Ecotrust's Native Programs
Overview
Jeannette Armstrong was presented with the 2003 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award for her work as a community leader, educator and indigenous rights activist. Learn more...
Since 1991, Ecotrust has been working with tribes and First Nations from Alaska to California. We’re supporting a growing network of leaders, increasing education opportunities for native youth, and brokering resources for repatriation and improved management of traditional lands.
We actively work to promote leadership that both reaffirms tribal values and creates new possibilities for stewardship and economic development by native communities and reservations within Salmon Nation. This leadership’s deep responsibility to community and homeland vitality is essential for our region’s long-term sense of place in the growing global economy.
Key Objectives
We believe that our modest successes with native communities to date demonstrate that there is significant harmony among our vision of a conservation economy, their traditional ecological knowledge and our joint ideals of social justice.
Our work centers on four key projects:
- Indigenous Leadership Award
- Emerging Leaders
- Native Leadership Program in Sustainability, Governance, and Public Policy
Integrating Ecotrust's Expertise
Ecotrust fully recognizes and respects the sovereignty of tribes and tribal nations, and we are humbled to work with these communities. We are inspired by the native leaders we have had the privilege to honor through the ILA and are excited by the energy of the emerging native leaders.
We also work more directly with tribes through our technical expertise in the areas of fisheries, oceans, forests, and food. We look forward to furthering that work through our Native Leadership Program [link back to this page] and being able to assist tribes even more in their efforts to support their communities, economies, and natural environments.
Our expertise includes:
Past projects
Our past work has been closely tied to these expertises as well. They include projects like:
- Klamath dam removal to support salmon populations
- Sea otter revitalization through the Elakha Alliance
- Klamath forest sustainable management
Collaborators
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
Elakha Alliance
Indigenous Ways of Knowing Project, Lewis and Clark College
Klamath Tribes
Longhouse Education and Cultural Center, The Evergreen State College
Native American Advisory Council, Office of the President, Willamette University
Native Village of Eyak
