*【124-127】Immigration Issue at Center of Republican Campaigns

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【124】 AS IT IS

Immigration Issue at Center of Republican Campaigns

June 07, 2018

A voter looks over a ballot during New Mexico's primary elections at La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

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【125】 AS IT IS

Berlin Museum Returns Native American Artifacts to Tribe in Alaska

June 07, 2018

A wooden Chugach mask, one of the nine items returned to the Chugach people by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

The first step of cooperation

John F.C. Johnson is with the Chugach Alaska Corporation. He represented the tribe in Berlin at a ceremony marking the official return of the nine artifacts.

Johnson told VOA that, for years, he has traveled to Europe to document all the objects taken from the tribe’s territory. He plans to create an online registry showing where the artifacts can be found around the world.

The process for returning the mask, baby’s basket and other objects began in 2015. That is when a Chugach delegation visited the Berlin museum to identify Chugach artifacts in its collection. Some of the artifacts were found to be funerary objects.

A wooden Chugach mask, one of the nine items returned to the Chugach people by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

Johnson said he does not expect that everything will be returned to the tribe, but it is important that funerary or religious objects are sent back.

“When we do reburials, different elders will say that it’s a basic cultural value that you have to...respect…honor, and give dignity to the human remains and funerary objects. If different cultural organizations or states went by those value systems, I think our world would be a lot better place to live in.”

After the German museum confirmed that the nine objects had been taken without the tribe’s approval, museum officials agreed to give them back.

After the artifacts are officially returned to the Chugach, Johnson says they will be kept in local museums or community centers.

Returning their history

In the United States, the federal government is supporting Native Americans' efforts to recover lost or missing artifacts. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires museums to make Native American artifacts available to government-recognized tribes.

Johnson said this means that if tribes wish to have objects returned from an American museum, they need to make an official request.

However, European countries do not have such laws. So Native American tribes depend on the willingness of European museum officials to return artifacts. Johnson said that with Berlin’s Ethnographic Museum, this was not a problem.

“People in Germany are doing it out of their own good will, and I’m really impressed with their efforts of doing that.”

Monika Zessnick is the curator of American ethnology at the Ethnographic Museum. She said the return of the artifacts was a first step in an ongoing cooperation between the museum and the Chugach people.

She added that this event comes at a time when many museums in Europe are looking closely at how their artifacts were collected.

The official returning ceremony of the nine Chugach artifacts, held at the Berlin Ethnographic Museum.

Future cultural exchanges

Zessnick said that working directly with tribal representatives helps museum officials widen their own knowledge about the artifacts in their collections.

“These are old collections of about 130-150 years, and evidence and information is sometimes very thin… it’s really a lot of help for us for presenting collections,” she noted.

Johnson agrees, and said the Chugach are working with the Berlin museum for possible future exchanges.

“With Berlin, we’re developing cultural exchanges where in the future we can have some of our members come to Berlin and see some of the collections,” he said.

Zessnick said that she and Johnson are also working on having the museum’s members travel to Alaska to experience a Chugach culture camp, called the Nuuciq Spirit Camp. The camps bring the tribe’s young and older members together for cultural programs, such as dancing, language, art and cooking.

Johnson added that he would also like to see community artists create models of the returned artifacts, which they can then give to museums overseas.

Zessnick said the two sides have discussed working together on a possible exhibition, or a long-term loan of the more than 200 other Chugach objects the museum has in its collection.

Artifacts coming home

This is not the only time a museum has returned artifacts back to Alaska Natives.

Last year, National Public Radio reported on the return of human remains to the small Yupik village of Igiugig from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Local tribal leaders accepted and later reburied the remains of their ancestors.

The bones had been taken in 1931 by Aleš Hrdlička, the director of the museum’s department of anthropology at the time. He dug them up as part of his research of how people first came to North America.

In 2016, The Anchorage Daily News reported that two artifacts were returned to Alaska Native Organizations after they were discovered on sale in Paris. After assistance from the U.S. State Department, the artifacts were purchased in secret by a nonprofit group, which then returned them to the tribes.

The two objects were small wooden boxes belonging to the Chugach tribe and the Chilkat Tlingit tribe. Experts believe that at one time the boxes probably were used to transport important religious objects.

I'm Dorothy Gundy. And I’m Phil Dierking.

Phil Dierking reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Do you have important artifacts from your country that were taken by explorers for museums? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

artifact - n. a simple object (such as a tool or weapon) that was made by people in the past

curator - n. a person who is in charge of the things in a museum, zoo, etc.

dignity - n. a way of appearing or behaving that suggests seriousness and self-control

elder - n. a person who has authority because of age and experience

idol - n. a picture or object that is worshipped as a god

online - adj. connected to a computer, a computer network, or the Internet

exhibition - n. an event at which objects (such as works of art) are put out in a public space for people to look at : a public show of something

impress - v. to cause (someone) to feel admiration or interest

mask - n. a covering for your face or for part of your face

museum - n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public

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【126】AS IT IS

Britain Faces Difficult Choices on Move to Withdraw from EU

June 07, 2018

An anti-Brexit protester carries flags opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, May 10, 2018. Britain's ruling party is divided over how it wants to withdraw from the European Union.

Distrust of negotiations among Brexiters

Britain and the European Union opened negotiations soon after British voters decided to end their country’s membership. After the talks, the British side has been represented mainly by non-elected officials.

Critics say these officials are seeking to keep Britain’s ties to the EU in place.

Some people support a complete break with the rest of Europe. They are known as hard Brexiters.

They warn that Britain could be required to obey EU requirements and follow rulings by the European Court of Justice. That could happen if Britain remains a member of Europe’s customs union or keeps its Single Market. They also say Britain could be blocked from negotiating individual trade deals with non-EU countries as EU members are.

Supporters of hard Brexit are concerned Prime Minister Theresa May might be positioning Britain for such a “backdoor” membership in the EU. They note she has delayed publishing a report on the government’s proposals for Brexit.

And, some lawmakers are angry that May has not been open about negotiations on how the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland will be treated after Brexit. Ireland is an EU member. They say an “open” border policy could keep Britain closely tied to the EU.

May’s Cabinet is sharply divided over Brexit. Her finance minister, Philip Hammond, wants to keep close ties with the EU in the same way that Norway does. His position includes keeping Britain in the EU’s customs union and membership in the Single Market.

On the other side is foreign minister Boris Johnson and environment secretary Michael Gove, who support a clean break. They are seeking what they call a “globalBritain,” one which can negotiate freely and is not closely tied to the EU.

The disagreements are so severe that negotiations have not made progress. There are concerns that conflicts within the cabinet could lead the Conservative government to break apart, forcing new elections.

That could bring the opposition Labour Party to power.

One Conservative official said of the difficult situation: “It has become a shambles.”

I’m Mario Ritter.

Jamie Dettmer reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

customs union – n. a general agreement on import and export taxes and policies that govern trade by a group of countries

shambles – n. a place or situation in which there is disorder

global – adj. of or relating to the whole world

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*【127】AS IT IS

Experts Consider Cost of Ending North Korea’s Nuclear Activities

June 07, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are to meet in Singapore on June 12 on the issue of taking apart North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Experts are wondering how long the process would take and how much it will cost.

United Nations resolutions designed to punish the North for its nuclear activities remain in effect. Those sanctions have severely limited much of North Korea's economic activity.

However, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said this week that sanctions would only be eased after North Korea takes “verifiable and irreversible steps to denuclearization.”

The North’s government has suggested that it supports the idea of making concessions over time, with each side giving up something in answer to the other’s actions.

But the North has opposed moving quickly to disarm before any concessions are offered.

North Korea’s nuclear program

North Korea is thought to possess 20 to 80 nuclear weapons. It also has nuclear research centers; some are known to international experts, but others are secret.

FILE - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides guidance on a nuclear weapons program in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, Sept. 3, 2017.

In addition, the country has thousands of long-distance missiles.

A recent study found that the U.S. goal of completely ending North Korea’s nuclear program could cost as much as $20 billion. Kwon Hyuk-chul, a professor of security strategy at Kookmin University in Seoul, helped carry out the study.

Kwon based his estimate on earlier nuclear deals with the North. He also studied Ukraine’s experience when disarming its nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Kwon said, in the case of Ukraine, “All of the strategic nuclear warheads that Ukraine possessed were transferred to Russia and dismantled there.”

He noted that the U.S. government provided containers and technical support for the effort.

The Kookmin University study estimated that dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons and supporting centers would cost $5 billion. Another $5 billion, Kwon said, would be needed to act on a U.S. promise to build two nuclear reactors for electricity. The reactors were part of a 1994 nuclear agreement.

The study found that another $10 billion in aid would be needed to help build the North Korean economy and to move up to 10,000 nuclear workers to peacetime activities.

Trump has said he does not expect the U.S. government to provide aid to North Korea. But Trump said he would offer private American investment to the North if it gives up nuclear weapons. He added that North Korea should look to South Korea and China for any direct economic aid.

A recent Stanford University report gave a time estimate for the nuclear disarmament process. It said it could take over 10 years for the North to permanently dismantle its nuclear weapons.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Brian Padden reported this story for VOA News and Lee Yoon-jee contributed to it. Mario Ritter adapted their report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

positive – adj. good, useful

summit – n. a meeting between two or more leaders or heads of state

sustained – adj. providing what is needed for something carry on

strategic – adj. related to a general plan created to reach a larger goal, usually over a long period of time

verifiable – adj. something that can be proven as true

irreversible – adj. something that cannot be changed

concessions – n things that are given to reach an agreement

transferred – adj. to move something from one place to anouther

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