- On this edition of Native Report, we get an update from Marcus Grignon, of the Menominee Indian tribe of Wisconsin, and the Hempstead Project HEART of the United Nations venture into the hemp production industry.

- We hear from a native-owned company that specializes in training tribal members in construction and trade jobs on their perspective with the controversial Enbridge Line 3 replacement project.

- Then we take you back to another moment in time, when Native Report covered the Standing Rock Dakota access pipeline protest.

- You also learn what we can do to lead healthier lives and hear from our elders on this edition of Native Report.

(indigenous music) - [Narrator] Production Funding for Native Report is provided, in part, by the Blandin Foundation.

(indigenous music) - Welcome to Native Report, and thanks for tuning in.

I'm Rita Aspinwall.

- Thanks, Rita, and I'm Ernie Stevens.

We've covered the Oneida nation of Wisconsin's hemp project in past seasons, and now we're bringing you the follow-up coverage to that.

I caught up with Marcus Grignon, the project director of the Hempstead Project HEART, as the Oneida nation navigates new waters in an ever-growing journey into the hemp production industry.

(soft music) - I've been in hemp now for about five, going on six years.

I started out a hemp project on Menominee, and then I've been doing a lot of advocacy work over the years, and I just started growing again.

I grew in 2015 for the first time, and then I started growing again in 2019, and again, 2020 here.

The work that we're here for this site is basically the commercial varieties that are available to the hemp industry right now.

So we use two different varieties, Onca and Alter, and basically just wanted to see how they grew in our environment.

Two varieties that were sourced from Canada, so we knew they'd grow well, but we didn't really know how well they grow, and they actually worked.

They grew really fast, especially when you put a little chemical fertilizer in the soil.

and we had this stuff ready for fiber quality, planted it in early June, it was ready by end of July.

We could have probably waited until like August, middle of August, for it to actually be harvested and go through the dew retting process, and basically we're gonna be kind of studying the hemp herd quality for both varieties in the coming months, and just kind of seeing how well they work.

Some of the research that I looked into, the historical record of what USDA was doing back during the hemp for victory years, they didn't see hemp as like the thing that's gonna continue to keep growing year after year.

You want to basically do a crop rotation.

Usually it's like a four year crop rotation.

First year you do clover, second year, you do corn, and third year you do a bean, or a legume, and usually what you want to do is you want to cut it to keep the root system intact for the bottom, because it's gonna produce a better hemp fiber quality that following year when you plant that fourth year of hemp.

So I see it as just an awesome game changer for crop rotation, because if you haven't noticed, and you've never grown hemp before, that it doesn't exhaust the soil, it actually puts more organic matter into the soil than it does from taking out.

And not only that, its rootstock, if you've ever noticed, like hemp root can like grow like deep, I mean, really deep.

Some records have shown it's grown like six feet deep.

And what it does is it's breaking up all that compacted soil that's underneath the ground so that other plants can thrive.

So if we look at kind of where we are right now, like this fiber crop group grew, it grew really well, it produced some really nice root systems, but from that, once we harvest it, and let it go through the dew retting process, we actually did it around the time when that hemp seed was basically ripe.

So when the hemp seed was ripe, it went back and replanted itself into the ground.

So basically we have all these hemp seedlings in the ground now, and they're actually doing really well and they're thriving.

And actually some of them were actually being protected by the hemp fibers going through the retting process, so they actually got a fast-growing phase for them to kind of build it up.

And like, I can see the potential of why growing hemp and having its root stock, basically break up the soil and from its compaction, and actually create to where it's allowing the soil to allow more plants to thrive.

Fiber is an open market in the sense that no one's really perfected it.

We're doing this research right now around the dew retting process, which is what the USDA was doing way back in the 40's, during hemp for victory.

So we kind of wanted to like research it this year, and see like how applicable could it be, and how well is it utilized?

And, you know, we found a lot of interesting results from our research, but I think when it comes to the fiber market and what we can do is like, people always talk about hemp has over 20,000 different uses or 50,000 different uses.

A majority of those uses are stemming from the fiber industry, and the biggest thing is about developing markets.

If you already have a market established, where you can sink this raw material into, perfect.

If you wanted to create markets, you should do that first before you start growing thousands and thousands of acres of hemp.

If you don't know what varieties work best for you, do something like this.

Grow an acre or two, or depending on how many varieties you want to test, trial however many it is and grow each by an acre, just so you can have an idea of how much you're pulling off that one acre, and you can basically quantify it from there.

So I think when it comes to dealing with tribes, and trying to figure out how to get into this game, and ensure that you have the required equipment.

Obviously planting is one thing, but then when it comes to like scalability, and creating the supply chain, you're obviously gonna need a workforce to handle harvesting, and then you're gonna need a workforce to handle transporting it from the field to the processing plant, and then once you have that, then you need a processing unit.

Usually it's a decorticator, depending on what the tribe is doing with that fiber quality, it could be like a decorticator specifically for textile grade material, or it's one strictly for just trying to get the herd out of the inner stalk.

It all really depends.

And then after that, once you have that raw material that's when you sink in, like, okay, now I need equipment for pulping, or I need equipment for breaking it down so that I can actually turn it into like twine, for instance.

So there's a lot of intricacies into it that you have to like think about when you're dealing with, it's not just let's buy a decorticator, and then we're good to go.

I mean, it depends, like if you're just doing building materials and construction, yeah, all you need is a decorticator, and you're good to go.

Back in the day, it was the same thing when hemp for victory was going on, the USDA with doing all this fiber work around here that put Wisconsin on the map as being like a place where hemp production can really be done and really be done successfully.

I think that, back in the day, there was only limited types of marketable products that could be made with them.

There was the ability to make like firehoses, and there's the ability to make rope, as we all know.

So like, there's all these different, these options, but yet there's a whole thing of like how do you find the market to do it?

And I think with tribes, what's really interesting is that we have all this technology at our fingertips, and I think that an indigenous perspective is vital right now in the future of hemp production, because we're the first inhabitants that actually created an environmental stewardship program in the world.

And we can utilize that way of thinking and that philosophy of our people to basically dictate how this industry is going to grow up and how it's going to build, because we don't have to be an extraction economy.

Because, for years, it's been the oil and gas, and like our whole economy is revolving around that.

What if there's the opportunity to have like a regenerative economy, where hemp is a part of the process?

It's not the silver bullet that's gonna save everything, but it's a part of the process.

I think that if we had more future indigenous thinkers who are gonna be figuring out what to create, how to innovate, how to be creative about this industry, I think we're gonna go really far.

And it goes back to that whole thing is I think Indian country has a lot of vital opportunities available to them that not many other companies or people in this economy have, and I think that we could basically utilize a lot of those resources to make things happen.

(upbeat music) - Inflammation means tissues are swollen and this can be very painful.

Sometimes inflammatory conditions like tennis elbow or joint pain, back pain, or auto-immune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, don't get better with anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen and treatments, such as physical therapy.

Motrin and similar medicines are called NSIDS, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Steroids are much stronger for fighting inflammation.

Steroids can be taken in several forms.

Sometimes they are inhaled for lung diseases, sometimes they are given by IV in the hospital.

Sometimes they can be taken orally as liquid or pills, and sometimes they are given by injection.

These steroids are corticosteroids, and are different than anabolic steroids, which are the kind used to build muscle.

Steroid injections are often given into joints or tendons and are given along with a dose of anesthetic to help decrease pain right away.

Most of the time the anesthetic wears off and the steroid can take several days to really start working.

Steroids can be given into the area around swollen discs in the spine, and many times this brings great relief and can help avoid surgery.

When steroid injections are given into areas like this, it is often done by an interventional radiologist.

This is a specialized health care provider who uses ultrasound, CT scan, or other forms of guidance to make sure the steroid is placed exactly where it's needed.

Steroids taken by mouth can have lots of side effects.

They can make people hungry and crabby, and they can really elevate someone's blood glucose if they have diabetes.

They should be given for a short time, if possible.

Steroid injections can also raise someone's blood glucose and checking blood glucose regularly can help decide if diabetes medicine doses need to be increased.

This is a temporary change, and can be managed by your healthcare provider.

Steroid injections usually work for one to two months, but can last much longer when combined with physical therapy.

Steroid injections are usually limited to three times per year, and sometimes the specialist will use them more often than that.

Steroid injections carry the risk of bone, tendon, or skin weakening around the injection site.

The risk of infection is low, but if you get redness, swelling, and drainage from a steroid injection site, it shouldn't be ignored.

Steroid injections are not the answer for everyone, but for some can bring great relief.

Talk to your healthcare provider for more information, and remember to call an elder.

They've been waiting for your call.

I'm Dr. Arne Vainio in this is Health Matters.

(upbeat music) - Last week, we brought you a story on a gathering in Palisade, Minnesota in opposition to Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline replacement project.

Now we're joined by several native Line 3 workers on their perspectives.

We're also hearing from Five Skies Training and Consulting, a native owned company specializing in training tribal members in construction and trade jobs, on their support with the controversial project, and their thoughts on the future of fossil fuels.

We also hear from Enbridge's director of tribal engagement, Paul Eberth, on tribal consulting, training, and employment.

(soft music) The opposition, obviously there's a lot of native, non-native folks who might oppose the pipeline.

I mean, people who are obviously advocating against it and protesting against it with good or maybe positive or negative things that come out of that, and how have you responded to that?

- There's been obviously some opposition to Line 3 replacement, and it's been, at times, vocal.

It leads to a good dialogue about energy transition, the value of the energy products that we receive and use today.

I've had numerous conversations throughout the development of the project, and even during construction with those who have been opposed to the work, and they've been, at times, productive conversations.

Whether you're opposed or for, where people don't have open minds, and sometimes, that's the downside, it can lead to hard feelings, or frustration, or misconceptions about one side or the other.

We employed indigenous people to do a cultural resources survey on the entire project, whether it was on a reservation or not, or whether or not it was at the jurisdictional crossing of a water feature or not, we opened the entire project corridor up for a traditional cultural resources survey done by indigenous people - Do you have an introduction to your company, what you guys do, what you guys specialize in?

- [Nick] Well, we provide training for tribal communities.

members of the tribal communities, and their families, I guess.

Kind of, I guess the simplest way to describe it would be a workforce development program.

- [Ernie] So do you guys fully support it?

- [Nick] We support it.

We care as much about the environment as you would expect, as a 100 percent native owned company, that's foremost in our concern.

We would not have agreed to work with them if that will also was not something in the forefront of their minds.

The other part was us learning about pipeline and the alternatives, which basically are gonna be rail and truck for now.

I also did a lot of research on alternative energy sources, as well as alternatives to plastic.

Petroleum products make plastics, everything we have, from our cell phones to the hybrid vehicle we drive is full of plastic.

That requires petroleum.

But I have found that everything that plastic has made, plastic that's derived from petroleum could be made from like hemp plastics, for example, but that's not widely available at this point.

- [Nyree] We want to hear your concerns because those are our same concerns as well.

So, when you find common ground where like, Oh, you still think that way?

And I'm like, yeah, absolutely, we're environmentalists, just as much as you guys are.

And we care about the Earth, it's not like we turned our backs on it.

It's we believe the same thing, but we just want it done safer.

- [Ernie] For each of you, what's your message to the public that you would share on the show to get them to understand where you're coming from, and get them to understand why, from your perspective, the Enbridge pipeline is important?

And just, if you could share that final message with us please.

- [Daniel] Be mindful of, what you listen to what you hear, because ignorance, I mean, it's not always a bad thing, because I mean, I had my views on pipeline before I actually worked on a pipeline job.

And, it was my ignorance that actually brought me to working pipeline.

And it was my ignorance that I realized that everything, my perceptions, everything that I thought the pipeline was, it wasn't.

And it was through working on the pipeline that I realized a lot of what I thought to be true wasn't true at all.

And if you want to know, I mean, there's a lot of opportunity to get a job on the pipeline and you'll see for yourself.

- [Keith] Like you said, just be mindful of the people that are out there working.

I guarantee you, the ones that are out there working are out there doing it to keep the pipeline safe, to update it with better steel, better coatings.

We're doing it the safest that we can out there, and with all the other distractions out there, that's where the safety issue comes in.

(soft music) - Now let's take a look back, when Native Report visited Sacred Stone Camp on the North Eastern border of the Standing Rock Sioux nation, one of the first protest sites against the Dakota access pipeline.

(soft music) - [Narrator] In 2017, Native Report visited the Sacred Stone Camp in Cannonball, North Dakota, at a time when a movement of masses rallied around the Standing Rock Sioux Nation in a historic stand against the Dakota access pipeline.

About five months after Native Report's story on the camp aired, the pipeline began operating.

Energy Transfer says it's pipeline transports 570,000 barrels of oil per day.

The movement that garnered international attention wasn't just against oil, but also at the forefront was the future of fossil fuels and energy production.

During the winter of 2021, a new chapter opened as the Associated Press reported a federal judge delayed a hearing about whether the oil pipeline should be allowed to continue operating without a key permit while the US Army Corps of engineers conducts an environmental review on the project.

(birds chirping) - It's a powerful feeling to be here.

It's a great feeling to be here, but it's also sad for the reason why we've come.

Our enemy is fossil fuels.

Our enemy is mega-corporations, our enemy is the system which promotes and perpetuates these infrastructure projects that go against our consent, that goes against our free will, goes against our sovereignty, and is a complete disregard for our rights as indigenous peoples.

What's the next step in this?

We're here for this fight against this pipeline, but we're also here for the greater fight to transition ourselves to a more renewable sustainable world.

- [Narrator] Also during the winter of 2021, the Associated Press reported a federal judge in April 2020 ordered further environmental study after determining the Corps had not adequately considered how an oil spill under the Missouri river might affect Standing Rock's fishing and hunting rights, or whether it might disproportionately affect the tribal community.

The delayed hearing is expected to take place in April 2021.

(indigenous music) (speaks in foreign language) - My name is Robert Buffalo.

I am a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

I am recognized by my tribe as a hereditary chief, due to my last name, and being the direct descendant of great chief Omaha Peezhickee, Chief Buffalo, I am the first born of the first born, so that is how I received the recognition as traditional chief.

Back in the mid fifties, 1850's, there was a removal order sitting on the president's desk.

The leadership in the state of Minnesota concocted an idea that will bring all the tribes West of the Mississippi, which pretty much meant those in Wisconsin, to receive their annuities.

Traditionally, the annuities, which were payments for concessions and treaties, were held on the traditional Island Matawanakane, or Madeline, which is in the Apostle islands here by Red Cliff.

Traditionally, those annuities were handed out there, but they decided that they were going to make a plan to get all these with Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Chippewa up to the Sandy Lake area.

They planned on withholding the annuities to a later date, with the thought being that, Oh, once they get there, they'll settle down.

They'll be building their long houses, and stuff like that, raising their children, and they won't want to come back.

They will consider that settled land, and then they would be placed on the reservation sites there.

When the annuities finally came, the people gathered it up.

It was winter time, they figured they would not be able to come back because they would not be able to use their canoes to voyage back, so they decided to walk.

By walking back, the winter was hard, elders, youth, and a lot of the adults perished on the way back.

When they got back, and they told the rest of the community who was waiting for them, they were quite upset.

The young leaders wanted to start war with the federal government.

The elder leaders, who was spearheaded by Chief Buffalo, asked for them to give them one chance to go to Washington DC.

So they took the trek to Washington DC, Chief Buffalo, along with an interpreter, Benjamin Armstrong, and four other lesser chiefs, as they're called, but in my opinion, with Chief Buffalo, they were just as important.

They went to Washington DC, was able to make their way to the president's desk, smoked a pipe.

The president decided that it was not in the best interest of the federal government to remove, so he ordered the recension of the removal order.

and they came back, and in '54, they had a signing of that treaty on Madeline Island, and which permanently made the communities in the Northern Wisconsin, where they are, and Minnesota and Michigan.

So that is why Red Cliff is where Red Cliff is.

Bad River, and Flambeau, LCO, St. Croix, the other reservations in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota are today, in addition to earlier treaties.

It's just reaffirmed, and what it also reaffirmed is our traditional and historical right to hunt, fish, and gather in these areas, which is commonly referred to nowadays as the ceded territories, and which led to the advent of the tribes starting to have to prove their rights to do this through the court system in the 20th century, starting with the '70s all the way up to the modern day.

(indigenous music) - [Rita] For more information about Native Report, look for us at nativereport.org, and on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

- Thank you for spending this time with your friends and neighbors across Indian country.

I'm Ernie Stevens.

- And I'm Rita Aspinwall, join us next time for Native Report.

(indigenous music)