Journey to the Huna Homelands

Post Date

March 29th 2011

Application Due Date

April 12th 2011

Funding Opportunity Number

H9815110705

CFDA Number(s)

Funding Instrument Type(s)

Cooperative Agreement

Funding Activity Categories

Humanities

Number of Awards

1

Eligibility Categories

Other

This is a Notice of Intent to award to the Hoonah Indian Association for the cooperative agreement entitled, Journey to the Huna Homelands, H9815110705.

Funding

• Estimated Total Funding:

  $336000

• Award Range:

  $48000 - $336000

Grant Description

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities. ABSTRACT Funding Announcement: H9815110705 Project Title: Journey to the Huna Homelands Recipient: Hoonah Indian Association Principle Investigator: Robert Starbard Total Anticipated Award Amount: $336,000 Cost Share: N/A New Award Or Continuation: New Anticipated Length of Agreement: 5 Years Anticipated Period of Performance: May 15, 2011 п December 31, 2015 Award Instrument: Cooperative Agreement Statutory Authority: 16 U.S.C. _1(g): The National Park Service may in fiscal year 1997 and thereafter enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of National Park Service appropriated funds to State, local and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations for the public purpose of carrying out National Park Service programs pursuant to section 6305 of title 31 to carry out public purposes of National Park Service programs. CFDA#: 00.000 The NPS and HIA wish to work together in the period 2011-2015 to foster ways in which to preserve and perpetuate Huna Tlingit culture, to increase Huna Tlingit access to the park and to further strengthen the relationship of the Huna Tlingit to their homeland. Single Source Justification: 1) 505 DM 2 Single Source - Only one responsible source will satisfy agency requirements. ╔ The source is the Hoonah Indian Association, the federally recognized government of the Huna Tlingit tribe. They are a sovereign government with responsibility over the health and welfare of tribal members, including maintenance of the clan social structure and the relationship of the clans to their traditional landscapes. HIA has just over 600 active tribal members residing in the village, and they manage a variety of programs and have a staff of 8-10. They have administrative offices in Hoonah and are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the tribe. The only other entity that might possibly be considered to fill that role would be the Huna Heritage Foundation (HHF), the non-profit arm of the for-profit Huna Totem Corporation. HHF is chartered to create and manage programs designed to help preserve Huna Tlingit culture. They have offices in Juneau and have a staff of one. In fulfilling their mission they maintain active relations with the HIA and Hoonah City Schools (HCS), but they do not have any operations within the village of Hoonah. The relationship between HIA and HHF is one of collaboration, not competition. ╔ Competition is impossible in selecting this provider, as there does not exist another entity that has this mission and administrative capacity to meet this need. The HIA has the legally mandated mission to accomplish this task, and has in place the administrative capacity to accept and administer funds, organize activities, contract services, and in general has a record of effective management of similar programs. In a sense, this is a task that is inherently governmental, and HIA is the only government in existence to execute it. 2) Nature and description of the deliverable required to meet the agencyуs needs: ╔ The deliverables that HIA will provide to meet the agencyуs needs will be developing collaborative partnerships with HHF and HCS, design four vessel trips into GLBA each year for five years (2011-2015); contract with Coast Guard certified marine operators to provide vessel support, and execute the four trips in a timely, safe and effective manner. 3) Criteria for justifying award without competition. In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria. Please explain which criterion specifically addresses the proposed agreement. ╔ Unsolicited proposal п The impetus for the project was initiated in 1995, under terms of a government-to-government relationship between NPS and HIA, in which the lack of tribal member access into the Glacier Bay homeland was identified as an area of mutual concern for both parties. If not addressed, the situation had the potential to seriously degrade relations with the parkуs traditionally associated group, and contribute to deterioration and eventual impairment of a critical park cultural resource. Working in collaboration, NPS and HIA initiated a multi-year effort to explore an access program to address these concerns, resulting in development of a multi-faceted access program that is best managed by HIA. There was no solicitation of a proposal; rather, this program grew organically from a joint need to address a serious problem. ╔ Continuation п This Cooperative Agreement is a continuation and extension of a cooperative relationship between NPS and HIA that has been ongoing for 15 years. ╔ Unique Qualifications п HIA is the only entity that exists that can effectively execute this program: HIA identified the need for this program beginning in 1995, and has been involved in its development and execution ever since. HIA is the only entity with the social connections and administrative capacity capable of executing this project. 4) A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted: ╔ Consultation was conducted in a government-to-government relationship between HIA and NPS in development of this program. There is no market for providing this service, and only HIA can perform it. No other entity exists to do this. 5) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: ╔ Full and open competition could not possibly produce a better deliverable, much less any deliverable. 6) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers for competition before any potential future agreement award: None DOCUMENTATION FOR USE OF A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT Cooperative Agreement Number or PR Number: R9815110705 Type of funds to be used for this project (bold the type of funds) ONPS, NRC, Fee Demo, Fire, Donation, other: Concession Franchise Fee l. What type of competition is appropriate? There is no form of competition that would be appropriate. The Hoonah Indian Association is the federally recognized tribal government for the Huna Tlingit people, a social group whose fundamental social unit are four matrilineal clans that occupy a central tribal village, represented by HIA. NPS has determined that the Huna Tlingit clans are the only traditionally associated group for the Glacier Bay proper portion of Glacier Bay National Park, and their clan histories that establish this long association are replete with multiple accounts of social conflicts, warfare events and episodes of willful human sacrifice that first won and now maintain this association with place. Furthermore, HIA has represented the clans in addressing its many issues with NPS, and for decades has defended their primacy in that role against other Tlingit clans, governments, businesses and organizations. Any form of competition for the capacity to represent Huna Tlingit interests and manage an access program into the Huna Tlingit homeland would be an affront to HIA, and an action that would nullify the very purpose and need for the project. 2. Why was this cooperator selected? The Hoonah Indian Association is a federally recognized tribe and the only entity in existence with a government-to-government with NPS for cultural issues related to Glacier Bay. No other cooperator exists. 3. Who are the parties to the agreement? The Hoonah Indian Association and the National Park Service, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve 4. What is the purpose of the agreement? The purpose of the agreement is to create a collaborative program between NPS and HIA that will meet two objectives: 1) Maintain a strong connection between the Huna Tlingit clans and their ancestral homeland in Glacier Bay by creating an access program that empowers the tribal government to design and manage this vital link; and, 2) create four cultural educational field trips per year that will provide opportunities for taking young people into the ancestral landscape where they will hear stories of place from the most knowledgeable elders, and in so doing create future culture bearers that will carry this knowledge forward. 5. What are the deliverables expected? Deliverables will be both tangible and intangible. Tangibles will consist of copious quantities of photographs, videos and notes that document the trips, as well as annual reports from HIA that capture the impressions and recommendations for improvements from tribal members. Ultimately, the trips will also help NPS gather significant ethnographic information that will be used for park cultural resource management requirements. Intangibles will be transmittal of cultural knowledge of place, clan, tribe, and individual that is passed from generation to generation as a way to protect and preserve Huna Tlingit culture. These intangibles will have the potential to generate tangibles, such as interpretive materials, both now and indefinitely into the future. 6. Explain the nature of the anticipated substantial involvement. What will NPS specifically do to carry out the project? NPS has been substantially involved with HIA since the genesis of the project in 1995, and its role has been defined through this long collaborative process. NPS plays the role of identifying the need for the program, securing funds for the project, and in consultation and collaboration with HIA and affiliated organizations п Hoonah City Schools (HCS) and Huna Heritage Foundation (HHF) п helps to schedule and organize the programs. For the programs NPS provides staff for instruction, to lead shore excursions and act as liaison with the HIA tribal participants. Foremost, NPS has representatives who participate in every aspect of these trips, and in so doing, represent the agency in a constructive and positive way with the Native community. 7. Why is the substantial involvement considered to be necessary? The project is the direct result of two parties working together over many years to solve a serious and long standing conflict, a process in which both parties had to be completely involved and engaged in order to bring about any positive resolution. In the beginning NPS identified the Huna Tlingit perception of having been systematically denied access to their ancestral homeland by NPS as a serious issue confronting the park. Despite NPS formally extending a verbal welcome to all tribal members, visitation to the park by HIA members did not increase, and tribal members continued to express a sense of being unwelcome in the park. NPS soon recognized that the traditional means for Huna Tlingits to enter their homeland no longer existed - the тoldу system of individual families maintaining seasonal food harvest camps in the park had ceased to exist by the 1930s, and the later access means of individual families coming in aboard private commercial fishing vessels had largely faded away by late 1970s. Most people simply no longer had a way to enter the park, and furthermore, by the time NPS and HIA began serious dialogue about these issues in the mid-1990s, for those who did own vessels, the costs for fuel had become prohibitive and people simply could not access the park. However, these issues aside, NPS was still perceived as being the primary impediment to Huna Tlingit access. Identifying this pressing need, NPS recognized that the most cost effective way to bring HIA members into the park would be aboard marine vessels that could accommodate large groups, be they NPS vessels or commercial vessels. The first trips were organized to bring Huna Tlingits into the park aboard and NPS vessel to harvest wild berries. These trips proved both successful and popular. When NPS decommissioned its vessel it began to contract with private marine vessel operators. Concurrently, NPS and HIA realized that younger generations of Tlingits had not visited their ancestral homeland, and were fast losing any knowledge of place and their cultureуs long and deep connection to it. NPS and HIA therefore determined that a program had to be put into place to correct this situation, so designed the program to address two objectives simultaneously п access and education. By working together and building a strong partnership, NPS/HIA has developed a program that is accomplishing both objectives, though not without challenges. The challenges focus primarily in two areas: 1) identifying and securing marine vessels that can accomplish the variety of trips that need to occur, and 2) creating a program in which HIA and its tribal members have a sense of belonging to and being welcome in the park. We have found that fundamental to this sense of belonging is having the capability of to accessing the park under their own management. This NPS involvement has been both vital and irreplaceable in developing the program, especially in the area of securing funds to facilitate it, as the trips in aggregate are beyond the capacity of the HIA to fund, and without NPS fund sources, the trips simply would not happen. For NPS, the fund sources are available and accessible, and provide the park with highly valuable results and products. Yet, the conflict is still not resolved (and may never be), as the conflict lies at the core of both NPS and Native values. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that both NPS and HIA remain engaged and involved as they work to resolve this longstanding conflict. 8. Explain why the project or activity entails a relationship of assistance rather than a contract. How will the NPS benefit from this collaboration? No contract could be let that would solve this issue. The basic relationship of mutual assistance involves two parties who are involved in trying to resolve a conflict to the common benefit of both. The NPS has a

Contact Information

• Agency

  Department of the Interior

• Office:

  National Park Service

• Agency Contact:

  Erica Cordeiro
  Contract Specialist
  Phone 907-644-3303

• Agency Mailing Address:

  Work

• Agency Email Address:

  Erica_Cordeiro@nps.gov