ThreeHoops.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. - American Indian tribes are making significant leaps in diabetes treatment and prevention programs, yet they're not tapping in to all the federal resources available, national health leaders said Tuesday...tribes are not taking advantage of grant programs under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Quanah Crossland Stamps, commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans. Tribes are eligible for 125 programs _ or about 40 percent_ of the 315 grant programs HHS offers. However, tribes only take advantage of about 85 of those 125 programs, Stamps said. As a result, the department is holding "regional consultation sessions" to determine if there are any regulatory or policy barriers that prevent tribes from accessing the resources. Nine such reviews were completed last month, and regional offices plan to discuss their findings with local tribes by mid-November, Stamps said. "It will improve our knowledge of each other," she said.

Applicants for Miss Indian Chicago, Junior Miss and Little Miss.
Applications will be available at the Back to School Pow Wow, September 25th
2003. The deadline for applications to be in is October 25th. Contact Norma
at the American Indian Center in Chicago, 773-275-5871. more info

Daughters of Tradition
Where: American Indian Center in Chicago, 1630 W. Wilson Avenue, Chicago in the Tribal Hall

When: each Wednesday night beginning October 1st
On October 1st Please come to the AIC between the hours of 3-7pm for pre-testing which takes about a half an hour. October 8th Yay!!! Our first session will include getting to know all facilitators, program details and buddies!!!
The Daughters of Tradition program is an exciting new prevention program for native girls ages 8-12 years old. Each week the young women will learn a different aspect of respect by utilizing the traditional values and knowledge shared by all tribes. Please call Nizhoni, DOT Coordinator at the AIC 773-275-5871 with additional questions. more info

This year’s Pow Wow Committee invites the public to contribute to a Commemorative Feast. The Feast will be Saturday evening, November 15, 2003 for registered Pow Wow participants at the UIC Pavilion, Chicago. You or your family’s contribution can be made in memory of a person who has journeyed on. The names of those remembered will appear in the Pow Wow Program book if so desired. If you are interested in helping, please email aic@aic-chicago.org for further information. more info

UPDATE: this week the Girls Jingle (ages 6 to 12) and Boys Fancy (ages 6 -12) have been sponsored by a family in the Chicago area that is interested in helping promote sharing culture from generation to generation! This will include a listing in the program booklet for you or your group per the dance category you sponsor. This will also include the Emcee announcing you or your group each time this dance style is on the floor for completion, at least once a day for each of the three days.

ThreeHoops note: Funding direct opportunity (Native or NonNative to Native). The American Indian Center in Chicago is recognized as one of the oldest urban Indian centers in the United States. Funding for it's activities goes directly to a Native American run and operated entity, directly benefitting Native American people.

What: The National Grand Opening Celebration of Artrain USA 's original Native American contemporary art exhibition entitled Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture. Artrain USA, the nation's only traveling art museum on a train, will tour Native Views to more than 100 communities across America from April 1004 through December 2007.

WHO: Hosted by Artrain USA and the City of Tempe, the Heard Museum, Atlatl with support from the Arizona Community Foundation

WHERE: Tempe, Arizona . Artrain USA will be located between First and Fifth streets parallel to Farmer Street .

If you know Native American artists that may have merchandise that they would like to have considered for Artrain USA's gift shop, please have them send us their wholesale catalog. Our giftshop will feature Native American art, highlighting many of the artists in the exhibition. If you have questions, please contact e-mail ArtrainUSA@aol.com.

Artrain USA is currently available for the scheduling of tour stops in Arizona, New Mexico, SE Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma and Texas for 2004. In 2005, Artrain USA will be traveling through the Atlantic Coast, the Northeast and Michigan; in 2006, the West, Pacific West and Alaska; and in 2007, the mid-central states. Reservations are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Artrain USA 's Maggie and Bob Allesee Fellowship program provides promising artists with experiences to enhance their personal and professional lives. The program is designed for recent fine arts graduates. Allesee Fellows have the unique experience of traveling the country, meeting thousands of people, building networks and contacts with other artists and galleries, while gaining valuable work skills. Fellows continue to hone their skills, while broadening their knowledge of arts administration and curatorial and conservation practices. Most importantly, while sharing their talents onboard Artrain USA, they enrich lives and help to build communities through the arts.

Artrain USA will be accepting applications for the Maggie and Bob Allesee Fellowship Program through January 2, 2004 . Fellows will travel with Artrain USA approximately 10 months; March to December 2004.

The Fellowship is open to those who have graduated or are enrolled in a fine arts program, either undergraduate or graduate, have an overall GPA of 2.5 or above, are at least 21 years old at the start of the Fellowship, have an interest in community education and public service and love to travel. Please visit our website at www.ArtrainUSA.org and download the Fellowship application and guidelines under the 'downloads' section in the middle of the home page.

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Senate has given final approval to a landmark SBA reauthorization bill to renew critical small business programs that will play a central role in restarting economic growth, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) said today.

Snowe, Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, hailed passage of the bill, S.1375, which "lays the foundation" for a stronger Small Business Administration (SBA) and provides a blueprint for more efficient programs to help meet the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs across the country, which account for approximately two-thirds of the net new jobs in the economy...

Native American Businesses: establishes the Native American Small Business Development Program, an initiative that will provide entrepreneurial assistance to Tribal Governments and Colleges, Small Business Development Centers in Native American communities, and small businesses located on or near Tribal Lands. Complementing the SBA's Office of Native American Affairs, this initiative will strengthen the SBA's efforts to help Native Americans start, operate and grow small businesses." more info

Coming on October 1: Brown Bag Lunch -- Educational Opportunities in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management
Contact: The Foundation Center, 1627 K Street, Third Floor, Washington, DC 20006, 202 331 1400
Are you interested in exploring academic credentials in nonprofit management? Would you like to find out about college and university programs in the field? If so, please join us for a brown bag lunch on Wednesday, October 1 at 12:00 noon. The speaker will be Professor Russell A. Cargo, director of the nonprofit management program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Professor Cargo, a nationally-known leader in nonprofit management education, will discuss graduate and undergraduate programs in philanthropy and nonprofit management, both in the DC area and around the country. This session is free of charge, but space is limited and reservations are required. To register, call 202/331-1400 or click here.

"The Eugene-based Oregon Research Institute has received three grants to study alcohol and substance abuse treatment of adolescents and on working with American Indian people to improve parenting skills. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has awarded ORI $2.4 million for a five-year study of teenage drinking in Portland. Another five-year, $2.1 million project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, will focus on evaluating the acceptability and effectiveness of a culturally enhanced parenting program for reducing risk factors for substance abuse in American Indian families. more info

Stevens increases funding for VPSOs
By SAM BISHOP News-Miner Washington Bureau, AK
"...In news reports earlier this month, Heather Kendall Miller of the Native American Rights Fund in Anchorage said the federal money pays for more than just tribal criminal law enforcement.

"Issues related to domestic violence and public safety are often civil in nature," Kendall Miller said. "This is not an issue of state jurisdiction versus tribal jurisdiction. It is an issue of maximizing scarce resources to provide a level of public safety in village Alaska." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding direct (NonNative to Native), Legislator attempting to reduce funding to Tribal Nations

"Funding for academic legal research is rarely controversial. But an Indian tribal law center proposed by the dean of the University of Connecticut's School of Law has created a stir..." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding direct (Native to NonNative), Politically motivated criticism of Tribal Nations charitable grantmaking

HUD cites pattern of suspicious data used to support nine grants awarded under Janklow.
By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer, Rapid City Journal, SD

"...Former Gov. Bill Janklow, now South Dakota's congressman, awarded each of the grants now in question under HUD's Community Development Block Grant program. Under the CDBG program, units of local government receive chunks of federal money and have discretion in awarding grants to projects that meet criteria set forth by the federal government. In South Dakota, all CDBG money goes through the state except the grants awarded in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, where the cities distribute grants.

What the state's decision to cancel the shooting range grant means for the future of the project was unclear Thursday. Organizers had planned to use only $75,000 in local funding for the $900,000 project. The nonprofit Black Hills Sportsmen's Complex had planned to operate the shooting range, already the subject of two lawsuits, at a site four miles north of Bear Butte State Park...

...One of the lawsuits, filed against HUD in April by a group of Sturgis residents, made the allegation that the shooting range would not benefit low- and moderate-income people as required by CDBG criteria. Federal rules require that grants go to projects that would benefit a geographic area where at least 51 percent of the population is low- or moderate-income.

A second lawsuit, filed in February, contends that the state failed to consult with American Indian tribes about the shooting range's impact on Bear Butte, a site sacred to a number of tribes. The judge in that case on Thursday postponed indefinitely a Nov. 4 trial date, noting that the state's move to cancel the grant could end the project.

HUD investigated the shooting range grant and a series of grants awarded from the $8.5 million worth of South Dakota's 2002 CDBG cycle. HUD found a pattern in which the state consistently used low- and moderate- income data that exceeded existing census data by double-digit percentages. more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding indirect (NonNative to NonNative), use of federal public CDBG funds negatively impacts Tribes

"...TRIO is a federal outreach program that was formed in 1965 which aids any student who meets the federal income criteria and are first-generation college students. The programs help students complete high school, go to college, succeed in college and prepare them to enter doctoral programs.

Smith-Alexander currently is working to recruit Native American students to GVSU through a service-learning program for Upward Bound and McNair students. "We could integrate the program into the Grand Rapids community, Upper Peninsula or as far away as the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota," she said. The goal is to gain more Native American students while preserving the students GVSU has already, using the unique services of the TRIO program." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding indirect (NonNative to NonNative), projected direct benefit to Native American people

"... Pass the Torch , a new program administered by Student Special Services, offers academic assistance and other support services geared to the needs of transfer students from traditionally underrepresented groups -- Native American, Chicano/a, Latino/a and African American." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding indirect (NonNative to NonNative), projected direct benefit to Native American people

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced 12 grants totaling $13.7 million to promote community initiatives to promote better health and prevent disease. The grants are funded under HHS' new Steps to a HealthierUS program, which aims to help Americans live longer, better, and healthier lives by reducing the burden of diabetes, overweight, obesity and asthma and addressing three related risk factors -- physical inactivity, poor nutrition and tobacco use.

The grants will help to implement community action plans targeting border populations, Hispanics and Latinos, Native Americans, African-Americans, Asians, immigrants, low-income populations, the disabled, youth, senior citizens, uninsured and underinsured people and people at high risk. Recipients of the grants reach 23 communities, including one tribal consortium, 15 small cities or rural communities and seven large cities." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding direct (NonNative to Native), direct benefit to Tribal Nations and Native American people

By Venita Jenkins, Staff writer, Fayetteville Online, The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, NC

"WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole said Wednesday that it's time for Congress to correct an injustice by granting full federal recognition to Lumbee Indians." more info

"... the Michigan project, to encompass eight Indian tribal communities, almost 43,000 people, where deaths from diabetes are six times the national average. As part of its $250,000 healthier-communities grant, tribal elders will encourage a return to more traditional foods - fresh fish, berries, wild rice - instead of today's processed fare. The project will measure if the diet switch is feasible and trims weight." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding direct (NonNative to Native), direct benefit to Tribal Nations and Native American people

NA outreach position will not be filled
Native American students lose prominent resource for counseling, financial aid advice
By LAURA CLARK/The Ukiah Daily Journal, CA

"Letters were sent to some 278 Native American Mendocino College students informing them who they should contact if they need services for financial aid, counseling, etc., because there is no longer a Native American outreach worker available on campus. The position, vacant since the previous outreach worker left in May, was never filled due to state budget cuts." more info

ThreeHoops note: Funding indirect (NonNative to NonNative), direct benefit opportunity to Native American people lost

"PLEASANT POINT - Without millions of dollars from the U.S. government, the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation would be far too poor to treat their sick, house their neediest tribal members or care for their elderly." more info

"...Penobscot Chief Barry Dana, chairman of the casino company Two Tribes Enterprises LLC, said some members were reluctant to accept federal grants when the tribe was formally recognized, but others saw the need for housing assistance and health care...Dana said a casino stands to vastly improve the tribes' quality of life. Profits could reduce reliance on federal aid, while potentially extending health care to all members, paying for out-of-state college tuition and creating a museum for artifacts now housed in a converted machine shop..."We appreciate the federal and state money, but we hope someday to fund some of those activities ourselves," said Dan Nelson, the tribe's chief financial officer. "We're a sovereign government, separate and distinct, and yes, we'd like to be financially independent if we could, to strengthen our sovereignty."

3 tribes may skip event in Louisville - Late invitation, factionalism are issues

"Three American Indian tribes with historical ties to Kentuckiana say they have been slighted by organizers of next month's Lewis and Clark bicentennial event in the Louisville area...Leaders of the three Oklahoma-based groups of Shawnee Indians said they weren't informed about the event until late July, while a smaller Shawnee group from western Ohio had years to prepare. The Oklahoma tribes say they no longer have time to plan for the trip, and some fear the Ohio tribe, which isn't federally recognized, will misrepresent their heritage...Local and national organizers acknowledge they should have contacted the Oklahoma tribes sooner and they say they're scrambling to bring them to the Falls of the Ohio in Clarksville, Ind., for the Oct. 14-26 event."

MISSION, Ore. - Legend here says that back before time, or maybe a little later, Coyote, the revered and ubiquitous spiritual gadfly of the high-plateau tribes, spelled it all out for them: "White people with hair on their faces will come from the rising sun. You people must be careful." more info

By James P. Sweeney, COPLEY NEWS SERVICE, in the San Diego Union Tribune, CA

SACRAMENTO – After a bill to preserve sacred Indian sites fell three votes short in the Assembly early yesterday, a small group of Native Americans, their lobbyists and supporters wept quietly together in the Capitol rotunda.

"...Colorado is the last of the Four Corners states to ante up, eking out $200,000 in August for the pot to improve the monument. Its contribution does not equal that of the three other states, which gave $500,000 each. So the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Colorado committed $200,000. But the federal government, under a 1999 act, will kick in $2 million only after the states raise the first $2 million.

So with the fund still short $100,000, the Navajo Nation, which sprawls over all the corners but Colorado, is looking for rest of the money in its budget, Navajo Parks Manager Martin Begaye said." more info

Work continues on meeting goal of museum
Eastern Delaware Nations Inc. are now one step closer to building a $1.6 million museum and council house building opposite Wyalusing Rocks and the Marie Antoinette scenic lookout on Route 6.

WYALUSING - EDN hopes to start construction within two years.
The Group ultimately envisions a museum where they can teach the public about Native American heritage - pre-European settlement. They also hope to house exhibits, a gift shop and a conference venue able to seat 200 people. EDN want their museum/council house to host meetings for area social clubs and interest groups - even having a theatre. more info

Florence debates potential of casino

". . . Communities with tribal casinos benefit from their success in part because compacts with the state require that a certain percentage of a casino's profit be returned to the community in the form of grants. Most tribes also donate to community causes beyond what their compacts require." more info

BOULDER WHOLE FOODS MARKET BENEFITS INDIAN LEGAL DEFENSE FUND CONTACT INFORMATION: Montoya Whiteman, 303-447-8760, Pippa Sorley, 720-563-0301
BOULDER, CO - Whole Foods Market in Boulder, Colorado is hosting a
"Community Day" to benefit the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) on
September 18, 2003. Yvonne Knight, an attorney at the Native American
Rights Fund is the keynote speaker from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. who will talk
about her role in "Helping Tribes Prepare for the Future"..."Whole Foods is pleased to benefit the Native American Rights Fund who has been headquartered in Boulder for 32 years," says Pippa Sorley, Marketing
Director for the Whole Foods Boulder store. "This is a great opportunity
for our Whole Foods customers to learn about the legal issues facing
Native Americans across our country..."We are excited about our partnership with Whole Foods," says John Echohawk, NARF's Executive Director. "The funds raised through this event will help NARF in seeking justice for Native Americans through the legal process."

ANCHORAGE (AP) - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, with a few sentences tucked into a spending bill, is moving to end federal funding for Alaska tribal courts and tribal police officers. Instead, several million dollars in Department of Justice grants would be diverted to the state to pay for state court magistrates and Alaska's Village Public Safety Officer program. more info

"Sep 08 2000 - The head of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs apologises for the federal agency's "legacy of racism and inhumanity" that included massacres, forced relocations of tribes and attempts to wipe out native Indian cultures." more info

Local nonprofits struggle to survive in worst fiscal conditions many directors have seen
By Michele R. Marcucci, STAFF WRITER, Tri-Valley Herald, CA

"Even smaller programs are having a tough time. The American Indian Center in Livermore , which tutors American Indian students, is still waiting for word on a federal education department grant that should cover most of its $70,000 budget, said Mary Puthoff of the Livermore School District , which implements the program. But Puthoff estimates the grant will be less than before, meaning the center will have to cut services." more info

From Chronicle Staff Reports, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MT
"The public is invited to preview a new traveling exhibition, Native Waters: Sharing the Source, and a film, "A Dream for Water," developed by Montana State University's Native Waters Project on Tuesday, Sept. 9 from 7-9 p.m. in MSU's Strand Union Building, Ballroom C. The Native Waters exhibit, invites visitors to reflect on the importance of the Missouri River in our lives. Native people from 22 tribes throughout the Missouri River Basin contributed to create this traveling exhibit and film." more info

"The Native American Housing Block grant program is funded at $646.6 million, the same as the budget request." more info

"Annette Perkins of Covington , an American Indian educator, lecturer and musician, will attend the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History from Sept. 17 to 20 in Providence , R.I. While there, Perkins will attend a daylong meeting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. That meeting will explore program goals and procedures for an anticipated federal tribal museum funding program. The tribal museum set-aside money is included in a $38.6 million federal museum and library services reauthorization bill." more info

"The commission has embarked on a four-year project with the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Klamath-Trinity Unified School District to help young American Indian children become ready for school. Rowan said it will soon be doing similar work countywide." more info

"The ridge, said Joe Kennedy, 36, of the Timbisha tribe, "is a very sacred mountain to Shoshones" and should not be used for burial of highly radioactive spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power reactors. . . Because of their proximity to Yucca Mountain , the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe near Ely filed requests last year with the Interior Department seeking affected Indian tribe status.

The designation, similar to that afforded Nevada and counties around the mountain, would give the several hundred members of these tribes a voice in matters concerning the project and funding for independent oversight of it.

In November, the National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton to grant affected status to the tribes who submitted petitions.

But after more than 14 months, the Interior Department has not acted on their requests . . ." more info