11/02/07

First Annual American Indian Market

Ashley Phillips

Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. is pleased to invite you to our newly revised Cultural Event in San Francisco. This year, there will be a brief Honoring Ceremony to be held at San Francisco City Hall in the Rotunda on Friday, November 2, from 12 pm to 1 pm. Recognition and awards will be presented to Bay Area American Indian community leaders including the KQED Local Heroes Awards and the Gary Rhine Memorial Awards. Mayor Gavin Newsom will also receive recognition for his ongoing commitment to the Native American community. There will also be a cultural celebration with American Indian dancers and the Friendship House Drum.

Following the Honoring Ceremony at City Hall, Friendship House will sponsor the First Annual American Indian Market to be held inside the Great Hall at Friendship House located at 56 Julian Avenue in San Francisco from 1 pm to 4 pm. Educational activities will be also be in the courtyard and will include talks about aspects of American Indian culture, presentations about the sweat lodge, and four tipis will be erected.

The American Indian Market will feature arts and crafts booths, informational booths about Bay Area American Indian organizations and Indian tacos and refreshments will be on sale. Future Friendship House American Indian Markets will be held earlier in the year and will be on Julian Avenue in front of Friendship House. Friendship House will be closing the street in future years.

The mission of Friendship House is to promote healing and wellness in the American Indian/Alaskan Native community by providing a continuum of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services that integrate traditional American Indian/Alaskan Native healing practices with evidence-based substance abuse treatment methods.
Friendship House is state licensed, certified, and nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Friendship House operates at two locations � San Francisco (80-bed residential facility for adults and substance abuse prevention activities for youth) and Oakland (5 beds for women and 6 beds for their children); both facilities provide an array of comprehensive services including: intake and screening; assessment of needs; individual, group, and family counseling; case management; life skills workshops; traditional arts and healing practices; employment training and assistance; and health and wellness education/referrals.

The Cultural Event is co-sponsored by Native American Health Center, San Francisco Mayor�s Office of Neighborhood Services, KQED, Picayune Rancheria, Smith River Rancheria, Tule River Tribal Council, Barona Band of Mission Indians, Dry Creek Rancheria, Community Health Charities, United Way of Monterey County, and Sober Spirits.