First Recipient of the David “Gypsy” Chain Memorial Scholarship Is Freshman at HSU

Press release from The David “Gypsy” Chain Memorial Scholarship Committee:

Anne Rants

Meet Anne Rants, Humboldt State University freshman and the first recipient of the David “Gypsy” Chain Memorial Scholarship, Thursday, February 20, at the HSU Library “Fishbowl” (Library Room 209), 4:30 to 5:30. Refreshments will be served.

The scholarship was established in memory of 24-year-old forest defender David “Gypsy” Chain, who was killed in 1998 during a forest defense action to save old growth redwood forest about to be logged by Pacific Lumber Company. Friends, family, and supporters have remembered Gypsy with contributions to the scholarship fund since 2018.

The next scholarship will be awarded to a Humboldt area high school senior who will attend HSU or College of the Redwoods, or to a first-year (continuing) student at HSU or CR, who is dedicated to protecting our region’s forests or natural environment through scholarship, community organizing, or other activities. The scholarship is administered by the Humboldt Area Foundation with advice from a volunteer committee.

Read about the scholarship and Gypsy’s legacy at http://www.davidgypsychain.org.

Students interested in the scholarship may apply online through Humboldt Area Foundation’s scholarship website https://www.hafoundation.org/Students/Scholarships-Available.

Applications and supporting material must be submitted by March 16, 2020. For help with the application procedure contact Elena Keltz ([email protected], 707-267-9920) or Craig Woods ([email protected],

Community members may donate to the scholarship fund at https://www.hafoundation.org/ wfn=David+Nathan+%22Gypsy%22+Chain+Memorial+Scholarship+Fund or by mail to Humboldt Area Foundation David Nathan “Gypsy” Chain Memorial Scholarship Fund, 363 Indianola Rd, Bayside, CA 95524.

Letter from Anne Rants
about herself and the David Gypsy Chain Memorial Scholarship
October 2019

My name is Anne Marie Rants and I am a descendant of the Karuk, Shasta, and Aleutian tribes. I am in my first year at Humboldt State University and I am majoring in Child Development. I am extremely passionate about how information can be transferred to future generations including traditional ecological knowledge. In places I have visited, Native Americans are seen of people of the past. I want children to grow up being proud to be Native American and to be taught in the best culturally fit ways as possible. I believe new groups of children will guide in this direction, just as I am now.

Being an educator is not the only thing that I am passionate about. I believe in taking action, and working to make changes in not only my own community, but to other communities as well. During summers, I worked alongside my mother, a local fisheries biologist, creating safe habitats for fish. I also have participated in cultural burning and written an article in a newsletter on why that is important for our forests. Oftentimes people talk about respect as it applies to people, not taking into account that the land needs to be respected as well. The University of Washington Salmon Ecological Field Course that I attended this summer, where I conducted a speech on why watershed issues are so important to indigenous communities really made me realize the value of watersheds to everyone, and education is my next step in protecting and respecting my own home.

I have had these and many opportunities presented to me in my adolescent years, including an exchange in which I went to Chile and spoke about Indigenous water rights. Talking about issues close to home, and my family gives me so much purpose through times that are full of struggle. It means so much to me to be the recipient of the Gypsy Chain Memorial Scholarship because by the end of my senior year I became frustrated on how I was going to pay for college. It means so much to my family and I that I am able to focus on my academic career and have financial support, as well as the huge moral support that the Gypsy Chain Memorial Scholarship gives.

I feel thankful and honored that there are people out there that want to memorialize Gypsy and his passion as a forest protector. I think that people so often do not realize the role of an activist. The whole first word in activist is “ACT.” We often talk about issues like climate change and forest protection but do not take action, because we do not know where to start on issues that seem hopeless. Listening to indigenous environmental views and taking action NEEDS to happen. So I would like to thank Gypsy, and all the people who made this scholarship possible, for giving me aid as well as hope.