The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) hosted a three-part webinar series on tribal disaster preparedness efforts. During the webinar series, tribal emergency management experts walked tribal leaders and staff through the 2017 Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance, answered questions, and highlighted how tribal nations can access emergency disaster resources.
In 2013, Congress passed legislation enabling federally recognized tribes to directly request a Presidential emergency or major disaster declaration. In 2017, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released the Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance to clarify the tribal declaration process. However, many tribal nations have been unable to utilize the direct tribal declaration process to access life-saving federal resources after a natural disaster strikes Indian Country.
The goal of the webinar series was to help tribal leaders and staff become familiar with the tribal declarations process, spotlight pitfalls to avoid, and identify available resources. The first two webinars focused on the tribal declarations pilot guidance overall, and the third webinar focused on special consideration for tribal nations in Alaska going through the tribal declarations process. The worst time to figure out the FEMA tribal declarations process is after a disaster strikes your tribal nation. NCAI hopes that this webinar series will help prepare tribal nations for future disasters and streamline federal resources to Indian Country.
Event Speakers:
Jeff Hansen, Director, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Office of Emergency Management and Vice Chair, Federal Emergency Management Agency National Advisory Council
Nelson Andrews Jr, Director, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Emergency Management Department and Co-Chair of The United South and Eastern Tribes Homeland Security and Emergency Services Committee
Theresa Gregor, Executive Director, Inter-Tribal Long Term Recovery Foundation and Professor, California State University
David Munro, Director of Tribal Affairs, Department of Homeland Security
Norma Reyes, Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 6 Tribal Liaison
Kelbie Kennedy, Policy Counsel, National Congress of American Indians
Moderator: Robert Holden, Tribal Liaison, LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training, Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education
Part 1 and 2 of the NCAI Tribal Disaster Preparedness Webinar Series
