Native Business Magazine - July/August 2019

NATIVEBUSINESSMAG.COM | JULY/AUGUST 2019 | $8.95

MHA NATION’S RECOVERY CENTER PUTS TRIBAL MEMBERS ON THE ‘GOOD ROAD’

10 Tips for Indigenous Artists to Succeed

Hemp: The New Oil Boom in Indian Country CHEROKEE NATION FILM OFFICE TO DRAW PRODUCTION TO OKLAHOMA

PUYALLUP TRIBAL CHAIRMAN

DAVID Z. BEAN

For the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Healing Is More Than Just Health Care

UNEARTH SUSTAINABLE JOY WITH JOY HUNTINGTON PONTIAC GROUP LEADS DRONE DELIVERY OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES CHEEKBONE BEAUTY GOES BEYOND COSMETIC APPEAL NATIVE WOMAN-OWNED GALLERY CURATES ART FOR SYCUAN CASINO RESORT

on the cover

IN THIS ISSUE July/August “Summer” 2019 • Volume01 Number 8

For the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Healing Is More Than Just Health Care See page 16

BY ANDREW RICCI

PONTIAC DRONE DELIVERY

Health Care

Arts & Entertainment

“Our communities as nomadic people are more adaptive to change than any other people in the country. We’re the most fitted for this new age technology.”

—Jonathon Araujo Redbird, managing partner of Pontiac Group See page 10

BY THERESA BRAINE

Hemp

Beauty

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The New Oil Boom in Indian Country "It's a wonderful antiinflammatory." —Russell Neese, Co-Founder of The Native Oil

Cherokee Nation Opens Film Office to Draw Production to Northeast Oklahoma

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BY SANDRA HALE SCHULMAN

MHA Nation’s Drug and Alcohol Recovery Center Aims to Get Tribal Members on the Good Road

8 Native Business® Celebrates Year One! Recap of Major Milestones

BY JOSH ROBERTSON

From Batter to Bubbles: One Entrepreneur’s Journey

Professional Development

BY NATIVE BUSINESS STAFF

BY ANDREW RICCI

Media

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22 Native Woman-Owned Gallery Curates Art for Sycuan Casino Resort

21 Ah-Shi Beauty, Navajo-Owned Skincare Line, Empowers People of Color

BY NATIVE BUSINESS STAFF

BY DEBRA UTACIA KROL

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BY NATIVE BUSINESS STAFF

10 Tips for Indigenous Artists to Succeed

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28 Unearth Sustainable Joy With Joy Huntington

Cheekbone Beauty Goes Beyond Cosmetic Appeal

BY NATIVE BUSINESS STAFF

BY MARY BELLE ZOOK

BY LYNN ARMITAGE Cover: Photo by Jenn Squally | Courtesy Puyallup Tribe of Indians

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FOUNDERS/PUBLISHERS Gary (Cherokee) and Carmen (Makah/Chippewa-Cree/Yakama) Davis

EDITORIAL Executive Editor Carmen Davis - carmen@nativebusinessmag.com Senior Editor Kristin Butler - kristin@nativebusinessmag.com

CREATIVE Art Director VestaLight Sevenly

WRITERS Contributing Writers Andrew Ricci • Suzette Brewer (Cherokee) • Lynn Armitage (Oneida Nation) Renae Ditmer (Chippewa) • Clifton Cottrell (Cherokee) Debra Utacia Krol (Xolon Salinan Tribe) • Josh Robertson • Theresa Braine Mary Belle Zook (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)

ADVERTISING & EVENTS Event Director Yvonne Schaaf (Salt River Pima/Mojave/Quechan) - yvonne@nativebusinessmag.com Advertising Inquiries advertising@nativebusinessmag.com

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©2019 Native Business Magazine is published by Native Business, LLC, all rights reserved. All contents are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without written consent from the Publisher. The advertiser is solely responsible for ad content and holds Publisher harmless for its advertising content and any errors or omissions.

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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHERS

PHOTOS BY WHITNEY PATTERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

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he eighth edition of Native Business Magazine examines Tribal and Native involvement in the lucrative arts and entertainment, health and wellness, and beauty industries.

Puyallup Tribal Chairman David Z. Bean appears on the cover of our July/August “Summer” issue. Though newly minted as Chairman, his 13 years of service on Tribal Council and upbringing among his people on the shores of Puget Sound in Washington State make him uniquely qualified to discuss the Tribe’s history, economic self-determination and commitment to innovation and excellence in the health care arena. The Puyallup Tribal Health Authority lays claim to many firsts, including establishing the nation’s first Tribal family medicine residency program and introducing the first Tribally owned cancer care center in the United States. Devoted to building a health care system rooted in Native values, the Tribe takes an integrated approach to conventional, naturopathic and traditional Native healing.

The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation can relate to the value of healing. With the economic boom from oil and gas development on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation came a corollary spike in the illegal drug trade. To alleviate alcohol and substance abuse and empower Tribal members on their path to recovery, the Nation created the Good Road Recovery Center, an in-patient treatment center in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Center’s cornerstone approach to recovery is recognizing that sobriety is not the endpoint of treatment.

Elements of the continuum of care include life skills training and assistance with resumes and employment.

We also turn our sights to Pontiac Group, founded by two First Nations entrepreneurs who are demonstrating the power of technology in the health and wellness space. The pair are committed to linking remote Indigenous communities with opportunities and lifesaving medical supplies via drone delivery.

Switching gears, Native Business® considers Tribes and Native entrepreneurs making inroads in the arts and entertainment industries.

The newly launched Cherokee Nation Film Office will promote northeast Oklahoma as a prime destination for filmmakers by maintaining a database of Cherokee Nation locations, resources and talent, in addition to bridging partnerships and leveraging incentives for filmmakers.

On the gallery side, Native Business profiles Ruth-Ann Thorn, a successful Luiseño art dealer who recently curated the art for Sycuan Casino Resort’s $226 million expansion. Thorn ensures that all art created for a Tribal venue is proprietary and reflects the Tribe’s cul-

ture and history. “If you see it there, you're never going to see it anywhere ever again,” she says.

Across the world, creativity in the beauty industry is flourishing, and Native entrepreneurs are making their mark. We spotlight Native-owned brands including Cheekbone Beauty, Ah-Shi Beauty and Made By Justine O. Their products embrace Indigenous values, utilizing natural ingredients and taking a minimalist and environmentally friendly approach to beauty, while maximizing social value. Beyond establishing proof-of-concept with their unique beauty products, these Native entrepreneurs have demonstrated their capacity to build out a business, market and promote their brands, and seamlessly deliver those products to satisfied, loyal customers.

On the heels of the anniversary of Native Business, we also take this opportunity to celebrate our progress, and to reflect on milestones reached in our first year as a Native owned and operated multimedia and event company. We’ve laid a comprehensive multimedia foundation that we will continue to grow and evolve, all in the spirit of fostering sustainable business creation and bringing well-deserved attention to a thriving ecosystem of today’s business leaders and entrepreneurs that are sure to inspire future generations across Indian Country.

Onward, GARY DAVIS Publisher

CARMEN DAVIS

Publisher & Executive Editor

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MHA Nation’s Drug and Alcohol Recovery Center Aims to Get Tribal Members on the Good Road

The Good Road Recovery Center, an in-patient drug and alcohol treatment center

By Andrew Ricci

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"A lot of people were coming to me saying, 'You know, this is what's happening to my son, my daughter, my niece, my nephew, my grandchild, and what are you going to do to help?'" Fox said. “And at some point, you get tired of trying to offer just prayers and positive words of encouragement. So I finally dug my heels in and determined to do something proactively to try to reverse this tide of addiction.”

Rather than start from scratch, Fox assembled a team and began looking into other treatment centers around the country that have found success with Native American populations – like the Gila River Indian Community’s drug treatment facility. They also visited Native American Connections (NAC) in Phoenix, whose CEO of more than 30 years, Dede Yazzie Devine, offered critical help.

“NAC has had the most awesome and outstanding director for 30-plus years, ‘Dede’ everybody calls her, and she was really open and receptive,” Fox said. “They run a successful drug treatment program from getting people sober to then what I call ‘continuum of care,’ which is the services provided after treatment. We’ve come to learn that is actually more critical than the treatment itself.”

This concept — that sobriety is not the endpoint of treatment — became a cornerstone for how the MHA Nation would tackle

Living quarters of the Good Road Recovery Center

PHOTOS COURTESY MHA NATION

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n North Dakota and the surrounding region, the oil and gas development that began on the Bakken shale formation in 2006 led to an economic boom that brought major wealth and resources to the area. While the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation welcomed and benefited from this economic activity, they also saw a corollary spike in alcohol and substance abuse.

“Since this oil boom began and for the next 10 years, we were just greatly impacted by drugs and illegal drug trading going on,” MHA Nation Chairman Mark N. Fox told Native Business Magazine.

“Especially in an area that already has high socioeconomic poverty and a lot of addiction, when you have substantial economic development you get so many people coming in from the outside looking to earn a living and make a buck,” Fox continued. “All of a sudden, you become a prime marketplace for illegal drug trade, because those who make money selling drugs quickly identify the opportunity and say ‘that’s the place that we can make a lot of money.’

And that’s what occurred.”

Fox, now in his second term as Tribal chairman, says that when he was first elected in 2014, one of the things he heard repeatedly from many of his Tribe’s members was the need to do something about the rampant drug epidemic.

Indoor theater at the Good Road Recovery Center NATIVEBUSINESSMAG.CO M

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PHOTO BY LARRY MACDOUGAL VIA AP

Sun sets behind an oilfield pumpjack producing crude oil on a well in the Bakken Formation

the challenge presented by addiction.

“When somebody goes through treatment for 60 or 90 days, the reason that we have such a high recidivism in Indian Country is that after they go to treatment, they get put back in the same environment that caused their problem in the first place,” Fox said.

Working with his Tribal Council, Chairman Fox developed a plan to finance the project over several phases, including acquisition of land, design of the facility and construction. While the project was underway, Fox built a network of agency and program partners throughout the nation to help those members with immediate needs by sending them to facilities like the ones he saw at NAC and Gila River.

Last December, with construction complete and state licensure in hand, the MHA Nation opened the Good Road Recovery Center in Bismarck, North Dakota, and began accepting clients.

“The recommendation by my local staff, who have been working in drug and alcohol treatment for a long time, was that we should build it in Bismarck, because you have hospitals nearby, you have psychological services, you have all the ancillary services you’re going to need,” Fox said. “So we acquired the land and said ‘okay, let’s build something.’”

The facility can meet the needs of 16 clients at a time, with a future expansion to 32 in the planning stages. It’s a small start, but an important one.

“The demands for these services are really high like they are on any reservation,” Fox said. “I can fill those beds easily. If I had a facility for treating 50 or 60 people, I could easily fill it, because of the need we have at Fort Berthold for addiction services.”

Because ongoing wellness is so integral to the MHA Nation’s treatment model, the construction of the Good Road Recovery Center is just the first of several pieces be-

fore the Tribe’s ultimate vision will be realized. Construction is currently underway for two additional facilities — an outreach office and a wellness center — that will serve as parts of the recovery process.

The new wellness center — expected to be completed in early 2020 — will house offices, exercise equipment, saunas, rooms where Tribal members can learn about health, and other features. At the same time as they’re planning the current construction phase, the Tribe is also looking forward to what comes next.

include assistance with resumes and employment, as well as learning independent living skills like how to pay bills. Fox says that without those elements, relapse rates are going to increase.

“At the end of the day, here’s our goal,” he said. “We get people sober, and we get them living right, and they stay that way — for their sake, for their children’s sake, for their families, and for their lives. That’s how we’re going to measure our success here.

“Here’s what I can tell you today,” he continued. “In the last three years, we’ve treated more than 500 people, and of all of those people that we’ve treated, I can tell you that the majority of them have remained sober. I’m very happy about that.”

The biggest thing that Fox says he wants people in Indian Country to understand is that as insurmountable and overwhelming as the drug problem seems to be, the war can be won — but only with hard work and commitment and a mentality to never quit.

“Our culture, when properly understood and utilized, really goes a significant way toward helping our people with drugs and helping them to find peace within themselves, so they can defeat their personal problems with drugs,” Fox said. “We have to reopen peoples’ minds so they can understand where they come from, who they are, what their identity is, and how they can use that as a strength.

“I have seen it,” he continued. “I can show you. I can set people around a table who have been sober for more than a year now and are getting out there. Those are my peer outreach workers, my peer warriors. They’re going up to people and saying, ‘Hey, I used to do drugs with you. If you want help, I can help lead you to it.’

“The whole system that we’ve got put into place is getting stronger and stronger every day and making a difference,” he concluded.

Other elements of the continuum of care include assistance with resumes and employment, as well as learning independent living skills like how to pay bills.

Chairman Fox says that without those elements, relapse rates are going to increase.

That includes the acquisition and construction of Sobriety Living Centers — places for those who come out of treatment to get continued support once they reach sobriety, so they can stay on the good road.

While the Tribe has been acquiring houses that can accommodate six to eight people, they have a need for more. To meet this need, they’re also getting ready to break ground on an apartment-style Sobriety Living Center with up to 40 apartments designated for women, and women with children.

Other elements of the continuum of care

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NativeBusiness

®

CELEBRATES YEAR ONE! Recap of Major Milestones

Summer 2019 heralds the one year annivesary of Native Business.

Native Business Podcast on industrial hemp

Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Gov. Reggie Wassana speaks at the Native Business Summit.

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PHOTOS BY SEAN CAPSHAW FOR NATIVE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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he impetus for creating Native Business culminated over the course of two decades of extensive travel across Indian Country by seasoned entrepreneurs Gary and Carmen Davis. During their journeys, they heard impressive stories of economic self-determination forged by visionary Tribal and Alaska Native leadership and Native entrepreneurs. Inspired to share these stories and blueprints for success, the husband-and-wife team invested their own resources to launch their media and event company, Native Business.

“We created Native Business to provide a dedicated focus to reporting on the business news happening across Indian Country and to bring an unprecedented focus to sharing stories that Gary and I, through our travels, would hear about, but that we would never see or hear shared in the public domain,” said Carmen Davis (Makah), Founder, Publisher and Executive Editor of Native Business Magazine.

“Whether it’s through the daily articles we post online, our nationally distributed print publication or from an episode of our podcast, we bring together and share business perspectives from across Indian Country in order to advance knowledge share and help grow and sustain Native economic and entrepreneurial prosperity.”

Native Business also serves to bridge economic opportunity between Indian Country, corporate America and those interested in doing business with Tribes or Alaska Native Corporations. “Many Tribes have tremendous individual economic power, but we have yet to bring together the economic might we could have across the United States as an economic collective. Each issue of Native Business Magazine, every episode of our podcast and every one our summits advances the understanding that we can do more together and demonstrates the vast and diverse amount of economic possibility that exists today and for future generations of our people,” said Gary Davis (Cherokee), Founder, Publisher and CEO of Native Business Magazine.

In honor of our business anniversary, we reflect on milestones achieved in Native Business Magazine’s first year.

PHOTOS BY SEAN CAPSHAW FOR NATIVE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

NativeBusinessMag.com, our online platform, officially launched in July 2018, becoming the only privately held Native American-owned and operated multimedia business in the United States.

A testament to the critical space that Native Business fills in the media landscape, Entrepreneur Magazine took notice of our premiere with an article titled: “From Indian Country Comes Word: 'Native Business' Wants to Empower Native Entrepreneurship.”

In October 2018, Native Business released its teaser issue of Native Business Magazine featuring Martin Sensmeier on the cover. An Alaska Native of Tlingit and Koyukon-Athabascan descent, Sensmeier serves as one of the executive producers of “Bright Path,” the forthcoming biopic about Jim Thorpe, in addition to starring as Thorpe, the first Native American Olympic gold medalist.

November 2018 marked the official debut of the print edition of Native Business Magazine. The first issue, themed “Entrepreneurship,” was distributed to more than 10,000 subscribers across the United States, Canada and as far away as Europe.

Current print distribution of Native Business Magazine exceeds 11,300. Readership includes Tribal Nations, Alaska Native Corporations, casinos, hotels, hospitals, schools, and every member of the U.S. Congress.

To date, we’ve published eight editions of Native Business Magazine. Through these issues, we have covered multiple industries that Indian Country is actively engaged and doing business in — from gaming to finance, energy, agriculture, tourism and more.

Our first issue, November 2018, goes to print.

In March 2019, the Native Business team flew to the Netherlands with a delegation from the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation to meet with the Dutch Ministry and operators of the most innovative agricultural technology in the world. The trip was part of Chairman Mark N. Fox’s Food Sovereignty initiative to empower the Tribe to produce its own food. Native Business created the short film “Food Sovereignty,” highlighting the MHA Nation’s trip and plans to convert compressed natural gas from its numerous oil wells to power sustainable greenhouses, and debuted it at the Native Business Summit.

In May 2019, Native Business unveiled the inaugural class of the Native Business Top 50 Entrepreneurs in our first-ever, double-cover magazine issue featuring leaders of the two largest Tribes in the country. One cover featured Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer, and the other cover displayed Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker. The inaugural class of the Native Business Top 50 Entrepreneurs recognizes leaders across 13 business sectors, demonstrating the diversity of industries where Natives are making an impact. “We’re dedicated to showing the many faces of entrepreneurship — interviewing and profiling entrepreneurs to share their stories and insights to empower others across Indian Country to pursue their dreams and to realize that, if they’re truly invested, they, too, can succeed and set the bar higher for Indian Country,” Gary said.

Also in May, we hosted our first-ever Native Business Summit, drawing hundreds of Tribal stakeholders and Native entrepreneurs from across Indian Country to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Attendees gained invaluable insights over three dynamic, energy-packed days that increased professional networks, while delivering unparalleled inspiration and tactical business advice.

The Native Business Podcast launched at the Native Business Summit, recorded in front of a live audience. The Native Business Podcast connects listeners with dynamic news and information, thought leaders, successful Native entrepreneurs and Tribal leaders, and discusses unique trends, perspectives and insights related to business and entrepreneurship across Indian Country. In July, the Native Business Podcast debuted on 15 platforms. Visit NativeBusinessMag.com/Podcast, and subscribe to the Native Business Podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify — or on whatever platform you listen to your podcasts.

The Future of Native Business With one year in the books, Native Business is building on a strong foundation.

Native Business has established itself as a reputable media company and a viable business that “walks its talk,” setting and meeting goals with determination and integrity.

Over the course of the coming months, the Native Business Podcast will release several new podcast episodes, while planning for the second annual Native Business Summit in May 2020 is underway.

Native Business is committed to affecting legacy through inspiring positive change across Indian Country. “This is a legacy business,” Gary said. “This is a legacy publication. All our energy is focused on helping to create a better legacy for future generations of Indian Country.”

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PONTIAC DRONE DELIVERY

First Nation tech innovators link remote Indigenous communities to lifesaving medical supplies by drone

Drones can deliver everything from blood testing kits to defibrillators and even heavy equipment to remote Indigenous communities. Here, the pilot program in action.

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he young woman needed a tank of oxygen. But there was none to be had in the remote First Nation community, and a pilot and chopper could not be mobilized fast enough. She passed away before oxygen could arrive, as she and her family waited at the airport.

A pilot program under way to deliver medical supplies by drone aims to save lives such as hers, and provide time-sensitive health care for anyone living remotely who needs it, from a community member who goes to a remote hunting camp and forgets his or her medicine, to blood-testing kits — or even blood — that enable people to get medical care without having to travel themselves.

The initiative involves several entities,

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and Pontiac Group Inc. is the lynchpin between them.

“That’s essentially what we do,” said Jonathon Araujo Redbird, managing partner of Pontiac Group, a company he founded with Jacob Taylor to match and bridge remote First Nations and Inuit communities with companies in urban centers. “We see challenges happening in a community — we try to seek out solutions using innovation and technology.”

Araujo, Odawa from the Wikwemikong First Nation, and Taylor, Mississauga from Curve Lake First Nation, are seeking to link remote indigenous communities with opportunities, and lifesaving supplies, from further south.

Medical supplies are often in short supply for residents of remote First Nation and Inuit communities, and food is expensive. In communities with a high incidence of HIV and diabetes, blood testing is essential, and a lot of people don’t do it regularly because access is difficult. With the drone project, a drone could take blood to the lab as opposed to flying the actual person, for instance.

Working with Drone Delivery Canada, Pontiac aims to take away some of these difficulties and lower the cost of moving supplies. Drone Delivery Canada, a public company traded on the NASDAQ and TSX Venture exchanges, named Pontiac its official National Indigenous Relations Advisor in March 2017.

The two have complementary goals.

“We don’t just sell a drone. We sell a complete solution, which is a logistics solution,” Drone Delivery President and CEO Michael Zahra said.

After a few years and thousands of test runs, the technology is ready to go, Zahra told Native Business®. This year they’re seeking customers.

“And one of the main markets we’re looking to penetrate are the First Nations and Inuit nations in Canada,” Zahra said. “The cargo can be anything, but the most common need in the First Nation and Inuit communities is typically going to be around medical or food.”

Supplies can be delivered “anywhere the access is difficult because of remoteness, weather” or when time is of the essence.

They can fly in adverse weather, at night, and in other challenging conditions, noted Zahra.

“It could be you’re transporting actual blood,” Zahra said, in which case things like temperature control, fast arrival and other factors come into play. Defibrillators could

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PONTIAC GROUP INC.

By Theresa Braine

also be delivered by drone.

Out of about a thousand remote First Nation and Inuit communities, “our hope is to penetrate about 20 percent, or 200 of them over the next few years,” said Zahra. “Some of these communities, especially in northern Canada, have zero access, and the next neighboring town could be hundreds of kilometers away.”

Moose Cree First Nation is a perfect starting point for pilot programs and establishing procedures, said Stan Kapeshesit, the economic development director.

It’s situated at the southern end of James Bay in northern Ontario, which makes it a good jumping-off point for deliveries farther north, as well as a candidate for drone delivery itself.

“We want to improve the standards of living and lower the cost of living for our people,” Kapeshesit said. “Up here it’s remote, and there’s not a lot of employment opportunities as well, and people don’t have a lot of money to spend on things.”

A huge part of that, and the starting point for the pilot project, is medical supplies. As remote as the community itself is, its members often venture far outside even that infrastructure, Kapeshesit noted. Moose Cree Nation signed a $2.5 million deal with Drone Delivery Canada in December to deliver such services.

“A lot of people still practice the Cree tradition of living on the land, and if they had an emergency situation of needing medicine delivered, we could deploy the drone and have the medicine delivered right to their camp,” Kapashesit said.

Moose Cree First Nation is essentially divided in half, with the main town, Moosonee, on the banks of the Moose River. The other half, Moose Factory, is on an island in the

grammed and sent on its way, a “nice, quick, safe, reliable alternative,” Zahra said.

Pontiac aims to be a bridge between western-style thinking and Indigenous ways.

“What we do essentially is we work with First Nation communities across the country,” said Taylor. “We look for solutions and how we can bridge the two worlds.”

Native communities operate from a strong community perspective, Araujo noted. “They’re more about community, they’re more about well-being, with money not necessarily being about the top priority.”

Pontiac will, for instance, go into a meeting and bring entrepreneurs from western culture to the table with elders and community leaders.

Invariably, the entrepreneurs are “used to the fast-paced environment, go, go, go, and they often can’t communicate with the elder who takes their time to think about what’s been said, really digest those words, and takes their time to provide a response,” Araujo said. “That often in a business meeting creates a lot of tension.”

Pontiac slows down the entrepreneurs, helps them take it one step at a time, and build trust. “There’s a lot of mistrust” from the Indigenous side, Araujo noted, dating back hundreds of years.

“Essentially we weren’t invited to the table of confederation,” said Araujo. “And 152 years later, we’re still not invited to the table in innovation and technology.”

Pontiac wants to change that.

First Nations are uniquely suited to entrepreneurship and innovation, Araujo noted.

“Our communities as nomadic people are more adaptive to change than any other people in the country,” said Araujo. “We’re the most fitted for this new age technology.”

The pilot program is delivering medical supplies such as blood-testing kits for HIV and for newborns, and clean needles, Taylor said.

That was in the initial, 1.7-kilogram payload from Transport Canada.

For the next one, they have been approved for a 400-pound payload, Taylor said. With

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PONTIAC GROUP INC.

“Our communities as nomadic people are more adaptive to change than any other people in the country,” said Araujo. “We’re the most fitted for this new age technology.” middle of the river. In summer one can boat across and get supplies there that way, and in winter one can snowmobile or drive. But in fall and spring, when the ice is too thick for boats but too slushy for trucks or snowmobiles, the river is all but impassable. During those seasons, a chopper is the only way in.

And that costs money — $1,800 Canadian an hour — and timing depends on the availability of a pilot, and other factors.

A drone could simply be packed up, pro-

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that they could eventually branch into other items, such as auto parts.

Right now they’re doing flights under 100 kilometers. The drone can travel up to 200 kilometers per hour, Araujo said. It takes off and lands from a “drone depot” that’s not unlike a helipad.

It also is equipped with technology monitoring the weather, wind, videotaping and GPS imaging.

Drone Delivery Canada has three drones, two of them electric and the other gasoline-powered, said Zahra. There’s the Sparrow, which can carry 10 pounds of cargo, including blood and blood tests, small parcels, ecommerce and mail, and ranges 20 miles to 40 miles per hour.

Then there’s the Robin, which can transport about 25 pounds, with a range of 40 miles. After that it’s a big jump to the gas-fu-

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longer a need to wake a pilot out of bed, get him to drive to the air pad, get him all situated and send him off. Now with the click of a button from a remote area you can have a drone take off.”

If someone at a remote hunting camp has a heart attack, for instance, a drone can be sent with a defibrillator that would arrive long before an ambulance would.

“You’re not going to get an ambulance there,” Zahra said. “If they’ve got an app on their phone, we can drop off a defibrillator.”

Araujo and Taylor see the lifesaving benefits of drone delivery extending far beyond health care. Connecting in this way to the densely populated regions closer to the U.S. border will boost the lives of First Nation and Inuit residents, they hope.

“We’ve got to bring our people to the table of innovation and technology and lead the path to entrepreneurship,” Araujo said. “It’s just natural for us to be entrepreneurs.”

Moreover, Indigenous people have a lot to offer, Araujo added.

“We are the fastest-growing demographic. We have the highest youth population,” Araujo said. “We as Indigenous people are most resilient and adaptive to change. So why are we not at the table of innovation and technology?”

PHOTO COURTESY OF PONTIAC GROUP INC.

eled Condor, which has a range of 150 miles and can carry 400 pounds of cargo, Zahra said.

There are six dropoff points in six locations. For instance, there can be one depot at the closest regional hospital, and another at a facility in the remote community. A nursing station might have yet another depot. The goal is to get drone depots at post offices as well, in major urban centers and in the communities.

“It’s the last mile that’s the most difficult and the most expensive,” said Zahra. “And that’s really where we come in.”

The goal right now is to demonstrate the capabilities, Araujo said.

“We have about four drone routes at this time within the First Nation context,” Araujo said. “We just signed an arrangement with Air Canada to do 150,000 drone routes within the next 10 years under the Air Canada granting.”

The drones look kind of like a mini-helicopter, but without a cockpit, since no one’s flying it.

“That’s the thing,” said Araujo. “There’s no

Left: Justine Osceola, Founder of Made by Justine O LLC Below: Justine O’s “Tribal Spirit Bar” is inspired by the land, infused with the scents of forest pine, gardenia flowers, orange groves and pineapple.

FROM BATTER TO BUBBLES: ONE ENTREPRENEUR’S JOURNEY

By Native Business Staff

PHOTOS COURTESY JUSTINE OSCEOLA

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hen Justine Osceola, Founder of Made By Justine O LLC, started her professional career, it wasn’t soap bubbles that were in her sights — it was cake batter.

A member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Osceola graduated from culinary school and was having a pretty good run at cake making even though “she wasn’t that into it.”

When a stint at a pow wow craft fair showed her a higher demand existed for handmade soaps, she made the leap. It satisfied her craving for a new creative outlet, and much to her delight, her culinary skills proved transferable.

Osceola likes to operate by the book. Similar health codes made the transition from the production of food to soap fairly easy.

Coupled with relatively low startup costs (Osceola’s “office” is her home kitchen), those reduced barriers to market entry kept her debt free.

While Osceola gained invaluable insights from her mother, who had always been a pow wow vendor, her expectations for sales her first time vending at the Seminole Tribal Fair were pretty modest. That is, until she sold out, and people kept asking for more.

That was in November 2017, and she hasn’t looked back since.

“I’m so excited when I’m making soaps!

I love the seasonal scents,” shared Osceola, who color-coordinates for holidays and events. “I even did a two-spirit bar for Pride

Month, and I do self-love soaps that are popular.”

Fortunately for Osceola, taking her product to market ignites her passion even more.

“My favorite part of doing business is when I have already created the soap, cured it, packaged it, and I’m out there selling it,” Osceola said. “People expect a plain old bar of soap. I think people are in shock when they see unique colors and scents. I love to see a customer buy my soap and be excited about something I’ve made.”

Two years into it, Osceola is now a Florida LLC, and has just completed coursework that will allow her to become a vendor to her own Tribe.

While word-of-mouth marketing got her business off the ground, now Osceola is enjoying leveraging the potential of social media, in addition to paying for the occasional promotional ad.

Networking and growing her sphere of influence are also critical to expanding her business, she added. “I was really inspired and loved networking with other Native business people with like-minded goals,” she said of the Native Business Summit in May. Osceola anticipates traveling to more business conferences and events to promote her products alongside other Native entrepreneurs and Tribal business in coming years. She’d also like to experiment with hemp-based soaps, but has great respect for Tribal law, which currently prevents it. For

the moment, she’s focused on quality over quantity in the vegan, earth friendly, nonGMO line she’s vested in.

For aspiring Native entrepreneurs, Osceola’s words echo those of others who have thrown caution to the wind to bring their hopes and visions to life. “Pursue your dreams and goals. Do not give up! If you have a passion for it, you can do it!”

Made By Justine O CAN BE FOUND AT:

madebyjustineo.etsy.com INSTAGRAM: madebyjustineo FACEBOOK: Made By Justine O OR DROP HER A LINE AT

handmadebyjustineo@gmail.com

Osceola displays her vegan and organic soaps.

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CHEROKEE NATION OPENS FILM OFFICE

TO DRAW PRODUCTION TO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA

By Sandra Hale Schulman

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he rich culture and homeland of the Cherokee Nation will soon be featured on the big screen with the launch of the Cherokee Nation Film Office. The newly formed Film Office’s mission is to promote northeast Oklahoma as a prime destination for filmmakers. It will maintain a database of Cherokee Nation locations, their resources and talent, as well as create partnerships and offer incentives for filmmakers.

“The state of Oklahoma has one of the most attractive film incentive packages with a 35-37 percent cash rebate on qualified expenses, but other factors like a skilled and trained workforce also help attract films to our state,” says Cherokee Nation Vice President of Communications Amanda Clinton, who will be heading up the new office. “That involves making sure we have a workforce ready to go when film productions are looking at Oklahoma, and the infrastructure to support their needs. The Cherokee Nation Film Office’s goal is to make sure as many of those skilled directors, set designers, costume designers and even acting roles are filled by Cherokees.”

Just this year, Oklahoma doubled the cap

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Spring House at Saline Courthouse, Delaware County

on that rebate incentive from $4 million to $8 million and fast-tracked the Cherokee Nation’s 3 to 5 year plan.

“While the Cherokee Nation Film Office isn’t offering a monetary incentive at this time, we are open to exploring what an incentive similar to the state’s incentive would mean to economic development,” Clinton clarified.

If research indicated that offering a similar incentive would create jobs for Cherokees locally, then Clinton is confident that’s something the Tribe would explore. Until then, the Film Office can offer discounted hotel packages, secure storage of equipment while film productions are on site, discounted catering, location scouting assistance, assistance with casting and crew calls, and a locations database, as well as an Indigenous talent and film crew database (currently being built).

Partnerships are key to the success of the new office, Clinton underscores.

“What’s good for Oklahoma is good for the Cherokee Nation and vice versa. We have to be partners if we want to get ahead in this industry, or in any industry for that matter. We have been working hand in hand with the

Redbud Valley Nature Preserve, Tulsa County

Oklahoma Film + Music Office (OF + MO) for months to assist in location scouting, building crew and locations directories, attending conferences and trade shows, having a unified presence at film festivals and supporting the office’s legislative efforts, all in an effort to attract film and television projects to our state,” Clinton says.

The Oklahoma Film Office is based in Oklahoma City, but Oklahoma is a huge state with 77 counties. “We know northeast Oklahoma and everything the Cherokee Nation has to offer better than anyone else,” Clinton asserts. “Coming from a rural background myself, growing up in Mayes and Delaware County, kids there have to wonder, ‘How could I ever do something like that?’ Hopefully through the contacts we’ve made so far, and with our partners at OF + MO, we can bring in professionals from both sides of the camera to show young Cherokees how they might make a career in this field.”

For film production companies all these incentives add up.

Since FireThief Productions, a Native-owned film production company based in Tulsa, formed in 2014, the production company has worked closely with Cherokee

PHOTOS COURTESY CHEROKEE NATION FILM OFFICE

Will Rogers Memorial, Rogers County

Pasture, Washington County

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Nation Businesses to create and produce the first-of-its-kind and award-winning program "Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People," says Jeremy Charles, principal of FireThief Productions.

“Filmmakers have a lot of choices when they are picking locations to film. One distinguishing thing Oklahoma has to offer is Indian Country. As more and more films are being made in our state, and as FireThief continues to grow, we are seeing a shortage of qualified crew members in Oklahoma, generally, and especially a dearth of Native Americans in the industry. One of the goals that FireThief shares with the Cherokee Nation Film Office is to help develop talented Native filmmakers,” Charles continues.

“Our Emmy-winning television show ‘Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People’ is almost fully staffed with Indigenous filmmakers and producers,” says Clinton. “Through that experience, we’ve found there are Native Americans who are extremely talented at filmmaking. Portraying Native Americans accurately has always been a problem L-R: Ashley Andoe, Cherokee Nation Film Office Manager; Amanda Clinton, Vice President of in this industry, so we are consulting with Communications, Cherokee Nation; and Jennifer Loren, Executive Producer of "Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People," at Netflix Studios in Hollywood during AFCI Week in April. producers, directors, casting, wardrobe designers, set designers and other departments to ensure historical and cultural integrity. itive growth within our industry. With the “Gloria Steinem was very good friends Between historians, genealogists, traditionrecent increase and extension of our state’s with Chief Wilma Mankiller, and Gloria was alists and academics, the Cherokee Nation Film Enhancement Rebate Program and the even married to her husband at Wilma’s Film Office can connect productions with support of the state legislature, the future of home at Mankiller Flats in Adair County. resources to ensure Cherokees are portrayed our industry is looking grand!”

The producers were at first seeking generaccurately.” ic, but authentic photos of Cherokee Locations are a major factor for women they could use to stage ‘Wilfilmmakers. ma’s home’ in the movie. Rather than “As far as locations go, when I talk to provide generic photos, I reached people who’ve never been to Oklahoout to Wilma’s daughters, Gina and ma, they don’t describe the Oklahoma Felicia, to see if we could use actual I know,” says Clinton, an Oklahoma family photos for the set. That night native. “Their perceptions seem to be Gina and Felicia went through family very tilted toward western Oklahoma photos and scanned several to send to that’s very flat with wheat fields and the producers. Now when the movie plains. Or many people have a ‘Dust comes out, if that scene from Wilma’s Bowl’ perception, with tumbleweeds — Amanda Clinton, home makes it into the movie, it will dancing across the Plains. However, Cherokee Nation Vice President of Communications have actual family photos and docuthat’s not the Oklahoma I know and ments provided by her daughters on love so dearly, which is northeast A production is currently underway in the the bookshelves and the coffee table, just as Oklahoma where the Cherokee Nation is. In Tahlequah area, starring a prominent, wellWilma’s home might have looked.” addition, filmmakers we’ve guided on scoutknown Native actor. “We assisted on both The office’s partnerships will include the ing trips can’t get over how gracious and hoscrew and casting as well as location scoutOklahoma Film + Music Office (OF+MO), the pitable everyone is. Our strengths aren’t just ing, ” Clinton shares.

“But our first win really Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture in our locations or our incentives. We truly started on the first day we announced the (Tulsa FMAC) and other local film offices to believe our strengths also lie in our people.”

Cherokee Nation Film Office. That very same coordinate resources and talent. According As Nathan Gardocki, co-owner of Nathan day, we received a call from the producers of to Clinton, Cherokee Nation Businesses alGardocki Productions, the largest video the film ‘The Glorias, ’ a biopic about the life ready has economic development partnerequipment rental company in the state, puts of Gloria Steinem, starring Julianne Moore, ships with the Tulsa Regional Chamber and it: “As a local Unit Production Manager of Alicia Vikander, Janelle Monae and IndigeTulsa Regional Tourism. nearly 20 feature films in the state of Oklanous actress Kimberly Guerrero, who plays Keep up with the Cherokee Nation Film homa… I am very interested in the success of Wilma Mankiller.

Office at cherokee.film.

Oklahoma film productions and seeing pos-

PHOTO COURTESY CHEROKEE NATION FILM OFFICE

“Our strengths aren’t just in our locations or our incentives.

We truly believe our strengths also lie in our people.”

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Puyallup Chairman David Z. Bean

“As a child, we’re taught traditional ways,” Bean said. “And the one that stands out the most to me is ‘a person will be remembered for what they have done for their people, not what they have done for themselves.’ That’s a lesson that we’ve recited over and over in our circle.”

For the Puyallup Tribe of Indians,

HEALING IS MORE THAN JUST HEALTH CARE

By Andrew Ricci

PHOTO BY JENN SQUALLY | COURTESY PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS

A

ccording to David Z. Bean, Chairman of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, when he was born in 1969, the Tribe “really didn’t have

anything.”

That all started to change when Ramona Bennett, one of the Tribe’s elders and a longtime social services activist came home from Seattle in the late 1960s and began to lead the charge to improve the Tribe’s standing. In addition to Bennett, Bean also gave a lot of credit to Puyallups who, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, realized that, due to sovereignty, the Tribe could pass and implement its own laws and license businesses like fireworks stands, tobacco stores and casinos.

“The federal government wasn’t living up to its treaty responsibilities,” Bean said.

“So folks went out and made things happen. It was a survival mechanism.”

The new businesses created jobs for Tribal members and a tax base for the Tribe. They also taught critical business skills, like hiring staff, selling and developing communications skills. More than just that, though, it opened up avenues for the Tribe’s entrepreneurial spirit to flourish and launch new endeavors.

Bean said that the same entrepreneurial spirit that drove the Puyallups to selling fireworks and tobacco is still alive today, albeit on a much greater scale. In 1989, the Tribe incorporated Marine View Ventures (MVV) as its economic development arm, and today MVV focuses on four key areas:

gas stations, real estate, a marina and car washes. This includes seven fueling stations in the South Puget Sound region of Washinton State, more than 300 acres of real estate holdings, one of the premier marinas in the Puget Sound region with 200-plus slips, and two express exterior car washes.

And MVV is just the tip of the iceberg of the Puyallup’s economic initiatives. Earlier this year, the Tribe’s Puyallup Tribal Cannabis Enterprises also opened its second cannabis retail location in Tacoma with a major launch event attended by Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong.

Like many Tribes in the state and across the nation, the Puyallups are also heavily involved in gaming. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 and the Puyallup Land Claims Settlement Act of 1990 provided a new avenue to economic development and an unprecedented revenue source. The latter supplied millions of dollars that the Tribe could invest in economic development and services.

“Fast forward to today – we’ve grown explosively,” Bean said.

For 15 years, the Tribe has operated the Emerald Queen Hotel and Casino in Fife, Washington, which has been one key driver of the Tribe’s economic development.

This December, the Tribe will open the doors to a new 310,000-square-foot facility, which they expect to rival not only their regional counterparts, but the best casinos in Las Vegas.

One of the activities that these econom→

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PHOTO COURTESY PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS

Offices of the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority

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or health care, so we started with this dental trailer, which I remember going to as a child.”

Today, more than four decades later, the PTHA has blossomed into an organization that provides health care to 15,000 clients in the Tacoma and Pierce County area. It offers a full spectrum of services, including addiction treatment, community health, dental care, medical care, mental health, pediatrics, pharmacy, X-ray facilities and lab work.

“It’s evolved into a health care industry leading entity,” Bean said. “They are the best-ran and most efficient entity within the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.”

“They have a pediatric wing that allows the doctors to focus solely on our children,” he continued. “They have a wing for our elders. They have an emergency section of the clinic. And I’m just so proud of the work they have done.”

PHOTO BY JENN SQUALLY | COURTESY PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS

ic development revenues supports is the Tribe’s health care system, which is almost as old as Bean himself. He says that health care is important because taking care of one another is deeply ingrained in the Tribe’s very fabric.

“You know, we’re always taught to be thankful for the Creator and thankful for Mother Earth,” Bean told Native Business Magazine. “If we take care of Mother Earth, Mother Earth will take care of us, because she provides everything needed to sustain life.

“And we’ve always taken care of one another,” Bean continued. “Our fishermen, our hunters, our gatherers, they did not go out and hunt and gather and fish for themselves, they went out and took care of the community with those efforts. So, fast forward to today, we do our best to provide for every need that our community would ever have and provide them with opportunities to be successful.”

In 1968, Ramona Bennett was elected to the Puyallup Tribal Council, and she served as Tribal Chairwoman from 1971 until 1978. While in office, the Tribe set up the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority (PTHA) and sought federal funding to run its own health services. In 1976, Bennett’s lobbying efforts paid off when the Tribe received formal funding and PTHA became the first ambulatory health clinic to enter into a 638 “self-determination” contract with the Indian Health Service.

“It started with a dental trailer,” Bean said. “Going back in the 1950s and 1960s, when they talk about Indian Health Service efforts, they would set up these different clinics and it was known as the ‘drill and fill’ place. We didn’t have dental care

The PTHA also has the distinction of creating the nation’s first Tribal family medicine residency program accredited by the American Osteopathic Association in July 2011 — and today, they’re one of only two Tribes to offer such a program.

Bean said that this program came about after some of his staff read the 2009 Affordable Care Act (ACA) and recognized an opportunity.

“In the Affordable Care Act, there was funding for teaching health centers and that portion of the ACA was intended to train doctors in communities that were underserved,” Bean said. “When they created it, they weren’t thinking of Tribes. But our staff read it, they put a plan together, they applied, and they were awarded the contract for teaching health centers.”

“Seven years later, we’ve graduated five classes,” Bean added. “This latest class that we just graduated two weeks ago, all of them will be going into Native communities.”

According to Dr. Alan Shelton, who has been with the Puyallup Tribe for more than 35 years and today serves as the PTHA’s Clinical Director, the highly competitive program provides four students every year with an opportunity to get hands-on experience via a three-year residency. For the incoming class, they received more than 100 applications.

“They do a fair amount of their work in one of our local hospitals that we’re affiliated with, but their outpatient work is performed here,” Shelton told Native Business Magazine. “When they come to us, they’ve finished medical school, but after they complete the residency program, they are a board-certified family practitioner.”

According to Chairman Bean, an ancil-

Salish Cancer Center's caring integrative team members: Dr. Paul Reilly, Naturopath; Yvette Paladin, Pharmacy Technician; and Ryan Glover, Pharmacist.

COVER STORY

PHOTOS BY JENN SQUALLY | COURTESY PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS

Dr. Alan Shelton, Clinical Director for the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority, speaks at a graduation ceremony for PTHA’s residency program.

lary benefit of the residency program — and another reason he considers it to be wildly successful — is that on top of training future doctors, it allows their current doctors to spend more time with patients in the clinic or at hospitals. This allows them to dedicate more time to taking care of the Tribe’s elders who, alongside its children, are the highest priority members of their community.

Shelton sees the residency program as not just fulfilling a basic need for doctors who can fill positions in Native health centers around the country, but also as an opportunity to build a health care system around Native values. In so doing, they can create better patient outcomes.

“Conventional medical training produces technicians,” Shelton said. “They’re people that are highly, technically competent, but they’re not real good at training what we consider to be healers. That’s what we try to do here. We want folks to be technically competent, of course, but we want them to know how to connect deeply with patients — that empathy, compassion, being interested in their lives, being involved in their families — those kinds of things.”

“In Native clinics across the country, it’s very hard to recruit young doctors,” Shelton continued. “They’re remote, and they don’t have the resources that other places have. They don’t offer the kind of benefits or salary that other places do. But we’re hoping that by training young people here, we can show them the value of working in the Native community.”

all around the Northwest.”

Roberta Basch, Native Outreach Coordinator for the SIOCC, said in an interview that the center works hand in hand with the Tribal Council’s goals for how the Tribe wants to approach health and healing.

“Within the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the community continues to work really hard at restoring, preserving, and integrating our sense of well-being through our traditional ways of knowing and through traditional medicines,” Basch told Native Business Magazine. “Our well-being is central to our relationship with the natural environment and how we keep ourselves healthy.”

“So, we take an interpretation of our wellness which says that wellness is our natural state of being, and anything that bothers that is a cause for illness or sickness,” she continued. “Within the cancer center, we have taken that model of our traditional health and made that part of the model of cancer care.”

This means that in addition to the doctors prescribing and administering chemotherapy or other medical treatments, the SIOCC also employs other traditional healers from Native and other practices who work with patients.

“We have Native traditional healers that will work with individuals, diagnose where they need help, and will provide whatever is needed for that particular patient, whether it be spiritual prayers, a spiritual healing, energetic healing, supplements,

Four years ago, the Tribe took another major step in providing this kind of care when it opened the Salish Integrative Oncology Care Center (SIOCC) in Fife, Washington. The 8,200-square-foot cancer care facility was the first Tribally owned cancer care center in Indian Country and the United States.

Chairman Bean gives the credit for this innovative center to his predecessor, Chairman Bill Sterud, who now serves as Vice Chairman of the Tribe. In 2014, Sterud and Shelton learned of an opportunity through Cancer Centers of America, which was attempting to set up a hospital in Washington. But, Bean said, “for one reason or another, it did not work out.”

“They were just going to pick up their operation and completely leave the state of Washington with their clinic, and Dr. Shelton saw this as a wonderful opportunity for the Puyallup Ceremony for graduates of the PTHA residency program Tribe to acquire the assets and the staff for a teas or anything else,” Basch said. “All of successful clinic here in the state of Washour staff are prepared, for example, to supington,” Bean said. “Given the high rates of port people on a spiritual level.” cancer within the Native communities, we “We also have, within that integrated saw an opportunity to provide care for our model, naturopathic healing,” she said. “So clients — not just Puyallup members, not if somebody comes in, a trained oncologist just our community members, but Tribes will see the patient first. The next appointJ U LY/AU GU S T 2 0 1 9

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COVER STORY

Vice Chairman Bill Sterud, Dr. Alan Shelton and Chairman David Z. Bean stand inside the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority

tients are first above everything else. And we do the best that we can to help them, to listen to them, to be with them, to offer them anything that we possibly can.”

“Many of our patients came from other clinics,” she said. “And they said they didn’t like being treated like they’re going through a manufacturing facility where you come in, you sit down, you get your chemotherapy, and then you’re out the door. It’s very impersonal.”

“Here,” she said, “patients are first above everything else.”

When we spoke, Bean was only three weeks into his Chairmanship, so while he’s been passed the torch, he was adamant that all of the Tribe’s innovations and advances are merely the continuation of team efforts that started long before he was elected to lead the Puyallup Tribe.

“The credit [for the cancer center] really goes to our former Chairman, Bill Sterud, for going out with Dr. Shelton and visiting the Cancer Centers of America and coming back and talking to the Council about what he saw and how we have an opportunity to fill a PHOTO COURTESY PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS

ment right after that will be with a naturopath. And then the nurse practitioner will let that patient know all of the services that are available to that patient, which includes oncology, naturopathic medicine, Native traditional healing that includes spiritual healing, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and upcoming wellness education opportunities – and that patient will choose what they want to do."

According to the SIOCC’s website, since opening its doors on April 13, 2015, the facility has treated cancer patients of both Tribal and non-Tribal origin. And their approach to cancer care has been a draw for the facility, with approximately 80 percent of their patients being non-Tribal.

Another draw, Basch says, is feedback from their patients that “they love the way they’re treated here.”

“They’re treated like human beings,” she said. "We take time out to talk to them and we establish a relationship with them. Pa-

PHOTO BY JENN SQUALLY | COURTESY PUYALLUP TRIBE OF INDIANS

For Bean, all of these efforts are a way to honor the Puyallup Tribe’s ancestors and the sacrifices that they made to take care of future generations.

The Puyallup Tribal Integrative Medicine Building

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need,” Bean said. “I’ve been on the Council since 2006, so I’ve been there alongside Chairman Sterud and other council members to help grow this operation. But we’ve done it as a team.”

“He brought the idea to the table, and then we brought it to life, and we’re sustaining it,” Bean added.

For Bean, all of these efforts are a way to honor the Puyallup Tribe’s ancestors and the sacrifices that they made to take care of future generations.

“As a child, we’re taught traditional ways,” Bean said. “And the one that stands out the most to me is ‘a person will be remembered for what they have done for their people, not what they have done for themselves.’ That’s a lesson that we’ve recited over and over in our circle.”

“So this is a collective effort from our ancestors and our elders who are with us today,” he said. “Many community members came together, recognized that we need to take care of one another and lift each other up, and that’s what we do. Not one of us can do this alone – it takes the support of the full Council, the support of the community, and the guidance from our ancestors and elders. And for that, we’re thankful for all of their battles and their sacrifices to take care of future generations.”

“And my mindset is: how do we honor them and thank them?” he asked. “We do so by continuing their legacy of taking care of their community and future generations.”

BEAUTY Ah-Shi Beauty Founder Ahsaki Báá LaFrance-Chachere

THE WORD AH-SHI IS A NAVAJO WORD. IT MEANS: THIS IS ME; THIS IS MINE.

PHOTO BY STEPHANIE QUATES

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o Ahsaki Báá LaFrance-Chachere, wellness implies an integrity of self.

As a half Navajo and half African American woman, raised in Besh-Be-Toh on the Navajo Reservation in Northeastern Arizona, she desired to see more people of color represented in the luxury beauty market.

She created Ah-Shi Beauty, her luxury skincare line, for two key reasons: 1) to balance her skin with all-natural, botanical-based products, and 2) to create a brand and space where people of color, and particularly Native Americans, are not only represented but uplifted, encouraged and inspired.

LaFrance-Chachere has a dynamic understanding of the way health radiates from inside-out. Ah-Shi Beauty is more than a skincare and beauty line; it’s a mission to “spread positive vibes” and encourage people of color to let their beauty and power shine.

“From what I know so far, no Native-owned luxury skincare line exists. I want this line to be in Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus and Harvey Nichols overseas. I

istry classmate, eschewed harsh chemicals in favor of botanical bases.

Her skincare collaborator, who specializes in pharmaceuticals, broke down the chemistry in layman’s terms for LaFrance-Chachere, helping her to understand how the combination of various extractions of botanicals and plants influence one another. “Each ingredient can be enhanced by another,” shared LaFrance-Chachere, who has become quite the alchemist herself.

“They’re all-natural extracts that rebalance your skin. We wanted this to be simple and not complicated, because life is already complicated enough,” she said.

When her skincare formula was ready, and a Toronto-based manufacturer secured, she built her e-commerce site on Squarespace.

“It was easy to learn,” she said of the platform.

“Eventually I want to be in highBy Native Business Staff end retail stores,” she said, adding that she’s in the process of pitching her line to Macy’s and other department stores. “For the meantime, e-commerce is my best friend,” she said.

LaFrance-Chachere is also expanding her product placement at smaller retail shops on reservations “so that people who don’t have Internet access, or who like to go to the store nearby, can also have access to my skincare line,” she said. feel like people may not see Native people as luxury. But if you look at our beadwork, Growing Ah-Shi Beauty our silversmith work, our rugs — those are LaFrance-Chachere is a Navajo woman luxury. Our homeland is luxury. I want to on a clear path. She has a vision for where make that statement: We, too, are luxury,” she is headed — and she’s supporting felLaFrance-Chachere said. low people of color along the way.

“In five years, I see Ah-Shi Beauty in Building Ah-Shi Beauty high-end stores across the United States LaFrance-Chachere is no stranger to with Native models and colored models entrepreneurship. In February 2016, she as our main focus point. In 10 years, I see launched Four Arrows, shopfourarrows.com, Ah-Shi Beauty as internationally known. creating western-style leather boots for roIn return, I want to create a scholarship for deo hands. While growing her boots and my Native American and African Ameriwestern clothing business, she researched can people, or anybody of color. I want to skincare on the side. give back soon,” LaFrance-Chachere said.

The skincare business involves extensive “I want to create jobs for my people — on research and fees, so LaFrance-Chachere the reservation, off the reservation. I am saved her own money for startup capital, building an empire to represent myself, my setting aside every penny over the course of family and my people.” four years. Putting $200-400 aside monthThe ambitious Navajo entrepreneur is ly, she began production of Ah-Shi Beauty just getting started. She’s launching an Ahwith $15,000 in the bank. “I didn’t take out Shi Beauty cosmetics line in October 2019. any loans,” she shared.

Eventually, she also wants to create a LaFrance-Chachere chose to concentrate business-casual clothing line, “like Vera her skincare line on natural ingredients Wang for boss babes” with prices like Exand balance. She and her business partner, press. “For now, I’m concentrating on Ahher former Arizona State University chemShi Beauty.”

AH-SHI BEAUTY, NAVAJO-OWNED SKINCARE LINE, EMPOWERS PEOPLE OF COLOR

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The headboard in this guest room features a print of an original painting of a canyon live oak, one of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation's cultural touchstones.

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Native Woman-Owned Gallery CURATES ART FOR SYCUAN CASINO RESORT

By Debra Utacia Krol

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PHOTO BY LAURA MERTZ, COURTESY RUTH-ANN THORN

PHOTO COURTESY SYCUAN BAND OF THE KUMEYAAY NATION

he Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation celebrated the grand opening of its expanded Sycuan Casino Resort on March 27. The $226 million expansion features a 12-story luxury hotel tower with 300 rooms, five new restaurants and bars, a full-service spa and even an adult-only pool and lazy river just outside of San Diego.

But one of the new venue’s highlights has its foundation firmly in the living culture of the Kumeyaay people through the curated art seen throughout the resort. The collection, which features both original art and prints, was developed with the help of one of the nation’s only Native-owned galleries and the remarkable woman who owns it.

Ruth-Ann Thorn is a citizen of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, based in north San Diego County, and owner of Exclusive Collections Gallery, a full-service art curation service located in Solano Beach, Cali-

Ruth-Ann Thorn (Luiseño), owner of EC Art Services, a division of Exclusive Collections Gallery

fornia, and EC Art Services, which provides art solutions for larger venues such as the resort and Tribal government campuses.

“I don't think there are very many Native Americans that are specializing in art other than maybe at the museum level or helping to curate collections for their own Tribes,” says Thorn, whose father is Luiseño; her mother is a Chinese-Dutch artist.

Although she grew up surrounded by art and artists, “I didn't really think that I would be involved in it,” Thorn says. “I went through a crisis as a young person because I didn't really have those ties to the reservation because my parents were divorced; my identity was really in question.”

After marrying at a young age, Thorn moved to Hawaii with her husband and enrolled in college. “There was an opening in an art gallery, and I thought I was just going to do it for the summer while I was going to university,” she says. But after just two weeks, “I just knew that was my calling, and from that point on pursued it.”

Thorn worked for a Hawaiian gallery for six years. Then, she relocated back to California — and home. “I wanted to get back home to the reservation,” says Thorn. In 1995, Thorn’s goal to start her own gallery experienced a setback when she couldn’t obtain a business loan. “So, I started this company out of the back of a Ryder truck or a U-Haul truck,” she says. “I’d go to hotels and set up a show in a meeting room. I’d bring the artists and call my collectors. It was very grassroots at the beginning.”

The hotel shows proved to be successful, and after three years, she opened her first gallery in La Jolla, an upscale community in San Diego County. “I ended up having three galleries in San Diego for many years, in very prime locations.” Next came galleries in Las Vegas’ Forum Shops at Caesars, in Beverly Hills and Breckenridge, Colorado.

Thorn also opened Crown Thorn Publishing, which creates print editions of original art.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The Sycuan Resort also has something few other venues can boast — exclusive art.

Most deals involve simply choosing art from a catalog, she says. Not to mention, Thorn ensures that all art created for a Tribal venue is proprietary and reflects the Tribe’s culture and history. “If you see it there, you're never going to see it anywhere ever again.”

“It’s refreshing to have a Tribal person in charge of the project,” says Sycuan Chairman Cody Martinez. “Ruth-Ann is a successful art dealer, and also as a Native person; she knows where to use Tribal information – and where not to.” Martinez also notes that, as a member of a neighboring Tribe, she understands Kumeyaay landscapes and culture, and what is important to Kumeyaay people, such as their basketry patterns.

EC Gallery also won a prestigious “Best That project led to more public space “These and other aspects are unique to our Gallery in California 2019” award and was work, first with the neighboring Pechanga Tribe.” named as one of the 25 best galleries or muBand of Luiseño, then to the Sycuan project.

Thorn also notes that Tribes want to seums in America by American Art Awards.

The process to curate Sycuan’s resort exshowcase their culture and history much But something was missing, even as the pansion was a two-year project. “I curated more in their public venues and resorts. galleries were doing brisk business. everything for every portion of the resort,” “We never really felt that sense of pride to “I stopped really feeling like I show our culture when the Tribes was having the passion for the first started into gaming,” she “They didn’t want traditional art,” says Thorn, art,” Thorn says. “I started feelsays. “Everybody wanted to look ing like I was running businesses. like Vegas because we weren't “but they wanted images that showed their The company was doing about sure how we were going to be $15 million a year, and that is a accepted.” Especially in Califorculture.” And, using a Native curator ensures big animal to manage.” Thorn nia, where Native people were didn’t have time to focus on her brutalized, murdered and opcultural appropriateness. “What is too sacred passion of finding new artists, pressed, she says that Tribal capromoting her existing commusinos sought to blend in. “But in that you don't want to show to the public?” nity and showcasing art through the last 10 years, that's changing! curating exhibits. So, she took When you come into our state what she felt was the next logical you're going to be welcomed by step: she downsized to a manageable single Thorn says. She worked with the Tribal our culture and by our ancestors.” And, that gallery.

Council and Cultural Committee to achieve suits Thorn just fine. “That’s what I really However, the move to just one location the look and feel the community wanted. want to focus on, because to me that's such not only freed Thorn up to concentrate “The art was inspired by lots of meetings, a great honor to be able to be involved in on curation and nurturing artists but also where we looked at different artists’ works.” that.” proved to be a sound business decision.

Then, Thorn skillfully drew out what the Along the way, Thorn also seeks out Na“[Brick and mortar] retail's really taken a big Tribal members wanted. “I do an exercise tive artists, and ensures that the project is hit,” she says. “It was good timing.” It also where I ask questions like, ‘If you were color brought in with the budget in mind. “It’s provided more time for Thorn to engage in what color would you be?’” Those exercises more cost-effective when I do a project,” larger projects. helped committee and Council members she says. “I have the art created and then, “I was volunteering at my Tribe’s ecotap into their creative sides. because I have my own printing facility and nomic development programs,” says Thorn.

“We would go out with some Tribal memmy own framing facility, it’s usually less “I kept running into people who were asking bers and walk the reservation and take phothan they’re going to pay for anything off why I wasn’t overseeing these big public art tos of things that are culturally significant, the shelf for the venue size. And, it’s all credeals in Indian Country hotels and public and then we used those photos to create ated by the Tribe.” spaces.” oil paintings of the landscape.” The paintThorn is now working with other Tribes So, in 2011, she took on her first Tribal job: ings include culturally significant plants on art projects. And she intends to continue art for the Rincon Tribal administration and animals such as valley live oak and redworking in Indian Country. “I've been asked building. “I was able to meet with our cultailed hawks in flight. The art was created to bid on jobs outside of Indian Country betural community and really take the time to with contemporary techniques to showcase cause they get some funding, because I’m a figure out what needed to be in that space traditional culture. “They didn’t want tradiNative woman-owned business,” she says. through art.” The finished product: “I pulled tional art,” says Thorn, “but they wanted im“But I really want to stick in Indian Counout archived old photos of our people and ages that showed their culture.” And, using try, because I feel it’s not just a business, it’s modernized them by printing them on meta Native curator ensures cultural approprimy passion. If I'm involved with the Tribe, al. This created a modern interpretation of ateness. “What is too sacred that you don't I know they will get the most value, and our culture and it turned out really great.” want to show to the public?” they’re going to get something special.”

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PHOTO COURTESY SYCUAN BAND OF THE KUMEYAAY NATION

A guest room at Sycuan Casino Resort with art curated by Ruth-Ann Thorn

Anishinaabe entrepreneur Jennifer Harper’s company Cheekbone Beauty seeks to educate and uplift Indigenous youth through beauty products.

“The beauty industry has never paid attention to Indigenous people in any shape or form, and now we are a brand that exists solely so they feel and see themselves represented,” Harper said.

CHEEKBONE BEAUTY

GOES BEYOND COSMETIC APPEAL

Each vibrant hue of Cheekbone Beauty’s line of Warrior Women Liquid Lipstick highlights strong Native women.

By Mary Belle Zook

PHOTOS COURTESY CHEEKBONE BEAUTY

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s an Ojibwe, Jennifer Harper has always known she wanted her life’s work to support fellow Indigenous communities, but she was unsure how it could manifest. In January 2015, the answer appeared to her in a dream as two young Native girls played together, covered in lip gloss. From the moment Harper awoke, she told her husband and opened her laptop to begin brainstorming. Less than a year later, Harper officially established Cheekbone Beauty, a company that honors her favorite facial feature and Anishinaabe roots.

“The beauty industry has never paid attention to Indigenous people in any shape or form, and now we are a brand that exists solely so they feel and see themselves represented,” Harper said.

Although Cheekbone Beauty is based in Canada, as an online retailer, consumers across Canada, Australia and the United States can purchase Harper’s products.

Through each purchase, Cheekbone Beauty strives to support, enhance and empower the lives of Indigenous peoples of all ages, but especially youth, through its lip gloss, contour kits and more.

“That is our next generation. Their narrative of their story is going to be the opposite of our histories,” Harper explained.

“We have this history of generational trauma, and well, you know what? Now we’re going to have a history and a story of a generational resilience and resistance, and

ultimately, a new story that our young people will be able to tell. ” Construction Since the beginning, Harper has leaned on others with more experience, which she credits as a key component to reaching her entrepreneurial goals. Early into Cheekbone Beauty’s development, a mentor advised her to utilize a business advisory board.

“I went to them with my business plan … and they are a really unbiased group of people that are entrepreneurs themselves,” Harper said. “Some have been accountants, some have been lawyers. They take your plan and they sort of tear it apart, and without having any personal emotional connection to you, tell you what they think about it.”

She formed the groundwork of Cheekbone Beauty on these recommendations, allowing for evolutions and changes.

“The beautiful part of entrepreneurship is navigating through the data that you’re collecting as you’re building your business and realizing that it’s the market, the consumer, that is going to decide what’s best for your business, and you have to listen to that in order for your business to be successful.”

With more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience, Harper has a keen understanding of business, from product manufacturing to advertising. Cheekbone

Beauty uses the power of social media to target key audiences and demographics, and Harper’s vast network within the industry provides access to high-quality ingredients that are as ecologically friendly as possible.

Giving back Harper knows firsthand the implications trauma can have. Her grandmother survived residential school, and as someone who has battled alcoholism, Harper explained that entrepreneurial success is like scaling a mountain and requires the same dedication that is essential to overcoming addiction.

In a few years, Harper plans to establish a foundation in her grandmother’s name that supports education across Native communities, but until then, the company donates 10 percent of all profits to the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society based in Ottawa, Canada. “That’s our way of supporting an organization that’s notfor-profit that actually does real work with the community.”

She hopes Cheekbone Beauty can provide inspiration to others that achieving anything is possible with hard work and determination.

“I now believe I can literally do anything, and I want our young people so much to see that in themselves,” she said. “That is so powerful, when we actually show someone and teach someone that it’s possible.”

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THE NEW

OIL BOOM IN INDIAN COUNTRY

By Josh Robertson

The Native Oil offers CBD-oil infused Heart Gummies; the oil is said to promote heart health.

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annabidiol, or CBD oil, is a hot business and a trendy product at the moment — and for Russell Neese, it's a market that is tailor made for Native entrepreneurs.

Neese is selling wellness products through his new business The Native Oil, a venture he launched with his business partner Mike Burgess at the Native Business Summit in Tulsa, Oklahoma in May 2019. With medicinal traditions outside of Western medicine and stewardship of the land, including plant life, Natives have a legitimacy in the CBD space that other entrepreneurs might not.

"I would say Natives have a cultural cachet," Neese says.

A Source of Product for Tribal Businesses You know what else Natives have? Casinos. “And these casinos have spas,” Neese notes. “And spas have beauty products.

And these spas want their own CBD beauty

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products for customers who come in to get facials, pedicures, manicures.”

This is a light-bulb moment, one of a few, during our conversation with Neese.

Neese and Burgess are making CBD wellness products that can inherently fit into the already healthy portfolio of Native goods and services. From Arizona to New York, Native-owned casinos are by now full-service luxury resorts, and what resort wouldn't want proprietary wellness products to offer its customers? The Native Oil is there to provide wholesale, reliably Native-made CBD-based bath bombs, ointments, creams, scrubs and gels.

Oklahoma-raised Neese is of Comanche descent, and Burgess is a former chairman of the Comanche Tribe. Visit TheNativeOil.com and you'll see a range of products branded with Comanche-language terms. Neese wants to make his products available for resale by all Tribes and Nations, however those groups see fit.

“We can label the products with their own casino, or their own Tribe, even in their

own language,” Neese says.

“We're interested in creating financial opportunities, business opportunities, not only for Comanches, Kiowas and Apaches in southwest Oklahoma, but all the 39 recognized Tribes in the state, and all 573 recognized Tribes in the United States,” he continues.

Neese credits his partner with the knowhow to cooperate with multiple Tribes.

“He's dealt with the political landscape, how different Tribes work, what language to use, and being sensitive to their culture and political structure.”

Natives working with Natives — it's part of Neese's vision for the delivery of the product, but it's also inherent to the backend — the growing and harvesting of hemp, warehousing and extraction, and the manufacture of oil-based products. In Oklahoma, where the trust land of Tribe A abuts the trust land of Tribe B, cooperation between the Comanche, the Sac and Fox, Kiowa and Apache is crucial to making his business work.

PHOTOS COURTESY THE NATIVE OIL

'THE NATIVE OIL' ENVISIONS HEMP PRODUCTS AS A MAINSTAY OF THE THRIVING NATIVE ECONOMY

HEMP What Is CBD Oil? Combating Fear and Misinformation

PHOTOS COURTESY THE NATIVE OIL

It's common for Tribes, or anyone, to have reservations about getting involved in CBD oil. “The Tribes have this big question mark right on their forehead: ‘What is this? Can we do it?’ Some people are afraid of it; they think it's marijuana, they equate anything cannabis to heroin.”

Neese wants all Tribes to understand that it is legal, and it's a wellness supplement — not a narcotic. “God bless President Trump for doing this — he signed the 2018 Farm Bill, which makes it legal to grow hemp in all 50 states. And because we're on federal trust land, that's an extra protection.”

The benefits of that federal trust protection extend to investors in the hemp and CBD industry as well. “There are programs available to incentivize investors,” Neese says. “The tax savings and the laws that make it attractive to bypass county, city, state regulations and to adhere to federal guidelines, which give the Tribes a lot of flexibility.”

Ironically (or perhaps not, depending on one's own experiences), the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the main hurdle that The Native Oil faces, according to Neese. “The BIA is not informed on what the federal regulations are,” he says. “What we're encountering now with Tribal members is fear and intimidation from the BIA due to their ignorance.”

Neese says that the BIA is reinforcing the falsehood that "if they grow hemp on their land, then Natives might lose their land.” According to Neese, the BIA receives funding from “farmers who go through the BIA to lease out Native land for cattle grazing; hay; commodities like corn, wheat, soybeans.” He feels the BIA is discouraging hemp cultivation because it's not currently a revenue stream for the Bureau, and that that's a shortsighted strategy.

Neese's rebuttal to misinformation or fear about CBD oil is simple: “The cat's out of the bag. There's no turning back. People are getting educated. In five years, [CBD oil and hemp] will be a commodity like any other.”

Russell Neese of The Native Oil, a great-great grandson of Comanche leader Quanah Parker

would definitely know your grower, know the genetics, known where it's grown… the thing about my company is, we're handson. No pesticides, no Roundup. It has to be organic. Because I put this in my body, every day, twice a day. It's my wellness supplement. It's a wonderful anti-inflammatory.”

The anti-inflammatory properties make CBD oil a popular product for pain relief, which The Native Oil delivers in the form of the Tsumaru pain relief bath bomb and the Kotoo Tuka pain relief lotion. But CBD oil's benefits are wide-ranging and, to some extent, only partially understood. CBD oil is said to reduce anxiety and has also been linked to heart health. It may even help clear up acne for some users. The Native Oil offers heart gummies, a sugar scrub, age-defying cream and a tincture for taking CBD oil orally. But there's more.

Peruse the offerings at TheNativeOil.com and you might be surprised by a few of the items, including the Saadi bath products

An Extremely Versatile Product With the legitimacy and legality of the product established, the task of education becomes important — not all CBD oil is created equal, and as you might expect, there are unscrupulous actors trying to cash in. “There's a lot of CBD coming in from China that is not healthy,” he says. “I

A lavender-scented sugar scrub is one of several products that combine wellness and the benefits of CBD oil.

— for dogs. “That's really new, actually,” Neese says. “I have friends who give [CBD oil] to their dogs for pain — because dogs get cancer too, and tumors — and the results are really remarkable. They've taken their dogs off the sedatives and pain medication. Both dogs and humans have what's called CBD receptors in our bodies, where our bodies are meant to receive this.”

The Native Oil also sells a “sex lube.” “It's 2019, what can I say,” Neese chuckles. “People like the freedom to choose, and during those sacred times, sometimes you need a little help to get going, so we thought why not. If you're gonna buy an intimate product, let's keep it Native.” As to whether he's gotten any negative feedback on that particular product, Neese says absolutely not.

“Just smiles, really. A lot of smiles. It was very well received in Tulsa.”

Though The Native Oil is obviously about selling oil-based products, Neese points out that there are many more uses for hemp, and his organization will be investigating them all as he and Burgess bring more hemp-farming Natives into the fold. “Absolutely — the opportunities are there,” he says. “You can make insulation out of it, you can create clothing — hats, shirts, belts, handbags.”

Neese's optimism and cheerfulness is tied to the belief that the potential CBD oil and hemp boom could change a lot of lives for the better. Though he's lived in California most of his adult life, he's currently splitting time with his home state. “This business brought me back to the red earth of Oklahoma, back to my descendants and my people,” he says. “I want to create something wonderful for Comanches, and for the benefit of all the other Tribes as well.”

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By Native Business Staff

Joy Huntington, Founder of Uqaqti Consulting and the Joy Huntington brand, JoyHuntington.com

S

uccess wasn’t handed to Joy Huntington, a Koyukon Athabascan entrepreneur raised in rural Alaska.

And she didn’t earn it by playing it safe. She discovered the courage to take risks, personally and professionally, not by suppressing her “negative” emotions, but by staying present with them.

Her secret? “I started journaling at 16 to overcome insecurities, fears and low self-esteem,” says Huntington, the woman behind

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the Joy Huntington brand (registered in Alaska as Joy Huntington, LLC). “I’m in the process of trademarking everything,” she adds.

Her notebook first became her tool to cope and process at age 16, not long after being expelled from boarding school. Feeling lost and hopeless, she gained clarity, direction and confidence through journaling. On her own volition, Huntington applied to an international boarding school in Sedona, Arizona,

she says.

The mantra behind the Joy Huntington brand is “Just Open Yourself.” The heart of her work is inspiring and empowering others to find resilience in the face of hardship to create sustainable joy.

“In order to build extraordinary confidence, I had to take extraordinary risks,” she says.

While Huntington has carved a successful

PHOTO BY ISAIAH MANGUM - FAIRBANKS BRAND STUDIO

UNEARTH SUSTAINABLE JOY WITH JOY HUNTINGTON

and received a full scholarship. A family member donated his frequent flyer miles, and she set off, at age 16, for a new life at the rigorous academic institution. Determined to excel, she garnered awards in chemistry, English and Spanish in her first year.

Taking that plunge instilled courage. “I just went and did it. I took this huge risk, and through that process, I started to see my worth and my value,” she says.

Huntington went on to attend Dartmouth College, graduating with high honors in 2006 with a degree in Native American Studies and a minor in Environmental Studies. Thereafter, she returned to Alaska, where she worked primarily for Tribal organizations. In 2011, Huntington launched Uqaqti Consulting, her statewide communications and community relations firm. Pronounced “ookuk-ti,” Uqaqti is Inupiaq for “one who speaks.” Given Huntington’s strong cultural ties and knowledge of Tribal protocols, she’s become a highly sought-after facilitator and communications strategist for meetings concerning transportation, environmental impact statements and more.

Uqaqti is still going strong today, and resources from that business helped to fund the launch of the Joy Huntington brand — a platform for her writing, motivational speaking, coaching and workshops focused on everything from journaling to goal setting, personal and professional development, career planning, managing finances, entrepreneurship and more. The enterprising Huntington leveraged the opportunity to launch her new venture at the Native Business Summit in May. “I realized I could launch my brand on a new, national stage,”

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

career path, like everyone, she’s been dealt a and isolation can feel pervasive. Huntingfair share of challenges and setbacks. She culton believes she can make a positive impact. tivates the strength and grace to handle them “I think, in my life, I’ve known from a very through “staying open.” Ever honest and young age that I have the ability to uplift vulnerable, Huntington openly shares her people,” she says, adding that, with the name struggles and impetus for creating a personal Joy, perhaps it’s mandatory. brand on her website JoyHuntington.com: “People need a burst of positivity and “Just Open Yourself came to me one day hope in their lives,” she continues. “People a few years ago, when I was in a deep negneed to be inspired and encouraged and ative, self-defeating black hole. I was in the know that they are important and that they middle of a horrible break up, dealing with matter — that they have what it takes to go intense work stress, and parenting my two take on risks and build that confidence and young daughters. I felt overwhelmed, tired, create really positive, wonderful lives.” and judged. EveryHuntington has thing in me wanted additionally hostto curl up, hide, and ed a suicide prenumb the pain I was vention workshop going through. Yet, through an organias I journaled about zation in Alaska, in the situation, somewhich she lead bething occurred to havioral health prome. The energy I was fessionals through using to ‘resist’ what her journaling prowas happening in cess “to cope with my life was making the pressure that me more tired, and it they’re under and was simply not prothe importance —Joy Huntington ductive. Instead, I of self care for the decided to just open caregivers,” she myself to my current circumstances and feel says. whatever I needed to feel. In that moment, Huntington additionally intends to carry the fear and judgement evaporated.” her message to schools, universities and corHuntington is excited to bring this mesporate settings. “Developing that confidence sage to audiences far and wide. One way as a professional is an important message, she’ll do this is through her forthcoming, especially to women,” she says. self-published book, Backbone Girl, slated for “Resilient and sustainable joy is the end release in summer/fall 2020. It sheds light on goal I’d like to share with people,” she continher transitional, teenage years — though ofues. “Financial health, career health, physical fers valuable insights on resilience for readhealth and mental health, they feed into one ers of any age. She also anticipates printing another. They’re the foundation. Each sepaher first book of poetry by January — selling rate component could be its own workshop, it on her website, and promoting it at her or they could be addressed collectively. The speaking engagements around the country. outcome is sustainable joy.”

Huntington is no stranger to high-profile Huntington’s new pursuit fills her with a public speaking. She delivered the closing sense of purpose, and a sense of anxious enspeech at the Alaska Federation of Natives thusiasm joins her for the ride. “I’m happy to Convention in 2012, among other engageshare this in the raw excitement, adrenaline, ments. But her first paid speaking opportunifear stage, because that’s the hardest part to ty came this May. She delivered the keynote walk through, because it’s very uncertain,” at the Tozitna Annual Meeting in her late Huntington says. In the spirit of her “Just grandmother’s village of Tanana. “I was Open Yourself” mantra, Huntingable to kick off my first speaking enton is embracing that vulneragagement, officially, in an Alaskan bility. “I would love for people Village, where my grandma was reading this to say, ‘Okay, if raised. That meant so much to she’s going to go make her big me,” she says. dream happen and face her In small Alaskan Villages uncertainty, then maybe I like her late grandmother’s, can, too.’” a sense of hopelessness

PHOTO BY ISAIAH MANGUM - FAIRBANKS BRAND STUDIO

“In order to build extraordinary confidence, I had to take extraordinary risks.”

Joy’s journaling workshop will offer participants a powerful and lifelong tool for setting goals, holding yourself accountable, and creating a positive and resilient mindset.

QUICK THREE-STEP JOURNALING EXERCISE FOR THE ANXIOUS OVER-THINKERS

(Like Joy!)

Write down everything weighing on your mind. List them in categories like work, finances, home, health, relationship, and family. It is important that we take control of our mental state, and writing down our worries will decrease our stress response’s power over us, and it may also spur creative problem solving energy.

Every day, tackle one thing from each category and regain your sense of ownership and control in all areas of your life.

Reward yourself! Write things like, “Good job, you are doing great today,” and “We’ve got this!” We all need positive reinforcement and encouragement, so why not do that for ourselves?

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10 TIPS for INDIGENOUS ARTISTS to SUCCEED

By Lynn Armitage

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1

Attend a FREE professional development workshop for Native artists facilitated by First Peoples Fund. No surprise it’s the top tip from both artists. The organization offers around 25-plus workshops every year, all across the U.S. — from Alaska to Oklahoma to Hawaii. They work closely with long-term and new organization partners in each community. “It’s a great foundation for those interested in the professional side of what being a Native entrepreneur looks like,” says Two Heart.

2

Create a business plan. It serves as a blueprint for your business — a road map for the artist's success that can be revised and updated. Most important, you will need a business plan in order to apply for grants, loans and other funding resources.

3

Know how to use marketing and social media to promote your art. Two Heart says that marketing is a crucial part of running an artistic business. “Social media is primarily how artists are getting their names out there now and building a following

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and translating those followings into sales,” she shares. It’s challenging to learn the ins and outs of social media. But it can be very effective in getting the word out to a global audience about your art.

4

Seek out community resources.

Most states and Tribal communities have community development financial institutions (CDFIs). Look to them for affordable, low-cost lending options to start your business and keep it running.

CDFIs also offer business-related programs and services.

5

Know your break-even point. Two Heart recommends that before you launch your business, you should know the minimum amount of product you need to sell to cover your costs. Once you meet that break-even number, you can then determine how much profit you will keep or reinvest in your business.

6

Keep in touch with your customers. If someone buys your artwork, send a thank you note or e-mail. Also, let your customers know about any new products or services — or upcoming shows, if you are a performing artist. “The small things really do make a difference,” says Best.

7

Network like crazy. Two Heart suggests, “Find experienced mentors who can guide you in your journey as a professional artist.” She says that learning from others by asking questions is the most important part of being a successful artist.

8

Keep detailed records. Photographer Best emphasizes the importance of keeping organized accounting and bookkeeping records. “Track everything,” she says. “When I print my photos and send them out, sometimes I wish I had kept better track of price points and locations where I sent them.”

9

Don’t stop believing in yourself and your art. It takes a long time to build momentum and a successful business. “Don’t give up!” recommends Best. “Find your community and don’t do it alone.”

10

Keep your values at your core. Remember what your values are, who inspires you and why. “Keeping values at the core of everything you do is so important,” says Two Heart.

Above: Tosa Two Heart, First Peoples Fund Program Manager

PHOTO COURTESY FIRST PEOPLES FUND

ndigenous people are known to be phenomenal artisans, painting beautiful pictures, weaving intricate baskets and crafting stunning traditional and modern adornments. Many want to make a living by sharing their art with the world. However, becoming a successful artist takes a lot of work — and a fair amount of business sense.

Since 1995, First Peoples Fund has guided, supported and worked alongside nearly 2,000 Native artists to help them develop their artistry into a self-sustaining way of life through grants, entrepreneurial support and professional development workshops throughout the U.S. “To be able to help Native artists be successful and become entrepreneurs is amazing. There is so much talent out there!” says Tosa Two Heart, a Lakota and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, who serves as the Program Manager for First Peoples Fund. Two Heart also walks the artist’s walk as a graphic fashion designer who creates unique apparel.

Roxanne Best, a photographer from Okanogan, Washington, who specializes in food and lifestyle photography, credits the organization for getting her art business off the ground. “I didn’t realize how connected I would feel with First Peoples Fund. It’s a ‘where have you been all my life?’ feeling,” says the member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

Native Business Magazine asked Two Heart and Best to share their best tips on how indigenous artists can create a self-sustaining, profitable business.

N at i ve A m e r i c a n I n s u r a n c e G r o u p, I n c .

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