NUIFC Newsletter // Urban Land Back: Little Earth & American Indians In Texas
Urban Native Organizations Steward Land Back for Native Communities
Urban Native organizations have long been part of the work to steward Land Back for Native communities to call their own. Currently that means there are many different ways to look at Land Back and what it looks like for each community and each organization. The NUIFC is proud to launch a series on Urban Native Land Back, highlighting our incredible member organizations who are changing the landscape of land ownership and their community organizations every day.
The NUIFC's Executive Director, Janeen Comenote says Land Back is not a new concept for Urban Native people Native, and in fact, we have been doing it for decades.
"Starting in the 50’s & 60’s when our people first began to be urbanized, there have been efforts to establish land bases for Native people to gather in cities. We saw a massive uptick in land acquisition in the 70’s with establishment of Indian Centers all over America – in places like Seattle, Denver, Chicago, the Bay Area, Phoenix and countless others, we saw Native people negotiating for, and acquiring, land," she said. "Today, we see not only Indigenous organizations on their own land base in larger numbers, we are witnessing many developing housing, with embedded services and even schools for urban Native communities."
We know that Urban Indian organizations have a rich history of getting land carved out for our communities for decades. We want to highlight that. Join us today as we begin this series with Little Earth in Minneapolis and American Indians in Texas in San Antonio.
Little Earth
Little Earth is a 9.4 acre, 212-unit Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized housing complex located in the urban industrial core of Minneapolis.
Little Earth is the heart of Minneapolis' Native American community. Joe Beaulieu, Executive Director of Little Earth, says their history with this work goes back to the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 which led to many Native people leaving their home reservations for the cities.
"Minneapolis saw a huge influx of Native people in the years following," he said. "However, Native people in Minneapolis were facing housing discrimination and unsafe living conditions upon their arrival into the city. Little Earth was founded in 1973 in response to this discrimination, and to assist Native people in finding community with each other."
From there, the American Indian Movement took over to prevent foreclosure and successfully worked to legally make Little Earth into Native American preference housing. Now today, Little Earth remains the only Native American preference, project-based Section 8 rental assistance community in the urban United States. Section 8 is also known as The Housing Choice Voucher Program, a national program that assists low-income families, disabled, and elders to afford housing. In this federal program, participants choose housing that meets the requirements of the program and then receive housing vouchers to help subsidize their rent.
Today, Little Earth now has over 38 tribal nations represented throughout their residents. They are not an urban reservation, but Little Earth is a representation of Land Back in an urban setting, bringing Native people from various tribes together in the city, to share and live as one. Beaulieu said this is part of what Land Back means to Little Earth, and is part of their legacy.
"We as Native people are the original stewards of this land, and that connection cannot be broken despite centuries of assimilative and genocidal properties — We Are Still Here," he said. "Our organization, Little Earth Residents Association, works alongside the residents of Little Earth towards empowerment and self-sufficiency, utilizing our culture as the catalyst. It is important that our residents be heard and remain visible in the greater community locally and nationally, and we do that by standing together. Land Back means it is time for mino-bimaadiziwin/wiconí wasté (the good life) our ancestors laid out for us, and we can only do that by reclamation of space and collective power."
The property is owned by the Little Earth of United Tribes Housing Corporation (LEUTHC) board, which consists of community members and Little Earth residents. Beaulieu said although the residents rent and do not own their homes, residents retain their voice, and it remains Native American preference. Residents continue to have a seat at this table, as well on the Little Earth Residents Association board.
Today, next to the residential housing, the property has an urban farm, sweat lodge, full moon ceremony, youth center, and more. They have community events and are proud to display murals from their residents. Beaulieu said all of this is fitting for Land Back. "We are able to practice these ceremonies on our property, explore food sovereignty through our farm, have a center for our youth to come during out of school time, and have artistic expression and visibility on our property."
American Indians in Texas
Purchasing a new campus for the community, just two blocks from downtown San Antonio.
American Indians in Texas in San Antonio is celebrating and embodying Land Back this year with a fresh purchase of their new campus. With a $1.2 million dollar price tag, they purchased the four buildings in April. Just two blocks away from downtown, they have almost an acre of land for their organization and the community. Executive Director Ramon Vasquez said they have been on the quest to be landowners since 2000.
"That's when we decided we were going to set out to do something like this. It's taken us 22 years, and our starting point was that most local governments didn't even know we existed. We had to substantiate our existence. American Indians are really the only people who have to prove who we are. It was a long process, but we're here now. We had to exert our sovereignty. We are still here," he said. "I just don't think enough people have been educated on the total Indian history of this country. Given all this, we have been very fortunate to create this space in San Antonio and of course to work with other local government to increase the land opportunities for American Indian land usage."
San Antonio has the tenth largest Urban Indian population in the country. "A city grew up around our traditional tribal lands," Vasquez said. "Over 40 years ago, we were meeting in the basement of an old high school run by the church and we were talking about what needed to happen in San Antonio. To be in those meetings myself back then and to now sit in an office and occupy a space in a building we now own, it's amazing. It's a relief. We were meeting in that basement talking about how to get our land back."
In celebrating getting land back, they are excited to see firsts in the city, like the first American Indian center and the first American Indian art gallery. Vasquez said he hopes the rest of the city will follow in these steps.
"We knew a long time ago, the only way we were going to make any inroads is if we owned our own land. We are now creating this place that we know will contribute to the economics of the city," he said. "We believe in reciprocity. That's what we're leading with."
They will soon hold a grand opening for the new campus in November.
New Native-run Health Clinic in Seattle
A new health clinic serving Chief Seattle Club members and Urban Native community
Seattle Indian Health Board and Chief Seattle Club team up to open a new health clinic serving Chief Seattle Club members and the Urban Native community
Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB) and Chief Seattle Club (CSC) partnered together to open a health clinic in the new ʔálʔal (pronounced all-all and means “home” in Lushootseed) building owned and operated by CSC, right next door to CSC's day center, which is predominately serving American Indian and Alaska Native people experiencing homelessness. The 3,000 square foot clinic will be run by SIHB and provide Native-led medical services.
The clinic being in the same building as the new ʔálʔal housing and right next to CSC's day center means these vital health services will be far more accessible to the city's most vulnerable. Their culturally appropriate health services include not just medical services but also counseling, case management, behavioral health, substance use disorder treatment, traditional medicine teams, and more.
On August 18, SIHB and CSC held a grand opening where SIHB President and CEO Ester Lucero and CSC Executive Director Derrick Belgarde shared welcome remarks.
"The most important in our community are the relatives we serve and I'll tell you why," Lucero said. "Because they told us they needed this. Because they constantly tell us what they need and how they want us to do it. They said that culture should be at the core of everything we do."
In his grand opening remarks, Belgarde said the Native community has been disenfranchised in the mainstream service system for so long that it made perfect sense for both organizations to unite over a project like this.
"We know it takes a culturally responsive approach to meet the needs of our community -- that's the service we provide at Chief Seattle Club and also what Seattle Indian Health Board provides. We know what works for our communities and our relatives, and we know what falls short," Belgarde said. "We're not only trauma informed, but we're Native trauma informed. We don't only provide harm reduction services, but we do it through a Native lens, in a Native-led approach. This beautiful clinic is going to be just that for many years to come."
The clinic welcomes walk-ins Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, and they expect to serve about 700 to 800 patients this year and 3,000 next year.