Native American News and Cherokee Nation Stories

First Nations Development Institute receives $200,000 to Support Native American Communities in the Pacific Northwest

2011-10-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Nations Development Institute receives $200,000 to Support Native American Communities in the Pacific Northwest

LONGMONT, Colorado (October 21, 2011) – First Nations Development Institute announced the launch of a new initiative titled, “Building Native American Family Economic Security,” a project to support economic independence in Native American communities in the Pacific Northwest. Supported by a $200,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the initiative will build the capacity of Native American Community Development Financial Institutions that currently provide Volunteer Income Tax Credit (VITA) services, as well as support one additional Native American organization in launching a new VITA site. First Nations Development Institute will work closely with its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, on program implementation.

The purpose of this initiative is to provide resources to Native families through effective financial education and asset development tools to create pathways out of poverty. The initiative will also focus on linking VITA site participants to tribal, state and federal public benefits through the existing Washington Connection benefits portal.

“The Building Native American Family Economic Security initiative will encourage Native people to build assets and move them to economic independence," shared Michael E. Roberts, president of First Nations Development Institute. Participating organizations will include Native American Community Development Financial Institutions, community development corporations; loan or micro-loan funds; Individual Development Account programs; tribal business information centers or economic development organizations.

About First Nations Development Institute
For more than thirty years, First Nations Development Institute has been working to strengthen Native American economies and communities. First Nations serves rural and reservation-based Native communities throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.firstnations.org.

About First Nations Oweesta Corporation
First Nations Oweesta Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Nations Development Institute dedicated to growing the Native Community Development Financial Institution industry. The launch of Oweesta has directly contributed to the availability of needed debt capital in tribal communities. For more information, visit www.oweesta.org.

Contact:
Sarah EchoHawk, Vice President
(303) 774-7836
sechohawk@firstnations.org

First Nations Oweesta Corporation and Opportunity Finance Network (OFN)

2011-06-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Call for Nominations for the Sixth Annual Native CDFI Awards

LONGMONT, Colorado (June 30, 2011) – First Nations Oweesta Corporation and Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) are proud to announce the Sixth Annual Native CDFI Awards, which recognize excellence in the Native CDFI industry. Two awards will be given away in 2011, including the Circle of Honor for Outstanding Leadership, which recognizes a Native CDFI that is successfully increasing access to capital and financial resources in Native communities. The second award will recognize a Visionary Leader for Outstanding Achievement, which recognizes a person who has made a long-term contribution to the Native CDFI industry and whose efforts make them an inspiration for others.

Oweesta and OFN are accepting nominations for the two award categories, and the application deadline is Friday, July 29, 2011. You may nominate any Native CDFI or individual that meets the eligibility criteria.

One Native CDFI and one leader in the Native CDFI industry will be selected to win a $10,000 cash award each to help strengthen and advance the important work they do. The two award winners will be announced at the Native CDFI Awards Ceremony hosted by Oweesta and Opportunity Finance Network on the evening of Wednesday, November 16, 2011, at the 2011 OFN Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The winners will be invited to speak and highlight their achievements at this ceremony.

CLICK HERE for more information on the awards and eligibility criteria in the nomination form. Please forward this press release to your contacts and share the nomination form.

To submit your nomination form, fax or email the form to Jacki Fox at Opportunity Finance Network (215.923.4755, jfox@opportunityfinance.net).

Contact:
Staci LaCroix, Information Resource Manager
(605) 342-3770
staci@oweesta.org

Tribal and Community Capacity Building – It’s Not Just What We Do, It’s Who We Are

2011-06-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

At First Nations, our underlying belief statement reads as, "We believe that when armed with the appropriate resources, Native peoples hold the capacity and ingenuity to ensure the sustainable, economic, spiritual and cultural well-being of their communities.”

It’s pretty simple really. We believe that when you pair a little bit of capital with equal amounts of technical assistance and training, that community nonprofits can accomplish most anything. They can do so, because they are of their local community; they know the intricacies of its history; they are fully aware of its past successes and failures; and they have the ability to create informed solutions.

Why do we do this? We believe that control of one’s economic destiny applies to all people equally, and that sharp vigilance and timely intervention can prevent the two centuries of indigenous peoples disenfranchisement from continuing.

First Nations helps strengthen Native communities and organizations through technical assistance and training to create and leverage human capital for Native economic development. We do so through very specific programs:

L.E.A.D. Institute/Oweesta Conference – Annual skill-building conference for reservation-based economic development practitioners
Eagle Staff Fund - We fund innovative asset models and training and technical assistance
Native Nonprofit Capacity Building – Building institutional capacity through assessment and funding specific projects that create and enhance organizational bench strength
Native Youth & Culture Fund – We fund projects that assist Indian youth in finding comfort in who they are as Indian people. We emphasize projects dealing with language preservation and youth/elder interaction
L.E.A.D. – We provide leadership and management training through apprenticeship and mentoring for emerging nonprofit leaders

The hallmark of First Nations is the quality, even-handedness, and accuracy of our technical assistance and advocacy. To maintain our independence, we receive minimal financial support from any government or government-funded agency. We depend primarily on the generous contributions of our partners – private foundations and individuals – whose support we are genuinely grateful.

Faces and Stories of Native Nonprofit Leadership: A Profile on Dana Arviso

What makes a good leader in the nonprofit sector? Experts say that nonprofit leaders need to be accountable, ethical, and must be able to engage their staff, supporters and the communities they serve. Those are all very important qualities and abilities, but what does leadership mean for Native people serving in management positions at nonprofit organizations today?

In order to answer that question, First Nations Development Institute staff recently visited with the newly appointed executive director of the Potlatch Fund, Dana Arviso of the Diné Nation. The Potlatch Fund, based in Seattle, Washington, is a Native-led grantmaking and leadership development organization serving Native communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Dana started as a volunteer with the organization in 2007, where she primarily focused on resource development while undertaking postgraduate studies at the University of Washington. She has been with the organization for four years, and is also a graduate of First Nations’ Leadership and Entrepreneurial Apprenticeship Development (LEAD) program.

LEAD is an intensive one-year program that brings current Native nonprofit leaders together with young Native professionals identified as having the potential to become the next generation of Native nonprofit leaders. Dana was a member of the program during the 2007-2008 cohort year, and what she learned during her experience helped prepare her for her new role as an executive director for the Potlatch Fund. The following is a short excerpt of Dana’s interview:

First Nations: What does Native leadership mean to you?

Dana: Contemporary Native leadership is learning how to be a leader in many contexts. It is being knowledgeable, skillful, and confident in your abilities to advocate on behalf of Native people in tribal, urban, and non-Native contexts. One of the most important lessons that I have learned is the importance of planting seeds and cultivating allies within Native communities, across communities of color, and with non-Native allies. In order to build the kind of movement that will reverse the effects of the last 500 years of colonization, we need allies at every level, from the grassroots organizations to the highest levels of government and business.

First Nations: What does Native community development mean to you?

Dana: Native community development is quite simply about rebuilding our Native nations. As tribal people indigenous to this land, we were once prosperous. We shared generously with our families, tribal members, and allies. I want to see our Native nations make a return back to that level of prosperity. I know that times have changed and we no longer live in the same reality as our ancestors, but we should strive not just to survive, but to thrive once again.

Breaking Bread & Glorious Greens

Food system control is an important element of ensuring the long-lasting health of Native peoples and communities. At First Nations Development Institute, we aim to eliminate food insecurity in Native communities by partnering with tribal nations and organizations to provide healthier foods, and by focusing on community development through entrepreneurship and empowerment.

First Nations recently released a new impact report on the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI). Through the generous support of the Kresge Foundation, the NAFSI program helped provide four grants to tribal nations and organizations to expand control of Native food systems. The newly released report titled, "Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative: 2010-2011 Grantee Evaluation Report”, is a useful tool for organizations looking to develop and expand control of Native food systems.

"Native Americans suffer from daunting health challenges, including high rates of obesity, diabetes and other negative health statistics,” stated Michael E. Roberts, president of First Nations Development Institute. Roberts also said, "This report highlights some innovative programs in Indian Country that involve control of food systems as a way to combat deteriorating health problems. Our hope is that by sharing this information with other tribal communities, we can inspire other tribes and organizations to continue working towards control of their food systems.”

The NAFSI report highlights the promising work of the Tsyunhehkwa Cannery of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, Tohono O’odham Community Action in Arizona, Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority, and the Harvest Initiative, both located in South Dakota. In this report, First Nations has organized lessons learned that include best practices and the challenges each of these organizations experienced in developing and implementing their projects. For more information about the NAFSI report, visit First Nations’ website at www.firstnations.org.

Legislative Update: Consumer Financial Protection
Contributed by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

Last year, in response to the harmful financial practices that caused unforgettable pain to millions of families across the country, the U.S. Congress passed comprehensive financial reform and consumer protection legislation.

Central among these reforms was the creation of a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Under the CFPB, all consumer protections laws will, for the first time, be the sole focus of one federal agency with the power to actually make consumer protection a priority. The CFPB is supposed to be operating by July 1, 2011, but there are a few bills that, if passed, will substantially undermine the CFPB’s ability to stop abusive financial practices.

H.R. 1315, which was approved in the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 35-22, will allow a simple majority of bank regulators and others on the Financial Services Oversight Council (FSOC) to veto CFPB rules they deem to be "inconsistent with safe and sound operations of financial institutions”. H.R. 1121, which also passed in the House by a vote of 33-24, will alter the leadership structure of the CFPB from that of a single director to a five-member commission. H.R. 1667, approved by a 32-26 House vote, will require that the CFPB’s director be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before the CFPB can exercise its authorities.

In order to prevent another economic decline and to strengthen consumer protection, the CFPB’s authority and autonomy must be safeguarded. Call or send a message to your legislators today urging them not to support these bills. The switchboard's number for your representatives is (202) 224-3121. The operator can connect you to your legislator's office.
Upcoming Events

National Rural Assembly
St. Paul, MN - June 28-30, 2011
Northwest Community Development Institute
Boise, ID - July 18-22, 2011

National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education Summer 2011 Conference
Greeley, CO - July 25-28, 2011

Take Action Today – Support Economic Investment in Indian Country

2011-03-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

Last week House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers introduced a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will keep the federal government’s budget operating through April 8, 2011. The House bill provides $247 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which remains the same as the House mark for the CDFI Fund in FY 2010. We cannot be assured that this number will hold, so we ask you to continue contacting your Congressional representatives and ask them to support keeping the CDFI Fund at its FY 2010 enacted level of $247 million.

The CDFI Fund helps promote access to capital and local economic growth in urban and rural low-income communities across the nation, including providing support to Native CDFIs located throughout Indian Country. CDFIs are working to create and retain jobs and this country cannot afford to reduce their funding at a time when demand for CDFI financing is robust and essential. The CDFI Fund budget should not be cut or reduced because it is the crucial entrepreneurial fuel that is vital for the continued economic growth of this country.

All CDFIs and CDFI supporters are encouraged to continue sharing the following message with Congress about the impact of CDFIs:

Support keeping the CDFI Fund at its FY 2010 enacted level of $247 million. CDFIs are critical to the economic recovery effort and must be fully funded to serve their communities.

• Through the work of First Nations Oweesta Corporation in the Native CDFI sector, more than 1,200 jobs have been created or retained since 2008.

• Since 2002, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than 175 grants totaling $31 million to Native CDFI’s serving almost 100 Native communities.

• For every $1 First Nations Development Institute and First Nations Oweesta Corporation have invested in Native CDFIs, each dollar has been leveraged at a rate of about 20 to 1 ($20 to $1) – that means that our initial investment in early-stage Native CDFIs helped them raise significant additional funds for their work. More important, for each $1 we gave in grant funds, we saw at least $7 of that $20 in loans made to Native American small businesses or individuals.

• Since 2000, First Nations Oweesta Corporation has made 21 loans to Native CDFIs totaling $3,618,000 with zero default and currently no loans past due.

The CDFI sector is turning our nation’s economy around for the better, and should be fully funded to continue the vital work in strengthening our country. We urge you to contact your representative today and voice your support of keeping the CDFI Fund at its FY 2010 enacted level of $247 million.

All Congressional Offices can be reached through the Congressional switchboard at (202) 225-3121.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE INPUT PAGE

Support Native Prisoner Jason Campbell's Hunger Strike!

2011-03-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

SUPPORT THE HUNGER STRIKE DEMANDS OF NATIVE PRISONER JASON CAMPBELL AND ALL NATIVE PRISONERS TO PRACTICE THEIR RELIGION!
No Reprisals! Release Jason from Isolation!

Go to this link to sign:

http://www.iacenter.org/prisoners/campbellpetition/

First Nations Development Institute

2011-02-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

Encourage Your House Representatives to Support the HEARTH Act!

This action alert is brought to you by the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC).

NAIHC is asking for your help in encouraging your Representatives in the United States House to support the "Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership" (HEARTH) Act – H.R. 205.

For American Indian families living on tribal land, federal bureaucracy is one of the biggest obstacles between them and homeownership. The Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955 requires those wishing to build homes and business on tribal lands to submit leasing applications to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) within the Department of the Interior (DOI) which ultimately requires approval from the Secretary of the Interior. This process often delays important housing, business and economic development projects in Native communities given that it is not uncommon for the DOI to take more than two years to approve a tribal surface site lease.

Introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Martin Heinrich (NM), the HEARTH Act would amend the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act and authorize tribal governments to approve trust land leases. This would significantly reduce the wait time for approval and ease the home buying process for tribal families.

Tribes would initially submit regulations to the Secretary of the Interior. After secretarial approval, tribes would use those regulations to process applications for trust land leases, rather than waiting for them to go through the BIA. To download a copy of the HEARTH Act and Rep. Heinrich’s letter to fellow representatives requesting their support, visit: http://www.naihc.net.

Please take action by sending a letter of support to your representative.

Federal Communications Commission Establishes Office of Native Affairs and Policy

2010-12-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

First Nations Development Institute
"Indian Giver"
December 2010

The restricted access to technology on American Indian reservations throughout the country is a serious issue, and is compounded by challenges such as poverty and high unemployment rates. The basic services that most Americans take for granted, such as telephones, cable and internet access, including computer services, are restricted by a lack of infrastructure on Native American reservations. The digital divide is an issue that has not gone away in Indian Country.

In an effort to address the technological disparities, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established an Office of Native Affairs and Policy. The FCC is an independent United States government agency, and was established by the Communications Act of 1934 to regulate interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The Office of Native Affairs and Policy will work to promote the deployment and adoption of communications services and technologies throughout tribal lands and Native communities. As well, the office will ensure government-to-government consultation with tribal governments and increased coordination with Native organizations.

The office will be headed by Geoffrey Blackwell, and will be part of the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. The Office of Native Affairs and Policy will handle ongoing consultation and coordination with American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, Native Hawaiian organizations, and other Native and tribal entities. It will also engage in work with commissioners, bureaus, and offices, as well as with other government agencies, private organizations, and the communications industries, to develop and implement FCC policies regarding tribal nations and Native communities. To learn more about the FCC’s work with tribal nations, please visit their website at www.fcc.gov/indians/.

Mayo Clinic to Expand Outreach to American Indians

2010-11-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
November 27, 2010

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic has been awarded $6 million to expand cancer prevention and outreach to American Indian and Alaska Native patients.

The National Cancer Institute gave the five-year grant for clinical research studies in Alaska and Wisconsin and for the Hampton Faculty Fellows Program.

The Post-Bulletin reports the Mayo's Native American Programs director, Dr. Judith Kaur, is currently one of only two American Indian medical oncologists in the United States.

According to the Mayo's announcement, she will lead the new Spirit of EAGLES Community Network Program, which will focus on "comprehensive cancer control, including translational research, clinical trials and continued community-based participatory research."

ACTION ALERT: The United Nations and the Rights of Nature

2010-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

The Alaska Inter-Tribal Council has issued a call to action. Please act quickly before Friday, November 12, 2010 to sign a letter which presses for recognition of the rights of nature.

After this summer's amazing victory when, against all odds, the United Nations recognized the human right to water and sanitation, we have another opportunity to make history together.

This is because there is a resolution being considered right now at the United Nations to have the rights of nature debated by governments on Mother Earth Day, April 22, 2011. The document is at the informal consultation stage so it is not public, but this is the time to apply pressure.

Such a debate will enable countries to publicly declare their position with reference to the rights of nature and allow us to stand with supportive governments and move forward on the campaign for the rights of nature.

These rights are embodied in the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth, adopted when 32,000 people from around the world took up the call of President Morales and converged in Cochabamba, Bolivia, April 22, 2010, for the 'World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth’.

We need to work quickly to get this resolution adopted, so please sign this letter before Friday, November 12, 2010.

The Alaska Inter-Tribal Council will make sure that all 192 United Nations member states get the letter and are aware that you support this debate on the rights of nature.

Please take a moment and sign this letter right away!
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5855/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4662

Navajos Hope to Shift From Coal to Wind and Sun

2010-10-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: October 25, 2010
The New York Times

BLUE GAP, Ariz. — For decades, coal has been an economic lifeline for the Navajos, even as mining and power plant emissions dulled the blue skies and sullied the waters of their sprawling reservation.

But today there are stirrings of rebellion. Seeking to reverse years of environmental degradation and return to their traditional values, many Navajos are calling for a future built instead on solar farms, ecotourism and microbusinesses.

“At some point we have to wean ourselves,” Earl Tulley, a Navajo housing official, said of coal as he sat on the dirt floor of his family’s hogan, a traditional circular dwelling.

Mr. Tulley, who is running for vice president of the Navajo Nation in the Nov. 2 election, represents a growing movement among Navajos that embraces environmental healing and greater reliance on the sun and wind, abundant resources on a 17 million-acre reservation spanning Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

“We need to look at the bigger picture of sustainable development,” said Mr. Tulley, the first environmentalist to run on a Navajo presidential ticket.

With nearly 300,000 members, the Navajo Nation is the country’s largest tribe, according to Census Bureau estimates, and it has the biggest reservation. Coal mines and coal-fired power plants on the reservation and on lands shared with the Hopi provide about 1,500 jobs and more than a third of the tribe’s annual operating budget, the largest source of revenue after government grants and taxes.

At the grass-roots level, the internal movement advocating a retreat from coal is both a reaction to the environmental damage and the health consequences of mining — water loss and contamination, smog and soot pollution — and a reconsideration of centuries-old tenets.

In Navajo culture, some spiritual guides say, digging up the earth to retrieve resources like coal and uranium (which the reservation also produced until health issues led to a ban in 2005) is tantamount to cutting skin and represents a betrayal of a duty to protect the land.

“As medicine people, we don’t extract resources,” said Anthony Lee Sr., president of the Diné Hataalii Association, a group of about 100 healers known as medicine men and women.

But the shift is also prompted by economic realities. Tribal leaders say the Navajo Nation’s income from coal has dwindled 15 percent to 20 percent in recent years as federal and state pollution regulations have imposed costly restrictions and lessened the demand for mining.

Two coal mines on the reservation have shut down in the last five years. One of them, the Black Mesa mine, ceased operations because the owners of the power plant it fed in Laughlin, Nev., chose to close the plant in 2005 rather than spend $1.2 billion on retrofitting it to meet pollution controls required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Early this month, the E.P.A. signaled that it would require an Arizona utility to install $717 million in emission controls at another site on the reservation, the Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico, describing it as the highest emitter of nitrous oxide of any power plant in the nation. It is also weighing costly new rules for the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona.

And states that rely on Navajo coal, like California, are increasingly imposing greenhouse gas emissions standards and requiring renewable energy purchases, banning or restricting the use of coal for electricity.

So even as they seek higher royalties and new markets for their vast coal reserves, tribal officials say they are working to draft the tribe’s first comprehensive energy policy and are gradually turning to casinos, renewable energy projects and other sources for income.

This year the tribal government approved a wind farm to be built west of Flagstaff, Ariz., to power up to 20,000 homes in the region. Last year, the tribal legislative council also created a Navajo Green Economy Commission to promote environmentally friendly jobs and businesses.

“We need to create our own businesses and control our destiny,” said Ben Shelly, the Navajo Nation vice president, who is now running for president against Lynda Lovejoy, a state senator in New Mexico and Mr. Tulley’s running mate.

That message is gaining traction among Navajos who have reaped few benefits from coal or who feel that their health has suffered because of it.

Curtis Yazzie, 43, for example, lives in northeastern Arizona without running water or electricity in a log cabin just a stone’s throw from the Kayenta mine.

(FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK IN THIS BLOG POST'S TITLE.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2010-10-19T14:40:00.001-07:00

Register Now, Last Day to Register Online is October 20, 2010!

Longmont, Colorado (October 19, 2010) - The 15th Annual Oweesta/L.E.A.D. Institute 2010 National Conference will be held this October 28-29, 2010, in beautiful Portland, Oregon. The primary theme of this year's event is "Economic Development through Integrated Asset Building". This event is a collaborative effort between First Nations Development Institute and its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Nations Oweesta Corporation. The Conference will be held at the beautiful Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, Oregon.

The Oweesta/L.E.A.D. Institute 2010 National Conference is a major component of First Nations' innovative L.E.A.D. program, which is designed to provide mentorship and training to emerging Native nonprofit leaders. First Nations opened the LEAD Institute National Conference to other professionals because this type of training is difficult to find in Indian Country. The Institute provides training and networking opportunities for Native nonprofit and philanthropic professionals. The conference has three training tracks:

Economic Development through Integrated Asset Building

Native Agriculture and Food Systems
Native American Philanthropy & Capacity Building: Governmental, Non-profit and For-profit
Attendees have the option of attending sessions in just one track or they may customize their experience by selecting from any of the sessions that interests them. The complete agenda can be viewed at: www.firstnations.org/oweestalead.

Conference Registration Rates
Registration after October 1, 2010 is $300.00. Registration after October 20, 2010 must be done at the conference with payment by check only.

Hotel info can be found on the Conference Website.

For more information about the conference, or to register, please visit http://www.firstnations.org/

About First Nations Development Institute
For 30 years, using a three-pronged strategy of Educating Grassroots Practitioners, Advocating for Systemic Change, Capitalizing Indian Communities, First Nations has been working to restore Native American control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own - be they land, human potential, cultural heritage, or natural resources - and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native communities. First Nations serves rural and reservation based Native American communities throughout the United States. First Nations Development Institute is a national Native American-led nonprofit organization.

About First Nations Oweesta Corporation
First Nations Oweesta Corporation assists Native organizations in assessing the demand for starting a Native CDFI, and takes them through the process of establishing one of these proven and innovative financial institutions. In addition to these dynamic trainings, First Nations Oweesta's Institution Development Department offers customized follow-up assistance to help Indian Country CDFIs every step of the way in establishing and growing a Native CDFI. Whether it is developing loan policies or creating fundraising strategies, First Nations Oweesta has the embedded knowledge and experience that will provide the information and resources a Native CDFI will need to bring it to the next level.

Contact:
Tina M. Farrenkopf, Senior Director of Programs
303-774-7836
tfarrenkopf@firstnations.org

Impact of 2008 Farm Bill in Indian Country

2010-09-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

First Nations Development Institute
"Strengthening American Indian Economies"
Newsletter, sent to me September 24, 2010

The 2008 Farm Bill was a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill that was passed into law by the U.S. Congress on June 18, 2008. This critical legislation included the largest expansion of American Indian reservation nutrition programs in the history of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The 2008 Farm Bill provided increased funding for outreach and service assistance to tribal farmers.

The USDA has increased its work in Indian Country to implement the legislation enacted within the 2008 Farm Bill. In August 2010, the USDA hosted a consultation meeting with tribal representatives in Billings, Montana to discuss three key components of the legislation:

Section 5501 - Tribal Consultation on Loans to Purchasers of Highly Fractionated Land

Section 2606 - Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program

Section 6105 - Substantially Underserved Trust Areas

Tribal representatives in attendance had the opportunity to listen to updates on the legislation, including how specific sections of the bill will impact tribal communities. The USDA gathered critical feedback from tribes, in an effort to expand the USDA's services to Native American reservations. The USDA will continue to host tribal consultations throughout the nation, with the intent to make a positive impact with the 2008 Farm Bill in Indian Country.

To learn more about the USDA tribal consultation in Montana, please visit their blog by clicking here.

MUSIC: Sky’s the limit for blues musician Derek Miller

2010-09-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Posted on August 3rd, 2010
americanindiannews in Music, Recent News

Washington, D.C. — Derek Miller stepped onto an international stage in early 2010, making his Gibson Firebird guitar blaze in a solo at the Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. And by laying down tracks for a new album with the band of late blues guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble.

At 35, and soon to release his third album, “Derek Miller with Double Trouble,” Miller’s rock roots trace back to a fellow Native guitarist—Link Wray, the Rockabilly Hall of Famer credited with inventing the power chord central to rock, heavy metal, pop and blues music. The Shawnee musician’s distorted electric guitar keyed hits like 1958’s “Rumble.”

For Miller, who once felt like a misfit kid playing roots rock in the era of rap, Wray became “my beacon of light.”

“I found a kinship with Link Wray,” Miller says. “There was so much intensity, passion and furiousness.”

Miller used to say his singing voice was made of “lots of whiskey and cigarettes.” Since completing rehab three years ago for alcoholism and drug addiction, Miller now says the music he makes with his voice and guitar emerges from the experience of growing up Mohawk on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, and later making his way in Toronto’s thriving aboriginal music scene.

“I have never backed away from being a Native artist, but for me it is now about crashing through this glass ceiling of being a Native artist,” he said.

Miller started performing at age 13. In the late 1990s, he toured with Buffy Sainte-Marie. In 1999, he co-produced Keith Secola and the Wild Band of Indians’ “Fingermonkey.” Two years later, Miller released “Music is the Medicine,” which earned the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year. With a pause for rehab and recovery, which Miller notes in his iTunes bio, in 2007 he released the album, “The Dirty Looks.” On it, Miller uses “compressed, modern sounds on otherwise standard blues songs like “Devil Come Down Sunday,” said Chris Turner, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Last month, Miller performed at the museum, covering songs made popular by some of the Native artists represented in the current exhibition, “Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture.” These included Peter La Farge’s “The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” which Miller made his own.

“Derek always reminded me of Jimi Hendrix, a Mohawk Jimi Hendrix,” Turner said. “But take a song like “End of the World,” where he fools you, laying down a nice, subdued setting—almost sacred. Then out of nowhere comes this little wah-wah guitar warning before he punches you in the gut with a Link-style power chord.”

The new album’s first single, “Damned if You Do,” is a duet with Willie Nelson, who had not heard of Miller before. But while recording at Nelson’s Pedernales Recording Studio near Austin, Texas, Miller and the band talked a gardener into slipping Miller’s disc to the singer. After a listen, Nelson agreed to record the duet.

The song could be either man’s personal tale of drinking whiskey all night and wondering if morning will come. The new project somewhat inadvertently turned out to be a concept album, Miller says, telling the story of a man falling in love with a woman, and the terrible violence in the wake of love falling apart.

“At the end of the story you think the man is going to make a choice of killing her and her lover,” Miller said. “It’s dark, with songs leading up to that, and you don’t know whether it’s murder-suicide or just murder in the end.”

To Miller, “it’s Americana, or it’s Native Americana, really.”

For his new album, Miller is sporting his black hair cut short and slicked back, like his hero Wray in the 1950s. Miller never met Wray, who died in 2005 at 76. But he talks about starring in a Wray biopic.

Whether a movie ever gets produced, Miller is the latest in a long line of musicians to take inspiration from Wray. Like The Kinks, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young—many of whom are lobbying for Wray to be put in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—Miller aims to ride his inspiration to the sky.

“When I think of Link Wray, I am an eagle and I let the wind blow me where it may,” Miller says. “That is the freedom that encompasses Native America. It encompasses what America was trying to do when it borrowed our constitution, our freedom of creativity. It is the freedom of inspiration to let your mind travel like an eagle.”

—

By Kara Briggs, American Indian News Service

First Nations Development Institute works with the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians to provide financial education services

2010-09-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Nations Development Institute works with the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians to provide financial education services

LONGMONT, Colorado (September 13, 2010) - First Nations Development Institute has partnered with the Office of the Special Trustee (OST) for American Indians to provide financial education classes to community members on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and with high school students in McKinley County. These trainings draw upon the strengths of each organization to provide effective financial and investor education to a Native American audience.

First Nations and OST announce the release of a new video that outlines the goals, activities, and services offered through this joint partnership. The eight-minute video provides footage from recent trainings and workshop testimonials. "The goal of this video is to let people know about the services offered through this partnership between First Nations Development Institute and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians. We offer interactive, fun, and high quality trainings to any community that requests a workshop," stated Jim James, the Regional Fiduciary Trust Administrator for the Great Plains, Eastern and Pacific Regions. "We are happy to be able to offer this outreach tool so that more people can learn about our financial education work."

The Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians is a fiduciary department that oversees the management and control of Indian resources, trust lands, tribal trust accounts and Individual Indian Money accounts. A total of 52 Fiduciary Trust Officers and their staff are assigned to and co-located primarily with Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies across the country and have relationships with tribal leaders in many Native communities. Recently, the OST has focused on training their Trust Officers to be more accountable to the communities they serve and more supportive of economic development. Financial education outreach, including investor education, is one such piece of the community focus.

"I am happy that we are able to work with the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians on this project," stated Michael E. Roberts, president of First Nations Development Institute. "This unique partnership leverages philanthropic dollars to extend the Office of the Special Trustee's effectiveness in advancing our shared mission of providing financial education."

Watch the full video on the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians and First Nations Development Institute.

CONTACT:
Sarah Dewees, Senior Director of Research, Policy and Asset-Building Programs
540-371-5615
sdewees@firstnations.org

First Nations Oweesta Offers Training Opportunity for Economic Development in Native Communities

2010-09-03T14:54:00.000-07:00

Press Release
Received on September 3, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Nations Oweesta Offers Training Opportunity for Economic Development in Native Communities

RAPID CITY, South Dakota (September 3, 2010) - Along with partners CFED and ONABEN, First Nations Oweesta is pleased to announce the fifth annual Native Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Development (NEED) three-day training to be held October 13-15, 2010 in Spokane, Washington at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino. Developed for the U.S Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund's Native Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Initiative, the NEED training is based on a new model of community economic development. The NEED program, tailored for Native CDFIs and their partners, provides comprehensive training and technical assistance designed to assist Native communities that are developing enterprise and entrepreneurship systems. In addition to training, participants will have access to technical assistance from First Nations Oweesta, to help them develop and implement the NEED model in their communities. Applications for participation are now available online at http://www.oweesta.org/ and will be accepted through September 14, 2010.

Previous NEED trainings have been a tremendous success because they address areas of assessing the current community environment, local entrepreneurship climate, coaching, access to capital, entrepreneurship education and more. According to a past participant, "(NEED) should be a part of orientation for all new tribal council members so they can make good economic development decisions and see opportunities for development." Another stated, "I now have a better understanding of what my community needs to do to assist our entrepreneurs."

"The Native Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Development model is important to the success of Native economies because it involves two essential components - training and technical assistance," shared Michael E. Roberts, president of First Nations Development Institute. Roberts said, "We encourage any interested Native CDFI to participate in the upcoming training, because what you will learn you will be able to bring back to strengthen your community."

Contact:
Kellie Jewett, Director of Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Development
(605) 430-4249
kellie@oweesta.org

Support the Native American Employment Act of 2010

2010-08-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

First Nations Development Institute

On June 9, 2010, Senator Byron L. Dorgan (ND) introduced S. 3471 to the United States Congress, an important bill to establish the Native American Employment Act of 2010. The bill is designed to improve access to capital, bonding authority, and job training for Native Americans, including the promotion of Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and Native American small business opportunities. The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Mark Begich (AK), Senator Tim Johnson (SD) and Senator Jon Tester (MT), and was recently referred to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

The Native American Employment Act seeks to address the following key areas:

•Improve access to capital for Indian tribes by establishing an integrated tier system for guaranteed or insured loans, with an emphasis on more favorable equity terms or to allow an increase in loan guarantees.

•Allow for tribal governments to create an integrated plan for employment, training and related services. Tribal governments will be able to identify a full range of employment opportunities on or near their reservation, and provide education and training to assist individual tribal members to access employment opportunities.

•Foster the development of new Native community development financial institutions, strengthen the operational capacity of existing CDFIs, and support Native CDFIs to establish financial education and asset building programs for Native communities.

•Support Native business enterprises that are seeking federal procurement opportunities, and to increase access of Native Americans to capital markets.

•Strengthening of Native American business centers to allow for culturally appropriate business development assistance for Native communities.

S. 3471 also integrates direct tribal government involvement and consultation within this bill and related services, including a reporting structure that details the progress of the bill provisions. For more information about S. 3471: The Native American Employment Act of 2010, please Click Here.

Subject: Support the Native American Employment Act of 2010

I am asking you to support S. 3471, the Native American Employment Act of 2010. The Act will allow for direct tribal government consultation in the development of their Native economies. I support the strengthening and development of Native community development financial institutions, and I believe in the creation of more Native American business centers in American Indian communities.

I believe that Native people have equal human rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I am asking you as a representative to support the passing of the Native American Employment Act.

Strengthening Native America

2010-08-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

By Michael E. Roberts, Special to Today

Story Published: Aug 3, 2010
(Story Updated: Aug 3, 2010)
INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY

When the leaders of First Nations Development Institute surveyed the economic landscape of Indian country’s reservation economies 30 years ago, they saw the three-legged stool that would normally be the sign of a healthy economy listing heavily. Two legs were under-developed, with most reservation economies largely dominated by the government sector (federal and tribal government) and with other legs – the for-profit/entrepreneurial sector and an accompanying nonprofit sector – weak or nonexistent.

This economic reality did not occur by happenstance, but by design. Indian reservations then (and even now) were fashioned like the original colonies – a “piggy bank” to tap into when natural resources were needed. These appropriated assets helped to create one of the world’s wealthiest economies, while leaving a negative imprint on American Indians’ economic and social condition. The result was that this country’s indigenous peoples did not enjoy the same human rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as afforded non-Indian citizens.

Further, the economic development strategies the U.S. government forced on reservation communities looked like the worst of Soviet-style centralization – a “one-size-fits-most” model that failed to account for the geographic, demographic, and cultural conditions unique to each of the more than 560 tribes. Magnifying their failure to recognize that economic success should be driven by local thinking and local control, the government agents, with their paternalistic mindset, did not believe that Indian communities had the wherewithal to create anything of value themselves.

In light of this history, First Nations Development Institute believes that control of one’s economic destiny applies to all people equally. We also believe that sharp vigilance and timely intervention now can turn around 250 years of disenfranchisement by American Indian peoples in controlling their own economies. In the language of the economic development field, First Nations is working to “round out” the economies of reservation communities by strengthening the three sectors of government, for-profit and nonprofit and begin to explore philanthropy – the fourth sector. First Nations remains the only Native American-controlled nonprofit dedicated to asset-based sustainable development in Indian country.

We help Native American reservation communities take control of their assets and we recognize that our mission is to build a strong foundation for healthy American Indian-controlled economies. One way in which we accomplished our mission was the establishment of our wholly owned subsidiary, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, which was incorporated by our board of directors in 1999.

By creating Oweesta, two purposes were served: Expediency and efficiency of resources, but equally important, preservation of First Nations’ commitment to provide greater access to capital to Native communities. Oweesta has focused on the capitalization and development of emerging Native Community Development Financial Institutions. In addition to helping First Nations Oweesta quickly grow, the board of First Nations Development Institute transferred to Oweesta a pool of resources from socially responsible lenders that guaranteed $1 million in program-related investment and still represents a substantial portion of Oweesta’s capital lending pool.

From the perspective of First Nations Development Institute, the launch and growth of First Nations Oweesta Corporation has been nothing but a success. Its sound stewardship has directly contributed to the rapid development of certified Native Community Development Financial Institutions. They have grown from two to more than 50 in number, with many more in the development pipeline. Over the past 11 years, Oweesta has been part of some 200 total awards to Native CDFI’s, totaling tens of millions of dollars in fruitful investment in Indian country.

As the president of First Nations Development Institute and First Nations Oweesta Corporation, I am dedicated and committed to leading our organizations in a new strategic direction. Our organizations believe that, when armed with the appropriate resources, Native peoples hold the capacity and ingenuity to ensure the sustainable, economic, spiritual and cultural well-being of their communities. I believe that because of the work of organizations like First Nations Development Institute and First Nations Oweesta Corporation, American Indian leaders 30 years from now will see a renewed Indian country, where all Native people have equal human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Michael E. Roberts is president of First Nations Development Institute & First Nations Oweesta Corporation.

Native American Group Hit Hard By Oil Spill

2010-06-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

June 3, 2010
NPR website

Copyright © 2010 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Perhaps no other group of people stands to lose as much in the Gulf oil spill as the Houma Nation. This Native American tribe resides along the Louisiana coastline and has been living off the land for centuries. Host Michel Martin talks with Houma Chief Brenda Dardar-Robichaux about how the community is hoping for the best with the spill, but preparing for the worst.

MICHEL MARTIN, host:

As we've mentioned many times, the oil spill is having a profound effect on the people of the Gulf Coast, including a Native American tribe with about 17,000 members.

The United Houma Nation has called the coastal marshland their ancestral home for centuries. Now, as you might imagine, the tribe has faced a long history of natural disasters as well as the historic travails and conflict with the federal government. But now oil is threatening its existence in a way that few other challenges have.

Brenda Dardar-Robichaux is the principal chief of the Houma Nation. She's on the phone with us from LaRouche, Louisiana, that's about an hour south of New Orleans, where she's helping coordinate a summer camp for Houma youth. Chief, thank you so much for speaking with us.

Ms. BRENDA DARDAR-ROBICHAUX (Principal Chief, Houma Nation): Thank you for having me.

MARTIN: So, could you just tell us a little bit about the history of the tribe?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: The United Houma Nation has 17,000 tribal citizens who once resided in the area of Baton Rouge, which actually stands for Red Stick, which was a bounty marker between us and the neighboring tribe of the Bayou Goula. We continued a migration south, resided in the New Orleans area. Louis Armstrong Park actually has a commemorative plaque that states it was our ceremonial grounds and we played stick ball there.

Today, we reside along the bayous of southeast Louisiana from St. Mary Parish to Plaquemines Parish, all along the coastline of southeast Louisiana.

MARTIN: And how do most members of the tribe earn their living? What do people do?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: We still have a lot of our tribal citizens that live off the waters the traditional way as we have for generation after generation.

MARTIN: And what about oil, though. I mean, the oil as I understand it was discovered in the 1920s in the region. What affect has that had on the Houma Nation?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: We do have tribal citizens who make a living in the oil industry as well. We have not had a very good relationship when it comes to our traditional homeland with the oil companies. Many years ago, they came to our communities and it's important to understand that our tribal citizens did not have access to education until the Civil Rights Act in the mid '60s. Before that we actually had mission schools which afforded our Indian children a seventh or eighth grade education.

And so, as I said, it wasn't until the Civil Rights Movement in the mid '60s that we could come to school. And so the oil and gas industry would come to the areas. Our people did not know how to read and write and they would approach them and say, please sign this paper. We would like to drill on your property. That way you can be compensated if we should find anything. When in actuality it was a quick take and they were taking our people's land.

What they've also done is build location canals in order to do dredging. And so there's location canals that has allowed salt water intrusion into our tribal communities as well, which has afforded more coastal erosion and wetlands lost. And now it's going to allow the oil to seep in as well.

MARTIN: What is it that you're most concerned about?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: My biggest concern is the future of our people. We have lived off the land, we have lived in our traditional homeland for generation after generation. I have great concern of what the oil spill is going to do to our communities. You know, we grow up learning how to deal with hurricanes. We have experienced four devastating hurricanes in the last three years. Our people are resilient. We know how to gut out our homes, rebuild, repair our fishing vessels and move on.

But this is totally different. The impact that this could be totally devastating to our tribal citizens and it's quite frightening.

MARTIN: I think what I hear you saying is that despite the fact that you've dealt with and faced all the natural disasters that people are aware of that often affect the region, that the tribe has managed to rebuild its way of life. And you're saying that this time if the damage is as extensive as many people fear, that might not be possible at all. There might be no way. Are people talking about that among themselves?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: Yes. We are discussing the future of our communities. Our people are not able to go out on their fishing vessels anymore. The season has been closed and that's the way that they earn their living. Where other people live check to check, we live catch to catch. Those fishing nets are not in the water, so they are not catching anything. And they're not able to provide for their families.

You know, I grew up with my dad being a fisherman. He's 74 years old and he still does that today, as his father did prior to him. And so to see him now not being able to go out on his fishing vessel is just heartbreaking. He often describes it as being Christmas every day when he's out on his boat because there's a love that he has for that.

And at 74 and the fishing season being closed and not knowing when it's going to open again, my concern is that he may never experience another Christmas. And that's the case with a lot of our tribal citizens. This is the lifestyle that they know and love. It's not just a piece of land for us. It's not just something they do, you know, for recreation. It's our way of life. And to have that threatened is just devastating.

MARTIN: And I understand that this is very difficult to even contemplate, but what do you think members of the Houma Nation will do if they can't continue to fish there?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: Right now it's a we're fighting for our very survival. The future does not look good for us. What we're going to look like on the end of this once everything is said and done, I don't know what that's going to look like. It's not just our fishermen because it's the net makers who supply the nets to the fishermen. It's the restaurant people who cook the fresh seafood.

It's the people who process the seafood. So it's a trickledown effect. And so it's affecting our entire community. I don't know what the future holds, but in the back of our mind, we know that this is going to impact us for generations to come.

MARTIN: And I understand that and I think it may be worth noting that the United Houma Nation has been recognized by the state of Louisiana but not by the federal government. Does that affect the way you think about the future, plan for the future? Or are there resources, for example, that you are interested in seeking that are not possible because of that lack of recognition?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: The lack of recognition has hindered us on many levels. When it came time to recovery with the devastating four hurricanes in the last three years, we were left on our own. We did not receive direct assistance from FEMA as a tribe or as an indigenous nation. We did not receive assistance that other federally recognized tribes did. And so it was by the generous blessings of Indian nation, wonderful people from the across the United States that helped us in our recovery.

We had to do it on our own. And we're not receiving any assistance directly again from the federal government. And so it's quite disheartening, but it's something that we've learned to accept and just do things the best we can on our own.

MARTIN: Are you contemplating any legal action on behalf of the tribe?

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: No, we are not as of this point looking at any kinds of class action lawsuit. We are hanging tight and going to see what the future holds before we go into that route.

MARTIN: And I do want to ask how the kids are doing. As I mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, you're helping to coordinate a summer camp for Houma youth and I just wonder how they're taking all this in.

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: They're already seeing the impact it's having on their families and on their lives. We had a leadership training prior to this one. In which one of the activities we did was to place (unintelligible) charts on the wall and ask them a series of questions. And one of the questions was what are your present and future concerns. And 90 percent of the answers were oil spill, and this was several weeks ago.

And so to have a kindergarten child ask you how do you spell oil is heartbreaking. So have some of the older children who finally see that opportunity to go to college and now not sure how their family is going to be able to provide the resources for them and to see them express that concern is just heartbreaking. And so it's impacting them already. And they realize the importance of this oil spill's impact on their lives and on their family, even at such a young age.

MARTIN: Well, chief, we thank you for speaking with us.

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: Thank you.

MARTIN: Brenda Dardar-Robichaux is principal chief of the United Houma Nation. She joined us on the phone from Larose, Louisiana. Chief, thank you again.

Ms. DARDAR-ROBICHAUX: Thank you.

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The Native American Economic Advisory Council Act of 2010

2010-05-30T19:48:00.000-07:00

On May 7, 2010, Senator Daniel Inouye introduced S. 3331, a critical bill to establish the Native American Economic Advisory Council. The Council’s primary responsibilities will be to consult, coordinate and make recommendations to the Executive Office of the President, cabinet officers and federal agencies in order to improve the substandard economic conditions in American Indian communities.

While introducing the bill, Senator Inouye spoke to the importance of the Council, “Native communities are considered ‘emerging economies’ that have stalled because of the current economic situation. This bill is an attempt to keep these communities moving by educating, empowering, and encouraging our future Native American leaders to create sustainable economic growth programs in their own communities.”

The Native American Economic Advisory Council will be charged with the following key duties:

1) Proposing sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction policies that promote self-determination, self-sufficiency, and independence in Native American communities;

2) Developing economic growth strategies, finance, and tax policies that will enable Native American organizations to stimulate the local economies of Native Americans and create meaningful new jobs in Native communities;

3) Increasing the effectiveness of federal programs to address the economic, employment, medical, and social needs of Native American communities; and

4) Administering federal economic development assistance programs with the objectives to strengthen the capacity of Native American leaders, and promote investment and economic growth in Native communities.

First Nations Development Institute supports the Native American Economic Advisory Council Act of 2010 because it aligns with our mission to strengthen Native American economies. For more information about how First Nations supports and advocates for American Indian communities, visit www.firstnations.org. For more information about S. 3331: The Native American Economic Advisory Council Act of 2010, visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3331.

First Nations asks you to urge your Senators and Representatives to support the Native American Economic Advisory Council Act of 2010.

Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative Grant Making Program

2010-05-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

First Nations Development Institute
May 26, 2010

Proposals for the Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI) grant making program are due 5 p.m. Mountain Time on June 15, 2010. First Nations Development Institute will host two conference calls for interested applicants. The first call will be held on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, at 11 a.m. Mountain time. The second call will be held on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 2 p.m. Mountain time. See the information below and check our website for more information.

First Nations Announces a Request for Proposals for their Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative Grant Making Program

May 27, 2010

Longmont, Colorado- First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) has announced that they are accepting proposals for its Native Agriculture and Food Systems Initiative (NAFSI). Though the generous support of the Kresge Foundation headquartered in Troy, Michigan, First Nations plans to make four $25,000 grant awards under NAFSI.

The goal of NAFSI is to assist rural and reservation-based Native communities in developing or expanding locally-controlled and locally-based food systems that provide healthy foods to community members. A second goal is to support local food producers and local tribal economies. "Controlling food systems has lasting impacts for Native communities," said Michael E. Roberts, President of First Nations. "Not only does this empower local communities by drawing on traditional knowledge, but controlling tribal food systems can improve the health and nutrition of community members and has great implications for developing Native economies," said Roberts.

Native communities, nonprofits, tribal programs, and tribal colleges are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to projects aimed at increasing the availability of healthy, locally-produced foods in Native communities and/or programs that create systemic change by increasing community control of local food systems. Moreover, this project will give priority to organizations that can assist and contribute to the development of emerging and promising practices in strengthening Native food systems.

Proposals will be accepted online at www.firstnations.org/nafsi and must be submitted by no later than 5 p.m. Mountain Time on June 15, 2010.

For additional information about this program, please contact Raymond Foxworth at (303) 774-7836, ext. 20 or email him at rfoxworth@firstnations.org

Through a three-pronged strategy of Educating Grassroots Practitioners, Advocating Systemic Change, and Capitalizing Indian Communities, First Nations is working to restore Native control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own - be they land, human potential, cultural heritage, or natural resources - and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native communities.

The Kresge Foundation, headquartered in Troy, Michigan is a private national foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations through its support of nonprofit organizations in six fields of interest: health, the environment, community development, arts and culture, education and human services.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Nations Development Institute

703 3rd Ave. Suite B • Longmont, CO 80501

Phone: (303) 774-7836 • Fax: (303) 774-7841

First Nations Development Institute: Fighting for Economic Justice through Asset-based Economic Development

2010-05-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

First Nations Development Institute
Indian Giver newsletter
May 2010

Asset-based development for, with, and by Indian Country is incredibly important because the appropriated use of American Indian assets has created, in the United States, one of the world’s wealthiest economies. The impact has been negative on American Indians’ economic and human rights, and has seemingly made Native Americans exempt to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, enjoyed by non-Native Americans.

Here at First Nations, we stand by the belief that control of one’s economic destiny applies to all people equally. We know that vigilance and timely intervention can prevent the continuation of the past two centuries of American Indian (Indigenous) peoples’ disenfranchisement from controlling their own economies.

First Nations fills a unique niche in national Native programs, by helping numerous tribes and Native nonprofit organizations preserve and perpetuate their cultures and controlling their assets – creating a ripple effect significantly beyond a single gift to an organization. First Nations established a new field of culturally appropriate, values-driven development initiatives that supports its three-pronged strategy of Educating Grassroots Practitioners, Advocating for Systematic Change, and Capitalizing Native Reservation Communities. At First Nations, we support comprehensive initiatives that translate assets into jobs, health, education and more, leading to a successful history of producing long-term systemic benefits. As a result, First Nations has become one of the largest American Indian economic rights organizations based in the United States.

We recognize that we operate in a unique environment – serving a constituency resembling a Third-World country, while working at the center of one of the world’s most expensive economies. During the past 30 years, First Nations has witnessed the phenomenon of Native nonprofits and philanthropic institutions as an increasingly important institutional asset in the effort to rebuild reservation and rural Native economies.

A frequent topic of my writing is focused on development in terms of equality. It is difficult to overlook what we perceive as the unequal treatment of Native Americans within mainstream philanthropic practices. This point is critical because we believe that in order to build a voice that speaks to justice for all Native Americans, attempts to do so must be supported by a strong and well-networked nonprofit sector – one that commands the resources and respect to effect lasting systemic change. The support of mainstream philanthropy is critical to future achievements.

Recognizing that the cultural lifeways of Native peoples have been deeply damaged in the past when outside entities have controlled Native communities’ destinies, First Nations works to holistically address Native American communities’ desire to tap financial, natural, physical and institutional assets as well as human, social and cultural capital in sustainable and appropriate ways.

Since its inception, First Nations has assisted Native communities in assessing and utilizing their assets to build and direct their own opportunities for culturally appropriate and sustainable economic development. Assets include natural resources such as agricultural products, oil, gas or lumber, as well as promoting culturally appropriate tourism, traditional arts and crafts skills, small business potential and a range of opportunities stemming from unique tribal traditions and community cohesion. First Nations engages directly with Native communities by grassroots outreach to rural and reservation-based populations to offer direct technical and financial assistance. In working with First Nations, Native communities are able to identify their true needs and receive our assistance to meet those needs.

Tulalip woman nominated to head NIGC

2010-05-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

Indian Country Today
By Gale Courey Toensing

Story Published: May 10, 2010
(Story Updated: May 7, 2010 )

WASHINGTON – A Tulalip woman with years of experience in Indian gaming policy and analysis may soon head up the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Tracie Stevens, an enrolled member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington state, is President Barack Obama’s choice for chairman of the quasi-independent federal regulatory agency.

The president announced his nomination of Stevens, along with his nomination of Malcolm D. Jackson as assistant administration for environmental information at the Environmental Protection Agency in a press release on the White House Web site April 28.

“The American people will be well-served by the skill and experience these two exceptional individuals will bring to their roles. I am confident that they will be tremendous assets to my administration, and I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years,” Obama said.

Stevens’ nomination needs Senate approval. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold a hearing on Stevens’ nomination, but no date has been set yet, committee spokesman Barry Piatt said.

Stevens has been the senior advisor to Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry EchoHawk at the U.S. Department of Interior since July 2009. In this role, she provides policy guidance to EchoHawk regarding tribal issues such as gaming, law enforcement, energy, tribal consultation, economic development, land into trust, tribal government disputes, budget priorities, and treaty and natural resource rights.

She has also been active in rebuilding the nation-to-nation relationship between tribes and the Interior Department. Stevens’ supporters say that’s a commitment she will bring to the job of NIGC chairman if the Senate confirms her nomination.

“We’re very, very extremely proud that Tracie is being considered for the NIGC chairman position,” said Tulalip Chairman Melvin R. Sheldon Jr.

Stevens spent almost 15 years working for her tribe in both government and business operations. As senior policy analyst with the tribe’s government affairs office, she managed day-to-day operations, including overseeing external public affairs and lobbying functions, carried out advocacy and networking efforts, and served on state, regional and national Indian gaming-related boards and committees. She previously had served as a legislative policy analyst in the government affairs office working on tribal sovereignty, treaty rights and tribal governance issues.

“She is a very hard working lady whether she was working in policy analysis, in gaming, or in human resources. She’s very analytical, very goal driven, and she’s a self starter,” Sheldon said.

He said some of Stevens’ best qualities are her ability to listen, to weigh both sides of an issue, to synthesize various aspects, and communicate the results – qualities she’ll utilize in dealing with the various issues facing Indian gaming.

“I think that some of the issues are reviewing the relationship between NIGC and the tribes and allowing the tribes more autonomy. We know how to run our casinos. We’re not going to do anything that’s contrary to good business. I think that’s one of the things we need to look at. With all due respect to (former chairman) Phil Hogen – he did a great job – but it appears that the effort he was driving toward was at odds with the majority of gaming tribes,” Sheldon said.

“Moreover, Tracie understands tribal sovereignty and tribal authority and how that can work in a good way. A fresh vision is something we’ll all be looking forward to.”

In addition to her work within the tribe, Stevens also served as the chair of the Gaming Subcommittee for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians from 2003 – 2009, the secretary of the board of directors for the Washington Indian Gaming Association from 2002 – 2009, and as the Northwest Delegate for the National Indian Gaming Association from 2003 – 2009.

“We are excited for Tracie Stevens as President Obama’s nomination for the chair of NIGC,” said W. Ron Allen, tribal chairman and executive director of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, treasurer of the National Congress of American Indians, and president of the Washington Indian Gaming Association.

“She will bring fresh and strong leadership to this role in Indian gaming. We are confident that she will bring a strong commitment and respect to the tribal governments and honor the government-to-government relationship. Tracie’s leadership will be led by a practical understanding and experience with tribal governmental authority and jurisdiction.”

Stevens earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences from the University of Washington-Seattle, an academic qualification that also works in her favor, said Joe Valandra, former chief of staff at the NIGC.

“I’ve heard it said that her not being an attorney might be a problem because of the learning curve with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, but I’ll tell you, Tracie has been around Indian gaming and has been working with tribal gaming issues both with her tribe and on a national level. Not being a lawyer I think is a breath of fresh air. I think it’ll bring a new perspective to the NIGC chairmanship that is sorely needed. She’ll be able to look at the overall purpose and role that NIGC was intended to perform under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and take a less legalistic and more practical view of it.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a statement applauding Obama’s nomination of Stevens.

“Tracie Stevens is an outstanding choice as chair and will bring significant experience in both tribal government and gaming to the commission.”

An Interior spokesman said Stevens could not participate in an interview during the nomination period. There was no indication of who might be considered to replace Stevens as senior advisor to the assistant secretary of Indian Affairs.

If confirmed, Stevens will serve a three year term as NIGC chairwoman of the three-member commission. The commission was created as part of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and is authorized to conduct investigations, undertake enforcement actions, issue notices of violation and closure orders, assess civil fines, conduct background investigations and audits, and approve tribal gaming ordinances.

Cherokee toddler receives new heart

2010-04-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

By Will Chavez

Staff Writer
Cherokee Phoenix Weekly
April 26 2010

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – After a nearly four-month wait, 2-year old Kevlynn Jenkins received a new heart on April 23 in St. Louis.

Kevlynn, a Cherokee Nation citizen from Hulbert, Okla., and her mother Kristal Jenkins flew to St. Louis from Tahlequah on April 22 after receiving word that doctors had located a suitable heart.

The toddler underwent four hours of surgery the morning of April 23 at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital to receive the new heart. She had been suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood efficiently because the heart is weakened and enlarged.

“She’s doing really good. If everything goes good, she’ll be home in two weeks,” said her grandmother Pat Garrett.

Garrett said she wanted to thank everyone who donated to the family to help them with expenses related to her granddaughter’s care. She said numerous people from everywhere have helped.

Kevlynn was in St. Louis from January through March receiving treatments for her condition. She returned to Hulbert in mid-March. Her mother made arrangements to fly her back to St. Louis from the nearby Tahlequah airport when a suitable heart was found.

Her moth had also arranged for in-home nursing care for Kevlynn, and the toddler regularly visited a cardiologist in Tulsa while she waited for a heart.

Garrett, of Stilwell, said her granddaughter’s heart condition is genetic. The mother carries the gene, but it usually only affects male family members. Garrett said her father, a younger brother and son all died from dilated cardiomyopathy.

Garrett said she regularly encourages people to become organ donors. She and her daughter are listed as organ donors, as well as Kevlynn.

Donations for Kevlynn Jenkins can be made to the Kevlynn Jenkins Medical Fund at any Bank First in Oklahoma. For more information, call (918) 905-1515.

Vanishing Words, Vanishing World: ‘When we lose a culture, the whole world loses'

2010-04-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

Kayla Gahagan
Rapid City Journal staff
Posted: Friday, April 16

Charles Spotted Thunder speaks Lakota and feels that it is important for his teenage daughter Tiana Spotted Thunder, a student at Red Cloud Indian School, to learn about her native language and culture. (Kristina Barker/Journal staff)

PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION -- Skin has gathered at the corners of her eyes into soft brown wrinkles, and the tattoos on her forearms have faded into an inky blue.

Bernice Spotted Eagle rests on a couch in her three-bedroom house, her feet protected from cold linoleum floors by red slippers. The house is warmed by space heaters, one of which almost burned the house down.

But it is this house, she says as she gestures with small hands, that used to be so packed with relatives and friends, sleeping bags littering the floor every night.

Her house, a safe haven she fervently defends as alcohol- and drug-free, is in the middle of a cul-de-sac of tribal housing. It is with this view that Spotted Eagle says she can most clearly see the roadblocks that stand in the way of breathing life back into her native Lakota language.

Graffiti sprayed on a nearby house leaves a chilling reminder that the Crips and the Bloods frequent the area. A neighbor was stabbed to the death in an argument the week before.

People often stop by to ask for money or food.

She keeps the front door locked.

----------

The Pine Ridge Indian reservation, a 3,500-square-mile plot of land home to the largest concentration of Lakota people, is also home to the effort to save the indigenous Lakota language from extinction.

The odds are stacked against them.

A 2005 study done by Colorado State University, and accepted by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, estimates the population at about 29,000. But Pine Ridge Tribal Enrollments puts that number closer to 20,000.

Experts estimate that between 5 percent and 15 percent of enrolled tribal members are fluent speakers, and almost 60 percent of those speakers are 50 and older, according to the Oceti Wakan, a local nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the Lakota language and culture.

The first documented reservation effort to revitalize the language began in 1969. Since then, schools and organizations throughout the reservation have implemented a language curriculum, hired part-time teachers and called on elders to share what they know. But not a single fluent speaker has emerged in half a century.

Many elders here blame the language's downfall on Catholic boarding schools, where they were sent as children. Lakota culture and language were forbidden.

Philomine Lakota, now a Red Cloud Indian School language teacher with wide-set shoulders and a commanding presence in the classroom, attended a boarding school, where speaking the language was akin to rebellion and was promptly followed with punishment.

The sting of a ruler slapped against the back of her hand still burns in her memory, as does gagging and choking while they washed her mouth out with soap.

"Those shameful acts helped kill our language," she says.

Wilma Thin Elk remembers the same.

"They knocked it out of me," she says. "I can't understand why in our time we got hit for speaking our native language, and now, they want us to teach it to them."

The burden to carry on the language shouldn't fall to the elders, she says. She tries to teach her grandson, and that's it.

"I'm stingy with my language," she says.

But Spotted Eagle, 63, warns of bigger problems than haunting memories. For her, the Lakota people must first try to overcome many things before they can reclaim the language - poverty and drugs, alcohol, violence, suicide and a loss of identity for a younger generation caught between two worlds.

She is not alone in her house. Her boyfriend, grandaughter and two grandsons live with her, and she speaks to them in her native language, the words rolling quickly off her tongue. She talks willingly, but sparingly, about what it would mean to lose the language, the discussion woven in and out of conversation the way her cigarette smoke seeps in and out of her nostrils.

"It makes me very disappointed," she says. "We should have thought about this a long time ago."

----------

The elders are right, experts say. But whether it's the victim of past oppression or a widening gap among generations doesn't matter. It's disappearing all the same.

Word by word. Fluent speaker by fluent speaker.

"When an elder dies, it's like a library burning down, so much is lost," said Chris Harvey, head of research and development for the Indigenous Language Institute, headquartered in Santa Fe, N.M. "The language will be lost unless drastic action is taken."

Darrell Kipp, founder of the Piegan Institute on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, agreed with Harvey.

Every language is a library because the people have developed it through their relationship with the land, time and ecology. The Lakota language especially, he said, "is directly reflective of a long-term residency" on the land.

"Every word has a true, deep connection, telling the story, explaining a phenomenon," he said. "That in itself is important."

Tina Merdanian, director of institutional relations at Red Cloud Indian School near Pine Ridge, agreed that the loss of the language could be literal in the sense that some Lakota words simply can't be translated.

Root words have spiritual connections, and translations can strip their meanings. Other words have simply never been translated. There is not a Lakota word for hate, goodbye or pizza. The Lakota people translate soda as "popping water" and banana as "oblong yellow."

But there is a lot more at stake than the definitions of words. A language is so intimately tied to culture and self-identity that the loss of it is like losing your inner direction, Harvey said.

"That is the true essence of who we are," Merdanian said. "Being Lakota is not something we do; it's who we are."

She understands the frustration of the elders.

"We have the right to acknowledge a lot of wrongs. But we need to move on. The past is the past."

Harvey said history proves that language is tied to the rise and fall of peoples, citing the Cornish in the United Kingdom as one example.

Kerry Brock, executive director of foundation and corporate relations at Red Cloud, agreed.

"Because language and culture are so intimately related to each other, the death of a language signals the end or beginning of a culture," she said.

Harvey also said that a tribe looking for federal recognition would be much more convincing of its independence if members could speak their language.

"If you don't speak your language, you have to prove who you are," he said. "Your sovereignty is tied to whether you can speak your language."

And while Natives on and off the reservation still take part in powwows, sun dances and other cultural and spiritual rites, many of them identify closely with the things their ancestors never knew. They dress, talk and live much like their white counterparts. Sometimes what comes out of their mouths is the only thing to set them apart.

"Language has become the predominant symbol of Indian identification in the modern world," said Doug Parks, co-director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute at Indiana University.

Cindy Catch, director of the Oceti Wakan, said 41 percent of almost 9,000 households surveyed in 2007 reported having one Lakota speaker in it, which is hopeful.

"A culture is kept by the language in the deepest sense," she said. "It formulates how one sees the world."

(For the rest of this story, please click on the link in the title above this posting.)

Cherokee Nation’s First Wholly Owned and Operated Museum

2010-04-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

4/12/2010

Cherokee Nation Entertainment
News Release
Contact: Kelli Bruer at (918) 384-7974
© Cherokee Nation - All Rights Reserved

People gather to witness the reopening of the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum, Oklahoma's oldest public building.

Originally built in 1844, the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum is Oklahoma’s oldest public building and will formally operate as the Cherokee Nation’s first wholly owned and operated museum following today’s dedication. The Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum is located at 122 E. Keetoowah St., Tahlequah, OK 74464.

Leading the dedication will be Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Entertainment. Dr. Bob Blackburn, Executive Director of Oklahoma Historical Society, will deliver the keynote speech and will be joined by Ron Stahl, Co-host of Discover Oklahoma and Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department Representative, who will present a proclamation from the State of Oklahoma recognizing the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum as an “Outstanding Historical Tourism Site.”

“The historical significance of this event cannot be understated with this structure representing the oldest public building in Oklahoma and the site of the first sessions of the Cherokee National Supreme Court more than 165 years ago,” said Smith. “The Cherokee Nation’s commitment to preserving Oklahoma history and the Cherokee Nation legacy is important to all Oklahomans and especially vital to the people of the Cherokee Nation.”

The Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum is one of several preservation projects recently undertaken by Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Group including Ross Cemetery, the Cherokee National Capitol Building and Cherokee National Prison. Each site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Group will operate the 1,950-square-foot Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum that will feature exhibits in three historic aspects including the Cherokee National Judicial System, the Cherokee Advocate and Cherokee Phoenix newspapers and the Cherokee language with a variety of historical items including photos, stories, objects and furniture.

“In addition to the four key preservation projects, which are cornerstones for the cultural tourism program, the new museum’s exhibits and artifacts will play a integral role in showing and telling the story of the Cherokee Nation,” said Stewart, who also oversees the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Group. “With the recent return of the Cherokee Advocate printing press, the museum has a tremendous asset that will enable guests to better understand the challenges of the Cherokee people in obtaining the news and information of that period.”

The Cherokee Nation recently acquired on loan the last printing press for the Cherokee Advocate from the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Okla., which will serve as one of the main highlights of the museum.

The Cherokee Advocate was the first newspaper in Indian Territory, which later became Oklahoma, and, at the time, the only tribal-owned and published newspaper in the United States. Written in both Cherokee and English, the Cherokee Advocate was the primary means of the Cherokee Nation to inform its people from 1844 to 1906 and was printed in the Cherokee National Supreme Court Building at several points of time over its history.

The first issue of the Cherokee Advocate was published on September 26, 1844, with its last issue leaving the press on March 3, 1906. At the time the federal government was in the process of shutting down the Cherokee Nation government and its citizens were being forced to enroll for land allotments. In 1911 the printing office, printing press, and other equipment were sold to the publisher of the New Era newspaper in Fort Gibson, Okla., for $151.00. The Cherokee syllabary typeset was sent to the Smithsonian Institute for preservation.

Southwest Museum Services in Houston designed and fabricated the interior museum space to create an engaging and interactive guest experience. Past clients include Space Center Houston in Houston, Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, and the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, Ark., among others.

The Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Group also operates four historically authentic tours that include lunch and feature an interpretative guide on the Cherokee History Tour, Cherokee Old Settler Tour, Civil War History Tour, and Will Rogers History Tour.

The Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is adults $5, seniors $3, students $3, and children under 5 are for free. A group rate is available at $3 per person for 10 or more individuals. For information on the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program, call (877) 779-6977 or visit http://www.cherokeetourismok.com/

Cherokee Nation contributes $2.8 million to area schools

2010-03-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Cherokee Phoenix Weekly
By Christina Good Voice

Staff Writer
March 29 2010

CATOOSA, Okla. – The Cherokee Nation made its annual motor vehicle tag revenue contribution to 95 area schools on March 22 at Cherokee Hills Golf Course, and this year the contribution totaled nearly $2.8 million.

The CN annually contributes 38 percent of its motor vehicle revenue to Oklahoma school districts within the tribe’s jurisdiction. The money comes at a much-needed time for most of the schools as the state faces a budget crisis.

Verna Ruffin, associate superintendent for Tulsa Public Schools, said TPS is excited about receiving $35,965 because of the impact on students.

“We’re especially pleased to have this money at this critical time with the budget crisis in the state,” Ruffin said. “It means a lot to us and it will mean a lot for our students because I think we’ll be able to continue some of things we want for them without having to cut back in all areas.”

In accordance with a motor vehicle compact with the state, the CN has given car tag revenue to area schools since 2002. This year’s contribution brings the total contribution over the past eight years to more than $19 million.

Tahlequah Public Schools received the most money with $138,506, while Sequoyah High School got $100,500. The Oklahoma School for the Blind received the smallest amount at $1,275.

“One of the greatest historic and present passions of the Cherokee Nation is education,” said Principal Chief Chad Smith. “Our investment comes back ten-fold. We are pleased to be able to provide them funding to help with the necessities and miscellaneous items that schools need.”

Jim Sisney, a CN citizen serving his first year as superintendent of Sperry Public Schools, said the tribe’s contribution is wonderful for schools because schools can count on it annually.

“The Cherokees have become have become a very predictable benevolent citizen for public education and roads,” Sisney said. “I think that predictability is a strong sign of independence and self-governance, as well as commitment to something broader than themselves for the bigger good.”

Contribution amounts are determined by giving each school district $127.54 for each student who is a CN citizen. School districts are also not required to use the contribution in a particular manner or for any particular students.

“We’ve expanded our tag office locations to make it easier for our citizens to acquire a car tag,” said CN Tax Commissioner Sharon Swepston. “We are really proud that this tag money is used to help so many school children throughout the Cherokee Nation.”

Ruffin said TPS officials intend to discuss ways to use the funds so students see its impact.

“I think it’s something we’re definitely going to sit around the table and certainly make plans to use the money for the benefit of the kids so they can feel the impact immediately.”

Reach Staff Writer Christina Good Voice at (918) 207-3825 or christina-goodvoice@cherokee.org

Cherokee Nation News Release - Remember the Removal Rides Again

2010-03-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

(918) 453-5378 FAX (918) 458-6181

Cherokee Nation Director of Communications@cherokee.org
© Cherokee Nation - All Rights Reserved
3/8/10

During the 2010 Remember the Removal Project, a challenging 1,000 mile bike ride, a selected group of Cherokee students will retrace the historic Trail of Tears, riding from the original Cherokee homelands Georgia and ending in Tahlequah, Okla., the capitol of the Cherokee Nation. This is the third such ride to be sponsored by the tribe, with the original ride first completed in 1984 and a 25th anniversary ride held last year.

Organizers say the event will provide participants with the chance to experience Cherokee history firsthand and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. Last year’s riders came away with a life-changing experience.

"There are three things you learn on this ride," said Todd Enlow, Group Leader of Cherokee Nation Leadership, who organized and rode in the 2009 ride as a chaperone. "First, you learn Cherokee history by experiencing it yourself; second, you learn your own family history; and third, you learn your strengths and abilities to go beyond what you think you can do."

Enlow added that for the riders, learning their own family history makes the Cherokee history gleaned along the way very personal. The riders will make stops along the way at specific points of interest from the Trail of Tears and will be provided with relevant history lessons to help make connections between the past and what the riders are currently experiencing.

Students who are selected for the project will spend the spring training both together and separately, then meet in Tahlequah at the beginning of June and drive to Georgia. From there, the bike ride begins in early June and will end approximately 20 days later, back in Tahlequah. As weather and terrain permits, the group will camp along the route some nights, while other nights will be spent in commercial lodging.

Enlow stresses that you don’t have to be in perfect shape to do the ride. Pre-ride training in Oklahoma will help prepare the riders, but desire to learn Cherokee history and the commitment to go the distance and stay focused are equally important.

Applications to participate in the 2010 Remember the Removal ride are now being accepted. The deadline to apply is March 1.

To qualify, applicants must be a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a student in high school or college that is at least 16 years old. Space is limited to 15 riders. Potential applicants will be asked to provide background and health information, parental consent if under 18 and a brief statement about why they would like to participate in the project. After an initial review, an advisory panel will interview each candidate to determine interest and commitment to this project. Students will need to be in good physical shape and make the commitment to bike for 60 to 70 miles a day for several weeks in various weather conditions to meet the goal of the event.

The Trail of Tears of the Cherokees took place over the winter months of 1838 through 1839. An estimated 16,000 Cherokees were forced at gunpoint to remove themselves and their families from their homes, farms and communities. After being held in federal stockades until deep winter, they were subsequently herded on overland and water routes that moved through territories that represent the present-day states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas. More than four thousand Cherokees died along the various routes from the harsh conditions of the crossing. Ride organizers of Remember the Removal hope to promote awareness of these significant events as riders re-visit the areas where the journey took place. Other goals of the Remember the Removal bike ride are to help educate Cherokee students about their tribe’s history and the difficulties associated with the Trail of Tears, and to promote the achievements of the modern Cherokee Nation to those along the route.

Selected riders will be supplied with a bike, riding gear, meals, transportation and lodging, but will need to bring their own changes of clothing, toiletries, bedding and spending money. To apply to be part of the 2010 Remember the Removal ride, please visit http://www.remembertheremoval.org/signup/ or call (918) 453-5498.

The Cherokee Nation is looking for a few stalwart bicyclers with an avid interest in Cherokee history to participate in the Remember the Removal bike ride this summer.

Cherokee Nation Named One Of The ‘Top Ten True Western Towns Of 2010’ By True West Magazine

2010-02-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

2/22/2010

Cherokee Nation Entertainment
News Release
Contact: Kelli Bruer at (918) 384-7974
© Cherokee Nation - All Rights Reserved

Dispelling the notion of western towns as nothing more than Hollywood movie-lore, Cherokee Nation and its capital city of Tahlequah is a thriving cultural community that has earned the seventh spot on the list of ‘Top Ten True Western Towns of 2010’ as recognized by True West magazine.

True West editors determine winners for this annual award based on criteria demonstrating how each town has preserved its history through old buildings, museums and other institutions, events and promotions of historic resources.

“The Cherokee have made it their mission to preserve their culture and hand it down to future generations,” says True West Executive Editor Bob Boze Bell. “Their heritage is a proud one—and their efforts to keep it alive deserve honors.”

In January 2009, Cherokee Nation created a cultural tourism program with genuine Cherokee perspective and cultural experiences that is distinctively branded: “Osiyo, Cherokees Say Hello Like No One Else.” The foundation of the tourism program rests in its cultural, historical, natural and recreational resources of the Cherokee Nation, which includes the 14-county area located in northeastern Oklahoma that spans 7,000-square miles.

Cherokee Nation realized the significance of the many historical sites and landmarks for the cultural tours and made a commitment to the preservation of four key locations including the Cherokee National Supreme Court Building, Ross Cemetery, the Cherokee National Capitol Building and Cherokee National Jail. Each site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“This recognition speaks volumes to the commitment by the Cherokee Nation to honor its heritage,” said David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Entertainment, which oversees the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism Department. “By working with our community partners in building a successful cultural tourism program, we are able to share our story with future generations and the public at large.”

True West magazine recognized that the Cherokee believe in a philosophy of ‘gadugi’ —working together for the benefit of all. The magazine added that there’s no better example of that than in Tahlequah, the capital city of the Cherokee Nation, and the focus of remarkable tribal efforts to preserve and teach its history.

Contributing to the success of the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program and True West magazine selection are key stakeholders including Cherokee Nation, City of Tahlequah, Tahlequah Main Street Associates, Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce, Northeastern State University and a variety of downtown vendors. In addition, Cherokee Nation Entertainment has an alliance with historic sites, museums and points of interest across the Cherokee Nation including the Cherokee Heritage Center, Murrell Home and Will Rogers Museum.

The Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program features four historically authentic tours that include lunch and feature an interpretative guide on the Cherokee History Tour, Cherokee Old Settler Tour, Civil War History Tour, and Will Rogers History Tour.

The top spot in True West magazine’s ‘Top Ten True Western Towns of 2010’ went to Virginia City, Nev. For the complete list, go to http://www.twmag.com/

For information on the Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism program, call (877) 779-6977 or visit http://www.cherokeetourismok.com/

About True West Magazine - True West magazine is in its 57th year of leading the way in presenting the true stories of Old West adventure, history, culture and preservation. For subscriptions and more information, visit twmag.com or call 888-687-1881.

Don Vaughan to retire after 30 years at Cherokee Nation

2010-02-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

The Cherokee Phoenix
Feb 5 2010
By Jami Custer
Staff Writer

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – After 30 years at Cherokee Nation, Don Vaughan, who serves as director of Evaluation and Compliance, retired from his job on Feb. 26, which he expects will give him more time to do “other meaningful activities.”

“My goal is that the activities would include a mixture of work to help others in both physical and spiritual ways, spending more time in recreational and self-fulfilling ways,” he said. “For example, gardening, fishing and hunting and perhaps doing some part-time work on a more discretionary basis than full-time employment allows.”

Over the past 30 years, Vaughan has worked seven other positions with the CN, including Special Projects officer interim controller, director of Executive Support, Contracts director, Accounting manager, internal auditor, Accounting supervisor and senior accountant.

He said his most memorable experience at CN was during former Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller’s administration. He considered that period a “time of infancy” in the development of “key operational functions” of CN during its growth and expansion.

“It essentially involved my delegation to create an executive support unit, which included establishing five separate smaller departments,” he said.

Vaughan provided coordination and oversight in the beginning of the tribe’s Self–Governance department, Research and Analysis, including the development of a Geographical Information System, Internal Audit, Employee Training and Planning and Development activities for the tribe’s internal programs.

Despite retiring, Vaughan said he doesn’t plan on slowing down his activity level, but continuing to try and make a difference in others people’s lives.

“My goal is to remain active and continue trying to do things to help someone else along the way, to enjoy more time with family and friends and to have the flexibility to devote additional efforts to First Baptist Church in Stilwell…,” he said.

Vaughan said he would mostly miss seeing the people he has come to know over the years.

“Don hired me in December 1989, so I have worked with him for 20 years,” Vickie Hanvey, Self-Governance administrator, said. “He was my boss for many of those years. I think of Don as one of my mentors. We may not have always agreed, but we have a mutual respect and trust.”

She added that his character is what sets him apart from others.

“He is a ‘by the book’ man with the integrity to back it up.”

T.J. Stand, CN Accounting manager, agreed with Hanvey on Vaughan’s character, adding that not only did he operate by the book, but honest as well.

“I wish him well and hope his retirement years are happy and long,” Stand said. “He deserves the best.”

Reach Staff Writer Jami Custer at (918) 453-5560 or jami-custer@cherokee.org

Tim Giago: Finding a new Native voice as an Independent

2010-02-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

Native American Times
31 Jan 2010
Written by Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2010 Native Sun News

February 1, 2010

Like millions of other Americans I watched the State of the Union address by President Barack Obama almost as a moth drawn to a flame. I saw something afoot that I haven’t read about in the words of other columnists even though it was not something I expected.

Whenever the President made a point that may have been intended to draw the audience together, African American, white women and Democrats stood and cheered while their Republican counterparts sat on their hands.

The real problem with this is that the Republican delegation was made up entirely of white males. Is this indicative of a racial divide? While most African Americans cheer for Obama are those opposed to his politics also opposed to his race? It certainly seemed that way to me.

The one political group not visible during the address was the one group that will make a huge difference in the elections of 2010: the Independents. It was this group that took it to the Democrats in Massachusetts and cost them the seat held by a Democrat for more than 50 years. It is clear that the Independents were saying with their vote: Obama, you do not speak for me. To even think that Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat would be taken by a Republican even 1 year ago would have been heresy. The Obama Administration found itself asleep at the switch.

Have either the Democrats or the Republicans truly been representative of the minorities or most Americans in America? What have the Democrats, who have professed to be the shining beacon for minorities since the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, done to earn the minority vote?

As an example, they have taken the votes of Native Americans for granted for too many years. As I have suggested in the past, it is time for Native Americans to shake their traditional support of Democrats and shift their allegiance to the Independent Party.

All you have to do is go to the courthouse where you are registered to vote and tell the clerk you wish to switch party affiliations. You sign a simple form and gazooks, you are now an Independent.

This will make you a political magnet for Republicans and Democrats. They will come after your vote with promises they may actually be forced to keep, that is if they want your vote in the next election.

There is a sure way to test this approach. Look around you and whether you live in an urban setting or on an Indian reservation ask yourself: Am I better off now than I was last year? Am I better off than I was 10 years ago? I think you will soon find the answer to that question. And stop thinking of yourself as a victim, but instead see yourself as a new, independent political force, because that is what you will become.

You can bet that the Democrats and the Republicans will come up with ideas they hope will secure your vote because both parties know that in states with large Native populations, your vote can and will make the difference. But never forget that Democrats and Republicans have been handing you empty promises for more than 100 years.

It is not carved in stone that you have to be a Democrat, or a Republican, for that matter. The same old politics of the past has not made that much of an improvement in your life and you know it. The worst thing that can happen to either party is that they cannot ever take your vote for granted again and they will soon understand that your vote is a vote they must earn. If you are an Independent you can sort through the platforms of the other parties and pick and choose those with ideas closer to your own.

South Dakota must open its primary elections. At the moment if you are an Independent in South Dakota you are not allowed to vote in the primaries and that is simply un-American. We can change this law as one voice. To learn more about the Independent movement go to Independentvoice.org. You may be surprised how many independent thinkers are on this website and how so many of them think just like you.

The Democrats and the Republicans are in gridlock. They march to the same tune and cannot move forward because neither side will cross the aisle. It is a childish game that makes politics more important than the people.

The state of union is in disarray because bi-partisan politics is dead. If Native Americans are to find their own voice in American politics, they must separate themselves from the mainstream and join the ranks of the Independents.

(Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the publisher of Native Sun News. He was the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association, the 1985 recipient of the H. L. Mencken Award, and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard with the Class of 1991. Giago was inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2008. He can be reached at editor@nsweekly.com)

GOP leader continues ‘honest injun’ controversy

2010-01-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

MSNBC commentator uses ‘off the reservation’
By Rob Capriccioso

Story Published: Jan 13, 2010
(Story Updated: Jan 14, 2010 )

WASHINGTON – Instead of apologizing without condition for using a racist term, the top GOP leader parsed his own words, while calling on another politician to step down for using racially offensive words.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele encountered criticism after his Jan. 4 appearance on the Sean Hannity Fox News program for using the phrase “honest injun” to punctuate a point he was making about conservative ideals.

Several Native American leaders, including the Native American Journalists Association and congressional advocates, noted that the term is racist, and said Steele should apologize.

But Steele did not do so in the immediate days after the program aired, and calls to the Republican National Committee for comment went unreturned on the matter.

Then, later that same week, word came by way of a new political book that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had said during the 2008 presidential campaign that now-President Barack Obama had a good chance at winning the election since he is “light-skinned” and has “no Negro dialect.”

Almost immediately, Steele called on Reid to step down from his Senate leadership post because the words are racist.

Reid instead apologized and several top Democrats, including Obama himself, came to his defense, saying he has a strong record on race issues.

It was during another Fox News appearance, this time on Jan. 10, where Steele was confronted with his apparent hypocrisy.

After covering Steele’s distaste for Reid’s remark, host Chris Wallace asked the top GOP politico about his own “honest injun” remark, noting that congressmen from both parties said that it is a racial slur. Dictionaries agree, noting that the phrase is considered impolite and politically incorrect because “injun” is a slang term for American Indians.

“Well, if it is, I apologize for it,” Steele responded on the show. “It’s not an intent to be a racial slur. I wasn’t intending to say a racial slur at all.

“The reality of it is that’s not the same as what we were talking about before. That’s not saying I’m some loose cannon and wild, you know, dog out here running around not being able to be controlled.”

Steele’s conditional take on the phrase has outraged some Native Americans, as they say he is qualifying his own racism, while hypocritically calling for the resignation of a person who has said he was wrong – and apologized unconditionally – for using a racist term.

“It is astounding that his mind can separate himself from Sen. Reid when it comes to deciphering racist remarks,” said Ronnie Washines, president of the Native American Journalists Association.

“How can Steele let others decide if his words were racist – and then surmise that if others think so, then he would apologize?” asked the Yakama Nation citizen.

“All that I have heard or read coming out of his mouth since does not resemble anything close to an apology.”

Nick Reo, director of the Native American Institute at Michigan State University, said Steele was being hypocritical, and that the statements by Reid and Steele are problematic in similar ways.

“They both used disrespectful and disparaging language,” said the citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

“Each has claimed that they didn’t intend their comments to be hurtful, and I believe them both.”

He doesn’t think either Steele or Reid should lose their jobs over their comments.

But Jeff Harjo, director of NAJA and a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, believes Steele should indeed be punished for his hypocrisy.

“From reading parts of the [Jan. 10] transcript, it seems that Mr. Steele is never wrong, he is arrogant and I would think the Republican Party needs to ask him to step down.”

The Steele scenario has called increased attention to the complexities of racial language in America – and the sometimes divergent ways people think about Native Americans and racism, compared to African Americans and racism.

Michelle Bernard, a political commentator for MSNBC, hit that point home when discussing Reid’s words on-air Jan. 11.

Bernard, an African American, discussed the Reid situation, saying she didn’t think the words he used were completely “off the reservation.”

Ironically, many Native Americans have a problem with the “off the reservation” phrase, saying it’s disparaging and infers that Indians should be kept in line.

No MSNBC hosts called Bernard on the irony.

Calls to the RNC to ask Steele to clarify the continuing controversy have gone unreturned.

Indian activist Angie Osborne dies

2009-11-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

Published online on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009

By Cassidy Smith / The Fresno Bee E-Mail

A Choinumni tribal member who fought to preserve traditional burial ground in Piedra on the south bank of the Kings River east of Fresno will be buried there.

Angie "Yo-Wis-Nuth" Osborne started working toward land and recognition for her Choinumni tribe when she was 19. As an advocate for American Indian rights, she was well-known throughout California for helping and supporting others.

She died Nov. 19 at the age of 81.

In the 1940s, Fresno County took the burial grounds and all the land that now surrounds Pine Lake Dam. When the tribe was forbidden to bury anyone there, Mrs. Osborne began a quest to get the land back that didn't end until the 1970s.

"My mother, for a lifetime, had always been involved with all Native American rights," said Audrey Osborne, Mrs. Osborne's daughter. Audrey Osborne said her mother's involvement saved sacred sites and preserved languages, tradition and culture.

Angie 'Yo-Wis-Nuth' Osborne

Born: Jan. 9, 1928

Died: Nov. 19

Occupation: Retired health-care provider

Survivors: Mother, Emma Oliver; brother, Hank Oliver; sisters, Jean Sorondo, Irene Oliver and Virginia Castillo; sons Rick, Leonard and Robert Sr.; daughter Audrey; eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren

Mrs. Osborne will be missed "by her own tribe along with others inside the state and out," Audrey Osborne said. "This is a huge loss to all tribes."

It was not unusual for Mrs. Osborne, the Choinumni tribe's spokeswoman, to attend various meetings throughout the city and beyond, fighting for what she believed in.

"She was a very dedicated and humble person when it came to politics," Audrey Osborne said. "She was straightforward and didn't pull any punches. People respected her."

In 2002, Mrs. Osborne's kindness and compassion brought a peaceful end to the controversy surrounding a celebrated tree destroyed by an unapologetic racist. Mrs. Osborne conducted an American Indian ceremony over the downed Piedra tree -- which was said to depict a likeness of the Virgin Mary and had drawn crowds of faithful Catholics.

One of Mrs. Osborne's most recent endeavors was to fight for the preservation of Jesse Morrow Mountain off of Highway 180. The mountain is a sacred site, according to the Choinumni tribe. The multinational Cemex mining company wants to mine rock from the mountain's south side for use as aggregate in construction projects.

Mrs. Osborne's children won't let their mother's dream of saving the mountain die.

"My brother and I and the tribal council promised to finish her work for her, and we will," Audrey Osborne said. "There's a lot at stake. We will continue the fight."

An avid reader, Mrs. Osborne was a lover of novels and history. She also greatly enjoyed weaving and basket and bead work, her daughter said.

A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Sunday at Wallin's Funeral Home in Sanger. A graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the Choinumni Sacred Burial grounds in Piedra.

The reporter can be reached at csmith@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6330.

2010 Native American $1 Dollar Design Unveiled

2009-11-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

CoinNews.net
By Darrin Lee Unser on Nov 26th, 2009

"Government - The Great Tree of Peace" has been announced as the theme for the 2010 Native American $1 coin by the US Mint. The coins will be issued beginning in January and throughout the year to meet demand.

As dictated by the Native American $1 Coin Act (Public Law 110-82), the reverse of these coins feature a different reverse design annually that contain "images celebrating the important contributions made by Indian tribes and individual Native Americans to the development of the United States and the history of the United States."

The 2010 design shows a Hiawatha Belt with five arrows bound together. The belt signifies the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy.

In the center of the belt is a white pine that symbolizes the Onondaga Nation with the remaining four characters signifying the other nations that were part of the Confederacy, the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca.

Designed by Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Thomas Cleveland, the bundle of arrows show the strength in unity of the five participating nations.

Surrounding the belt and arrows are the inscriptions "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "GREAT LAW OF PEACE" "HAUDENOSAUNEE" and "$1."

The Iroquois Confederacy was founded sometime around the 16th century and was based in the area around present-day New York. It was a loosely based political structure that united the local tribes.

Sacagawea is featured on the obverse of all the Native American coins. The design was first seen on the 2000 Sacagawea golden dollar and shows the famous Shoshone woman (with a child on her back) who accompanied explorers Lewis and Clark on their expedition through the frontiers of America. The inscriptions "LIBERTY" and "IN GOD WE TRUST" are also seen.

Struck from copper covered in manganese brass creating a golden color, the coins also feature the edge inscribed lettering showing the year of mint, "E PLURIBUS UNUM" and the mintmark.

Presidential dollar coins are also struck during the same time frame as the Native American Dollars, but legislation requires that at least 20% of all the dollars minted must be Native American. When the Presidential dollars end around 2016, the Native American coins are still to be struck featuring new designs as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury with input from other parties.

The 2009 design of the Native American $1 depicts a Native American woman planting seeds in a field of corn, beans and squash. The scene represents the Three Sisters method of planting.

Remember the contributions of Native Americans

2009-11-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

TriCities.com
By Letters To The Editor

Published: November 22, 2009
Updated: November 23, 2009

Soon another Thanksgiving Day will be coming forth in our nation. Throughout history the Native American Indians were wronged and some are still yet. Let us not forget the American Indians contributed to the first Thanksgiving; we must hail and give recognition for this important event.

Many people have forgotten what the Native American Indians did for the first white settlers by keeping them from starving. Let us remember at Thanksgiving the American Indians and not forget the government of the Indian nations sparked an international awareness of democracy, since the U.S. government is patterned after the Iroquois.

The American Indian legacy not only has enriched us, it has also enriched the world. We can remember this and any day can be Thanksgiving if we are thankful “in everything.” Let us abide with these wonderful words of praise from Phil. 4:6: “anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.”

Lewis Hagy

Abingdon, Va.

Fox’s Glenn Beck uses Fort Hood shootings to push theory that Obama backs reparations for Native Americans

2009-11-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

The Buffalo Post
Nov 13, 2009
By Gwen Florio

It takes some real contortions to make this link, but somehow Fox News’ Glenn Beck managed to get from the tragic shootings at Fort Hood to the President’s address at the White House Tribal Nations Conference to the possibility of reparations for tribes.

Here’s the Fox News transcript of his remarks on Wednesday, Veterans Day (or watch the video clip above – the remarks come about 2 minutes and 25 seconds in):

“The first thing that hit me as I was watching television just like you were and I saw President Obama talking about native American rights in the middle of a tragedy at Fort Hood — I couldn’t believe it. I mean, it sounded almost like maybe, possibly, would there be some reparations involved?

” … Let me say this right off the top of the bat, nobody can question that Native Americans were mistreated, treaties were broken, promises not kept. Yes. You got it. We’ve definitely heard fairly recently about Native American rights and what we owe them. What we owe them. What we owe them.”

Beck goes on to ascribe Obama’s remarks at the Tribal Nations Conference to the philosophies of the administration’s former green jobs czar Van Jones – who has been excoriated by the right – and then he says that “obviously, what he (Obama) had in mind goes far beyond giving them casino licenses and free government health care.”

Finally, Beck wonders if it’s “just a coincidence that Obama “brought up Native American rights at such an inappropriate time – and it also just happens to be a pet issue of Jones? Maybe.”

What a load of crap. The president didn’t “bring up” Native American rights – they were already on the table, as part of the long-scheduled Tribal Nations Conference, when Nidal Malik Hasan went on his murderous rampage. And he never mentioned reparations.

It’s a nasty insinuation designed to whip up fears of “them” sticking together to the presumed detriment of white people.

For Beck to twin the Fort Hood tragedy with some tired old cheap shots at Native people to make connotations about the president’s motives is stunningly – let’s use his own word – inappropriate.

Beck owes an apology to the families of the Fort Hood victims for politicizing their heartbreak. He owes an apology to Indian people for suggesting they seek handouts. And he owes an apology to the president for putting words in his mouth.