OLYMPIA (September 21, 2005) — When Katrina swept over the southern U.S., leaving tens of thousands of people homeless in its wake a few weeks ago, tribes across the country swung into gear to help provide whatever relief and support they could to our brothers and sisters in the South.

The National Congress of American Indians organized a nationwide fund-raising effort. The National Indian Gaming Association, coordinating with NCAI through its Spirit of Sovereignty Foundation, committed to raising a minimum of $1 million for the cause. The Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin dispatched fire crews to fight fires, distribute food and unload trucks. Dozens of other tribes throughout the country have raised tens of thousands of dollars, sent school supplies, opened tribal homes, tribal buildings and even casinos to help shelter refugees and support aid programs. The Fort Belknap Tribes of Montana even committed to send the meat of 10 bison to the demolished region. Numerous Northwest Tribes and tribal organizations such as the Potlatch Foundation in Seattle, Salmon Homecoming and Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians are also pitching in as best they can, with funding, direct support and prayer ceremonies. Just as they have consistently done over the years, tribal members have readily stepped forward to help ease the suffering of the needy.

No matter what some people say, tribes are not wealthy. The majority of them are very poor. They have governments to run, sick to heal, natural resources to manage, and hungry children to feed, all despite curtailed federal support programs promised to us in treaties. Frankly, tribes can ill afford to send financial aid to the South, but there has been no hesitancy in their actions to do so. As soon as the need became apparent, they stepped forward to share what little they have with both Indian and non-Indian victims of the high winds and floods, passing the hat as necessary to help support their efforts. Such efforts will continue. It is our way.

Some non-tribal people have asked how tribes can bring themselves to be so altruistic, here and in the South, given the atrocities Indians have suffered at the hands of non-Indians for so many years. The answer’s fairly simple. Sharing and taking care of communities is a long-standing tribal tradition. It’s not new to us. We know that if the American “village” is to survive, we must all be willing to share with one another in trying times. People have long forgotten that when whites first came to our shores, their survival absolutely depended on Indian benevolence. It is a quality that has stood the test of time, even though knowledgeable historians would tell you the tribes have been disdained and subjected to seemingly endless persecution in return. Through all of our suffering, Indian heritage stands strong.

There’s another reason we can so easily empathize with our Southern friends. Tribes know what it’s like to suffer, and to have relatives, homes, lands and resources swept away. We know what it’s like to have hungry children and to have to endure the pain and death brought by a hurricane force. Our Katrina has been a wave of greed and reckless expansion of western “civilization.” We know what the people of the South have suffered, from personal experience.

We will also urge people to learn from the environmental lessons of Katrina. Through this mammoth storm, Mother Nature has again reminded us all that we must be sensitive to her needs and respect her. There is a price to pay when man dredges her natural wetlands and buffers, and replaces them unnaturally with fill. The forces of wind, rain and fire will erupt with more frequency and fury when man clouds the atmosphere with noxious gases. There will be long term suffering when man goes overboard with the construction of chemical plants, oil refineries and toxic waste sites—all too typically placed near impoverished minority communities.

Billy Frank Jr. is the chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

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For more information, contact: Steve Robinson or Tony Meyer, NWIFC (360) 438-1180