My true passion is visiting other countries/regions of this great Mother Earth and watching, listening and learning! From Hawaii to Montreal, Cancun to Mississippi, San Diego to Pullcalpa Peru, and Boulder, CO to Asheville, NC I have experienced and written about my work and personal adventures. From trade shows to cultural exchange - it's all about living in the moment and sharing those perceptions, feelings or truth.

I have over 15 years experience in writing, editing, design, layout, and publication of legal, government, and commercial manuals, articles, and training material. Extensive experience with computer programs, environments, and equipment utilized for the different areas of work performed. Opportunities to expand my perspective and understanding have come from teaching computer/word processing and office procedures at a vocational training academy - customer support/sales call centers - owning and operating a small restaraunt and raising two unique, caring, aware, and amazing children.

From my experience in layout, design, and production of graphic material associated with the publication of various documentation for government and private sector clients I have learned how to work effectively in a team environment, pace progress and ultimitley reach the goals of the group or projects I am tasked with.

Along with career or "having to work for a living" portfolio, I am a prolific freelance writer as well as a human, civil, and environmental activist - using my writing as a way to educate.

I am an active member of the Indigenous Aquaculture Network's Advisory Board. IAN is growing under the direction of the Indigenous Environmental Network. To learn more about the IEN visit: http://www.ienearth.org - and the IAN visit: http://www.ienearth.org/ienaqua.

Some of my free time has and is spent speaking to various groups of students and other activist groups about American Indian political, historical, environmental and health issues.

NOTE: All photos and images are my orginal work

I am a member of:

The Society of Environmental Journalists and was chosen to participate in the Scripps Howard Institute on the Environment, UC Boulder School of Journalism and Mass Communications, May 2004;

Native American Journalists Association - writing and educating the general public about serious issues facing indigenous people in the Americas.

Contributing Writer/Editor:

ROOTS – Gowanda, NY
Passing the Vision The Journal of Rediscovery - WVNAMCO
Aquaculture Magazine - International Fish Farming Industry Publication

Contributing Writer:

Indian Country Today
Native Times
Asheville Global Report
The Original Farmer's Almanac
Labor Force

Increasingly our individual lives are being impacted from many different influences - from the environmental destruction of the industrial/empirebuilding nations to human, civil and cultural rights violations - all has consequences and impact on our lives. Whether we want to admit it or not, here in this country among the masses that follow the dominate paradigm of selfishness and apathy - we are all living the consequences of these individual and collective actions.

After spending time in the Amazonian regions of Peru, along the Ucallali River among the Shipibo people it became painfully evident of how our actions in the US negatively impacted these people so far away! From the illegal, rampant and excellerated destruction of the rainforest to chemical and natural pollution of the waterways by industrial expansion and encroachment. As the rainforest is destroyed (native hardwoods being harvested are hundreds of years old) so is the surrounding environment. Plants, animals, people once living in a delicate balance and dependence is destroyed as well.

I couldn't help apologizing to the people for what has been done to them since the invasion of Euro-imperial countries. It was a step back in time as well - to see what it was like here in the U.S. during the invasion and expansion of the Europeans from the time of Columbus. As the missionaries and religeous zealots systematically destroyed cultures and lives they also destroyed ancient knowledge of the areas resources - medicines and nutrition - shelter and ceremony all were challenged, degraded, and in a great many cases lost forever!

How utterly ignorant of us all to think that we have all the answers!

The Creator gave each group of beings a way to survive and thrive in every region of Mother Earth. The language in which to communicate, food, medicine, lodging, transportation - all was provided. With globilization - or world trade we have in some cases destroyed the balances that have sustained us - ignoring and challenging Natural Law...

Click here to view a montage of our Peru Trip.

My schedules are fluid - working on projects as they are presented. Contact me via phone or email to discuss projects, fee and deadlines. The following tasks require a portion of my freelance time, however, these are collaborative tasks, which gives me windows of opportunity to work on other projects.

Major events driving schedule:

Write, edit, layout of various reports due to different funding entities of the IAN: major deadlines:

Aug 2006, IAN Eagle/Condor Peru Report and Prospectus to Heifer International

September 2006 - Draft of Report to Oregon State IAN/IEN Eagle/Condor Peru Exchange

Sept/Oct 2006 Complete Design and Upload New IAN website - Create and maintain new listserv and members blog site

November 2006 - Final Delivery (See Sept 2006)

March 2007 - Travel to Tabasco and Chiapas Mexico for Eagle/Condor Exchange, Reports, Website Update.

Adding To The Ruckus!

Tradition, Responsibility, Our Future

As urban American Indians and along with our work for The People, most of our efforts are concentrated on offering education and awareness for non-Indians about the continued genocide of indigenous populations, in the US and around the world.

Frequently we are asked about our culture(s) in regard to our traditions. People seem more interested in the mystical or ceremonial aspects in hopes they will find answers for their own confusion and lack of direction in their lives, than they do present reality. Most only want to know the “good parts” of being “Indian.” They love our regalia, music, the sage and sweet grass, but when it comes to the more difficult issues of responsibility and honor they shrink away mumbling to themselves.

I will admit it must be difficult for those seeking peace and tranquility to wrap their brains around the fact there is very little of either for today’s American Indian people. But the truth remains, from the reservations, to large urban centers and rural America, First Nations* people are suffering the effects, emotionally and physically from poverty, substance and family abuse, and for others from the bleak visions of the future given our present course. * (“First Nations” being used as a description for those nations of people who called North, Central, and South America home before the European colonists arrived, not to be confused with modern Canadian distinction of indigenous heritage/sovereignty.)

From the refusal by the US government to account for Indian Trust monies [1], to the unjustified invasion of another country, to the all out war on our environment by the corporate right-wing and their shameless, illegally placed, president, we are concerned with all policies which have brought more poverty, more death, and suffering by our present administration. The impacts are far-reaching and millions of people are falling victim to unchecked greed and ego.

Therefore, let me attempt to give another perspective for those seeking, and not finding the answers expected – one that has to do with today and as we’ve been taught by our ancestors to adapt in order to find a better way for the continuance of our race.

Read On: http://www.geocities.com/aimasheville/AddingToTheRuckusWeb.htm

Aquaculture Budget Cuts

As published in Aquaculture Magazine – March/April 2005

On February 23, 2005 the National Aquaculture Association (NAA) sent out an alert by email to their subscribers and members announcing the proposed cuts to aquaculture research in the 2006 Federal Budget. According to NAA, the intended cuts in the United States Department of Agriculture – Agriculture Research Service (USDA ARS) discretionary budget totals almost 20 million dollars and directly approximately 14 research facilities.

This is not good news for many of these centers, as budgets and grant dollars have fallen over the past few years and it’s definitely not encouraging for the aquaculture industry as a whole.

World populations are growing and the demand for fish protein increases with each passing year, it is estimated that by 2025 demand will double. Here in the United States, since 1985 through 2000, per capita consumption of seafood rose by 25%. The US trade deficit has grown exponentially in the last few years and seafood imports are third only to petroleum and automobiles at approximately $7 billion. Only 10% of seafood consumed domestically is produced in the US and our aquaculture production ranks 10th in the world. Next to Japan, the US is the largest importer of seafood.

Adding to the equation, over the last 30 years, wild seafood catch has steadily declined. It is now widely accepted that commercial catch totals have peaked and are now leveling off. In 2000, reports show 95.5 million tons of fish were harvested worldwide and by 2002 that total dropped to 93.2 million tons. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports nearly 70% of commercial marine species are now either in danger of becoming or at extinction levels.

Overall, it is predicted that aquaculture will need to quadruple production in the next 20 years to keep up with world demand. For US aquaculture to compete in the domestic market and/or world markets much more research and development will need to take place in the areas of fish health, feed/nutrition, genetic integrity, water quality, land and water conservation, waste utilization, shellfish bed restoration, marketing, food safety, and research and implementation methods to improve the marine and coastal environments.

At the time of the writing of this feature, there are efforts being made to reverse the proposed cuts. Representatives Judd Gregg R-NH, and Jim Nussle R-IA, separately have initiated hearings on the proposed budget for legislators to consider before ratification during the month of April. We also urge people in the industry to contact your congressman or senator to voice your concern over these cuts.

If the FY 2006 USDA ARS discretionary budget is allowed to stand as proposed, it will, for all intents and purposes, severely cripple or terminate many valuable research initiatives and programs. There will also be many people negatively impacted with the loss of jobs, tenure, and educational opportunities. The efforts of many dedicated researchers and educators along with numerous programs have been the source of solutions for disease, genetic instability, and have proven the worth of research costs in the recovery of wild fish stocks and production of food fish. Additionally, it is estimated that over 180,000 jobs at approximately 4,000 fish farms in the US generate almost $1 billion in annual revenue.

To understand where the funding for aquaculture research and development comes from and the gravity of the proposed budget cuts it is helpful to be aware of the history of how land grant colleges and programs were initiated, protected, and supported over almost 145 years of United States history.



History of Land Grant Colleges and the USDA

In the early years of the colonies, colleges and universities followed a decidedly European structure. Education was reserved for the rich or well connected of the population. Harvard, Yale, and William and Mary were the primary higher education facilities and all universities/colleges were privately owned. Shortly after the Revolutionary War, the new government began to establish publicly owned universities and colleges but again, they were only accessible to the male leisure classes, government leaders and professions such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and theological scholars.

Agriculture science and related research were not represented in the halls of higher learning until a Yale graduate, farmer, newspaper editor and Illinois College professor by the name of Jonathan Baldwin Turner started a campaign to include the study of agriculture in colleges and universities. Turner, who was compelled to champion the needs of the working class, and in support of the growing movement of his contemporaries, wrote and presented the "Plan for a State University for the Industrial Classes," and presented it in 1850. In his paper he laid out the plans for much of the basis of how land grant colleges are organized today, and especially in how experimental research is supported.

Read On: http://www.geocities.com/bj_mcmanama/AquacultureBudgetCuts-1.htm