Commissioner's News

Commissioner Stamps Shares ANA Best Practices in Mexico

Commissioner Stamps Visits ANA Projects in Hawaii

Commissioner Stamps traveled to Hawaii August 26 – September 1, 2006 to visit ANA projects at the Nanakuli Housing Corporation, the Hana Community Health Center, the Healani Canoe Club, and the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations. During her visit, she met with officials of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and had a productive meeting with Lieutenant Governor James Aiona Jr.

The mission of Nankuli Housing Corporation is that every Native Hawaiian family regardless of their economic background will increase their assets through homeownership. The nonprofit organization is finishing a two-year ANA project to provide self-help home improvement activities for Native Hawaiians. The project entailed the renovation of an abandoned Navy training center to provide classrooms where home improvement courses are conducted for people living in Native Hawaiian Homesteads. The course topics include plumbing, home financing, electrical and carpentry work. The project also established a secondary construction materials reuse center, to distribute home appliances such as refrigerators, washers, and dryers, on the site of a decommissioned military installation. During her visit, the Commissioner met with Executive Director Kapi'olani Barber and her dynamic staff, toured both facilities, and spoke to families that have participated in the project. They described their joy of learning new skills that have enabled them to make repairs to their homes.

Commissioner Stamps visited the Hana Community Health Center and Hana Fresh Farm where she met with Executive Director Cheryl Vasconcellos, the Community Health Center Board and staff. This project is contributing to the development of a revitalized agriculture economic base by providing sustainable employment and training opportunities. Due to its remote location, the Hana Community Health Center is focusing on preventative medicine, using farm fresh food to promote good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. The Hana Fresh Farm vegetables and fruit are shipped to local markets increasing the supply of locally grown fresh produce.

The Healani Canoe Club is using ANA project funding to revive an ancient Hawaiian cultural tradition and restore a vital connection that Hawaiians have between the land and the sea. During her visit, Commissioner Stamps met with Aunty Ala, Rosie Lum, Master Canoe Builder Uncle Bobby and youth participants. The Healani Canoe Project is preserving culture by bringing elders and youth together. The project includes the training and mentoring of 50 youth through restoring two koa canoes and a cultural focus on genealogy and tradition.

Finally, Commissioner Stamps met with Paul Richards, Executive Director of the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations and other community leaders at the Papakolea Community Center. This project entailed the creation of two digitization centers to create IT jobs and build crucial management and fiscal capacity at the local level. During her visit, the Commissioner toured one digitization center and spoke to participants who have been hired by the Hawaiian Homestead Technology, Incorporated. They emphasized how much their lives had changed as a result of this opportunity.

Commissioner Stamps Visits ANA Projects in Alaska

Commissioner Stamps traveled to Alaska, August 20 – 25, 2006, to visit ANA Grantees. During her trip, she visited the Organized Village of Kasaan, the Sealaska Heritage Institute, the Native Village of Port Graham, and the Seldovia Village Tribe. Commissioner Stamps also held a Roundtable discussion with ANA grantees in Anchorage August 25, 2006. During her address the Commissioner stated, “Alaskan communities continue to use small amounts of ANA project funding to implement creative and innovative projects that have dramatic impacts.”

At the Organized Village of Kasaan, the Commissioner met with Lance Twitchell, Assistant Administrator. Kasaan aims to bring Tribal families back to the Village through the improvement of Tribal Governance and infrastructure. ANA project funding is enabling the development of a long-range comprehensive economic development and management plan aimed at developing Tribal policies and procedures, as well as, improving the community's telecommunications infrastructure. Commissioner Stamps also met with village elder, Julie Coburn, who discussed the importance of increasing Tribal member access to Haida historical and language resources.

President Dr. Rosita Worl and her staff warmly welcomed Commissioner Stamps at the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau. The Native nonprofit organization has approached language and cultural preservation in a creative and innovative manner. The Hoonah Northwest Cost Art Certificate Program, funded under the Alaska SEDS program, expanded the Northwest Coast Art Certificate Program at the University of Alaska Southeast to the rural village of Hoonah. The goal of the Certificate Program is to perpetuate traditional Native art forms and to give Hoonah residents skills to make art for sale in the community's budding tourism industry. Two manuals on traditional carving and basket weaving were produced as part of the project. The Sealaska Heritage Institute also has an ANA Language Grant to produce on-line, hard copy and CD-ROM dictionaries of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian languages.

In the Native Village of Port Graham, Commissioner Stamps met with Chief Norman and his wife, Fran Norman. Port Graham is the recipient of an ANA SEDS and Environmental Grant. The Sockeye Salmon Disease Free Water Development Project is identifying markets for value-added pink salmon products. Six village members are being trained in management, supervision and quality control for the processing operation; they are gaining experience in plant set up and operation. Twenty to forty thousand pounds of pink salmon are expected to be processed. Port Graham is using ANA Environmental project funding to document traditional management practices, ecological knowledge and methods of resource management. The Village plans to apply these traditional methods in their Environmental Management Plan.

Commissioner Stamps concluded her site visits in Seldovia, where she met with Tribal Chief, Don Kashevaroff, and Executive Director, Crystal Collier. Seldovia has used ANA project funding to economically diversify while providing job skill training to local youth. The training curriculum has been developed and training workshops on business finance and marketing skills have been held this year. Seldovia currently exports homemade jellies, teas and honey. The project is expanding the market for these products. During her visit, the Commissioner toured the berry farms, processing plant and Conference Center.

Commissioner Stamps Visits ANA Projects in Wisconsin

Commissioner Stamps traveled to Wisconsin June 5 – 8, 2006 to visit ANA Projects at the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Commission, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa and Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin. The Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) is an inter-tribal, co-management agency committed to the implementation of off-reservation treaty rights. During her visit, GLIFWC Program Specialist, Jim St. Arnold, demonstrated the Anishinaabe Language Natural Resource Dictionary/Guide, an electronic reference book of Anishinaabe names for plants, wildlife and locations within their ceded territories. The Natural Resource Dictionary/Guide is being developed as part of an ANA language grant.

The Commissioner met with GLIFWC Director, Jim Thannum, during a GLIFWC sponsored Fish Boil at the Red Cliff reservation. Part of the GLIFWC Treaty Fisheries Intertribal Community Food Program entails renting fish boil equipment to local fisherman in exchange for fish. Fish boils are an avenue for revenue generation and also encourage a healthy alternative to the traditional fish fry. This innovative project assists tribally licensed fishermen and small businesses to process and sell high quality American Indian products by offering business development services, marketing assistance, nutritional information, and health education.

During the Wisconsin Joint Assessment Steering Committee Annual Partners Fishing Event Commissioner Stamps met with Ann McCammon Soltis and Keely McNight to discuss the progress on the GLIFWC Great Lakes Annex and Regional Collaboration Program. The goal of this project is to support the Commission to ensure adequate protection of treaty resources and the habits that sustain them within the inland ceded territories of the Great Lakes drainage basin and Lake Superior.

At the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa, the Commissioner visited with Erv Soulier, Jackie Rose and staff while touring the Fish Hatchery Project. This ANA funded project will revitalize three fish hatchery inoperative rearing ponds to restore the reservation's yellow perch population and increase the number of walleye fingerlings. During her trip to Bad River, the Commissioner stopped in to visit the staff at the Mashkisibi Boys and Girls Club. It is clearly evident this youth development program has greatly benefited the community by providing a safe place for children to go after school.

The Commissioner ended her trip at Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin. She met with Chief Louis Taylor and Brian Bisonette of the Tribal Council. The Chippewa Wood Crafters received an ANA grant in 2005 to renovate a new building to house the tribally owned cabinet and furniture business. The new facilities will include a showroom, staining room and project studio. This expansion will allow the business to expand from 4 full time employees to 11 and will offer apprenticeship opportunities for youth and interested adults in the tribal community. During her visit, the Commissioner met with the Wood Crafters, ANA Project Coordinator, Faith Smith, and members of the Wadookadading Language Project, another ANA grant.

Commissioner Stamps Returns to Red Lake Reservation to Present a Gift

On April 27, 2006, Commissioner Stamps met with Red Lake Tribal leaders, local Native officials, volunteers and students from the Red Lake High School to present a painting to the community on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration for Native Americans. After the tragic shootings in the Reservation's High School last March, the Administration for Children and Families, through ANA, awarded a Social and Economic Development Strategies grant to provide supervised activities and opportunities for youth on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

ANA's partnership with the Red lake Tribal Leadership led to the coordination and facilitation of a visit by youth working with the Tribal Community Corps in Alaska & California. These youth worked side by side with Red Lake youth to renovate numerous community buildings. During her visit, Commissioner Stamps toured the newly renovated Redby Community Center, the Ponemah Community Center and Pow-wow Arbor, the Red Lake Pow-wow Arbor, and the Little Rock Community Center.

The Commissioner's visit coincided with a CERT/First Responder review and mini disaster drill that brought together the emergency response trained youth with professional Fire and Emergency Medical providers. The CERT/First Responder program was funded through a partnership between the Administration for Native Americans and the Indian Health Service. To date, 90 Red Lake community members have become certified in CERT and First Responder and are empowered to take the lead in providing emergency response support.

At the Presentation Ceremony Commissioner Stamps said, “I am so proud of the achievements of the Red Lake Tribal members – it is good to see you laugh again, hug and share stories with out tears in your eyes, and it is good to see your children looking forward.” The artwork was created by Carly Bordeau, an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwa. She spoke about her grief over the loss of her brother which inspired the artwork.