I am pleased to be joining The Falmouth Institute as an Adjunct Faculty Member.

"In 1985, Falmouth Institute was founded to provide quality and comprehensive education and information services to the North American Indian community. Since then, we have dedicated our organizational strength toward assisting our clients in addressing the challenges posed by self-governance issues and policies developed by government agencies entrusted to assist Indian tribes. We are proud to have worked with nearly all of the Indian nations in the United States, meeting their complex, ever-changing educational needs and assisting them in refining or restructuring their organizations."
​
I will be working with Tribal professionals involved in their "Tribal Grant Writing Certification" program, teaching about non-federal grant writing (public and private foundations).  I am thrilled to be part of the team!

​https://www.falmouthinstitute.com/

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The sight of a chinook resting quietly by the bank of the Upper Elwha River was one that Mel Elofson had awaited for 56 years and worked toward for 20.

It was the first sighting of a salmon above the Glines Canyon Dam site in 102 years.

“It was awesome,” he said.

EDITOR'S NOTE — See related story today, "Raft trip on Elwha River shows its newly untamed nature," http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20140914/NEWS/309149956

The river's once-legendary salmon runs had been blocked by construction of the 108-foot Elwha Dam without fish ladders in 1912, blocking access to spawning grounds.

The 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam also was built without fish ladders in 1927.

Both of the dams, which once provided electricity for a growing Port Angeles, were demolished in a $325 million project that began in September 2011 as part of the nation's largest river restoration project.

Elofson, assistant habitat manager with the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, saw the chinook, also known as king salmon, while he was conducting a juvenile fish study for the tribe and for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It was Sept. 2, a mere week after the last 30 feet of the river's last dam — Glines Canyon — had been blasted out.

So he was surprised by what he saw.

“I just happened to walk up to the edge of the stream about 100 meters above the dam, and there it was, sitting right next to the bank,” Elofson said.

“It was female, probably 20 to 25 pounds. It was in really good shape.

“It was exciting,” he said.

He notified Olympic National Park officials, and biologists confirmed Elofson's sighting last week.

Snorkeling above the dam site, they found three adult chinook, all between 30 and 36 inches long, in the lakebed, said Heidi Hugunin, who explored the water along with her colleague, Anna Geffre, on Tuesday.

“She spotted the first one,” Hugunin said. “She jumped out of the water, and she's waving her arms frantically. She starts pointing at the river.

“We did some victory dancing.”

The biologists began their snorkel survey in Rica Canyon 3 miles above the Glines Canyon dam site, which is some 13 miles from the mouth of the Elwha River, and swam downstream through the former Lake Mills to a point just above Glines Canyon.

The salmon were spotted between Windy Arm, a spot halfway down the former lake on the east side of the river, and Glines Canyon.

The biologists saw two resting near submerged stumps of ancient trees, while a third was found in a deep pool.

“The river has scoured away all the sediment,” Hugunin said. “The banks of the river as it once was is reappearing, and so we are seeing a lot of the pre-dam stumps.”

The summer/fall run of chinook began in June and will taper off late this month or in early October.

“These are the returning chinook salmon, coming from the ocean,” said Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman.

“We've been seeing quite a few below Glines Canyon Dam, but these are the first seen in 102 years above the old dam site.

“The chinook are coming back into the river.”

In addition to the three chinook, biologists counted 27 bull trout, nearly 400 rainbow trout and two small sculpin during their survey above Glines Canyon.

Two weeks ago, park biologists had confirmed that two radio-tagged bull trout had migrated through Glines Canyon and were in Rica Canyon.

The three chinook observed last week were not radio-tagged.

The following day, biologists counted 432 live chinook in a 1.75-mile section of river just downstream of Glines Canyon but still above the old Elwha Dam site.

Biologists hope to do another survey this week, Hugunin said.

Now that the river has been freed, Elofson, who grew up playing on the banks of the river and is now 56, said he is elated to see the results.

“All they had to do was open the river, and the fish are drawn to it,” he said.

The Klallam people, who have lived beside the Elwha River for thousands of years, devoted years to advocating the removal of the dams until Congress passed the Elwha River Restoration Act in 1992.

Elofson's first task when he was hired by the tribe in the 1990s was to help map out Lake Mills delta topography in what he said was a pilot project in preparation for taking the dams down.

“I worked for the tribe for 20 years or so, and I was waiting for that day to be able see them above both dams,” Elofson said.

The sightings of chinook s in the upper river confirm that the dam demolition so long-sought has had its intended result.

“It's definitely showing that the salmon are resilient,” Elofson said.

“Open it up, and they'll go there.

“It'll be great to see them come back in a few years in numbers,” he said.

He expects those numbers to match the stories of more than a century ago.

“It's going to take awhile, but they will get there,” Elofson said.

“There's nothing blocking them.”

________

Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at [email protected].

Last modified: September 14. 2014 10:34PM

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20140915/news/309159971/0/SEARCH

Join the Office of Head Start and the National Center on Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness (NCCLR)
and celebrate International Mother Language Day!

What is it?
International Mother Language Day, sponsored by the United Nations, honors the 6,000 languages spoken around the world. It's a great time to celebrate, speak, and learn our mother and home languages. Head Start programs, where more than 140 languages are spoken, can lead local efforts to share the value, importance, and joy of all languages!

Why celebrate?
"Languages are absolutely vital to the identity of groups and Individuals…" Kōichirō Matsurra, former Director-General of UNESCO. Head Start programs are committed to taking every opportunity to affirm every child's culture, language, and lifeways. International Mother Language Day provides a chance to celebrate diversity, increase understanding, and engage in dialog.

Click on this link for materials and curriculum:
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/cultural-linguistic/center/mother-language.html


Mother Language Day Resources for Head Start Programs

NEW Celebrating Mother Language Day 2014 English and Español [PDF, 508KB]

Flyer 1 — Mother Language Day: How Can Head Start Programs Participate? English and
Español [PDF, 795KB]

Flyer 2 — Mother Language Day: How Can Families Participate? English and Español [PDF, 975KB]

Flyer 3 — Mother Language Day: How Can Children Participate? English and Español [PDF, 982KB]

NCCLR resources for use in conjunction with Mother Language Day

NEW Same Different and Diverse [PDF, 724KB]

Head Start Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness Resource Catalogue, Volumes 1 and 2

Importance of Home Language Series


NCCLR Quick Guides for Teachers

Last Reviewed: February 2013

Last Updated: February 3, 2014

http://www.firstnations.org/grantmaking/2014nycf

We are pleased to announce this 2014 request for proposals (RFP) for projects that focus on youth, and incorporate culture and tradition to address social issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, mental health or other social issues.

Specifically, we are seeking projects that focus on one or more of these four priority areas:

• Preserving, strengthening or renewing cultural and/or spiritual practices, beliefs and values.
• Engaging both youth and elders in activities that demonstrate methods for documenting traditional knowledge, practices, and/or beliefs, where culturally appropriate.
• Increasing youth leadership and their capacity to lead through integrated educational or mentoring programs.
• Increasing access to and sharing of cultural customs and beliefs through the use of appropriate technologies (traditional and/or modern), as a means of reviving or preserving tribal language, arts, history, or other culturally relevant topics.

First Nations expects to award approximately 20 grants. Some projects may have previously received funding through the Native Youth and Culture Fund (NYCF), and are seeking additional support to expand the original project, with a view toward sustainability. First Nations would prefer to review projects of no longer than one year in length, and with budgets between $5,000 and $20,000. Only in very exceptional cases will we consider projects that do not fit these guidelines.