Cooperative Extension, Community Education, and

Tribal Training

Programs• Traditional Plants and Foods• Financial Literacy• Cultural Arts • Youth Development• Continuing Education• Tribal Museum Studies• Vocational Training• Tribal Business Education• Learning Skills Enhancement• WorkFirst• Chemical Dependency Studies

Sites: Lummi, Muckleshoot Health & Wellness Ctr., NW Indian Treatment Center; Port Gamble S’Klallam, regional Plants Gatherings (every 2 mos.)

Chemical Dependency Certificate Program21 credits offered/yr

Weavers Teaching Weavers & Art

Market

Partners: NNABA, Whatcom Museum

NA Women & Girls, Men & Boys

1 FT Programs Coordinator USDA Endowment

WorkFirst, Youth Build, Zenith Maritime, Lummi Water and Sewer, Youth Build

* pending/in process

Partners: Lummi CDFI, Ventures, LETC, TANF, Lummi Housing, Swinomish Housing, Muckleshoot Health & Wellness Ctr.; 1000 Facebook Friends!

Casino Exec. Certificate(phasing out) Nisqually Aquatic Tech Certificate *

Partners: NW Indian Treatment Center, Lummi Youth Build, McKenzie ROC, WSU

PNW Basketry Classes WTW

CREDIT/CEUs:Consumer Math (1) *

100 Ton Master Cert. #80 Credits per qtr.

Tribal Museum Studies Certificate Program 10-15 credits offered/yrBurke Museum, Wing Luke Museum, Tulalip Cultural Dept. (Hank and Inez Bill)

Holiday Art MarketPlants ClassesCooking Classes

Annual Harvest Celebration and Fall Food Fair

USDA/NIFA Native Foods Nutrition CBPR Project (NWIC/WSU)

Youth Build GED credits (36 students) Lummi Water & Sewer professional development classes

Financial Literacy trainings, Train the trainers & related workshops

NWIC Cooperative Extension 2010 Organizational Chart and Credit Offerings

Traditional Plants and Foods

• Diabetes Prevention Through Traditional Plants

• Lummi Traditional Foods Project

• Traditional Foods of Puget Sound

• Honor the Gift of Food

• Native Foods Nutrition Project

Diabetes Prevention Through Traditional Plants – Vanessa Cooper

• Seasonal gatherings are hosted by many tribes. People learn to recognize, harvest, preserve, and use plants as foods and medicines.

• Mentoring activities produce more community educators.

• Fall harvest festivals feature traditional cooks preparing such foods as pemmican, bannock bread, seaweed salad, elk stew, razor clam chowder, hazelnut cakes, bear meat, seal oil, Douglas fir ice, Indian ice cream, and more.

• Our curriculum on Diabetes Prevention and Intervention Using Traditional Foods and Medicines has been taught to many tribal educators. Our book, Wild Rose and Western Red Cedar: The Gifts of the Northwest Plants was produced and distributed. Both were created by Elise Krohn, our Native Plants Specialist.

Lummi Traditional Foods Project – Vanessa Cooper

• Community-based research project to address Lummi tribal priorities toward wellness for all community members through knowledge of culture and practice of the Lummi way of life (Schelangen).

• We will characterize the diets of 15 Lummi families and highlight foods for lifestyle interventions.

• Interventions will be in the form of provision of healthy foods, healthy recipes, and educational programs that support healthy food behaviors.

• Findings will help us develop a health food behaviors program model that can be replicated in other tribes regionally and nationally.

Traditional Foods of Puget Sound – Valerie Segrest

• This community-based research project builds on research initiated by the UW’s Burke Museum and was inspired by requests from the Muckleshoot, Tulalip, and Suquamish tribes.

• We worked with tribal nutritionists, health care providers, cooks, cultural leaders, and others to identify a contemporary equivalent to a traditionally healthy Coast Salish diet.

• A 3-day cooks camp with 17 cooks from 10 tribes created many traditional recipes using both traditional foods and other foods that are more readily available.

• A booklet describing the research project and including the recipes is being produced. 

Honor the Gift of Food – Valerie Segrest

• A new 3-credit class, is being piloted at the Northwest Indian College extended campus at Muckleshoot.

• Students will be introduced to basic nutrition principles and concepts.

• A special emphasis will be placed on nutritional issues in Native American communities and how to effectively transfer nutrition information into practice.

• Tribal traditions, customs, and beliefs will be integrated into the curriculum.

• This course is our first step toward our goal of adding a formal classroom education component to our program.

Native Foods Nutrition Project – Elise Krohn & Elizabeth Campbell

• This is a partnership between Northwest Indian College and the Northwest Indian Treatment Center, a 45-day inpatient program in Elma, WA with a strong traditional foods program that is centered around a traditional foods garden.

• Classes in traditional foods and medicines are offered to patients weekly.

• Family workshops are offered monthly.

• Support networks that include elders with knowledge of traditional foods and medicines provide support for patients when they return home.

• Train-the-trainer activities and ongoing support will help prepare even more people to become community educators.

Recent Activities:

• It was a good season in the traditional foods garden. Patients harvested vegetables and cooked several meals in classes.

• Patients made medicine for the herbal pharmacy that is available to them.

• After harvesting several herbs in the medicine wheel garden this summer, patients learned to process dried herbs and then blend and prepare herbal teas.

• Lushootseed names of plants are being added to the common names and scientific names already in the gardens.

Native Foods Nutrition Project – Elise Krohn & Elizabeth Campbell

Financial Literacy – Sunny Guillory and Cristie James

• Financial Literacy core classes– 2-day workshops– On average, 6-8 participants per class– TANF and GA clients and other community members– One-on-one follow-up after completion of class– Individual plans

• Grocery Shopping on a Fixed Budget– 1-day workshop with a field trip– On average, 4-6 participants– Encourage networking and sharing of ideas among

participants– Different recipes in each class that incorporate healthy,

quick, low-cost meals for families

• Holiday Budgeting– 2-hour workshops offered in both the morning and

afternoon

– On average, 12-14 participants

– Review family budgets and holiday budgeting worksheet

– Planning / budgeting for holiday meals

– Make & Take: quick, easy, inexpensive, and nice gifts for family and friends

• Upcoming Classes– Pathways to Home Ownership

– Credit Counseling / Credit Repair

– Savings Clubs / Peer Support

Financial Literacy – Sunny Guillory and Cristie James

• Partnerships– Swinomish Housing

Authority– United Indians of All Tribes– Lummi Ventures– Lummi CDFI– Lummi Youth Build

• Future Partnerships– Lummi Housing Authority– Muckleshoot Health &

Wellness– Lummi Nation Schools– Individual Development

Accounts (IDAs)

SWINOMISH INDIAN

TRIBAL COMMUNITY

Financial Literacy – Sunny Guillory and Cristie James

Cultural Arts – Ruth Solomon & Lora Boome

• Native Art Market and Demonstration Day at Whatcom Museum of History and Art, April 17, 2010.

• Holiday Art Market, at NWIC Log Building, Dec. 5-6, 2009

• 7th Annual Weavers Teaching Weavers Gathering, Wexliem Community Building at Lummi, April 14-16, 2010

Intergenerational bonding and nurturing cultural identity help youth raise their self-esteem, increase their knowledge and study skills, and reduce their likelihood of engaging in harmful behaviors.

Youth Development – Ruth Solomon & Lora Boome• Native American Women & Girls Conference

• Retreat for Native American Men & Boys

• 3rd week in August, Camp Huston, Gold Bar, WA

• 100+ participants – over half are children or youth

2009 events where we registered participants for Continuing Education Units (CEUs):

• WSIEA Conference @ Quinault, April 2• Economic Prosperity Conference @ Squaxin Island, April 27• Service Learning Summit @ NWIC, May 6• Economic Summit @ Silver Reef Casino, May 22• Natural Hazard Awareness Fair @ NWIC, June 10• Native Plant Class @ Stillaguamish, June 24• Tribal Healing Wellness Conference @ Chehalis, Sept 9• Cultural Resource Planning Summit @ Suquamish, Sept 28• NNABA Gathering @ Chehalis, Oct 2• Domestic Violence @ Wexliem, Oct 21• TERO Conference @ Fife, Nov 10

Continuing Education – Ruth Solomon & Lora Boome

• Consists of 37 youth ages 16-24• Provides opportunities for them to gain knowledge on:

• leadership development • occupational training • work experience • physical fitness• traditional knowledge

Youth Build - Lora Boome

• In partnership with Lummi Systems of Care, Lora has been going to Youth Build , Mondays and Thursdays to educate the youth on traditional plants.• She is using the Diabetes Prevention curriculum. • There are actually a few youth that have some knowledge about plants from their Elders.

“It’s a good experience to work with the youth. I enjoy watching them grow and expand their skills that I know they are capable of,” (Lora Boome).

Tribal Museum Studies

• A new program initiated in 2009 at the request of tribal museum professionals.

• Providing professional development for tribal museum staff.

• The long term plan is to incorporate these and other museum courses into a four-year degree in Native American Studies.

Tribal Museum Studies• TRIBAL MUSEUM COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT

– This course was taught by Megon Noble at the Burke Museum during Spring Quarter, 2009 to 13 students from several different tribes.

– TMSD 260 5 credits

• TRIBAL MUSEUM ADMINISTRATION– This course was taught by Marilyn Jones at the Suquamish

Museum during Fall Quarter to six students.– TMSD 262 5 credits

• TRIBAL MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS & EDUCATION– This course will be offered Spring Quarter 2010 at the Wing

Luke Museum in Seattle, WA.– TMSD 264 5 credits

Vocational Training – Nadeen Jimmy

• Lummi Water & Sewer Training

– Starts November 16, 2009

• Swinomish – Excel Training

• Tulalip – 100-ton Master Training

• Tulalip – Geoduck Diving / Harvesting

• Nisqually – Aquatic Enterprises

• Lushootseed Research Conference

Responding to requests from tribes for a broad range of training

What are clients asking for in business education?

• Degrees rather than certificates

• Gaming Management Education

• Hospitality Management Training

• Tribal Enterprise Management

• Certifications in Supervision

• Management Training

• Marketing

• Entrepreneurship

• Accounting classes (Excel)

Tribal Business Education – Frank Cornett

WorkFirst – Wendy DavisWe received the highest ranking of all Washington colleges that met

the performance requirements for the first quarter in 2009-10.

WorkFirst provides:• Customized Job Skills Training programs designed to meet the

needs of local employers• Basic skills education• Life Skills workshops• Job Placement and Post Employment Services• Resource support for students in need• Emotional support and encouragement• Work-study positions

Job Skills Programs We Can Pay For• Computer Maintenance and Repair, Web Design, Chemical

Dependency Counseling, Office Professions, Business Management, Construction Trades, Welding / Pipefitting / Blueprint Reading, Degree Completion

Chemical Dependency Studies

• A partnership between Northwest Indian College & Northwest Indian Treatment Center, a program of the Squaxin Island Tribe

• Emphasizes Traditional Ways of Knowing

• Courses leading to certification and re-certification for chemical dependency counselors are taught by Jami Tisdale and Mike Tisdale at the Northwest Indian Treatment Center in Elma

• We are exploring an opportunity to offer courses through Spokane’s NATIVE Project

Chemical Dependency StudiesClass Schedule

Fall Quarter 2009• HUMS 120: Survey of Chemical Dependency

September 11-13 & 25-26 - Jami Tisdale• HUMS 130: Pharmacology of the Substances of Abuse

October 9-11 & 23-24 - Mike Tisdale• HUMS 223: Chemical Dependency Assessment and Treatment

November 6-8 & 20-21 - Jami TisdaleWinter Quarter 2010• HUMS 210: Group Facilitation

December 4-6 & 18-19 - Mike Tisdale• HUMS 160: Chemical Dependency Case Management

February 12-14 & 26-27 - Jami TisdaleSpring Quarter 2010• HUMS 170: Chemical Dependency Individual Counseling

March 19-21 & April 2-3 - Mike Tisdale• HUMS 275: Relapse Prevention

April 16-18 & April 30-May 1 - Jami Tisdale• Hums 230: Chemical Dependency & the Family

May 14-16 & 28-29 - Mike Tisdale

$$

Earned Income Potential

$$

Potential Opportunities to Generate Earned Income to Support Ongoing and Expanded Programming:

Fees for services (e.g., Financial Literacy training; Casino Executive Management training; train-the-trainer events; etc.)

Product sales (e.g., curricula; training books / videos; retail products generated through program activities; etc.)

Steps to be Undertaken:

Market Analysis

Feasibility Study

Business Plan

Funders• U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and

Agriculture (NIFA)• U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Research Innovation and Development

Grants in Economics (RIDGE) • National Endowment of the Arts• Washington Health Foundation• First Nations Development Institute• Potlatch Fund• Tulalip Tribes• Muckleshoot Indian Tribe• Lummi Nation• Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe• Squaxin Island Tribe• Swinomish Housing Authority• Lummi Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI)• Lummi Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)• Women’s Funding Alliance • Harvest Foundation• Jeffris Wood Foundation• U.S. Bank Foundation• Washington Sea Grant

Mission of NWIC Office of Cooperative Extension

To promote self-sufficiency and wellness for

indigenous people through culturally

grounded, multi-generational, and

holistic programs

Contact UsDepartment Staff

• Susan Given-Seymour, Director of Community Education and Outreach (360) 392-4248, sgiven@nwic.edu

• Sunny Guillory, Financial Literacy Program Coordinator (360)392-4280, sguillory@nwic.edu

• Cristie James, Financial Literacy Trainer cjames@nwic.edu • Ruth Solomon, Continuing Ed. Program Coordinator (360)392-4259, rsolomon@nwic.edu

• Elise Krohn, Native Plant Educator (360)485-3848, ekrohn@nwic.edu

• Vanessa Cooper, Traditional Plant Program Coordinator (360)392-4343, vcooper@nwic.edu

• Tami Chock, Program Support tchock@nwic.edu