Tarahat Newsletter

Tarahรกt THE PEOPLE

SEPTEMBER 2012

Still growing federal recognition

establishing stronger partnerships

continuing tradition

a new place

Moving Onto A New Horizon

We’ve Moved!

We are excited to announce that the Tribal Administration/Pukúu Cultural Community Services has moved its offices with all its organizations and departments to a new location in the City of San Fernando. We spent the previous ten years in a building a few blocks away from our new location. Our old office served us well, and we make great memories there, but we couldn’t be more excited about our new space.

The new office is actually a historic house in the civil area of San Fernando near Maclay Street, putting us right near the downtown area. We’re excited about the hustle and bustle happening outside our windows and all of the restaurants within an easy walking distance of the new location.

While we were happy with our space, there were several motivating factors to make a move:

2 | the people | September 2012

Space. When we first moved into our previous office, there as only one program and we had plenty of room to run our business. When we left, we have multiplied in businesses and programs and space was getting tight. The new office offered more square footage, but more importantly it allowed us to rethink our layout, as well welcome more programs from other Native organizations. Overall, we now have more space and all in one building.

Visibility. In our last office, we were on the first floor of a building surrounded by a mix of businesses. While we really liked our neighbors, we lived a pretty anonymous existence. There was no way for anyone in community outside of that building to know we existed, and we’re hoping our new location will help bolster our visibility in the area with other businesses and non-profits work more closely with the Tribe’s programs and businesses.

Location. What a difference a few blocks makes. Our last office was within immediate residential area. The new space is right off

Maclay and puts us within easy walking of restaurants and coffee shops. The location lets our team take advantage of all the offerings of San Fernando. We’re all huge advocates for this community, and we’re excited that our office location now furthers that commitment.

We look at this new location as the start of another chapter in our long history. We’re still working on getting settled in, but we’re incredibly excited to be in the new space.

We’ll be hosting a reception soon for tribal citizens, our supporters, friends, and if you are in the area, feel free to stop in and say hi!

Thanks for everyone’s support through the years and with the move.

Our new address is: 1019 Second Street San Fernando, CA 91340 Same Phone numbers Tribe (818) 837-0794 Pukuu (818) 336-6105

Federal Recognition

Continuing to seek federal acknowledgment At the August Senate meeting Rudy Ortega Jr. provided a brief on the current status of the Tribe’s federal recognition efforts. On September 6, 2011 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) placed our Tribe on the “Ready, Waiting for Active Consideration” list among four other tribes.

The “Ready” list is OFA’s queue to review tribes who have successfully submitted their petition – seeking acknowledgment. On the right is the list from OFA Petitions report that was published July 31, 2012.

The BIA administrative process is very time consuming and lengthy. OFA reported that since 1978, 352 groups (tribes) have inquired seeking federal acknowledgment, which 265 groups have submitted only letters of intent or partially documented petitions as OFA has labeled these groups “Not Ready” for evaluation. OFA has only resolved 54 and 19 have been resolved by Congress or through other means. Today 9 petitions are under the “Active Consideration” and the 5 in the “Ready” state.

Petitions - Ready Status (as of July 31, 2012) These petitioners have responded to technical assistance (TA) review letters and stated their petitions should be considered “ready” for active consideration. Priority among “ready” petitions is based on the date that the Department determines the petition to be “ready.”

Under the regulations at 83.10(d), “The order of consideration of documented petitions shall be determined by the date of the Department’s notification to the petitioner that it considers that the documented petition is ready to be placed on active consideration.”

These petitions are “Ready, Waiting for Active Consideration.”

Ready Date Name of Petitioner

01/03/12 Pamunkey Indian Tribe, VA (#323) (letter of intent; doc’n rec’d 10/14/10; TA ltr 4/11/11; Resp. rec’d 12/7/11; Acting ASIA moved to top of Ready list on 7/20/2012) 06/09/03 Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokees, Inc. (aka Dahlonega, Cane Break Band), GA (#41); (letter of intent 01/09/79; doc’n rec’d 2/5/80; OD ltr 8/22/80; resp. rec’d 8/10/98; TA ltr1/19/99; resp. rec’d 2/14/02 and 2/14/03) 09/15/03 Amah Mutsun Band of Ohlone/Coastanoan Indians, CA (#120); (letter of intent 9/18/90; doc’n rec’d 8/22/95; TA ltr 5/21/96; partial resp. rec’d 9/26/96, 6/10/98; TA ltr 2/16/99; partial resp. rec’d 5/20/02, 8/15/03, and 9/15/03) 03/29/07 Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians (formerly Grand River Band Ottawa Council), MI (#146); (letter of intent 10/16/94; doc’n rec’d 12/8/00; TA ltr 1/26/05; resp. rec’d 6/9/06 and 3/28/07) 09/06/11 Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, CA (#158); (letter of intent 4/24/95; doc’n rec’d 1/16/96; TA ltr 3/3/97; partial doc’n rec’d 11/09/09; partial doc’n rec’d 7/12/11) File: http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/xofa/documents/text/idc-020611.pdf (page 3)

Inspiring Brilliance In Native Youth • Enrollment is FREE • Improve academics • College Prep • Leadership development • Strengthen cultural values • 5 convenient locations throughout the county

Call or Email us Today

(877) 480-7707 tamit@tataviam-nsn.us tamit.tataviam-nsn.us facebook.com/TAMITprogram Tarahát | September 2012 | 3

the

big picture: building a foundation for a stronger community Pukúu an American Indian 501(c)3 non-profit was established by the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians in order to empower Native American Indian families. Since its inception in 1974 and reinvigoration in 2000, the non-profit has been leading the way in helping Native American Indian families from the San Fernando Valley and beyond.

Pukúu, Cultural Community Services 1019 Second Street , San Fernando, CA 91340 (818) 336-6105 • Fax (818) 837-0796 admin@pukuu.org www.pukuu.org

Support building a stronger community

4 | the people | September 2012

Programs One Stop Emergency Services Chief Little Bear Scholarship Fire Disaster Assistance Seasonal Elders Breakfast Winter Social Gathering Youth Cultural Music

Tribal General Election

ATTENTION!!!

2013 Tribal Election for Senatorial Districts 1 & 2 If you wish to apply for one of the available Tribal Senate seats in your tribal district, please complete the Declaration of Candidacy form. To receive a candidate declaration form, please visit the tribal website to download (tataviam.us), email a request to administration at administrator@tataviam-nsn.us, or visit the Tribal Administration office for the form.

The filing window for candidates to declare for a specific office is July 1, 2012 until Friday, November 30, 2012. All Declaration of Candidacy forms must be submitted by U.S. Mail or deliver in person to Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, 1019 Second Street, San Fernando, CA 91340. Mailed applications MUST be postmarked by November 30, 2012.

Absentee Ballots All requests for Absentee Ballots must be postmarked by Friday, December 14, 2012 to receive a ballot via U.S. Mail.

Please take time to vote on Sunday, April 8, 2013.

Make your voice count!

Encourage your Tataviam family to vote as well.

Temporary Cash Assistance for Native Families Eligibility Worker On-site Tuesdays & Thursdays 9am to 4pm Tataviam/Pukúu Office 1019 Second St. San Fernando CA 91340 Text “TANF” to 88202

1 (888) 787-TANF http://tmtanf.org/

Mail Returned The following list is of tribal citizens who mail has returned to the office. These individuals are not receiving mail from the Tribe or from the Tribe’s programs and organizations. Please review the list and if you know an individual please inform them to contact the Administrative Office to update their mailing address.

Eddie Basulto Rosemary Basulto Manuel Cortez Henry Cortez Ashley Diaz Lynne Fuchs Vincent Garcia Cynthia Gomez Frank Gonzales Jr. Maryann Guadiana Dustin Guzman-Folkes Lee Hill Sonia Machuca Jennie Medina Sabrina Morales

James Morales Ruby Morales Ricky Ortega Daniel Ortega Sr. Francisco Ortega Anthony Ortega Deluvina Ortega Gary Ortega Rosie Ortega Richard Ortega Andrew Ortega Adam Pichardo Elisa Pichardo Jim Ramirez Andrew Reyes Ricky Rivera Darlene Salas Diana Salas David Salazar Jr. Betty Sanchez Ruth Tarin Thor Thorson Amanda Thorson

Visitor Center

weekends from 10am – 4pm The Cultural Center features an extraordinary museum of musical instruments, basketry, rock art, as well as many other things.

Mt. Wilson Red Box Road Mt. Wilson, CA 91311 (626) 449-8975 www.haramokngna.org Tarahát | September 2012 | 5

Photos of Summer

Children Games water balloon toss & face painting

Children Games tug-a-war Movie in the Park

Volunteer Park Clean Up Pukuu’s Board Chair Kat High presented at Our Community School in Chatsworth

TAMIT’ Academic Summer Camp Vasquez Rocks new interpretive center being constructed that will feature Tataviam history

6 | the people | September 2012

Office of Tribal Citizenship

Minor Enrollment Now Open

T

he Tribe is committed to the guardianship of its people and has passed legislation to register minors. Tribal Senate, the legislative body of the Tribe, has the power to enact ordinances governing future citizenship and loss of citizenship in the Tribe (Article 17, Section g, Constitution of the Tribe).

Registration of a Minor Forms Download the form from the Tribe’s website (tataviam-nsn.us). Fill out completely and provide the proper attachments.

Appointments Schedule an appointment with OTC either by email to administrator@tataviam-nsn.us, or call (818) 837-0794 to submit application.

Why Enroll?

Enrollment through OTC is the permanent and official record of a minor’s existence of being a tribal citizen and is fundamental to the realization of minor’s rights and practical needs with the Tribe to maintain tribal relations. Securing the tribal minor’s right to the Tribe helps ensure access to basic services, including health care, school enrichment programs, and some other tribal

programs at the right age.

In the Past Historically the Tribe quantified enrollment by family identification through specific tribal elders who represented family groups and identified their blood relatives belonging to the Tribe. Beginning in 1995, the Tribe officially implemented a registration process requiring Tataviam citizens to document their ancestry from the San Fernando Mission, Tataviam villages/Rancherias and relation to a Fernandeño progenitor on the California Indian Judgment Act roll. The Tribe acknowledges four official Rolls, using a documented process, with the following ratification dates: November 4, 1995, September 2003, November 20, 2008, and on July 13, 2010.

Tarahát | September 2012 | 7

A NEW OFFICE & AN

OPEN HOUSE We’re hosting an open house at our new location, and we’d love to see you there!

In mid July we moved into a historic building near San Fernando City Hall to provide more room for our growing programs and partnerships.

Come check out our new office and help us celebrate our expanding programs to better serve our people.

When: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Where: Tribal Administration/Pukúu new office 1019 Second Street, San Fernando, CA 91340 (Second Street is a One-Way street going northwest from Mcneil Street.)

Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians 1019 Second Street, #1 San Fernando, California 91340

Save the Date Education Informational for Families Workshop for • High school students • Community college students • Parents of elementary, middle, high school students

October 13

Lunch • Prizes • Handouts Child care provided RSVP Michael Villaseñor (818) 837-0794 or mpvillasenor@tataviam-nsn.us