Dear CIBA Members and Friends of CIBA: The California Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA) and many other arts organizations in our state our facing a fiscal crisis due to budget cuts made in the Governor=92s May Revise of the state budget. ! 57% of the funding to the California Arts Council (CAC) was cut by Governor Davis. Although, the Senate and Assembly Budget sub-committees reinstated $7 million (about half of the money cut) to the CAC=92s budget, the arts budget is still up for debate when the legislature meets in the week of June 10th. We must act quickly to preserve the budget as it now stands or face the grim possibility that the legislature could reduce the Arts budget for California even further..
CIBA relies on the CAC for some $54,000.00 in support for our Basketweavers Support Program and our annual Gathering. If we do not receive this money we may face lay-offs of key staff in that program--to the detriment of all of the basketweavers of California for years to come. These cuts will deeply hit Native Arts in California-- nearly 22% of the Traditional Folk Arts funding goes to California Indian arts organ! ization and tribes. The commitment of the CAC to California Indian culture has been profound--and the virtual dismantling of this organization will set back the cultural gains California Indians have made by several years. Other Indian organizations and tribes including the Cedarville Rancheria, the Karuk Tribe, the Fresno Arts Council, the Institute of Indigenous Knowledge, the Marin Museum of the American Indian and the California Indian Storytelling Association all stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. These funds are also matched 1 to 1 by private funding, so this funding could additionally be lost to these organizations. Please write to your legislators (list attached) and to the key members of the budget conference committee that will determine the course of Arts funding in our state (list attached). We have provided a template for a letter that can be used to send or fax to the Assemblymembers a! nd Senators on these lists. Please FAX as well as mail your letters, as this increases the visibility of our cause. To a legislator one phone call represents 100 voters and a letter 10 voters. The most effective thing you can do is to visit your legislators=92 offices and speak to them or their staff about the importance of traditional arts to our way of life. The least effective thing is to email them, as these tend to be ignored. If you have any questions, please call me here at our office or email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] I would be happy to answer any of your questions and listen to your thoughts on the legislative action ahead of us. We will be gathering at the capital on June 12 with other Arts organizations to talk with legislators. Please, call us for meeting locations if you can attend. Thank you for all of your past and future support. We look forward to! continue to work on behalf of all California Indian basketweavers to ensure that this cultural art continues and thrives in Indian communities across our state. Jacqueline Keeler (Dineh/Nakota) Executive Director California Indian Basketweavers Association P.O. Box 2397 Nevada City, CA 95959 530.478.5660 tel 530.478.5662 fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.ciba.org Donate Online: http://www.networkforgood.org/ and type in CIBA -- Andr� P. Cramblit, Operations Director NCIDC www.ncidc.org COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN INDIANS/NATIVE AMERICANS/ALASKAN NATIVES & HAWAIIAN ISLANDERS. To subscribe to The Native American Newsletter send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddNB.b2HgmN Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
