it was founded by a group of gay american indians back in 1984 as the american indian aids institute. we have become the most comprehensive hiv/aids organization for native americans. besides providing care and prevention services for our community, we also strive to create a home for the most disenfranchised members of our community. those who are struggling with hiv, those who are struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. one of the things that we share with the honorees tonight is that we strive to create a sustainable and of the community. -- healthy community. i would like to present our fourth honorinee. marvin grew up in a rural community in arizona and has been living in san francisco for nine years. he is a member of the navajo nation and has dedicated his life to serving the usyouth of the community. by creating a true partnership with them and their families, he honors the building programs with community that highlights the role of leaders today and the potential to give back as global citizens of this ever increasingly connected world. marvin has influenced the developm

we are american indians. we are at city hall, and they are going to listen to us.plause] i am deeply honored to be asked to say a few words on behalf of nathan. i have no nathan for many years. he and his father and i played basketball together in the 1970's, but i also know about the struggles they then had to overcome in his life, the disappointment, the hurt, and the pain. it is something that a lot of our children and young adults are going through in this community as they grow up. as elders and as adults, it is our responsibility to turn to these children and young adults and lit them up and encourage them to be proud of with a our as american indians, to learn their culture and traditions. those dancers that came out here this evening, give them a round of applause because that is our culture and our tradition. it is continuing. that is a drum. recognize them because they are carrying on that from that brings them together. a couple of weeks ago, i was sitting around with richard, and we were at a community event, and we were looking at each other, and i sai

we are american indians. we are at city hall, and they are going to listen to us.] i am deeply honored to be asked to say a few

american indians have the highest rate of diabetes and other americans 195% higher. native americans have the highest rates of alcoholism. suicide is one of the highest health disparities that impact our community. access to treatment and care is the lowest for native americans in san francisco alone. they are clearly underserved populations, the city and county of public health. one of the key issues to really underscore is why we're here. we're healthy, but we're here. i think one of the other important things to point out, it is not all american and alaskan natives. we have a post-colonial stress disorder. we don't come to city funded programs and therefore we must not exist or we are very healthy. that is not the case when you look at all of the other statistics. in talking about all of these health disparities, one of the key things that we helped speak to that we demonstrate when asking for funding, what is that we have to show need -- one is that we have to show need. we have statistics and numbers that really impact whether we are going to get funding or not.

we proudly celebrates the diversity out northern california by commemorating american indian heritagehan 60 programs this year -- this month, in fact. these programs are highlighted in a guide along with listings of community resources and local events, and you can find that actkqed.org/ -- at kq ed.org/heritage. i wanted to point out a couple of films we have coming up on our films series. one is called "real injun" and it is an interesting trip through the history of north american native people as they have been portrayed in the history of movies from silent did today. the second explores the life and death of fred martina's and the spiritual nature and gender. two spirits is going to come on kqed television in june of 2011, but we are also sponsoring the american indian film festival this year, and that will be premiering at the festival i think next week. then, just this past month in october, helped dialogue with a special theory from kqed public radio did a report on the current condition of native american health with interviews from health care providers, community leaders, a

we do find that programs that are run by american indians, alaska natives, for american indians, alaska natives or programs that target hispanics, run by hispanics, tend to produce better outcomes than programs that are not sensitive to those issues. so we use sort of a bias force paradigm. there are programs that are not run by the specific population group, but have modules that are targeted to the unique needs of that group. so they do not as well as the programs that are run by the specific population group, but they do better than programs that are general. so when we look at the outcomes of, say, a woman in a male program or a general program that doesn't have any gender specific programming, she doesn't do as well as the program that is targeted to, for women, run for women or a program that has gender-specific issues. the same thing for american indian, alaska natives, hispanics, african americans, and the same thing would be applicable to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. the key issue is of cultural competence and that is the thing that if indeed you know you've got a d

william, within the native, american indian community, i am sure there are going to be so many differencesfferences among the tribes and even within the tribe. can you address some of those? most definitely. the interesting thing with native american tribes is previously people would automatically assume that one tribe was the same as the next. my particular tribe, the cherokee, are completely different than our cousins out in oklahoma, the cherokee nation of oklahoma. within our reservation in north carolina, we have seven individual communities and each of those communities is completely different. we're a collective people, but we're all individualized in our communities. and how do they differ in terms of service delivery, for example, when you have to address their addiction issues? it comes down to developing that level of trust. some of our communities, it seems to be the communities that are closest to the center of the reservation are more apt to seek services as opposed to some of our more isolated communities, especially up in the mountain regions. very good. john, in your line

and i had witnessed-- i had been part of a circle dance in the dakotas of american indians. and one of the circle dance songs had to do with ritual scarification and bloodletting. and we were supporting that through our folk and traditional arts program. so at the same time i was dealing with this modern man, gay man who was doing some modest bloodletting but bloodletting nonetheless, i was also dealing with american indians who had had this as part of their culture for thousands of years. and then there was a legislative attempt to prohibit art that involved any kind of depiction of bloodletting? yes, jesse helms brought an amendment to the floor saying the n.e.a. should have no more grants given to bloodletting, whereupon christopher dodd of connecticut said, "now wait a minute." he's a catholic. he said, "that means no more crucifixion, "no more st. sebastian with arrows through him, "no more head of john the baptist, not to mention military battles." so that was the end of that amendment. it's a significant segment of our history gone just like that. not to mention-- not

on behalf of mayor newsom, the city and county of san francisco, we proclaim november 2010 as american indian heritage month in san vances go. -- san francisco. thank you very much. [applause] >> we are asking the four honorees to come on up. photo-op. it's not really over yet. until i say so. we give thanks this day, the opportunity to gather and honor our own today. blessings upon all those as they travel home >> i am this assistance superintendent for special indication at san francisco unified. we have with us the supervisor from district 8. we have a supervisor from district 9. we have many parents, many staff, and some children. i would like to introduce one of the san francisco unified parents that have worked so hard all week long. [applause] >> i am very happy to be here and celebrating it inclusive school week and i hope that we came momentum and do this every year better and that this blossoms to the state level. children of all abilities are welcome everywhere. [applause] >> now it is mine pleasure to introduce rachel norton from the san francisco unified school board. >> thank yo