The Intertribal Friendship House (IFH), recently under the threat of being lost forever, was saved by intergenerational community effort. IFH was recently threatened with being placed on the auction block by the Alameda County Tax Assessor's office. "We are pleased to announce that we have sufficiently raised the funds to pay the taxes and protect IFH and the Urban Native community from yet another encroachment on Native American territory - a tale very familiar to our people" states George Galvis of IFH. The planned auction of IFH was only brought to our attention a result of developers who were interested in purchasing the property. Only very late in the process was IFH was contacted by Alameda County about the auction. Nevertheless, this 'crisis' culminated in the mass mobilization of the Urban Native Community and our allies in forming a committee consisting of bay area community members on a volunteer basis to formulate a recovery plan and working towards a long term sustainability strategy. In just a little over a month, they raised over $30,000 to save Intertribal Friendship House.

IFH started out as a place for American Indians from all over the country to meet and see one another after they were relocated to the Bay Area during the 1940’s through the 1960’s as a way of having American Indians leave the reservation and assimilate. This effort by the United States government did not work. Over the last 50 years, Intertribal Friendship House has continued to provide services to the Native population in the Bay Area. IFH continues to be a place where "all Natives are welcome," whether it’s as a place to: sit and have a cup of coffee to find out about the latest community events, attend a celebration or funeral, to have ceremonies, or to take classes. IFH's community hopes that the space will continue to be open for future generations to learn about their traditions.

IFH on Myspace | IFH Website | Native Peoples article about Floyd Red Crow Westerman