Below in an article from "Indian Country Today" that details how difficult it is for self help organizations to survive in Indian country.  CFANA is a potential funding source for worthwile programs of this sort.  Please consider joining us in this project.  You can send  a contribution by clicking on the link below. https://www.registrationfactory.com/v3/?EventUUID=D51BB9FD Ignored pleas for financial assistance could spell the end of halfway house

by: Mary Pierpoint / Indian Country Today

© Indian Country Today February 20, 2008. All Rights Reserved

MAYETTA, Kan. - The capacity at Potawatomi Addiction Recovery Resource (PARR House) and its six dedicated employees, who prefer to be called a team, are fighting hard to find funding to keep the halfway house doors open since tribal funding has been cut for the program during a restructuring of tribal funds. For Vernon Wattweotten, Evans Barr, Tim Mendez, Terry CrossBear, James Jurey and Evelyn Hopkins, it is not only a fight to stay  open, but a labor of love. They want to continue working with clients and reintegrate them back  into society. But the success stories they have witnessed in PARR House may end in  September if funding for the inter-tribal program can't be found. The death knoll for PARR House came after a tribal election where Potawatomi tribal  members voted to increase their per capita payments. The result has been cuts in tribal  programs on the reservation. ''The community here on the reservation weren't the ones who  voted for the increase in the per cap,'' Hopkins, PARR House head counselor said. ''From  our understanding, it was from tribal members that don't live here and have the ties to the  community to see how much good PARR and programs for the elderly have done. They  don't have family members or friends who have benefited from them.'' Tribal funding was cut at the end of January and the halfway house is now operating on  a grant from IHS that will only keep the house open until September. On March 1, two of the  six-person team will have to seek employment elsewhere because of the funding crunch. Potawatomi Tribal Chairman Steve Ortiz finds himself caught in the middle. ''The vote was by  tribal members,'' Ortiz said. ''Until we see what we actually have for a budget after the first  payments are made, we can't afford to spend money we may not have. Over the years we  have donated money to many causes, but none have donated to us. This is a program that  takes in members from all tribes, but we have been the only tribe that has funded it for years. '' Ortiz added that the tribe's transitional costs as Harrah's was phased out of the casino and  the tribe took over running it have been high, making the tribal government have to take a hard  look at which programs can be funded and which can't. ''It isn't the money that makes me want to work here,'' counselor Mendez said. ''I could make  more money someplace else; but working with these men has made me a better man.'' Known as the ''Elder'' to his peers, Wattweotten is well respected by his co-workers, residents  of PARR and community members. ''I would estimate our success rate with these men at  around 70 percent'' Wattweotten said. ''The average for most halfway houses is around  30 percent. These men come here and learn about themselves and about their culture.  It makes a difference.'' PARR House is unique among halfway houses even within Indian country. Paperwork is kept  to a minimum, but rules and boundaries are in place and enforced with a three strikes you're  out policy. Each resident has duties and jobs to keep the house running smoothly and attend  meetings for their recovery at least four times per week. Men from tribes across the country find  themselves all working toward the same goal, recovery. ''Tribalism is something that we all need to forget,'' counselor Barr said. ''We have to unite  as tribes and forget past transgressions. Just because one tribe stole horses from another  a hundred years ago doesn't mean we have to hang on to that. We have to come together  and that has been important at PARR. Tribalism is just something that was started by the  government 200 years ago and has been continued to be used to keep us from really coming  together even today. ''We take tribal members from all over the country into PARR and they learn about their culture.  They aren't required to, but most participate in the sweat lodge; those who do are the ones that  seldom relapse. I'm a warrior. I've slept under bridges like many of these men have. I am not  going to give up the fight to save this place. I see the changes that PARR has made in the lives  of the men who come through here. We have appealed to tribes across the country, but so far  nothing has happened. It makes me wonder where people like Bill Gates and Bon Jovi are. They go to foreign countries and help them, but they don't want to clean up their own backyard.'' Other than an IHS offer for matching funds to keep the halfway house open, and possible help from the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, only the state of Kansas has made an offer to help; something that concerns the team members at PARR. ''We had a women's halfway house here some time ago that was state funded and the women wouldn't go to it,'' Hopkins said. ''It didn't address teaching them who they are or their culture. If that happens to PARR, it would mean more time on paperwork and less time to work with our clients.'' The team at PARR is working hard to keep the last chance many addicts have to return to a sober life. Fundraising from two dances and money from a future bake sale to try to raise some matching funds brings community members out to support the good that has been done by the program, but falls far short of the approximate $200,000 the house needs to keep its staff on and the doors open. Wattweotten sees a grim future for his people on the Potawatomi Reservation if PARR closes. ''The people see the results of the men who leave here,'' he said. ''They go back out in the community and let the others know there is a better way than the meth and the alcohol they had been using. If this place closes, we will see more meth labs and use here; there won't be a strong presence of people to let the others know what it can do to families. There won't be men who will go out and talk to the school kids. It will be a great loss.'' The team members at PARR are hanging on, looking at every possibility to continue to help men in recovery reintegrate back into lives free of drugs and alcohol. Even as the September closing grows nearer, they still dream of expanding the present halfway house and opening one for women, as they help miracles happen and wait for one of their own. Alcoholism and substance abuse in Indian country Alcoholism is not a new problem for Indian country. The problem began shortly after European contact with Indian people began. The first attempts by tribes to address the problem of what is now known as alcoholism was addressed by tribes on the east coast as early as the 1750s. Curiously enough, the solutions tribal elders found at that time were very similar to those later used in the 12 step programs that are in use today. Asking the Creator for help was one of those first steps that elders suggested to tribal members who had succumbed to the spirits found in the bottles that had been offered to them in friendship by the newly arrived Europeans. As with today's substance abuse problems among Native people, some were able to walk away from drinking and walk, what is known to Indian people as, the Good Red Road. But for others, it has continued to be a problem that has plagued tribes for generations. Now a meth epidemic that has swept across Indian country in the past few years, in much the same way that alcohol did 200 years ago, the old ways are finding their way into successful models to stem the flowing scourge. Although modern Indian people have sought treatment for substance abuse problems over the past century, many have not succeeded. Those who have found the path of the Good Red Road credit not only 12 step programs, but the return to or learning of their traditional culture. For many Indian people seeking a way out of the despair of substance abuse, learning about their ancestors has been a very powerful tool in finding a way to stay clean and sober. By returning to the ways of the old ones, alcoholics and addicts have found a new sense of who they truly are and a new self-esteem. Tribal treatment centers and halfway houses have been one way in which modern treatment methods and traditional methods have been able to come together to help Indian people regain their sobriety and become responsible, hard working members of their tribes and also helped them regain ties to their families again. Even IHS clinics have found that melting the two methods works to serve their clients in recovery. Potawatomi Addiction Recovery Resource is one of a handful of halfway houses across Indian country that takes men from treatment centers and reintegrates them into society by using both old and new ways. One of the house residents agreed to speak to Indian Country Today about the changes PARR and the team members have made in his life. ''I was on meth for a long time. I've been to treatment before and to one halfway house,'' he said. ''But it was in my old neighborhood, nothing changed. I have a job now and I am fighting to get custody of my kids. I know now that I am a good person. I've been straight for 13 months. That's the longest I have ever had that in probably 20 years. It was different here. I learned about who I am and about my culture. Now I just want to get a place to live and to work and live with my kids and show them that their dad isn't messed up anymore. Maybe that can stop them from going through what I did.'' As he finished, another younger house resident came in beaming. ''I just got a 2 dollar raise,'' he said, smiling broadly. ''They are going to give me a certificate as forklift operator and then in a couple of months I can get another

By the time CFANA reaches its goal of $100,000,000 the income alone would go a long way in addressing the problems discussed in this excerpt from a recent  article in the Rapiod City Journal.  Can you help us help them?

Wearing sweaters, cooking pizzas in a toaster oven and turning down the water heater are not popular rules at Aldena Pretty Weasel's Eagle Butte home, but they are necessary steps the single mother of six and grandmother has taken to conserve propane.
With propane at $2.05 a gallon, Pretty Weasel estimates that it's costing her almost $400 a month to heat her rented home.

"It's a continual worry," Pretty Weasel said. "You try to keep your heat down all day, but you go home, and it's cold, and you have to put your heat up. It's hard; it's really hard."

At home, everyone wears a sweater and wraps up in blankets.

An electric space heater helps take the chill off her granddaughter's bedroom.

The arrival of much colder Canadian air this week was the last thing Pretty Weasel needed.

If her heating costs go much higher, she'll be forced to make some hard choices.

"I will have to let a few things go," she said. "There's nothing else I can do.

But, compared to many people on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, where 50 percent of the people live below the poverty level, Pretty Weasel says she is fortunate.

"I worry about the people who don't have a job," she said.

Joe Brings Plenty, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, talks with people almost daily who are living on $200 to $300 a month.

Brings Plenty recently alerted his tribal council that additional financial resources may be needed to help people make it through the winter.

You can donate here: https://www.registrationfactory.com/v3/?EventUUID=D51BB9FD

The following article highlights the importance of CFANA's work.  We have a plan to improve health care by going around the Indian Health Service and make it possible for physicians to actually make a living providing dignified health care to their people.  Won't you please help?

You can donate here:

https://www.registrationfactory.com/v3/?EventUUID=D51BB9FD

Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H.

     On March 21, 2005, at the high school on the Red Lake Indian reservation in Minnesota, a troubled American Indian teenager went on a shooting rampage, killing nine people before turning the gun on himself. Most of the news reports highlighted his past, including a history of depression and suicide attempts, and the daunting socioeconomic conditions in his

reservation community. Reporters mentioned high rates of poverty, alcoholism, nemployment,

and violence among young people as possible factors in the tragedy. Although similar events

have occurred in wealthier communities - the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, leap to mind - this calamity seems to have reminded our country that many American Indian and Alaska Native communities face deep-rooted challenges every day and continue to be affected by significant socioeconomic and health disparities.

    
     An American Indian physician, I spent three years in the 1990s working in an Indian Health

Service hospital in rural Arizona and witnessed the harsh realities of life on an Indian reservation.  Having spent 11 years in Boston for my education and training, I felt I was embarking on a great adventure as I drove the desolate stretch of highway that led to the

reservation. As I entered it, however, I noticed a change in scenery.  Scattered along the road were small houses in various states of disrepair, often with litter and beer cans scattered about the high desert landscape around them.  Even some of the newer homes had wooden outhouses close by, and small children played in a yard full of trash and abandoned cars. Some of these houses, no larger than 500 square feet at best, had at least six cars parked

in front of them, and as I later discovered, many housed more than one family.  
    
     As I drove into the center of town, I found that the main street was only about three blocks long. The town center was framed by the elementary school, the hospital, a small café, a grocery store, tribal offices, and an abandoned gas station. I breathed a sigh of relief when I arrived at the hospital and spotted the government-owned houses for hospital staff across the street - in much better condition than the homes I had passed on my way into town.  Driving into this community, I was reminded of my family's visits to my grandmother on an Indian reservation in South Dakota, but the poor living conditions had not been as striking to a child as they were to a physician.  
    
     During a brief orientation, my supervisor described the community of approximately 10,000 people and the challenges it faced.  The unemployment rate hovered around 80 percent, and alcoholism, substance abuse, injuries, accidents, and violence were common.  National statistics show persistent disparities in socioeconomic conditions between the people who live on most Indian reservations and the U.S. population at large, with higher rates of unemployment, lower median incomes, lower educational levels, and higher rates of poverty.  For most American Indians, relocation to rural reservations in the 1800s resulted in a loss of culture, traditions, and familiar ways of life and left them isolated in places that were far removed from the resources available in urban areas. Years of poor educational systems and lack of opportunity have resulted in seriously depressed socioeconomic conditions on most reservations.  
    
     The outdated, understaffed hospital in this community had only four beds, a busy outpatient clinic with five working exam rooms, and a small emergency room with four stations. A few run-down trailers held additional clinics and services.  A sign on the door of the emergency room cautioned patients not to bring firearms into the facility - a constant reminder of perennial violence and trauma. After the vast, shiny university teaching hospital in which I had most recently worked, this facility came as quite a shock.  
    
     Part of my job was to help cover the emergency room. Although the hospital was built to be staffed by 12 physicians, only 3 others worked there when I arrived. During every emergency room shift, I cared for adults and children with broken bones from unintentional injuries and car accidents, attended to patients in various stages of alcohol or drug intoxication, and treated the unfortunate and often preventable complications of chronic disease.  
    
     In particular, American Indians and Alaska Natives are experiencing an epidemic of diabetes, with a prevalence two to three times that among non-Hispanic whites in the United States.  In some Indian communities, more than half of all adults have diabetes, and without access to high-quality medical care, the ability to obtain or prepare healthful food, and the money to buy shoes that fit, many patients end up in the clinic or emergency room with infections, strokes, and heart attacks. The lack of fresh vegetables and healthy choices at the local grocery store means that most families live on high-fat foods such as fried bread, Indian tacos, and junk food. Physicians were often frustrated by patients'  noncompliance with medication, but I found that the reason for it was usually a misunderstanding or a lack of information, alcohol or substance abuse, or the need to work or care for others, rather than a lack of caring. Talking with patients about their living situation often helped more than handing them a bottle of pills.  
    
     Some people came to the emergency room for the sole purpose of requesting an over-the-counter medication such as Tylenol because they could not afford to buy it. But many came with more serious - and theoretically preventable - problems. I hated to hear the voices of the emergency medical technicians blast over the radio system, because they wereusually warning us of their imminent arrival with yet another victim of an alcohol-related accident.  Alcohol-related death rates are 7.4 times as high among American Indians and Alaska Natives as in the overall U.S. population,  and alcoholism continues to be a substantial health and social problem on reservations.  
    
     Not all my experiences in this small Indian community were so gloomy. I made friends among the hospital employees, and some gracious community members invited me to their homes for family events. Many tribal members, despite their difficult circumstances, worked hard at their jobs or planned to further their education. As in any community, many parents did everything they could to create a better life for their children. Still, I worried about the children I saw in the clinic: they had to grow up so quickly in order to help their families survive daily hardship and were always at risk of succumbing to peer pressure to use alcohol or drugs or to join gangs.  Young Indians are more likely to die as the result of homicide, suicide, or accidents than are other young people in the United States, and they have higher death rates

from alcoholism and substance abuse.  I hoped that the children would see me in the clinic wearing my starched white coat and realize that it is possible for an American Indian to become a physician. 

     Some Americans purport to believe that the problems of American Indians have been solved by economic enterprises such as casinos. But the enormous successes of a few tribal casinos in the Northeast are far from the norm. The bright lights and ringing bells in most casinos do no more than divert attention from the continued challenges and hardships faced by Indian communities each day.  And far too little has changed since I worked in that community 10 years ago. 

     Although the federal government has a trust responsibility to provide health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives, the Indian Health Service is substantially underfunded and understaffed.  This service was established in 1955 to provide primary care and public health services on or near Indian reservations.  Although it can take credit for great improvements in health status, significant disparities in health and the quality of care persist 50 years later. Many factors contribute to these disparities, but the failure of the federal government to adequately fund the Indian Health Service for the provision of care to the 1.8 million patients it is supposed to serve means that the promises of treaties signed in the 1800s have never been fulfilled. Indian Health Service per capita health care expenditures are much lower than those of other health care systems in the United States. 

     I left that community after three years, the last two of them as the medical director. During my stay, I tried to improve the quality of health care by implementing changes in the clinic structure and hiring well-qualified physicians. My efforts, however, were constantly thwarted by obstacles to good health that extended far beyond the hospital - problems whose roots lie in the high rates of poverty, unemployment, alcoholism, and other ongoing public health crises. I hope, at least, that the tragedy in Red Lake serves as a wake-up call to the federal government and health professionals about the pressing need for more resources to address the persistent crisis in health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
_______________________________________________________________________

Dr. Roubideaux is an assistant professor in the College of Public Health and the College

of Medicine at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

 

In November of 2007 CFANA renewed "Chako's" scholarship.  We also entertained a request for funding for a computer needed for his project in Oklahoma.  The following appeal went out to those on my email list:

Hi All,

Many of you know about my Foundation, the Centennial Fund for the Advancement of Native Americans (CFANA).  If you do not, in brief, my mission is to help young Indian Americans re-energize their native cultures and economies in ways that they determine.  I hope to help them get educated, get needed health care, and gain access to investment capital.  So, far, most of the money the foundation has used for these purposes has come from my own meager pocket.  This summer my family very generously raised over $3,000.00 at a silent auction at my mom's 90th birthday.  Thank you again for that.  However, many have been asked, but other than my family, few have given.

One of my scholarship recipients, Chako by name, is leading a project in Oklahoma to teach his dying native language to fellow tribesmen.  His program is broader than that however, seeking to restore pride in his native culture and in this way reduce the appeal of alcohol, drugs and gangs.  This is a grass roots effort that has virtually no financial support other than the limited fundraising they do in the local area.  I feel strongly that they are on the only path that can create real change in Indian country.  One needs a connection to his roots, and knowledge of and pride in his ancestors and their achievements, to find the strength and develop the character necessary to be an agent of change.  When one reads the statistics on life on many of our reservations he might feel that things are hopeless.  They will be, unless good people come forward and help those who are "stepping up" to become difference makers.

Last year I bought Chako a computer, from my own funds, that was needed to produce the videos used to promote his project.  Chako says that video is the only sure way of reaching out to many people because so many are unable to read.  However, last years  computer is inadequate to the task of creating high quality videos.  A certain software program called "Final Cut Pro" is required and a more powerful computer is needed to run it.  The Foundation is committed to one more scholarship, to be granted in the spring, and does not have the money to buy the computer.  As for myself, a second computer so soon is not manageable.  I am asking the people I know best to help.  Fifty or one hundred dollars from each of you would make a huge impact on Chako's project as well on the lives of those who are granted scholarships in the future.  Less would still help, of course.  More would be miraculous and gratefully accepted.  This, the Christmas Season, is a time of giving and a time when are hearts are most open to those in need.  Won't you please consider a gift to this most worthy of efforts.  Chako and his crew will be forever grateful.

Charlie Utter

I now make this appeal to all who read this.  Help us make a difference.  Jack London once said, " I would rather be ashes than dust!  I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.  I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me a magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.  The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.  I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them, I shall use my time."  Chako is a superb meteor!  Help him change his world!

You can contribute at the following link.

https://www.registrationfactory.com/v3/?EventUUID=D51BB9FD
Please be aware that CFANA is a donor advised fund at the National Heritage Foundation

Progress comes with patience, time, and in small steps. CFANA (Centennial Fund for the Advancement of Native Americans) was able to grant its first scholarship in November of 2006. What follows is an exchange of emails with the recipient. They indicate both our first steps forward and a partial scope of the vision of our project.  Please feel free to comment and please, if anyone can lead us to even a small source of funding, or if you want to participate in even a limited way, please contact me. 

Contributions can be made at the following link.

 https://www.registrationfactory.com/v3/?EventUUID=D51BB9FD

Hi Anthony,
Congratulations! I was just informed that you will be the recipient of the
scholarship my foundation provided in cooperation with the Indian Scholars
Fund. I would like to get to know you and would very much appreciate your
staying in touch as you progress toward your degree.

Tell me a little about your background, some of the activities you
participated in while in high school, your course of study, your hopes and
aspirations, etc.

Again, congratulations. I look forward to meeting you Thursday night.
Charles Utter
Founder
Centennial Fund for the Advancement of Native Americans

Anthony's response:

My apologies for such a late response, as you can imagine school gets really hectic this time in the semester and I just got back from attending a dance/feast on a Pueblo reservation in New Mexico, stopping by to visit some friends on the Navajo reservation, and I've been frantically trying to finish tanning the three deer hides I got this year hunting with my Dad and brother.
     About my background, I was born in Grand Junction, CO. My family was part of the relocation program of the 1940's and thus moved from rural Wetumka, Oklahoma to LA, and from there somehow ended up in Grand Junction. I am Muscogee; more commonly referred to as ‘Creek,' however I prefer to use "Mvskoke" which is simply Muscogee spelt in our alphabet. In high school I was a track and cross-country runner, played bass guitar in Jazz band and orchestral bass in the Grand Junction high school symphony orchestra. In the academic realm I graduated with a 3.67 (to my recollection), founded the Quantum Mechanics club, and was involved in a couple other side activities. I mostly like to spend time outside, camping, hunting, fishing, and doing art.
     I entered CU majoring in Religious Studies and eventually switched to Ethnic Studies. I am very happy with my major now, and thoroughly enjoy the content of my education here, as I find it to be extremely relevant and empowering to my work within my community. Which also is to say, in my later years in high school and throughout my college life I have spent the majority of my extra-curricular time in Oklahoma. I have grown very close to family, relatives, friends and other member of the traditional Mvskoke community therein. Last summer I worked with the tribal government in the cultural preservation department focusing on language preservation and restoration. My experiences in Oklahoma have furthered my devotion to my community and to our culture. Unfortunately, my work within the tribal government led me to the conclusion that the bureaucratic process of Creek Nation is not sufficient to meet the dire and urgent needs of our community, and will not function to preserve or restore our culture in any authentic or meaningful sense.
     Currently American Indian people, to which Mvskoke's are certainly no exception, face the highest rates of poverty, shortest life expectancy (45 years for a male), vastly disproportionate rates of incarceration, highest rates of teen suicide, infant mortality, school drop out (in some areas 90%), and substance addiction. Further, as has been consistently evident in other American Indian communities, we have found a solid grounding in ones own identity and cultural background to be the most effective solution to these ills. Only with this as a starting point can we move forward as a people and begin to heal the wounds of our communities. We as Mvskoke people are at a most pivotal time in our history as our language and traditional culture are on the verge of extinction. There have long been grassroots efforts within our community to keep our language and ways of life alive, however lacking resources and manpower these efforts have not met their potential. I have thus teamed up with other members of our community and started the Hvteceskv organization. With years of work as an activist participating in protests, campaigns, marches, etc., traveling to numerous American Indian communities, and of course countless hours in diligent research and study, I am very please to say that I have finally found a concrete pathway to focus my energy in an effort that I know will be directly and authentically beneficial to my people. Thus my time at the University is centered around this cause. Receiving my degree is integral to this effort, however in the mean time I am working ceaselessly on a variety of projects. I am currently working on a documentary after receiving a small grant from the UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program), which will highlight the history of Mvskoke Nation, told through the oral traditions of our elders. This documentary will be shown with other relevant films in the ‘film tours' of the summer of 2007, which is intended to promote awareness and dialogue on the most pressing issues facing our community. I am also working on funding proposals to buy books and educational materials for our youth; this includes putting several books and essays on tape and CD for the unfortunately significant portion of our population that is to at least some degree illiterate. I have also organized an event to bring in a speaker from my tribe as well as another well-known activists from the Lakota Nation to speak at the CU campus and in Denver. Amongst these efforts, I spend as much time as possible studying and expanding my knowledge of the Mvskoke language (there are virtually no fluent speakers in my generation), as this is one of my highest priorities and a vital precondition for our plans with the Hvteceskv organization. As it sounds, it is hectic and at times overwhelming work, but attempting to follow the examples lay by our ancestors I refuse to passively watch our language and ways die in my lifetime.
     Sorry this email turned out to be a little longer than I originally intended. As you can see I am very passionate about these issues and obviously have a lot to say. As you suggested, I would be happy to arrange a time to eat and visit. Just let me know what general time frame your looking at and we'll figure something out.
     I would like to conclude this email by offering my sincere gratitude for receiving a scholarship from your fund. In the midst of my work as a student, activist, and member of my community, finances are often put on the back-burner and to great potential detriment (I have been borderline from dis-enrolling from the University for some time). Thus your financial support is truly greatly appreciated and accordingly will be put to the best use possible.
MVTOOO, (thank you)
Chako

My follow up: 

Hi Chako,

Phyllis and I are eager to get to know you better and would like to invite you and a friend to dinner. We have the following dates open: November 24-26, Dec. 15 or 17. If none of these work for you, we will have to postpone till after the first of the year. We are aware that your Christmas break is quite long but are not aware of your plans during that time. If you plan not to be in Boulder during the break then we will have to wait until school resumes in January. Let us know.

     I found your email quite inspiring. I wonder if fate has seen to the crossing of our paths. At any rate we have much to discuss.

     When I was a young man, my first job out of college was teaching and coaching at a Catholic High School of 100 students 20 miles from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. I coached cross country, track and basketball. In my five years there, we won three state cross country championships and were second the other two years. We lost one of those years, for the best of reasons.  When our top runner hyperventilated and collapsed on the course, our number two runner, (his brother) stopped to help. Neither finished the race. Family before victory is a philosophy I can live with. I now believe that distance running is, in some respects, a spiritual experience, and am in awe of those who engage in it.

     Since you began your studies in college in Religious Studies, I assume you are a spiritual person. I believe that Indian Spirituality is the number one gift that Indians can contribute to American Culture. The Christian "Holy Spirit" and the Indian "Great Spirit" have much in common and both need reinvigoration in the souls of their peoples. Christians come from a culture infused by their historical experience with a violence that runs at cross purposes with their values. While Indian Culture has not been devoid of violence, it did not find sustenance for it in a pursuit to take ownership of everything it encountered. That gives it a more benign and gentle nature from which whites could learn much.

     Do you know where these words come from? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." The mission of CFANA is to do our small part in making this universal ideal applicable to the conquered native tribes. The American founders created a document which laid out justification for rebellion and an ideal for their new country. When they created a constitution they wrote a political and pragmatic document that embraced the realities of its time. In order to get unanimous agreement, they felt it necessary  to compromise their ideals. For two and a half centuries we have been moving closer to the principals set forth by our founders and the amelioration of the that compromise.  At first only white males who owned property were equal citizens, then all males, then women, then blacks, then Catholics, now gays. American Indians must now see to it that they raise their visibility in the conscience of America and claim their rights of citizenship whether as Indigenous peoples or as members of the melting pot which makes up American Culture. It should be their choice, but justice demands that it happen.

     Before any people can credibly demand justice, they must feel deserving. When the dignity of a people has been wrested from them, as I believe happened with Indian Americans, they cease to believe they are deserving, and therefore the restoration of their dignity becomes a first priority. Reconnecting with their culture in a positive manner is the first step in the restoration of their dignity. The fact that you are on a mission to do this for the Mvskoke (you will know you are making progress when Microsoft Word no longer interprets this as a misspelling) speaks to why I believe that fate may have led to the crossing of our paths. As a white male, I have no personal stake in the condition of the Native Tribes, but as a world citizen, a believer in the Creator and the ideals of the American founders, I have great stakes in helping these ideals become real. This is why CFANA was created.

     You and I have separately set out on a mission fraught with future frustration and past neglect; doomed, I am afraid, to a lifetime of work with success a distant and uncertain reality. However our beginning assumptions are the same. Tribal government is not up to this task. It will require individuals fired with enthusiasm and idealism, and money; lots of money! My goal is to raise a one hundred million dollar endowment over the rest of my life for CFANA. The plan is to budget 5% of the principal balance each year for a variety of programs including those such as yours. Since I am a man of limited means, this requires recruiting a support base to enable the raising of funds. I am in the beginning faze of this now. My initial outreach is to the Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce. The Board of Directors has a proposal for a fund raising partnership under consideration at the present time. As a recipient of their Indian Scholars Fund scholarship, you might consider encouraging them to give us their support. We need seed money to get started, then will raise most of the rest through events such as concerts, celebrity dinners, annual galas, road races, etc. The rest of my life is committed to these activities.

     The legal structure that surrounds all this is important, and I believe equally so for your project. I possess expertise in this area which I can make available to you without charge. I can also show you how to supplement your income through the fund raising process while you build the financial resources for your project. The principle is to do well by doing good and does not use a penny of the projects funds in the process.

     So, as I said, we have much to discuss. The sooner the better, I believe. I hope one of the above dates works for you.

Take care,

Charlie Utter

I am an American Exceptionalist. I believe that the Declaration of Independence is a sacred document. I believe the world will change for the better when more of us understand that our Bill Of Rights, our Separation of Powers, and our Free Markets infuse our culture with a dynamism that will ultimately be recognized by the entire world as an essential catalyst in it's evolutionary transformation.

I also believe in Justice for All. As America has evolved, its formerly marginalized have gradually found justice and equality and continue to make progress toward full recognition that all men are truly created equal. One glaring exception is the American Indian. Justice demands that we begin to open our eyes to the fact that the very worst of third world poverty exists on our Indian Reservations, and that it is entrenched there because those who live amidst unprecedented opulence choose to ignore it.

That is the part of the world that I want to change. I have started a Foundation called the Centennial Fund for the Advancement of Native Americans (CFANA). It will provide college scholarships, micro loans for business start ups, subsidies for quality health care, and incentives for individual property ownership. Please join me in this pursuit of Liberty and Justice for these forgotten souls.

I'm new and am hoping to meet people who will support me in my project with ideas,contacts , and financial support.  Is this the appropriate forum?