the Samburu. However, there is still room for history to repeat. “It’s something that clearly needs international pressure, because the police in Kenya continue to enjoy impunity,” comments Paula Palmer, a member of the research delegation and one of the authors of the report. “[It] mirrors what occurred during the post-election violence being investigated by the International Court of Justice,” she adds.

There is an equal need for international exposure and there has never been any major coverage of these tragic events. Palmer says they have tried to reach out to journalists from the Guardian, the New York Times, and others but none of the journalists have responded.

The Samburu are asking the government to compensate them for their heavy losses. And they, along with the Borana, Rendille, Turkana, Somali, Meru, and Pokot, want to build lasting peace in the region with the help of their traditional elders. And everybody is eager to get rid of the weapons. “It’s something everybody wants,” says Palmer.

For more information and to learn what you can do to help, please visit www.culturalsurvival.org.

“I write to you on behalf of Amazon Watch to express our hope that as Chief Executive of Chevron Corporation you will have the fortitude and vision to genuinely address the most painful and immediate challenge facing your company – the Ecuador disaster.

Our hope is that you will not miss this critical opportunity to resolve the human and environmental tragedy in Ecuador and transform Chevron into the responsible 21st century energy company professed in ‘The Chevron Way’ and in your ‘Human Energy’ advertising campaigns.

Your company is currently facing a $27.3 billion financial liability in Ecuador. We ask that you reflect on Chevron’s handling of the Ecuador situation over the course of the last decade. You should remember Chevron’s Annual General Shareholder Meeting in April 2001 – on the eve of the Texaco acquisition – when I delivered to your company a binder, titled “El Dorado,” with more than 500 pages of comprehensive evidence documenting Texaco’s massive environmental contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon. At that meeting, I warned Chevron that by acquiring Texaco the company would not only take on the moral responsibility of rectifying the tragedy in the Amazon, but also assume a very costly financial liability.

Despite increasing shareholder and analyst concern, the growing public demand that Chevron take responsibility for its actions in Ecuador, and the resulting multi-billion liability they have spawned, Amazon Watch has witnessed your company pursue an expensive, ethically questionable, and counterproductive policy with regard to the Ecuador case.

Mr. Watson, as you surely know, the situation on the ground is dire. Thousands of acres of once pristine rainforest have been devastated by oil pollution. More than 30,000 indigenous peoples and campesinos have been left without clean water to drink. Children play beside toxic waste pits.

Young women have been ravaged by stomach and uterine cancer due to poisoned water. As you are well aware, Texaco has admitted to having deliberately released 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the waterways of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and to having left hundreds of abandoned unlined pits filled with crude oil and poison sludge over the course of more than two decades of oil operations. And now, as a direct result, a devastating public health crisis has consumed the region.

We are keenly attuned to Chevron’s public relations strategy with respect to this matter. The basic approach is to consistently blame the contamination of the Amazon on Petroecuador, Ecuador’s National Oil Company. Petroecuador’s poor record of environmental stewardship – largely because it has used an oil production system built by Texaco and designed to pollute – does not diminish Texaco’s responsibility for catastrophic contamination from 1964 to 1990. Texaco’s deliberate dumping dwarfs any subsequent pollution. Rather than continuing to shift the blame to Petruecuador, it is time for Chevron to assume the responsibility for Texaco’s legacy in Ecuador…”

Amazon Watch is a nonprofit group that works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous people in the Amazon Basin. The group created this video showing people in the affected communities urging the Chevron CEO to do the right thing in Ecuador by cleaning up the rainforest contamination.

Amazon Watch has also set up a petition drive to support the rainforest communities’ demands for a clean-up, compensation for health and environmental impacts, and access to health care and potable water for all affected people.

You can sign the petition here: http://chevrontoxico.com/take-action/send-chevron-a-message.html

I first heard of this effort in an email from International Cry, a “free online magazine that provides news, videos, and urgent alerts centered on indigenous people and their struggles around the world to reclaim their lands, defend their traditions, enact their rights, and to quite literally survive.”

Both Amazon Watch and International Cry provide information you’ll seldom see elsewhere, and both groups need our support.

For more information, here is a link to a blog maintained by the team suing Chevron over its human rights problems in Ecuador and elsewhere: The Chevron Pit.