Chairperson Civil Rights Training, Flamingo, Las Vegas

Purpose: Attend National Civil Rights Advisory Committee Training Las Vegas, NV, in conjunction with “Native Americans Coming Together Caring for Mother Earth” hosted by Indian Nations Conservation Alliance (INCA) and the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC).

Observations:

The Civil Rights Advisory Committee (CRAC) Training was held on December 12-13, 2007, at the Flamingo, Las Vegas, NV. The Civil Rights (CR) training was attended by Chairpersons from twenty-six states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pacific Islands Area, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C. and Wyoming). The CR committee training was hosted by the National CR committee. Joseph E. Hairston, Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Civil Rights Division was also in attendance. Approximately six State Conservationists served on a panel discussion and fielded questions from the audience. Sara Schmidt, Regional Assistant Chief-West, sat through some of the sessions to answer questions that were brought up. Mr. Gary Mast, the Deputy Under-Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment (NRE), made a special appearance, gave a short speech and welcomed all the participants to the CR training.

On the morning of Wednesday, December 12, 2007, Joyce Swartzendruber, National CR committee Chairperson, gave her opening remarks. After the opening remarks and introductions, each Chairperson representing their respective states got up and presented a PowerPoint presentation (2-3 slides) of their state’s past year’s civil rights accomplishments. This proved to be a powerful and beneficial agenda item as it afforded all the CR Chairpersons from the different states the opportunity to see what other states were doing with regards to civil rights. A question and answer session followed after each PowerPoint presentation and allowed everyone the opportunity to examine further if civil rights activities at different states could be used in their state/area.

This was followed by a cultural awareness training panel discussion. Carol Crouch, Oklahoma and Roylene Rides at the Door, Rhode Island led their part of the panel discussion regarding “Working Effectively with American Indian Landowners & Tribes.” An interesting thought that
Roylene brought to the fore in the panel discussion is the cultural sensitivity of people brought up in different cultures. Eye contact is, but one of the many examples Roylene touched on. Direct eye contact in some Indian culture is impolite, rude and may be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. On the other hand, no eye contact is a respectful nonverbal form of communication, one that shows respect and promotes good relationships in some Indian communities. A self introduction –when conversing with some Indian tribes– where education, titles, accomplishments and things of this nature are emphasized can make some Native American Indians feel very uncomfortable. On the other hand, talking about families, animals and the farm/land can do wonders to promote a better environment for developing good relationships. The decision making process in working with American Indian Landowners & Tribes can prove to be time consuming. Why? As Roylene Rides at the Door put it, the decision rests with the elders/community leaders and not with any one person/individual. In order to work effectively with the American Indian Landowners & Tribes, it is far better to establish a good rapport, which effectively paves the way towards good working long-term relationships that can get programs implemented in the ground.

Phuc Vu, Oregon and Pamela Aguon, Pacific Islands Area followed with their panel discussion of “Working Effectively with Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs). Phuc’s presentation showed demographically where APIs live as a group across the nation. Pamela Aguon followed with an awareness sensitivity level discussion of things to keep in mind when working with APIs. Although her panel discussion was presented with Pacific Islanders in mind, the principles can be applied across the board for most APIs. Respect looms large when working with APIs. It is therefore, important to keep in mind whom you’re working with and to talk at a level that one can relate to and feel comfortable with. This means keeping in mind the education level of people and maintaining communication at that level. It is crucial that one not ‘talk down’ to any individual (APIs or otherwise) by using words that are too technical hard to understand. It may even be necessary to make several visits sometimes even going over the same material (several times) in order for some within the APIs population to understand what is being communicated.

Heather Medina, Michigan gave a presentation on “How to Work with Latino Producers.” This was followed by Kim Bradford’s, North Carolina “Working Effectively with African American Producers.” Again, the points brought out by Heather and Kim was closely related to the presentation “Working Effectively with Asian Pacific/Islanders.” These are some of the core qualities to keep in mind when working with Latinos and African Americans according to Heather and Kim: Respect, communication at the people’s level, good listening skills and making the effort to meet face-to-face.

On Thursday, December 13, 2007, Joyce Swartzendruber opened the session followed by a panel of State Conservationists (Joyce Swartzendruber, Maine; Bill Hunt, Minnesota; Ron Hilliard, Oklahoma and Roylene Rides at the Door, Rhode Island, were some of the panel members) addressing questions and topics asked by the audience. Some of the questions asked were in the following area: collateral duties for CR members, performance plans, State Conservationist’s support and equitable evaluation methods for distribution of awards and recognition.

Caring for Mother Earth Hosted by Indian Nations Conservation Alliance (INCA) and the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC):

The opening ceremonies of INCA Intertribal Agriculture Council began with the Southern Paiute Color Guard presenting the colors. The keynote speaker for the morning session was Albert Hale, Arizona State Senator, District 2. Through a series of stories as his ancestors before him have done, Senator Hale brought to the fore important leadership skills that leaders should skillfully use to help others. Qualities such as strength, knowledge, wisdom and understanding are things that people look for in individuals with leadership roles. According to Senator Hale, leaders should use such qualities in behalf of the people who have elected them to these responsible positions.

I was able to attend an excellent workshop on grant writing. These were some of the important points I took away from the grant writing workshop:

1. Follow the directions. If one can’t follow directions in filling out a grant application, that would be a good indicator of the grant applicant’s inability to deliver on a grant contract.
2. Know and work with your partners. It is important to have partners in administering grant contracts. Remember that partners should meet these two criteria’s:
    a. Level of expertise
    b. Accessibility to producers.
3. Grant request must be identifiable.
4. Grant request must measurable.
5. Grant request must be verifiable; an illustration of a car manufacture drove the point home. First, know the results desired. Second, have a program in place to get you to your goal. Third, monitor and report progress along the way. Car manufactures know exactly what end product is desired and have charted a course to get there. Essentials to keep in mind if one is to successfully apply for and carry through with grant writing.

Recommendations:

The Civil Rights Advisory Committee Training is helpful in building a solid foundation with basic principles crucial to civil rights matters. The CR committee training helped put things in proper perspective by reemphasizing that the CR committee acts as an advisor to the DEOO. I highly recommend the National CR training for Chairperson’s and CR committee Advisors.

Submitted by:
Kurencio B. Ngowakl
Program Specialist
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
FHB Building, Suite 301
400 Route 8
Mongmong, Guam 96910
671.472.0198 voice
671.472.7288 fax
kurencio.ngowakl@pb.usda.gov

Cc: John H. (Bart) Lawrence, Assist. Dir. Operations PIA-West, Shirley Nakamura, Assist. Dir. Operations PIA-East, Read file.

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