Tribal Emergency Management News

NCAI to Host Webinar Series on Tribal Disaster Declarations Pilot Guidance

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) invites you to participate in our three-part webinar series on tribal disaster preparedness efforts. During the webinar series, tribal emergency management experts will walk tribal leaders and staff through the 2017 Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance, answer questions, and highlight 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 is 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 will focus on the tribal declarations pilot guidance overall, and the third webinar will focus 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. We look forward to seeing you at all three webinars and answering your questions.

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
Theresa Gregor, Executive Director, Inter-Tribal Ling 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
Moderator: Robert Holden, Tribal Program Advisor, LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Training, Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education

Webinar Registration Links, Dates, and Times: