Lummi-nous

LUMMI RESERVATION, WASHINGTON - You can't get much further northwest in the Great Northwest than the Lummi Reservation in western Washington. It sits in the upper left hand corner of the Lower 48, just a few miles west of Bellingham, a few miles south of the Canadian border and smack dab on the shores of the Pacific. It's a place, say the Lummi, "we enjoy an abundant, safe, and healthy life," a place where "all are encouraged to succeed and none are left behind."

With almost 4,500 enrolled members, the Lummi is a mid-sized tribe. But it has big dreams. Like the Northwest Indian College, opened in 1983 on the reservation to promote "indigenous self determination and knowledge." The College achieved a significant milestone last Spring with the award of its first-ever four-year degree, the first, it says, of many more to come.

But it's not stopping there. As part of its campaign to achieve full accreditation as a four-year college, it's currently using HUD and U.S. Department of Agriculture funds to restore and renovate campus buildings. A new student center is under construction and older buildings are getting new roofs, doors, windows and HVAC systems.

The Lummi Tribal Housing Authority also is putting its resources to work. Using $7 million in HUD Native American Indian Housing Block Grants and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, its construction of the Kwina Village Apartments is well underway within walking distance of the College and Tribal Government Center. When completed, the Village's 12, two-story buildings will provide 72 units of affordable, energy-efficient housing, helping relieve a significant overcrowding issue on the Reservation. Two of the buildings will be reserved to house students enrolled in the College.

There's another kind of education also at work in the Kwina Village project. Thanks to a $1.2 million grant from the Department of Labor, the Lummi have started a YouthBuild program. Formerly a HUD program, YouthBuild was created to provide young people at-risk of dropping out of school with an opportunity to learn construction skills while completing their high-school education. Lummi YouthBuild participants are helping construct the Village's new community center.

"What's happening here is a shining example of a tribe taking its dreams into its own hands and, with Federal resources, makes them come true," said HUD's Northwest Regional Administrator Mary McBride on a recent visit to the reservation with HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Sandra Henriquez. "HUD is proud to be a small part of this grand undertaking."

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