www.nanews.org/archive/1999/nanews07.020 -
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Published on: 5/6/1999
Last Visited: 7/20/2001
We have been incredibly surprised at the interest overseas , said Greg Smitman , executive director of the council.There's a great deal of interest in the whole concept of Indians and the fact that they are original growers of staples like corn , beans and potatoes.We sell on that basis.Some of the richest agricultural history is in Arizona , with the Pimas and Tohono O'odhams growing crops for thousands of years.If we can make that point overseas , it will help with the marketing..The world-famous Pima Indian cotton , for example , was developed in 1908 on the Gila River Reservation as a desert-hardy version of Egyptian cotton. . Today it's used to make expensive , silky fabrics.Ardell Ruiz , assistant community manager for the Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix , traveled on European trade missions to promote Gila River products and saw for himself how marketable being an American Indian can be.
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Indians tend to be isolated , Smitman said.We're trying to open new avenues to increase the value . . . We hope we'll get more successful at marketing , which is a new thing to us..In 1995 , the council developed a patented logo and two trademarks , Made by American Indians and Produced in Indian Country..Qualified tribal businesses use both for free.Part of the marketing campaign also is to get the word out that American Indians produce a number of premium products , such as white corn , beans , wild rice , olives and cotton.The Gila River tribe grows an especially sweet Valencia orange on land with well-drained sandy soil with high sodium content and perfect temperatures.Because of the unique climate and methods to grow them , we believe they can achieve a higher price if they sell to Europe or Japan , Smitman said.The community also raises olives.At the trade missions , he said visitors dipped bread into the olive oil to taste it and seemed to like its distinct flavor.I was surprised because Spain produces so much olive oil.They had big containers.But ours tastes totally different from those of other countries , Ruiz said.
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They're not getting the value added with packaging and labels , Smitman said.Some products face bigger hurdles than marketing , however.The San Carlos Apaches raise registered cattle and horses that draw buyers from as far away as Montana.Europeans , though , are very nervous about buying American cattle because of fears of the hormones , antibiotics and steroids used to make the livestock grow faster and keep them healthy.But Smitman said this provides American Indians the opportunity to raise chemical-free beef.Tribes in Oklahoma , for example , have enough land to let cattle graze and grow naturally instead of being stuffed into feed lots and pumped with steroids.We are not land poor.We don't n.
Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673 , Victoria , B.C. Canada V8X 3S2 EMAIL : WWW : http : //kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- RE : Help Mendota Now --------- Date : Wed , 5 May 1999 21 : 00 : 45 -0500 From : JRP Subj : HELP MENDOTA NOW! ( fwd ) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date : Wed , 5 May 1999 16 : 18 : 00 EDT Subj : HELP MENDOTA NOW.Mailing List :.
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