United Tribes ) Michigan - Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

Recovery substance abuse initiative that serves all tribes and the Detroit urban area. We
have a diversity, a diverse population even in our communities with a wide range of people
in terms of their beliefs and acculturation. That needs to be acknowledged and needs to be
part of the discussion."
Survey results and interviews confirmed that fostering greater collaboration among local
programs is often a challenge. Issues of turf, control and competition over scarce resources
factor in tribal settings just as they do in mainstream society. With greater trust, local
programs could pool resources in order to serve more families more effectively, and
common outreach and marketing efforts could succeed where previous efforts have not.
Local programs' outreach and messages also must reduce the stigma associated with
seeking help, and channels must target parent audiences at work and other places where
they naturally congregate. The piece that is missing is getting our parents on board - from
the time they're pregnant, to the time their kids are starting a career," said Anne Suggitt,
Sault Tribe Head Start director.
Another web survey question asked stakeholders for the top three needs of their agencies
or organizations. Respondents ranked these as most important:
• Community engagement/community building;
• Staff training/professional development on effective practices for children/families;
and
• Grantwriting.
Strategies in collaborating and community building are closely related; and authentic, highquality
conversations are essential for people to develop trust and mutual understanding in
workplace and community settings. All too often, Native communities (and families) are
not honestly addressing the problem at hand, avoiding responsibility and failing to identify
creative solutions. For a 2011 Promise Neighborhoods federal grant application to plan
comprehensive cradle-to-college strategies, the Sault Tribe referred to its work as Project
Gidaktood, which translates to "talking about our difficulties." This indicates a telling need
for effective dialogue as the foundation for community change.
On the national level, the New Mexico-based Healthy Native Communities Fellowship
Program trains teams of Native community coaches in "Art of Hosting" processes that
promote more effective sharing, listening and reflecting as the foundation for meaningful
action. In the mainstream world, these processes come from organizational learning and
systems thinking. This program's resources and lessons would be applicable to Native
people in Michigan.
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