This Week at First Nations: September 20, 2024

Delivering Business of Indian Agriculture Training in Texas

First Nations was in Texas last week presenting The Business of Indian Agriculture, a curriculum specifically designed for Native farmers and ranchers. The training was especially welcomed in Texas, where lack of federal tribal recognition and the inhibition of community-based economies often present challenges. First Nations staff and consultants shared strategies for building business capacity, identifying funding opportunities, writing applications, and developing business plans. Further, they helped participants merge the community aspect of giving and providing for the community with the instilled western ideas of what it means to be an “entrepreneur.”

The training in Texas was the result of a collaboration with partners Texas Tribal Buffalo Project and Lucille Contreras. For more information about hosting The Business of Indian Agriculture training in your community, email yrivera@firstnations.org.

Raising Visibility of Invisible No More

Last Friday at the Indian Cultural Pueblo Center in Albuquerque, First Nations friends and supporters gathered to hear about Invisible No More: Voices from Native America, the collection of essays that articulates Native action, visions, and aspirations that challenge the romanticized and false views rooted in colonization. Participants enjoyed hearing from the panel discussion, co-moderated by First Nations’ Catherine Bryan (Navajo) and Jonna Paden, and featuring the book’s co-editor Raymond Foxworth, along with contributors Trisha Moquino and Vanessa Roanhorse. Participants said they appreciated the inclusive nature of the event and the insights into philanthropy.

An Environmental Justice Victory for Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas

The Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas is celebrating a victory for halting three massive gas projects that would impact the Rio Grande Valley and the Gulf Coast. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did not adequately or accurately analyze environmental and environmental justice impacts. The tribe continues to push back against harmful gas development and demand protection of their homelands that are rich in biodiversity and cultural significance.

The tribe is a First Nations partner through our Supporting Indigenous-Led Environmental Justice project. Learn more about this victory and how to support the tribe.

Join Us Next Week: Tribal Co-Stewardship and Co-Management Webinar 

The third installment of First Nations’ Tribal Co-Stewardship and Co-Management Webinar Series, “Sacred Site and Cultural Resource Protection,” is next week. Beth Wright (Laguna Pueblo), Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney, and Lauren Van Schilfgaarde (Cochiti Pueblo), Assistant Professor of Law for UCLA School of Law, will share ways co-stewardship and co-management agreements are being utilized to access and protect sacred sites and cultural resources. They will provide an overview of how these agreements are structured and discuss ways tribes can leverage different authorities, treaty rights, and religious freedoms to develop meaningful agreements for protecting sacred sites and cultural resources. They will also share examples from tribes across the nation that have been successful in developing such agreements and illustrate how these examples can be used as frameworks to advance this work. 

The webinar is Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 1 pm MT. Register here.

REMINDER: Apply Now for the Northern Great Plains Young Natural Resource Professionals Cohort

First Nations is launching a Young Natural Resource Professionals Cohort to encourage peer-to-peer learning, foster leadership skills, and enhance technical knowledge. The first cohort is open to 15 young tribal natural resource professionals in the Northern Great Plains. The cohort includes a $50,000 tribal grant to lead a conservation-focused project.

The deadline is September 27, 2024. Learn more and apply here!

Career Opportunity with Tiwa Lending Services in New Mexico

Tiwa Lending Services, a Native Community Development Financial Institution that provides home loans, consumer loans, and financial education to tribal citizens of Pueblo of Isleta and other Native Americans on and off the Isleta reservation, is seeking a Loan Assistant Community Coordinator/ Homeownership Counselor. The position will perform community outreach activities and be responsible for processing, underwriting, originating, closing, and monitoring consumer loans. The position works closely with internal staff and outside lenders and service providers in support of Tiwa Lending Services’ mission and vision. Learn more and apply here.

Indigenous People are Disproportionately Overlooked in Diagnosing and Treating Cancer, Study Finds

Salon reports that a new study in the Journal of American Medical Association Network surrounding the deadliest cancers finds lower rates of early diagnoses and survival among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) communities. Researchers report that Indigenous communities are consistently underrepresented in medical research about cancer due to data omission and aggregation. The solution they say is to ensure future research includes NHPI and AIAN populations as both subjects of the studies, and as the scientists doing the research. Read more.

Photo credit Salon, Getty Images/da-kuk