Friends of RED
Ashland Youth/Leadership Council
The Ashland Youth/Leadership council is a local, grassroots, community-service organization focused on being present in these changing times through our walk and our talk.
The Ashland Youth/Leadership Council coordinates events with RED and also promotes Youth-Elder connections.
Hopa Mountain
ABOUT HOPA MOUNTAIN
The possibilities for economic, environmental, and social health in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains lie in the strength of the people, especially our relationships with each other and with the land we love. In every community, there are not only good ideas, but community leaders who get things done and to whom others turn for help. There is now a renewed recognition of the importance of these special people, particularly in rural and tribal communities that have a dearth of opportunities to provide and sustain healthy communities.
Community leaders know their community's people, values, beliefs, language, and ethnic characteristics. Given adequate resources, they can provide more meaningful services more efficiently and effectively than outside professionals can. Hopa Mountain recognizes the critical role community leaders play in their communities and we dream of what they could accomplish if they had access to adequate resources. Simply put, community leaders are the focus of Hopa Mountain's work.
Acknowledging the skills, talents, and positions within communities of these natural leaders, Hopa Mountain endeavors to provide them with the means–primarily through training, networking, mentoring, and financial support–to generate and expand much-needed opportunities in their communities
Hopa Mtn and Bonnie Sawyer have and still do give us alot of support with networking, advice and expertise. We look forward to attending their yearly Native non-profit seminar again this year. R.e.d. thanks you for all that you do in Indian Country....
Lomakatsi : Forest Restoration Project
The Lomakatsi Restoration Project (LRP) is grass-roots 501 (3) c non-profit organization dedicated to organizing communities to participate in the rehabilitation and regeneration of the watersheds within the greater Klamath/Siskiyou bioregion of southwestern Oregon. Lomakatsi was founded in 1995 by a group of experienced tree-planters, activists, community organizers, educators, and restoration forestry technicians, who together combined over 20 years of experience working in the field of restoration, education, and social change.
Co-Sponsors Events with RED?:
Acorn Festival & November Social in Selma
McKenzie River Gathering Foundation
McKenzie River Gathering (MRG) Foundation has graciously awarded Red Earth Descendants/NOWIA grant funds for the coming year to help support the four annual projects/events we sponsor--Elder~Youth Conference, Native Harvest Gathering, Storytelling Conference and Native Games. We are pleased to announce our appreciation and welcome to MRG as a very generous friend of R.E.D. and our community.
As our R.E.D. inter-tribal community grows and we begin to reach out from a grassroots perspective, we value being able to collaborate with other groups serving their communities in similar ways. MRG supports groups who identify root causes of injustice and who organize in their communities to fundamentally change these conditions. We are honored that MGR has selected our R.E.D. community to help bring awareness and change in supporting this universal vision. As a Native-based, inter-tribal organization, R.E.D. has continually been committed to breaking down walls of prejudice and racial barriers since its inception five years ago, placing our strength and value on uniting all races of people, and with the help of Foundations like MRG, we are being mentored and supported to continue this work on a broader scale.
Elder Youth Conference
Cesar Chavez Day Event
Monthly Social
NASU Native Cultural Sharing and Powwow
NASU's SOU Spring Powwow
Native Stickball Game (Shinny) Practice in the Park!
N.O.W.I.A. / Natives of One Wind Indigenous Alliance
The mission of NOWIA is to unite indigenous groups from North and Central America who reside in Southwest Oregon, principally Jackson County, to form sustainable communities using traditional indigenous wisdom and techniques. Unete, Center for Farm Worker Advocacy, and Red Earth Descendants (R.E.D.) have been collaborating on indigenous cultural exchanges in our valley for the past three years. By bringing the two groups together in this alliance, we will create a strong organization to protect Native culture, engage in civic participation, education and natural resource protection in our community.
For a number of years, we have been working with indigenous groups in our region (Southern Oregon/Northern California) as well as Mexico and Central America who currently reside in our area on organizing, advocacy, community-building and leadership development. We offer traditional cultural education and exposure to youth and families as an alternative to the growing epidemic of substance abuse, gang involvement and violence constantly pressuring our younger generations. Many of the youth in these groups (Unete and Red Earth Descendants) cling to the limited knowledge of their indigenous roots and have found a "way back" to feeling included and productive in these safe communities.
Native American Student Union (NASU) of SOU
R.E.D. collaborates on an ongoing basis with the Native American Student Union (NASU) at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. NASU hosts a "Welcome Back" Tribal Gathering and Pow Wow the week before Thanksgiving each year, in which R.E.D. has participated the last few years. This year R.E.D. hosted a Giveaway to local Tribes, Elders and Community leaders who reach out in the community to share traditions, teachings, stories and skills. We gifted members of the Klamath, Karuk, Hupa, Yurok, Warm Springs, Siletz and Takelma Peoples. We also gifted members of the SOU Native community, honoring Professors David West and Brent Florendo, along with Brent's student Drum. Our Giveaway theme included preserved food from our R.E.D. Community Garden Harvest.
R.E.D. collaborates also with Unete, who hosted the second annual "Corn Festival" at this year's NASU Tribal Gathering, honoring South American corn traditions and the importance of corn as a sacred food. R.E.D. and Unete form a non-profit entity, "Natives of One Wind Indigenous Alliance."
Other joint activities with NASU include the Stickball Games (Shinny) hosted most Sundays at 1 p.m. in Lithia Park, as well as helping to support the Annual Spring Pow Wow in April of each year.