Rivers to Re-Indigenization

Rivers to Re-Indigenization

A Native Community Evaluation Toolkit

by Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples

Acknowledgements Christopher H. Peters (Puhlik-lah/Karuk), MS Tia Oros Peters (Shiwi), MFA Louis Gordon (​Xicano-Purépecha​), BA Chelsea Miraflor Trillo (Pangitaa), MSW William Harjo (Muscogee), PhD (contributing consultant)

Introduction

Since 1977, S ​ eventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Inc. (​ S ​ GF​) is dedicated to the self-determination, sovereignty, and empowerment of Native Peoples. As the oldest Indigenous-led, grassroots community-driven organization, we are insiders and co-builders in the work and in the Indigenous global survivance.

Experience has affirmed our belief that Native Peoples are the ones best situated to understand and respond to the needs and challenges in their own communities. From over 41 years of field work, we continue to see the abounding and amplifying power of centralizing self-determination, peer learning, trust-based collaboration, integrity, and intention when supporting movement-building for ​Native community-based organizations (NCBOs​). Supporting NCBOs in a good, culturally relevant way further energizes ripple effects of community healing and prosperity across the Native World.

We feel it is time to utilize and share our knowledge-gained by constructing a ​ model designed for NCBOs to self-evaluate, measure ongoing outcomes, and track successes​ in order to better equip and foster their movement-building. It is also formulated to inform grantmakers in working with and supporting grassroots Native projects. Lastly, this model can offer a framework for an independent external evaluation process, by grantmakers and otherwise.

Feedback from fieldwork has especially highlighted a need for a Native evaluation model that is culturally relevant and provides a ​ means for NCBOs to tell their own story​. Native People everywhere have their own stories and teachings that illuminate on their histories of who they are and how they came into being; stories that articulate their own consciousness and purpose. This emphasizes their inherent right to lead their own (his)story-telling, or history-making. Our toolkit mindfully supports NCBOs’ self-determination over their story-telling; how they continue to develop, address challenges, and prosper. Such support aligns with the ​UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples​, Article 3,

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referring to Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination in their economic, social and cultural development. It additionally points to our inherent responsibility to support and protect such rights.

To address the need for a culturally relevant, Native evaluation model -- one that is rights-based and responsibility-driven -- we offer a Native community evaluation toolkit imagined, informed, and actualized b ​ y and for ​Indigenous Peoples; what we will refer to as the R ​ ivers to Re-Indigenization (R2R​) Model.

The Rivers to Re-Indigenization (R2R) Model

The R2R Model is an Indigenous evaluation strategy. It begins with water and recognizes we are all a part of a larger water system. It resonates loudly what echoes across Indigenous landscapes -- ​Water is Life​, for water is at the core of Native community sustainability, development, and prosperity. The R2R Model is consistent with dominant evaluation models in its design to track economic development by measuring successes and identifying opportunities for growth. Our model considers Native concepts of prosperity beyond mainstream definitions and models, distinguishing ​Indigenous economic development​ as one woven with water and upheld by means of ancestral lands, traditional foods, elder wisdoms (leadership), spiritual knowledge systems, and cultural lifeways.

Native Peoples have an Earth-based consciousness -- those most intimately connected with and responsive to the health and rhythm of Mother Earth. In turn, the health and vitality of Native communities are directly related to the health of their ecological environment. The R2R Model utilizes the metaphor of a river system and salmon to: 1) Identify water as the central source of prosperity for Native communities; 2) Emphasize the interdependence between the wellness of Native Peoples and that of Mother Earth; 3) Parallel ecological vitality to Native community prosperity; and 4) Highlight the ongoing, cyclical nature of fostering movement-building capacity and supporting community prosperity for Native Peoples.

We identify water in the model as a metaphor for Native currency, or N ​ ative Assets​: movement and energy in all forms -- cultural, social, intellectual, economic, financial, material, and spiritual. This includes ceremony, language (re)vitalization, traditional arts and craftmaking, subsistence food knowledge, access to ancestral sites, and more -- all elements that culminate to ​spiritual assets​, or knowledge and awareness of Spirit. Collective spiritual strength is foundational in sustaining and developing Native communities. Our model further aims to re-balance the interdependent systems of relations and exchanges that make up Native ecologies at the family, community, and Native Nation levels. To re-balance Native ecologies is to create environments where Native communities can continually strengthen their Assets and support life for generations to come. This is our definition of prosperity.

Continue to the following page for the visual R2R Model.

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Interdependence within a Native community (watershed) is clear: N ​ CBOs​ (salmon), Movement-Building Action Areas​ (streams), and ​Ongoing Outcomes​ (rivers) feed each other’s sustainability and capacity to thrive. This highlights the need to simultaneously protect and support all three components in order to foster community prosperity.

The following sections expand on the R2R Model, providing a basic framework to be reviewed and assessed. Each section has associated worksheet guides (​pages 9 - 13​) aimed to assist with tracking goals and returns for their NCBOs, Movement-Building Action Areas, and Ongoing Outcomes.

Native Community-Based Organizations ​(Salmon)

Focused on empowerment and building organizational leadership, this section further emphasizes the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples​, Article 3, regarding Indigenous Peoples’ rights to self-determination, and it additionally underscores Article 23, which upholds their right to strategize, develop, and administer programs that affect them and their communities.

As community leaders, it is essential that NCBOs maintain standards for their organizational structure, culture, and values. This is fundamental in actualizing organizational deliverables and, by extension, building community prosperity. The following criteria provide a context for such standards, for the NCBO to review and assess. That the NCBO:

➟ Emerges ​from a Native community. Its purpose, design and implementation strategy originates from the values, cultures and traditions of Indigenous Peoples it serves. ➟ Engenders​ leadership and decision-making that are vested directly in the community that will be impacted. ➟ Promotes​ the Native language, traditional knowledge, and/or the cultural lifeways of the community. ➟ Builds​ capacity that impacts the largest number of people and broadest segments of their society including Indigenous women and youth leadership ➟ Upholds​ equity. Does not perpetuate racism, sexism, or oppression of humanity, nor violates the Rights of Mother Earth.

These above can be considered threshold criteria for this Native community evaluation model. In the case that a NCBO may stray from such measures, the impacts of their work may be more difficult to assess adequately.

Refer to​ W ​ orksheet A​ (​ page 9) and ​Worksheet B​ (​ page 10) to track the strength of your NCBO. 2018 Draft

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Movement-Building Action Areas (​ Streams)

To monitor movement-building and engage in growing its capacity, our organization utilizes, what we refer to as, ​The Seven Streams of Sustainability​ (shown below). The Seven Streams of Sustainability stems from a collective, community-generated conversation at our K ​ eeping the Homefires Burning - Native Assets​ convening in 2015 (Coeur-d’alene territory) between our leadership board, other members of our organization, community partners, and B ​ uilding Power g ​ rantees. Using The Seven Streams of Sustainability enables NCBOs to visualize action areas and monitor progress in such areas. To activate and engage in the following areas is to ensure a Native community’s continuity and growth, as such areas were mindfully designed to be minimum standards to protect the ecosystems of the Earth and species survival and self-determination for seven generations.

1. RE-INDIGENIZE​: And exercise sovereignty and self-determination. Restore and re-engage in ceremonies, cultures, and customs. Practice and reinvigorate traditional lifeways, health systems, languages, and governance; 2. REGENERATE​: And nurture. Cultivate our own foods and develop family and community-based organic gardening. Build cooperatives, collectives, and strengthen traditional food systems and practices; 3. RECIPROCATE​: And live respectfully and equitably. Honor and give back to Mother Earth.

Practice fasting and discipline by consuming only what you need, and re-distribute. Express generosity in spirit and action; 4. RENEW​: And innovate and create. Engage in barter and trade. Focus on supporting Native-created goods and supplies from Native-owned and/or local businesses. Develop and support community-centered enterprises and relationship-based economies; 5. REVITALIZE​: And improve. Make necessary structural changes, repairs, and improvements to home and workplace that promote long-term stability, efficiency, and sustainability; 6. REDUCE​: And conserve energy. Protect water and all elements of the Earth. Choose at least one day each month to give Mother Earth a rest and increase this commitment annually; 7. RETAIN​: And sustain. Plan for future needs by developing long-term storage systems for food, water, seeds, and other sustenance.

These action areas emphasize one of the many markers of Indigenous Identity: the special bonds we have built over hundreds of generations to our lands and territories and all of life. In keeping with traditional ecological knowledge, we understand that the Earth herself has rights of self-determination.

With this in mind, we support and advocate for a mindful and holistic strategy when approaching the action areas. This approach mandates us all to consider not of ourselves, or solely our own families and generation. It considers those yet to come.

Refer to ​Worksheet C​ (pages 11 - 12) to track the progress of your Movement-Building Action Areas.

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Ongoing Outcomes (​ Rivers)

Tracking​ o ​ ngoing outcomes, or indicators of success, allows for NCBOs to self-evaluate whether their projects/actions are yielding investment returns and prosperously contributing to the community.

Below are tools designed to measure and track ongoing outcomes, as well as to self-evaluate and assess project success.

Tool A: I​ ndigenous Impact Multiplier

Experience has shown us that measuring the total number of people impacted by a Native community-generated project can be challenging to quantify, considering the close-knit nature of Native families and communities means that impact is amplified much more than similar efforts in other communities. Large families and extended kinship systems means that positive change (cultural, economic, spiritual, etc.) in each individual ends up having a ​ripple effect​, directly influencing large sections of the community. Multiplied over years of sustained operations, NCBOs individually and collectively have far-reaching, positive impacts in their communities -- impacts that continue to ripple out for generations.

As a way to more accurately encapsulate and measure number of people impacted in Native communities, we have created an I​ ndigenous Impact Multiplier​, a tool conceived through a conversation with community-based Native grantees during a B ​ uilding Power​ grantee convening​ i​ n 2016.

In this conversation, when asked to give a number, an estimate of how many immediate family members would be affected by an individual project participant -- every single grantee gave the number “10.” This is what became of our Indigenous Impact Multiplier: a calculation estimating that an average minimum​ number of total individuals impacted is ten times more than the reported participants in Native community-generated projects.

The number calculated serves as a minimum baseline measurement representing the first set of concentric social circles that are being impacted by the individual’s participation in the project. These figures are both realistic and conservative.

Tool B: O ​ rganizational or Project Assessment

Our methodology offers the opportunity to provide for individual and organizational growth assessment. The initial phase is a more classic evaluation model that grows from an Appreciative Inquiry approach and is germinated by input and investment, both by community based organizations and donors. It seeks to determine whether or not the project satisfied the basic levels of accomplishments in relationship to the values, visions, achievements, and best practices of those

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engaged in the project. This provides an opportunity for the NCBOs to express their hopes and dreams to actualize the needed change in their communities and to document pertinent evidence of such.

The assessment includes the following elements that build upon each other as a process and are applicable to either an internal or an external evaluation:

1. At the outset of the project​: The Assessor(s) -- these may be project evaluators, project organizers, external evaluators, etc. -- convenes a series of meetings with core members of the project and/or participating community members as well as donors/supporters of the initiative.

The meetings will identify their project aspirations and purpose. These may need to be coalesced and prioritized following which, they will then represent the primary project objectives as well as provide a anticipated timeframe for accomplishments to be reached.

2. At the mid-point of the project (​or more frequently if desired): The Assessor(s) completes site visits and reviews previously articulated and identified objectives to determine their continued applicability to the NCBO project’s aspirations and purpose. If needed, recommends project course changes or modifications. Additionally, the gathering of information and documentation of accomplishments thus far will be assessed.

3. At the end of the project​: The Assessor(s) reviews the documentation performed and conducts interviews of project leaders and donors to discuss successes achieved and challenges experienced of the program initiative. At this phase the Evaluator(s) may also want to again gather information from project participants to determine their perspective on the success and impact of the project.

The above describes a standard Appreciative Inquiry strategy modified to fit NCBOs. Although such an evaluation trajectory model provides a basic format to review whether a project reaches the goals established by principal project and donor partners, it falls short of assessing the social transformation needed for the well being of holistic Native community development and vitality. This stresses the importance of ​simultaneously​ supporting and tracking Movement-Building Action Areas, which -- when engaged -- fill the gap of assessing transformation and community vitality.

Refer to ​Worksheet D​ (​ page 13) to further track the success of your Ongoing Outcomes.

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Worksheet A Worksheet A and B are (recommended) to be engaged with a minimum of once per year.

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Worksheet B

​Part One​: ​For each criteria area, rate your agency by choosing one of the four ratings:

Criteria Area

Rating

Emerges​ from a Native community. Its purpose, design and implementation strategy originates from the values, cultures and traditions of Indigenous Peoples it serves.

Engenders​ leadership and decision-making that are vested directly in the community that will be impacted.

Promotes​ the Native language, traditional knowledge, and/or the cultural lifeways of the community.

Builds​ capacity that impacts the largest number of people and broadest

segments of their society including Indigenous women and youth leadership.

Upholds​ honor and balance. Does not perpetuate racism, sexism, or oppression of humanity, nor violates the Rights of Mother Earth.

P ​ art Two​: B ​ elow, describe strengths, barriers, and opportunities for growth.

Use back of paper if needed.

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Worksheet C

For each M ​ ovement-Building Action Area​, utilizing ​The Seven Streams of Sustainability​, complete your assessment of the organization or project being evaluated. This worksheet is (recommended) to be utilized at the outset, mid-point, and end of a project and/or fiscal year.

Movement-Building Action Area

On a level from 1 - 10 (10 being the strongest), at which level does your organization/project engage with the action area?

With which practices does your organization or project engage?

Check all boxes that apply.

1. ​RE-INDIGENIZE

❏ Exercising sovereignty ❏ Supporting self-determination ❏ Restoring and/or re-engage in ceremonies, cultures and customs ❏ Practicing traditional lifeways, health systems, languages, and/or governance

2. ​REGENERATE

❏ Strengthening traditional food systems and practices ❏ Developing family and/or community-based organic gardening ❏ Building cooperatives/collectives

3. ​RECIPROCATE

❏ Promoting respect and equity ❏ Honoring and give back to Mother Earth ❏ Expressing generosity in spirit and action with staff, board and community members ❏ Collaborate with other organizations in your community, nation or region

4. ​RENEW

❏ Innovating and creating ❏ Engaging in barter and trade ❏ Focusing on supporting Native-created goods and businesses ❏ Developing and/or supporting community-centered enterprises and relationship-based economies

(Continue assessment on the following page.)

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Worksheet C continued

Movement-Building Action Area

On a level from 1 - 10 (10 being the strongest), at which level does your organization/project engage with the action area?

With which practices does your organization or project engage?

Check all boxes that apply.

5. ​REVITALIZE

❏ Making physical structural changes, repairs, and/or improvements ❏ Improving organization structures, policies and procedures when necessary

6. ​REDUCE

❏ Conserving energy

❏ Protecting water and the Earth ❏ Increasing individual, organizational, and/or community commitment to reduce energy use ❏ Practicing fasting and other cultural and spiritual acts of discipline

7. ​RETAIN

❏ Engaging in strategic planning for future needs and growth ❏ Diversifying organizational sources of income ❏ Planning for staff and volunteer retention and development ❏ Developing long-term storage systems for food, water, seeds, and/or other sustenance

Overall Assessment of Movement-Building

1. Add up your total level ratings (up to 70 points). Write the number in the box:

2. Are you satisfied with the total rating of your organization or project’s level of engagement? Circle your answer: ​Yes No Somewhat

3. For the following questions, refer to the action areas by their number above (1-7): a. Circle - Which action area(s) do you feel your movement is strongest? ​ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 b. Circle - Which action area(s) do you feel your movement can grow in the community? ​ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 4. What number do you hope to reach the next time you complete this assessment?

5. On the back of this paper, write any additional comments you may have regarding the assessment on project success and action steps.

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Worksheet D

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We would like to acknowledge our donors and supporters, whose contributions helped make this toolkit possible:

Groundswell Fund Kalliopeia Foundation Northwest Area Foundation NoVo Foundation Tides Foundation

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