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Mission
Restore ecosystems and the sustainability of communities, cultures, and economies.
WELCOME ADDRESS
November 15, 2023 | 8:30-9am
Belinda Brown and Marko Bey
Lomakatsi Restoration Project
Program Description
The 2023 Inter-Tribal Ecosystem Restoration Partnership Peer-to-Peer Learning Summit took place in Sunriver, Oregon within what was, is, and always will be the ancestral homeland of the Hunipuitoka Band of the Northern Paiute – Numu (“the people”). We honor the spiritual relationship between the land, plants, animals, elements, and the past, present, and future aboriginal people of the region. The interconnectedness of the people, the land, and our natural environment cannot be overstated.
Welcome Address Recording
Comment Summaries
Belinda Brown • Kosealekte Band, Pit River Tribe • Tribal Partnerships Director, Lomakatsi Restoration Project
Belinda thanked the Mountaintop Drum group for opening the conference. She reflected on the connections made during Culture Night through singing, dancing, and networking, reminding everyone of our place in the Sacred Hoop. She recalled the gathering of 944 people on November 6, 1936, honored each of the regional tribal bands represented there, and read a statement recounted by Elders of dedication to encouraging cooperation, promoting harmony and goodwill, preserving Paiute lifeways, and upholding American rights and principles, while addressing issues that arose from the loss of the Malheur Indian Reservation. She honored the great-great-granddaughter of Chief Pete Teeman, Diane Teeman, Chair of the Burns Paiute Tribe, who gave the day’s opening prayer.
“It’s really important that every one of us are getting tuned up by this heartbeat of our Mother Earth, here, and connecting in a way that we need to be connected.”
About Belinda
Belinda provides leadership for Lomakatsi’s Tribal Partnerships Program and Chairs the Inter-Tribal Ecosystem Restoration Partnership. She is an enrolled member of the Kosealekte Band of the Ajumawi-Atsuge Nation (federally recognized as the Pit River Tribe) and has served as an elected official on the Pit River Tribal Council and also as a Traditional Behavioral Health Specialist and Cultural Representative as an appointed delegate at local, state and national levels. Belinda has served Indian Country in intergovernmental affairs coordination, strategic planning and community development for the last twenty years. Her background is in health and human services, emergency preparedness and natural resources. She is a Certified Youth Life Coach and Mentor.
Marko Bey • Executive Director, Lomakatsi Restoration Project
Marko thanked the northern Paiute people, the tribes of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California, and all the tribal affiliates represented in attendance and support of the Summit. He acknowledged federal agencies, nonprofits, and partners focused on ecosystem resilience and indigenous communities. He briefly overviewed the recent history of Oregon’s forest-based economy, the current fire crisis, and the origins and purpose behind forest collaboratives. He introduced the vision behind Lomakatsi that mirrored the vision for the Summit: holistic engagement with partners, with Tribes in the center, to accomplish work across all lands and address the wildfire crisis.
About Marko
Marko Bey founded Lomakatsi in 1995 and continues to lead the organization in restoring ecosystems and the sustainability of communities, cultures, and economies. Beginning as a tree planter working on federal lands in 1987, Marko has over thirty years of experience in forestry and ecosystem restoration from the ground up. Working locally and regionally to advance the full spectrum of ecosystem restoration, green job creation, and forest-based community revitalization, Marko served as the Board President of the Northwest Forest Worker Center and is a current Board member of the Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative and After the Fire. Marko also participates in a variety of regional and national strategic coalitions, committees, and interdisciplinary teams, contributing to developing and advancing community-based ecological restoration.