Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)
Winter 2003 Conference (2/10/03)
From the ATNI website (http://www.atnitribes.org/):
"In 1953 farsighted tribal leaders in the Northwest formed the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, and dedicated it to tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Today, ATNI is a nonprofit organization representing 54 Northwest tribal governments from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeast Alaska, Northern California and Western Montana. ATNI is an organization whose foundation is composed of the people it is meant to serve -- the Indian peoples. Representatives from the member tribes set the policy and direction through committees by way of resolutions during the three yearly meetings. A seven member Executive Board carries out the duties and directives of ATNI. In addition, ATNI employs a full time staff to carry out its daily functions."
This full time staff is divided into various departments including an economic development corporation (ATNI-EDC). I met with Elstun Lauesen, Director of Technology, and Randal Harris, Tribal Technology Outreach Coordinator of EDC. They are working on a number of technology priorities for the '02 - '03 funding period. The following list highlights some of their activities with reservations in Washington state:
- Statewide infrasture mapping
- Complete 4-10 technology plans to work with specific tribes
- Raise four years of core funding for projects
- Sponser second annual Tribal Technology Visioning conference (May 7-9, 2003)
- Expand information technology at ATNI general conferences
- Complete and finance K-12 and other computer centers
- Develop a plan for serving ATNI members in every region
Elstun stated a desire to work with ADEC on some of these initiatives. He spoke of his basic working model of internet provision: transport-distribution-access-content. ATNI has been focusing on the distribution portion through planning wireless village area networks. The access issue has to this point been addressed by beta testing television top-units and unique reservation portals. Tribes will address content individually and will include distance education as a necessary component. NWIC is a perfect fit in that regard. What they are having problems with is transport; something ADEC has solved through AISEP.
During the conference I also attended sessions on Telecommunications & Utility and Education. It was interesting to see what various Northwest Tribes are working on in these areas. The evening dinner was a fundraiser consisting of locally harvested cedar plank cooked honey salmon. Guest speaker Ernie Stevens Jr. discussed Indian gaming and the TIME magazine article.
- Craig Campbell, June 4, 2003