February 22, 2006

By STEFANIE FURER
UW News Lab

Members of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF) gathered at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center last Friday to discuss the potential social and economic results of budget proposals made by the Bush administration. Approximately 50 people attended, plus about a dozen members of the news media.

The meeting was led by the “Four Amigos,” a group of men representing four different ethnic and racial communities. These four groups — Latinos, Asians, Africans, and Native Americans — make up 80 percent of the world’s population.

But, according to Bob Santos, one of the Four Amigos and interim executive director, their voices — and their concern over the social harm inflicted by the Bush White House — have been largely ignored. “I’m wondering why there’s no outrage in this country,” he said, clenching his fists in a tight ball. “I’m surprised.”

Nodding in agreement was King County Councilmember Larry Gossett. “[The government] needs to be challenged,” he said. “We need to do it collectively.”

Phil Lane, the new CEO of the United Indians of All Tribes, couldn’t agree with Gossett more. “The only thing we lack right now is unity,” he said. All four men all came to the same agreement: There needs to be a change in policy. Every move made by the U.S. government ultimately affects members of all communities. “Collectively right now, we have a vision,” Lane said.

Their vision, they hope, will change the dynamic of the current administration so that members of all communities can thrive socially and economically.

Prior to the press conference held at the center was a discussion led by Roberto Maestas, Director of El Centro de la Raza. His brief introduction illustrated the key message the Four Amigos want people to know: The Bush administration is making cutbacks on the most important programs pertaining to the four ethnic communities they represent.

One of the biggest cutbacks, according to Maestas, affects the Head Start program. “An attack on our children is an attack on what our country is supposed to support,” he said. Bush plans to cut back the program by 1 percent, which is enough to stir controversy in the education realm, he said.

Other major impacts of the Bush administration, according to the UIATF, are cuts to Medicare, the costs of war, and deficits from planning future attacks on terrorism in the Middle East.

Maestas, Santos, and Gossett played key local roles in the civil rights movement in the 1970s. With American Indian community activist Bernie Whitebear, who died in 2000, they were known as the Gang of Four — a loving term borrowed from a Maoist clique that references the friendship these four built working in concert.

A former Green Beret, Whitebear led an Indian reclamation of Army property at Discovery Park in 1970, and after seven years of negotiations the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation won a portion of the park.

Lane, one of the original members of UIATF, left briefly in 1980 for a career in education as an associate professor at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. He recently returned as CEO of the foundation and was honored during the meeting.

The Four Amigos will continue to send a strong message to every community they represent. They strive to change the world politically, economically, and socially in a more progressive and positive manner, according to a recent press release.

“ There are social consequences to pay,” Maestas said, pausing for a moment to glance at his audience. “It’s going to be up to us to decide how we’re going to bring [the government] back to their senses.” n