 THE INTERTRIBAL FRIENDSHIP HOUSE
The central meeting place {for Indians in the Bay Area} is the Intertribal Friendship House on East 14th Street. A big house with a huge kitchen, two large halls, a TV lounge, office space and even a playground, it is usually open from morning to late in the evening.
People go in and out all day, to ask for emergency assistance, to participate in one of the planned activities, or simply to be around each other. A trading post, run by two women, where one can find native arts and a selection of Indian publications, attracts frequent visitors.
Weekly dinners, movies (mostly Native American ones), ping pong and volley ball games are held. The bigger events, like the Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner or a wedding, are attended by over a thousand people.
A newsletter keeps people informed on what is going on.There is a tutorial program run by older Indian students. The House organizes summer camps for children and monthly outdoor events for the youth.
Then, there is the social work of the House: presently, ten men and women are being trained in a two- year program to become counselors, rehabilitation workers, and community organizers. Besides, they take classes at Merritt College.
Sometimes people call who have just arrived in Oakland. they wait patiently in the reception office until somebody has time to talk to them.
'We come from Sacramento, and have been here for a day,' they say. Not much more is needed, and one of the caseworkers is called. Caseworkers are expected to do pretty much everything- from finding someone that speaks the same language as newcomers who cannot speak English, to referring them to other community agencies. After housing has been located, a caseworker stays in touch, finds out what problems newcomers encounter and tries to help them make plans.
From physical survival to finding people with whom one can feel at home, Intertribal Friendship House tries to encompass all sides of life of an Indian in the city. A Sioux woman from South Dakota said, 'If there was no Friendship House, I would have gone home ten times over, I was so lonely.'
From an article in The Catholic Voice, March 15, 1973 titled, ‘’Indian in the City’’ by Ilka Hartmann.
Please help save this institution which has been for so long at the heart of the bay area urban Indian community and its friends.
For information, contact:
The Intertribal Friendship House
523 International Blvd.
Oakland, California 94606
510-290-3490 |