The History of United American Indian Involvement, Inc - Speech or Presentation Example

United American Indian Involvement, Inc. Introduction United American Indian Involvement, Inc. is headquartered at 1125 W 6th Street in the Westlake area of Los Angeles, across 6th Street, and half a block down, from Good Samaritan Hospital and south of Dodger Stadium. The present location is a giant step up from its original location on Winston Street, on Skid Row in Downtown Los Angeles when it first opened its doors in 1974. The new location The original office Over thirty-five year later its mission remains “to provide quality services and advocacy to the American Indian communities residing within the State of California in a respectful manner with high regard for cultural values, Tribal affiliation, spiritual and the the personal values of individuals.” Its vision is to have “a professional, dedicated and committed staff to provide the highest levels of various services and social programs” to Natives in Los Angeles. The Process From the current office it operates a wide range of programs including the Robert Sundance Family Wellness Center, the Los Angeles American Indian Health Project, the American Indian Clubhouse (for youth), Seven Generations Child & Family Services and the LAUSD – Central High School, a four-hour a day program that meets LAUSD standards and offers at risk Native students a chance to attain grade level and return to their home schools or continue studies to a diploma at Central High. Staff at United American Indian Involvement, Inc. describe Native Americans in Los Angeles as an invisible minority. They mean this in two senses. Native Americans in Los Angeles receive far less attention from the media, the criminal justice system and social service agencies because they tend to focus on African-Americans and Hispanics. They also mean this in a second sense, Native Americans in Los Angeles are frequently presumed to be Hispanic not Native. This reality was brought home to me when staff presented me with statistics about Native Americans in the Los Angeles area. There are between 150,000 and 175,000 Native Americans living in Los Angeles making Los Angeles the largest off-reservation, urban Native population in the United States. That I was unaware of this is evidence of their invisibility. Even the new building is invisible. Utterly unremarkable structurally its simple exterior masks the remarkable processes that are going on inside. Staff describe it as a Native American mode, a spiritual and holistic mode. In organizational terms it unifies access to a host of resources of all sorts in one building, for Native Americans. The typical Los Angeles is service type defined. One office handles one program and another office deals with another problem, leaving the individual confused and frustrated. This model is an umbrella of organizations, merged in their location, employing the Native American and holistic approaches to treat Native people spiritually and physically, cognitively and emotionally. The personification of this treatment model, its best public image and spiritual center is virtually unknown outside the Native population, despite forcing a precedent setting lawsuit on the LAPD. He is Robert Sundance, the man the Family Wellness Center honors. Twenty-five years ago the Los Angeles Times prefaced an interview with him with: In 1975, when Robert Sundance, a Hunkpapa Sioux Indian, and three other public inebriates filed a class-action suit challenging Californias criminal law against public drunkenness, he was a Los Angeles Skid Row wino with no home or job. Today, he still lives downtown--but in a hotel room--and is the executive director of the Indian Alcoholism Commission of California. (Dellinger, 1986) The case resulted in the LAPD being prohibited from locking up public inebriates for more than four hours unless there were other charges involved. A decade later, interviewed by R. W. Dellinger, he remained adamant, “Make the jailing of drunks unconstitutional. Thats what Im after. Total decriminalization.... And I wont settle for anything less.” (1986) Despite his significance he is widely unknown outside the Native community. Returning to the Center, the Robert Sundance Family Wellness Center offers substance abuse, employment and seniors programs. Support services facilitates access to programs as diverse as counseling, spiritual activities, traditional healing and hot meals. (“Robert Sundance Family Wellness Center”) Seven Generations Child and Family Services offers therapy, classes, traditional healing/cultural and traditional activities as well as medication support and psychological assessments. Healthy Roads – Diabetes Prevention Program is dedicated to lifestyle change to prevent or delay the onset of Type – 2 diabetes, a disease that effects the Native population disproportionately. (“Seven Generations Child and Family Services” and “Healthy Roads Diabetes Prevention Program”) Perhaps the most culturally significant the organization offers may be the Robert Sundance Youth Summer Camp and Young Women and Mens Winter Camp. Since 1990 the organization has been taking Native youth camping in the Owens Valley of the Eastern Sierra Madre. Many of the participants, despite being Native, have never camped or even been out of the city. According to director Dave Rambeau, “they have the chance to get connected to their heritage through crafts, talks and interacting with the local [Paiute] Native Americans.” For participating youth it is a chance to experience their homeland in a more natural state of fresh air, and living flora and fauna. (Bissonette, 2010) This program allows youth to reconnect with their heritage, their culture and their land. It typifies the cultural inspiration in UAIIs approach to social services. UAII offers culturally appropriate spiritual, psychological and social services for Native individuals and families based on a holistic model that includes everything from camping an Narcotics Anonymous meetings to nursing and employment counseling. UAII receives funding from a wide range of sources at all levels of government including the Department of Health and Human Services, the state Rural Indian Health Board, Employment Development Department and the Governors Office of Emergency Services. The countys Department of Health Services and County Community program also provide funding. (“United American Indian Involvement, Inc.) Conclusion UAII has been functioning in Los Angeles for more than 35 years. Its public profile is largely invisible outside of the Native population: Approximately 175,000 people who are themselves invisible. That invisibility is shocking. However, the relative invisibility that comes from pursuing a grassroots process of community organization also has its advantages. The staff have developed a remarkable program finely tuned to meet the needs of their stakeholders. Their comprehensive range of services all enclosed in one central facility provide a holistic model that epitomizes the medicine wheel of Native culture. It implies a belief that treatment of an alcohol problem for a chronically underemployed individual also requires employment counseling and that the key to reducing type-2 diabetes involves lifestyle change rather than expensive medical interventions once the disease has occurred. Moreover, this site of treatments and interventions is directed at one of the most social-economically disadvantaged minorities in Los Angeles. For UAII even in its central image, Robert Sundance, there is a marvelous story of individual overcoming . What UAII has accomplished as an organization Robert Sundance achieved and surpassed in his life as an individual. Such a man should be the subject of a Hollywood film but it took Ira Hayes almost sixty years to hit the big screen in any meaningful way so I dont hold my breath for Robert Sundance. But in the quietly determined staff striving to appropriately bring services to one of the invisible minorities in Los Angeles his heart still beats. References Bissonette, Jaclyn. (September 2010). “Youth Camp Celebrating Ancient Traditions”. Indian Voices. http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1p0qq/September2010IndianV/resources/1.htm. Dellinger, R. W. (August 3, 1986). “So Says Robert Sundance”. Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1986-08-03/magazine/tm-948_1_robert-sundance. United American Indian Involvement, Inc. “Healthy Roads Diabetes Prevention Program”. http://www.uaii.org/uaii_010.htm. United American Indian Involvement, Inc. “Robert Sundance Family Wellness Center”. http://www.uaii.org/uaii_002.htm. United American Indian Involvement, Inc. “Seven Generations Child and Family Services”. http://www.uaii.org/uaii_006.htm. United American Indian Involvement, Inc. “United American Indian Involvement, Inc.” http://www.uaii.org/index.html. Read More