Jim Manion, Janeen Comenote, Allen Pinkham, Sr., A. Brian Wallace, and Patricia L. Whitefoot speak about their vision for hope.

12/3/09 — Ecotrust today recognized five of the Wests most innovative indigenous leaders for their efforts to improve conditions in their communities. The recipients were selected by a panel of tribal leaders, and their efforts span the areas of youth advocacy, education, renewable energy, cultural restoration and scholarship.

The Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award has quietly become one of the preeminent programs honoring and supporting tribal, First Nation, and Alaska Native leaders in the West. Tribes and First Nations are more than an ethnic or minority demographic; they are nations and representative governments, major land owners, committed co-managers in natural resources, and they are major drivers of local and regional economies. Tribes, First Nations, and Alaska Natives hold long-range vision, sustainable societal values and a history of the land and marine and terrestrial ecosystems that provide a sense of place in the growing global economy.