Five Indigenous Leaders To Be Honored

Native News Network Staff in Native Currents. Discussion »

PORTLAND, OREGON – Ecotrust announced today the winners of the 11th annual Indigenous Leadership Award, an honor bestowed on exceptional Native leaders who are working throughout the region to improve the social, economic, and environmental conditions of their homelands and people.

Ecotrust will present four honorees with $5,000 and the 2012 Indigenous Leadership Awardee, Brian Cladoosby, with $25,000 to continue their work within their communities at a celebration and dinner on November 13th at the Portland Art Museum.

“This year's awardees demonstrate the broader impact of our region's indigenous leaders - these are national and international leaders working to benefit people, economies and the environment far beyond the boundaries of their homeland,”

Swinomish Tribal Chairman Brian Cladoosby

commented Ecotrust founder and president Spencer B. Beebe.

The 2012 Indigenous Leadership Award honorees are:

Brian Cladoosby. As chairman of the Swinomish Tribe in northwestern coastal Washington, Cladoosby has shown exceptional skill in strengthening economic and environmental conditions among Coast Salish tribal communities. He has cultured a unified voice for members of 66 Coast Salish Tribes and Nations, allowing them to protect indigenous human rights and to restore the region from ecological degradation. Through his expansion efforts, Swinomish Fish Company now sources salmon from 22 tribes at one of two remaining canneries in western Washington. And Cladoosby has led regional and national efforts to form new ties between Salish people, scientists and the Obama administration.

Gail Small - Northern Cheyenne

Gail Small. A lawyer and tribal leader with the Northern Cheyenne for nearly 30 years, Small's work has changed the landscape of Indian law and environmental policy in the Northwest and nationwide. Her efforts have resulted in the establishment of the first bank, the first public high school and the first Chamber of Commerce on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. She has successfully drafted tribal laws for a number of Indian tribes, and contributed to the intertribal Traditional Tribal Burial Law, Tribal Environmental Policy Act, and the Tribal Administrative Policy Act. She also facilitated the assertion of tribal authority over air and water quality standards on her reservation. A winner of numerous honors and awards over the years, Small's work on environmental justice was the subject of an award-winning 2005 documentary, Homeland.

Jonathan Andrew Waterhouse
S'Klallam-Chippewa-Cree

Jonathan Andrew Waterhouse. Waterhouse has tirelessly worked to restore the Yukon River Watershed. Among his many roles, he serves as Executive Director for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (YRITWC), a grassroots organization that brings together 70 sovereign indigenous governments with a simple goal - to be able to drink directly from the Yukon River. Waterhouse has been able to translate the group's leadership vision into meaningful and significant implementation. And his work and that of the Watershed Council serve as a model for other indigenous peoples around the world, as they attempt to restore, protect and preserve their watersheds and to exercise their traditional knowledge as a foundation for achieving their goals.

Micah McCarty - Makah

Micah McCarty. As chairman of the Makah Tribal Council on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, McCarty has garnered important successes for the Makah Nation by serving as a liaison between indigenous communities and the broader state and federal political systems. His work in Neah Bay, Washington has led to significant headway in strengthening the response to oil spills in coastal waters, has helped protect tribal traditional whaling rights, and has fostered stronger connections between tribal nations and the US government. And his leadership on the Puget Sound Partnership brings deep traditional knowledge to a 21st century effort to clean up that waterway.

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posted October 3, 2012 8:57 am edt