United Way of King County a Vision for the Urban Indian Community
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This report was developed by Kauffman and Associates, Inc., under contract with United Way of King County, and with the support of the City of Seattle, The Seattle Foundation, and the Muckleshoot Charity Fund. A special thank you to our Advisory Committee on this effort, including Theresa Fujiwara, Iris Friday, Laura Wong-Whitebear, Claudia Kauffman, Dana Arviso, Mary Shaw, Jackie Swanson, and Lawney Reyes. Thank you to Andrew Morrison, Native Artist, for allowing KAI to use a photograph of his mural of Chief Sealth on the cover. www.kauffmaninc.com King County Urban Indian Community Assets and Opportunities – 2014 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Background .......................................................................................................................................1 Methodology .....................................................................................................................................3 Environmental Scan and Literature Review .........................................................................................4 Demographics ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Health ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Education ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Housing ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Funding Challenges ............................................................................................................................... 12 Summary............................................................................................................................................... 13 Interviews with Key Leaders Today ................................................................................................... 17 Strongest Assets of Our Community .................................................................................................... 17 Opportunities ....................................................................................................................................... 19 Challenges ............................................................................................................................................ 20 A Community Vision ......................................................................................................................... 22 Strategic Pillars to Support This Vision .............................................................................................. 24 Creating a Strong Foundation for the Community ............................................................................... 25 Nurturing Community Empowerment and Involvement ..................................................................... 26 Increase Visibility and Presence in Seattle-King County ...................................................................... 26 Investing in Our Youth .......................................................................................................................... 27 A Roadmap for Funders and Supporters .............................................................................................. 28 Native Organizations and Institutions ............................................................................................... 30 King County Urban Indian Community Assets and Opportunities – 2014 i United Way of King County A Vision for the Urban Indian Community Introduction The mission of United Way of King County (UWKC) is to “bring caring people together to give, volunteer, and take action to help people in need and solve our communities’ toughest challenges.” UWKC, in cooperation with other local funders including The Seattle Foundation, the City of Seattle, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, issued a contract to Kauffman & Associates, Inc. (KAI), an American Indian planning and evaluation firm, to assess the assets and opportunities of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities in urban Seattle-King County area. The purpose of this effort was to document the assets, opportunities, hopes, and aspirations of community leaders, and facilitate a broad-based community engagement process to identify a shared vision for the future. Background The AI/AN population of Seattle-King County has a vibrant and colorful history that precedes the establishment of current city or county governments. The lush Puget Sound region was historically home to one of the largest indigenous tribal populations in the Northwest. In the area now known as King County, the indigenous peoples included the Duwamish, Suquamish, Nisqually, Snoqualmie, and Muckleshoot (Ilalkoamish, Stuckamish, and Skopamish) tribes, united by a common Puget Salish or Lushootseed language. Upon the arrival of European explorers, Native populations were decimated by disease, war, and forced relocations. The Puget Sound War of 1855-1856 led to an upheaval in traditional societies, culminating in the execution of Chief Leschi, a Nisqually leader and central figure in the Battle of Seattle. The greater Seattle metropolitan area eventually became a hub for Native people relocating from many tribes across the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and the Great Plains in search of jobs, training, education, and economic opportunity. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs “Relocation Program” of the 1950s and 1960s recruited and relocated American Indian and Alaska Native families from remote villages and communities to some of the largest cities in America, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle. These relocated families, while not fully assimilating, grew and became vibrant multitribal urban Indian communities, developing their own nonprofit and social service clubs to meet basic housing, food, and social service needs. King County Urban Indian Community Assets and Opportunities – 2014 1 Seattle was no exception. AI/AN Early group photo of the American Indian Women’s populations came together to help meet Service League of Seattle, WA basic family needs. One of the earliest urban Indian organizations in Seattle was the American Indian Women’s Service League (AIWSL), which was founded in 1958 by a small group of Indian women led by Pearl Warren a Makah Indian. Native community activism in the early 1970s saw three nonprofit organizations spin-off from these initial AIWSL roots, including the Seattle Indian Center, the Seattle Indian Health Board and the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF). In the 1970s, these four organizations formed the Seattle Indian Services Commission, a city-chartered public development authority, for purposes of holding ownership of downtown land and buildings to house their operations, first at the Broderick Building at 2nd and Cherry, and later at a newly constructed space on 12th Avenue called the Leschi Center. The 1970s marked another pivotal period for the community, as Native American activism peaked with the takeover at Fort Lawton, a U.S. military base in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood, scheduled to be abandoned by the federal government. After 2 years of confrontations, arrests, and protests, a settlement between the city of Seattle, the federal government, and local Native American activists was reached, which transferred the land to the city of Seattle and included a 20-acre portion of the land to be dedicated for American Indian community purposes. The result is the beautifully designed Daybreak Star Cultural Center located in Seattle’s Discovery Park and operated by the UIATF under a 99-year lease with the city of Seattle. Today, of the 1.9 million people living in King County, 39,117, or 2%, identify as AI/AN (alone or in combination with another race). In addition to the large urban Indian population, there are two federally recognized tribes within King County: the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Snoqualmie Tribe. There are numerous other tribes surrounding King County, across the Puget Sound region, with many members who consider the Seattle area home. Alaska Natives also represent a large percentage of AI/AN people residing in the Seattle-King County area, and they maintain strong cultural and organizational ties within this urban area. This region continues to draw AI/AN people in search of jobs, education, and training. In addition to the older, established organizations mentioned, new nonprofit organizations are also emerging to offer services to the urban AI/AN population. King County Urban Indian Community Assets and Opportunities – 2014 2 Methodology The KAI team worked in close collaboration with an advisory committee composed of Seattle-King County urban Indian leaders and funders. The advisory committee reviewed our methodology and timeline, offering insights and suggestions. The effort was managed by KAI President Jo Ann Kauffman. Beginning on November 1, 2013, and concluding in March 15, 2014, the KAI team undertook an environmental scan of the community, conducted a review of existing literature and publications, talked to key respondents, and convened three community