NATIVE A+E Magazine Spring 2019 Inaugural Issue

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Spring 2019
NATIVE-AE.COM | SPRING 2019 | INAUGURAL ISSUE
FORT MOJAVE:
BUILDING HEALTHY
ENVIRONMENTS
RILEY:
ENGINEERING COST
SAVINGS
MORONGO:
FROM SAND
+ ROCKS
Kimberly Lewis:
Tribal Approach
to Commercial
Development

Spring 2019
2
“Brightening the future for Native Communities”
Founded in 1995, ETD assists project developers in navigating the tribal and federal envi-
ronmental regulations in Indian Country. Since then, we have grown to meet other needs
of tribal communities by providing project management, strategic communications, and
planning services. We are an award-winning professional services firm that has successfully
completed hundreds of projects to the benefit of Native American self-determination.
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
We develop meaningful communications strategies
that identify target audiences and key messages to
help organizations build confidence and earn public
trust. We apply these concepts to public relations
campaigns, public outreach efforts, and stakeholder
engagement.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
We employ the practice of initiating, planning, exe-
cuting, directing, and closing the work of a team to
achieve the project scope, timeline, and budget. We
apply our approach to construction management,
environmental project management, and site mas-
ter planning.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
For the past 24 years, our NEPA experts have pre-
pared over 500 Environmental Assessments for
tribal projects. We advise our clients to ensure con-
formance with relevant environmental laws, regu-
lations, standards, and other requirements, such as
permits to build or operate.
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info@etd-inc.com | (928) 779-6032
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COMMUNITY PLANNING
We carefully craft land use plans, conservation plans, and economic development plans for
communities and organizations throughout Indian Country. Our plans guide the future action
of a community or organization by presenting its vision for the future with long-range goals

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Spring 2019
4 PUBLISHERS LETTER
8 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
13 GAMING + CONSTRUCTION
MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
17 PLANNING + BUILT ENVIRONMENT
FORT MOJAVE INDIAN TRIBE
21 PLANNING + CONSTRUCTION
PASCUA YAQUI INDIAN TRIBE
25 ENGINEERING + PIPELINES
RILEY ENGINEERING LLC
29 TRENDING NEWS
COVER STORY
KIMBERLY LEWIS
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Spring 2019
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grew up in an environmental consulting
and construction management firm
owned by my parents. I’ve spent my
life hearing discussions about the business
and very interesting projects they were
working such as The View hotel and visitor
center at Monument Valley, the Flagstaff
High School Dormitory for Native students,
and the Twin Arrows Casino Resort. For
me at the time, this was the height of
economic development in Indian Country,
and I was proud of my parents for being
a part of it. I was inspired to apart of it as
well and I wanted to use my strengths in
communications and writing.
I took an alternate career path in public
relations, where I worked with education
and healthcare entities as a contractor. I
saw the firsthand disparities facing Native
American communities in education and
healthcare. However, it wasn’t until I joined
my family’s company where I saw the
disconnect when it came to communication
and economic development. The lack
of a hub to see new and innovative
development projects in Indian Country
that companies like ours worked on. I
remember my dad, who’s a construction
manager, subscribed to publications
that showcased major infrastructure and
economic development projects across the
country.
I thought it would be great to produce
a similar publication for Indian Country,
so that everyone knows what’s going on
and to anticipate the opportunities and
build on past projects. In 2017, I was part
of a team that developed an economic
development strategy for a changing
economic landscape, my role was to write
an economic development marketing plan
to accompany the strategy. What I realized
was that all communities must engage in
strategic marketing and public relations
to attract skilled professionals, businesses,
and industries to create job opportunities
and grow the tax base for public programs
such as for youth and elderly.
NATIVE A+E is a platform to promote +
innovation in Indian Country by helping
tribes market their economic development
projects to industries, investors and site
selectors to fuel tribal economies. This
platform is a place for exchanging ideas,
celebrating prosperity, and creating new
opportunities. We hope our readers
enjoy the content within this publication
as well as on our website and social
media. We hope that it brings value and
empowerment to tribes and professionals
in the areas of planning design and
construction. We look forward to improving
this publication with each quarterly issue.
I
Adrian Dotson, Chief Editor
FROM THE PUBLISHERS

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Spring 2019
s tribal people, we are gifted
storytellers that have handed down
our oral histories for thousands
of years since our beginning.
Unfortunately, our people have not been
the primary authors of our history, since
the arrival of the European colonizers. So
we have had to rely on non-native history
books and other forms of media to inform
mainstream society and ourselves about
our historic events and the development of
our native communities. As a tribal youth
growing up on the Rez without a telephone,
television or the internet, I believe it was
a blessing for us because we were not
shaped, influenced or brainwashed by the
media to place limits on our capacities.
As a result, I grew up thriving with self-
confidence in our ability to excel at anything
we put our minds to, especially when we
work together as a tribe.
I also grew to understand that media
is a powerful tool that can used to help
shape and influence the day-to-day lives
of our people in Native America & the
World in a positive way. When it comes to
building tribal economies, there are a lot
of talented native business owners and
tribal enterprises that offer great products
and services, especially in the fields of
architecture, engineering and construction.
However, many of them don’t get the
recognition they deserve, therefore, they
are unable to effectively market their
products and service to the world. It’s also
hard for us tribal people to talk about
ourselves because in the tribal way
we are taught to be humble, and that our
work will speak for itself.
That’s why we started the NATIVE A+E
media platform to help native communities
and native businesses tell their stories
about the projects they’ve planned,
designed and built, as well as the obstacles
they had to overcome on each unique
project. At NATIVE A+E, we understand
the need to connect and empower native
people and business through different
forms of media. By telling our stories,
we are also able to inspire each other to
promote native-to-native business, which is
the only way to truly build sovereign, tribal
economies that control and maximize the
billions of dollars that we generate before it
leaves our reservations. Our future is in the
palms of our hands, when we promote and
believe in ourselves. Because if we don’t
promote ourselves, who will? D.W.
A
Dennis Welsh, Executive Editor

Marketing
Advertising
Public Relations
Campaign Strategies
Branding & Corporate Identity
Website & Graphic Design
Video Production
Promotions
We Make It Rain.
rainmakermediagroup.us
480-744-8668

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Spring 2019
Chief Editor
Adrian Dotson
Rainmaker Media Group
Executive Editor
Dennis Welsh
Rainmaker Media Group
Copy Editor
Delilah Orr, PhD
Marketing
Amanda June
Smoke Fire Media
Creative
Devyn Dennison
Dreamcatcher Creative
+
Shon Quannie
4X Studios
Digital
Rocky Tano
ObsidianWeb
PROFESSIONAL
ADVISORY BOARD
Kimberly Lewis
FUEL Development Co.
Eunice Tso
ETD INC.
Stanford Lake
TERRAFORM Development
Pierre Dotson
Ridge Contractors
CREDITS
“NATIVE A+E IS
A PLATFORM TO
PROMOTE GROWTH
+ INNOVATION IN
INDIAN COUNTRY
BY HELPING TRIBES
MARKET THIER
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS”
- ADRIAN DOTSON,
CHIEF EDITOR

Spring 2019
8
March
25-29 Reservation
Economic Summit
Las Vegas, Nevada
April
1-4 Indian Gaming
Tradeshow + Convention
San Diego Convention Center
13-16 APA National
Planning Conference
San Francisco, California
May
13-15 Native Business
Summit
Hard Rock Hotel + Casino
Tulsa, Oklahoma
2019 CALENDER

Spring 2019
10
grew up watching our tribal
land bordering the city of
Chandler, Arizona that expands
from desert and farm fields into
buildings and parking lots. As a
child, my mother and I would drive
from our apartment in Phoenix to
our family home on the reservation,
and I distinctly recall two very
different worlds and environments.
I never imagined the land would
transform from farming industries;
old dairy farms and alfalfa fields
bordering our reservation
boundaries and replaced by Multi-
Million Dollar corporations the likes
of Intel, PayPal, and Wells Fargo.
These two distinct worlds
influenced me to pursue my
education in communications and
in organizational management
and complete my real estate
license. I spent many years in the
private sector managing property,
selling houses, developing
planned communities, and even
developed an air park that built
custom homes with airplane
hangars. I was immersed in real
estate development and caught
on to the core principles involved
for financially sound projects that
created jobs and opportunities for
businesses.
Prior to making my crossover
to working within our tribal
community, I understood the
importance of master planning
and the various processes involved
in building consensus from the
community, so this helped prepare
me for my next chapter in my
career: Tribal Land Development.
In 2003, I was hired by my tribe
as the Development Manager to
oversee and lease the Wild Horse
Pass mixed-use development; a
2,400 acres commercial & retail
development. Prior to zoning this
commercial mixed-use area, the
tribe’s had been actively leasing
land nearby since the 70’s --a large
500 acre industrial park attracting
companies such as concrete plants,
steel fabricators, and many other
manufacturers that realized the
tax advantages and lower costs
of leasing prime land next to the
city. What I had noticed was “the
tail was wagging the dog” when it
came to planning and commercial
development. Outside consultants
and developers were telling the
tribe how to develop the land
while tribes were still building
capacity and the knowledge base to
understand what they really wanted
to do with their land. We were not
taking charge of developing our
land and resources and it bothered
me that non-Indians, who were
not stakeholders in our tribe,
held so much influence in how
we developed our land. I saw this
as an opportunity to educate our
leadership.
I took it upon myself to educatae
our development board and
convince them to take a step back,
rethink the scenario and lay out our
own plan and our own guidelines.
I told them that as the directors,
they need to dictate how we want
to approach developing our land
I
Tribal Approach to
Commercial Development
By Kimberly R. Lewis, FUEL Development Co.

Spring 2019
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overtime. I noticed the difference from my experience
working in non-tribal world, that the concept of “time”
is not considered the same in corporate America. Time
for us, we believe we’ve got time and we must always
consider future generations and there’s beneficiaries
down the road.
In corporate America, the development model is
“working within the business life cycle,”
we must develop quickly and flip the land. At that time,
we had no plans and we had no permitting process. We
didn’t know the true value of our land, we didn’t market
it as commercial. Over time, we were able to create a
masterplan and create a strategy for leasing land, which
resulted in our first-class golf courses, casino resorts,
commercial buildings with high end office spaces, and
our high end, destination retail shopping plaza.
We borrowed the strategy from one of the most
successful diamond brands in the world, the De Beers
Group. They are the world’s largest, oldest most
valuable diamond company for one reason: they limit
the amount of diamonds that they release into the
market every year, so the price always goes up. I use
diamonds as an example to understand the land, if we
put a limited amount of land on the market and we
advertise it to outsiders for lease, we can increase the
value of land by virtue of simple supply and demand
principles.
Tribes can also increase the value of our land by
means of effective economic and regional marketing
to showcase all that our communities have to offer
for commercial development. It is critical to have
collaboration within the tribal government department,
enterprises and the leadership in order to successfully
develop major projects that are in-line with vision of the
community. And of course, it’s always important to have
the community involved when developing land use and
master plans for land development.

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Spring 2019
14
he Morongo Band of Mission Indians are known
as one of the most successful Indian tribes of
North America when it comes to tribal gaming
and providing services to its membership. The
reservation, located at the foot of the beautiful San
Gorgonio and San Jacinto Mountain in the Southern
California, spans more than 35,000 acres,.
According to Morongo Tribal Chairman, Robert
Martin, prior to the passage of the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act, they were facing the same challenges
as many other tribes including high unemployment
and welfare. NATIVE A+E sat down with the chairman
to talk about new projects and past experiences that
set Morongo down its current path of tribal prosperity.
Chairman Martin recalled what his father had said to
him about the tribe’s economic future before gaming,
“If you can figure out a way to sell rocks, we’ll make
a future.” Ironically, one of Morongo’s first business
ventures was a sand and rock company that was able
to hire 10 to 12 tribal members. The company trained
tribal employees to work the rock crushing machines,
encouraged their employees to apply for CDL
licenses, and also started a scholarship program.
Martin shared how Morongo’s future changed
when one tribal member started a modest bingo
hall in 1983. From this building evolved one of the
oldest and most successful Indian gaming facilities in
California. The high stakes bingo hall, started by the
tribal member, was bought out because the tribe’s
sovereign immunity did not extend to tribal members
and their businesses.
Morongo: From
Sand + Rock to
California
Dream
T

Spring 2019
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Then from 1985 to 1986 the high-stakes bingo created
a lot of jobs. Tribal members felt good about being
employed. The tribe had a 0% unemployment rate.
Between 1989 and 1990 the tribe built its first casino
that was managed by the tribe. It did very well. In early
2000, the planning for the new casino, which opened
in 2004, began. Martin said that one of the biggest
accomplishments has been the $250 million resort and
a 36-hole golf course at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet
Canyon.
Today, Morongo is the third largest gaming tribe in
the state of California with its own fire department and
public safety and public works department. The tribe
also has its own tuition-free, accredited elementary
school. It has given out $470,000 in college
scholarships to all Native American students across
California. Martin told NATIVE A+E,
“The tribe provides health care for its tribal members
and provides transportation for tribal residents in
Riverside County.”
All of these accomplishments have been made
possible by competent leaderhsip. The chairman,
who had owned a successful residential construction
contractor business for many years, used his
experience to guide Morongo to its economic and
community aspirations. “It was all a matter of timing
and need,” explained Chairman Martin, referring to
their tribal casino’s success. “130,000 vehicles drive
through the vistas of the Banning Pass each day.
However, financing is always hard, especially early on.”
In 2018, Morongo Casino began a major renovation
and expansion project. They broke ground for an
increase of 65,000 square feet in gaming space. There
will be 800 to 1,000 new slots and a new bar. Plans
also are in place for a new 750 space parking structure.
This will add 425 full-time jobs and several hundred
construction jobs. The project is to be completed by
2020.
Two Native American-owned construction firms were
selected to complete the substantial expansion and
renovation project at the AAA Four-Diamond Morongo
Casino, Resort & Spa. The tribe selected Sage Mountain
Construction, which is owned by a Morongo tribal
member, Tom Linton, and Hal Hayes’ Construction.
Other construction partners include Yates Moorefield
LLC.
“We’ve put together a top-notch construction team
that brings together the best in the business,” said
Chairman Martin. “We do use Native American
preference when contracting out services and
Sage Mountain Construction was one of the most
competitive bids we received for the casino expansion.”
Other projects down the road include continued
development around the casino such as retail, housing
and new travel center to break ground in 2019.

Spring 2019
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Building Environments
Prioritizing Health + Education
Fort Mojave Indian Tribe
he Fort Mojave Indian Tribe,
located in the Mojave Desert
on the edge of Needles,
California, is innovatively addressing
priority concerns facing their
community on the Colorado River.
NATIVE A+E visited with planning
director and owner’s representative,
Wayne Nelson (Fort Mojave),
to discuss the master planned
developments happening in their
community. He shared Chairman
Timothy Williams and Vice
Chairman Shan Lewis’ vision for a
local place of relearning the almost
extinct traditional Mojave language
& customs. He also discussed the
need to look at statistics to identify
priorities such as health, wellness,
and education.
The tribe opened its 5,100-square-
foot facility hemodialysis center in
March 2018 and a 48,598 square-
foot wellness center facility in
December 2018, a culmination
of years of planning that will also
produce a new school, cultural
center and housing subdivisions.
The tribe is ambitiously planning
to open the new grade school by
the beginning of the school year in
response to the Fort Mojave Valley
elementary school closing down.
The new school will have a full
language immersion tract similar
to the program at Salt River Indian
Community. Fort Mojave currently
has its own high school, and has
plans for a junior high at some
point.
Nelson has been with the tribes
planning department for 12-years,
he informed NATIVE A+E,
“The local elementary school closed
down some years ago, and Mohave
Valley doesn’t have a grade school.
Many of the tribal members have
to travel anywhere between 18
to 35-miles for their kindergarten
to fifth-grade students…. What
the tribe wanted to do was not
have to ship our kids off to school
somewhere else... because our
language is starting to die off. So
with the closing of the elementary
school, the chairman and the
council decided we’ll build our own
school and we’ll educate our own
kids... Statistically, tribal kids don’t
usually do well in school: English,
math and science.”
To complement the construction of
the new grade school, the tribe is
building a multi-purpose language
and cultural center geared toward
maintaining, revitalizing and
documenting the Mojave language
as well as developing the means to
fulfill and preserve Mojave culture.
One of the most impressive aspects
of this story is the fact that the tribe
is able to self-fund the projects
through strong planning, discipline
and leadership by the council and
tribal departments. The first thing
they did, from a financial standpoint,
is eliminate debt. It took a number
of years to get there, but when they
did the master plan evolved.
As Tribal Chairman Timothy
T

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Spring 2019
Williiams posited,
“What are needs of the tribe? When you look at it
statistically speaking, healthcare is number one,
then you look at the educational leaks that we have,
and of course you always have your traditional and
cultural needs and the reduction of our language. So
we wanted to address it by priority. The data speaks
to priority versus just opinions. A lot of people have
opinions. But when we talk about the number of people
with obesity or pre-diabetes, hypertension, the effects
they are having overall… then these are some of the
one areas we want to focus on.”
Fort Mohave wants to influence and recreate their
community and social environment, so they are

Spring 2019
20
projects on their own. This ultimately means that
they make their own rules. No one is telling them to
follow a specific regimen for nutrition classes or other
programs as most grants require the recipients to
follow some parameters. NATIVE A+E saw first hand,
the innovation and creativity during the interview and
tour of the new wellness center. The center is intended
to prevent disease: strengthening the human body to
fend off complaints before they start.
“We did use one grant. That was Special Diabetes
Program for Indians, and that was for the equipment,”
explained Chairman Williams.
Featuring a multiple-court wood-floor gymnasium big
enough to run two or more events simultaneously,
surrounded by a second-story mezzanine with an
indoor running track, the wellness center offers
something for people of every age, from a playroom
full of bounce-houses for the youngest to a lap pool,
spa, classrooms and a teaching kitchen. A full workout
gym offers dozens of complex training machines plus
free weights and crossfit stations. Nearly three dozen
TV screens surround the workout area.
As the chairman put it,
“I think with the incorporation with the wellness
center, we’re going to see the strongest and most well
balanced kids that are out there, who are prepared by
knowing who they are as a Mohave person, but who
are also able to succeed in our society, do things and
be independent.”
“There are really three parts to what we
are trying to do: it takes the individual
to want to make changes in their health;
then what is the tribe able to do and what
environment are we creating? In addition
you always have IHS; how are they able to
help? We aren’t depending on them, but
in this case they were able to help.”

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Spring 2019
22
ocated in the southwestern
part of the Tucson,
Arizona, amidst suburban
communities, and adjacent to the
eastern section of the Tohono
O’odham Indian Reservation, sits
the Pascua Yaqui Indian reservation.
The tribe first received recognition
in 1978, along with the transfer
of 202-acres of federal land. In
1978, the tribe wasn’t thinking
about gaming, but economic
development is always the primary
priority for any tribe.
NATIVE A+E sat down with Pascua
Yaqui Tribal Councilman and
Casino Del Sol Marketing Director
Francisco Valencia to discuss how
their development projects are
progressing and how they are able
to stay true to their original vision.
Valencia says he always refers back
to their master land use plan, a
working plan that was started back
in 1978. Valencia spoke about how
new leaders come in with different
ideas and want to try new things.
“We don’t have much land as it is,
we were originally given 202-acres
of federal land, and then we put
over 2,200-acres into trust. So to
me, and what I tell our council is to
look at our master land use plan
and base our developments on
that because when you piecemeal
projects, you might end up
saying, ‘We should have done it
differently, or this should have gone
somewhere else,’ and there is no
access to the elders [who authored
the plan.]”
In 1978, the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act was not enacted,
so the tribe was trying to figure
out what kind of economic
develop they could do.The
federal government had trust
L

23
Spring 2019
responsibilities, but the tribe wanted to know what they
could do. They considered traditional medicine and
thought about how they could market it. The tribe used
to have an adobe block company and a nursery for
traditional plants. Today they’re starting a construction
company, which will soon be in operation, and also be
a Section 17 corporation. Usually tribes set up boards
to oversee tribally owned corporations where the level
of autonomy varies from tribe to tribe.
Valencia explained how he sees the process of setting
up a board to oversee their expansion projects and
other corporate intiatives.
“Again, trying to set it [a board] up in a way that it’s
going to work with our long term goals and our plans
and our master land use plan is hard because a lot of
times tribes set up a board that is independent.
Then, sometimes it goes against the grain that the
plan had set out in the long run or starts to invest in
something that the tribe wouldn’t be invested in,”
said Valencia. “So we want to make sure that it runs in
conjunction with the leadership of the tribe, that it’s
not so independent, and that it has to answer back
to the tribal leadership and the people. The people
are the shareholders, and businesses need to be held
accountable.”
Pascua Yaqui Indian Tribe
Planning Rooted in Wisdom

Spring 2019
24
Along with the new ventures, the old ventures are
being revamped with expansions to the Casino Del
Sol property. The expansion was always part of the
the “program,” part of the long-term plan for Yaqui
economic development according to Valencia. The
expansion includes Estrella at Casino Del Sol, a new 6
story hotel, complete with150 rooms, a kids’ arcade,
a pool with water slide, a covered walkway that
connects to the casino, meeting rooms, and a workout
facility. It has a landscaped RV Park with 75 spaces,
and the Convention Center Expansion includes 9600
SF for more meeting spaces. Their CEO is Kim Van
Amburg.
The expansion is meant to attract more visitors, and
the tribe saw opportunity in travel lodging where
there was room to grow. The casino’s “first tower”
allowed them to go ahead and develop a hotel at a
lower price point to attract those who are not high
roller gamers, including families. They are now able
to host them all on one property. The casino and the
tribe are working toward becoming a destination
resort and casino. Right now, they are one of only
two tribal resorts to have a Starbucks franchise. Other
places just brew Starbucks. “You have to have the
amenities in order to meet your goal, and our goal
was to be a four star property,” explained Valencia. He
continued,
“Our casino here is called Casino Del Sol, and for us,
we call our creator Father Sun. We also wanted to
incorporate the Spanish architecture that’s been part
of our culture. We felt the Mediterranean had that
same type of Spanish architecture. For us triangles
represent sun rays, upside down triangles represent
rain drops, diagonal lines represent agriculture, and
diagonal dotted lines represent our migration. We
were a very nomadic tribe so we migrated all over the
western part of this continent.”
“The way I see it is, if we didn’t have
our culture and if we didn’t have our
language, we wouldn’t be a tribe; and we
wouldn’t have economic development
opportunities; and we wouldn’t be able
to negotiate and enter into a compact.
Only tribes can do that. That’s why in
our operations, we have a cultural leave
policy. We can take cultural leave to
participate inceremonies. You know,
it’s important because you get more
participation in the culture, and you
support the ceremonies to make sure that
they get completed. It’s something that
our elders left, and we shouldn’t forget
who we are or where we came from.”

Spring 2019
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Spring 2019
26
Engineering Cost Savings
into Water Resource Projects
Riley Engineering LLC
onson Chee is a Professional Engineer (PE), an
entrepreneur, and holds a Master of Science
(MS) and Doctor of Philosophy degrees (PhD)
in Civil Engineering, and he’s only 33 years old. Yup…
33… He has an impressive resume of experience,
ranging from a computer aided drafter and designer;
to a project engineer; and a principal engineer.
He’s active in academic research, serves as a board
member of Navajo Engineering & Construction
Authority, acts in a leadership role in his professional
chapter of AISES, and is a mentor to Native
engineering students at the University of Arizona, his
alma mater. What’s more impressive is the rate his
engineering firm has grown since launching in August
R

27
Spring 2019
Chee’s company, Riley
Engineering, LLC is a 100%
Native American (Navajo) owned
civil engineering firm located in
Tucson, Arizona. Their capabilities
include the following: site civil
infrastructure design, grading and
drainage, surface water hydrology,
surface water supply studies, flood
studies, open channel hydraulic
modeling, water distribution
system design, and storm drain
and wastewater collection systems.
They also currently service the
mining sector where they engineer
stormwater controls and manage
stormwater runoff to comply with
environmental regulations.
Though they currently service the
mining sector, Riley Engineering
isn’t heavily involved in actual
mining engineering. They are
more focused on projects where
management and protection
of water resources are critical.
Currently, they are involved in
designing large stormwater
control structures as part of mine
reclamation efforts as well as
designing stormwater channels
to ensure that downstream water
resources are protected from
mining activities.
“A good example of one of our
projects is one that is on [Tohono
O’odham] lands… For this, we
have some personal investment.
They are T.O. and I’m Navajo. They
need someone to do a good job,
and I’d rather it be us than a non-
native firm. I really want to do it
right ... We know it will be a good
product for the tribe.”
“Riley” is Dr. Chee’s middle name,
in honor of his late maternal
grandfather Riley Jones. Chee
grew up on the Navajo Nation and
is proud to call Leupp, Arizona his
hometown. Experiencing firsthand
socio-economic challenges and
infrastructure deficiencies, he felt
compelled to help improve living
conditions on the Navajo Nation
as well as other Native and tribal
nations. Since starting his business,
he is proud to say he provides
the highest value of professional
engineering service by, building
trust, building a technically
competency team, providing
exceptional customer service, and
solving complex problems.
For his PhD dissertation, Chee
looked at the Navajo Reservation
as a case study, trying to figure out
what can be done to improve the
water infrastructure. He wanted
to take on the obvious problem
which is lack of running water as
approximately 30% of homes on
the Navajo Reservation don’t have
running water and sewage. Chee
investigated the issue, talking with
the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
and Indian Health Services and the
people who work to address the
disparity. What he found was a lack
of an economy on the reservation,
an economy that generates taxes
and revenues for utility markets,
essentially customers paying water
utility bills.
“When you have a lot of users, it
off-sets the costs of construction
and operations, Navajo is scat-
tered, and the communities are
small, so it costs too much to op-
erate and to get the infrastructure
in place. The other thing we found
was the lack of large industries on
Navajo. Most

Spring 2019
28
of the customers are residential who pay a fixed rate.
When you have big businesses paying into water
and electric utilities, it creates revenues for the utility
companies. Here in Tucson, the industrial businesses
subsidize the cost for residential customers and help
with operation and maintenance costs. To see Navajo
develop our only choice is to build the infrastructure
to attract industry. It’s like “the chicken and the egg”
situation, you have to start somewhere.”
Chee’s dissertation describes custom planning and
engineering tools that were developed specifically to
address the water infrastructure planning issues on
Navajo. Those tools include a water pipe installation
construction cost estimation model (WaterCOSTE)
to improve the accuracy of capital cost estimates;
a hydraulic optimization model (WaterTRANS) that
improves design efficiency for branched water trans-
mission systems (typical for rural Native communi-
ties); and a decision support system (DSS) that allows
candidate water transmission projects to be ranked
while considering economic development, health im-
provement and environmental protection objectives.
Estimates derived from WaterCOSTE are used as
input into WaterTRANS to find the least-cost system
designs.
“We developed this tool to help choose and prioritize
projects based on the impact it will have on economy,
environment and health,” Chee explains. “With that,
we developed some pipeline design tools and a cost
estimation tool that was published last year in the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Pipelines
Journal. Basically, we built a cost model that mimics
all the processes of installing water pipe all the way
up through 64-inches in diameter. It’s all based on
the pipe size. The pipe size determines the excavator,
determines the labor, and other direct costs…. You
know, if tribes spend more on engineering, they can
save millions on construction costs.”

Spring 2019
30
NEWS TRENDS
Fiscal Year 2019 spending bill maintains additional
$100 million for tribal housing that was added last
year. Congress has passed full-year fiscal year (FY)
2019 appropriations and the President signed the bill
into law February 15.
The Omnibus spending bill maintains the additional
$100 million for tribal housing that was added last
year. The bill also keeps the requirement that the
additional funds to be allocated among eligible
Native American Housing Assistance and Self
Determination Act recipients through a competitive
grant process.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) still has not yet released the funding provided
last year, so tribes should expect up to $200 million
becoming available this year. National American
Indian Housing Council will work with our members
and the HUD Office of Native American Programs to
understand how and when the new funding will be
made available.
The bill also maintains additional funding for
Training and Technical Assistance and for the Indian
Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG). The
Department of Housing and Urban Development-
Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH)
funding, however, has been decreased again to
only $4 million, which is $1 million lower than last
year and $3 million less than original funding for the
program. The decrease comes despite data showing
nearly all HUD-VASH vouchers being used last year.
Spending Bill Passed $100M

31
Spring 2019
Sacaton, Arizona – In harmony with the vision of our
forefathers, the Gila River Indian Community estab-
lished Gila River Health Care to care for its people.
Many years later, the Community is proud to an-
nounce the opening of its’ newest healthcare facility,
Hau’pal (Red Tail Hawk) Health Center on August 1,
2018.
The new facility is a creation of unity and partner-
ship with $73 million dollars in funding provided by
Indian Health Service. The collaboration represents
decades of perseverance and will establish Gila
River Health Care (GRHC) as a key player in the
delivery of regional tribal healthcare. Chairman of
GRHC’s Board of Directors, Myron G. Schurz stated,
“I am privileged to serve my Community during this
time of growth. The opening of this state-of-the-art
healthcare facility will help not only our people, but
all Native Americans.”
Hau’pal (Red Tail Hawk) Health Center will signifi-
cantly strengthen health care services for Native
American patients living in central Arizona. The new
outpatient health center has a projected user pop-
ulation of 15,220 GRIC members and other Native
Americans from federally-recognized tribal communi-
ties. On March of 2018, Gila River Health Care began
offering Behavioral Health Services (BHS) at the new
facility in anticipation of later opening a full suite of
outpatient healthcare services.
Beginning August 1st, BHS will expand to include
individual and group counseling for mental health and
substance abuse. Additionally, all services will open on
August 1st and include: Primary Care, Pharmacy, Lab-
oratory, Medical Imaging, Physical Therapy, Women’s
Health, Podiatry, Diabetes Care, Optometry, Audiology,
Dental, Emergency Medical Services and Alternative
Therapies. Service eligibility for patients is subject to
Indian Health Service guidelines, and to determine
eligibility, patients must contact their home service unit.
Historically, O’odham people have always been peace-
ful, caring, and hospitable. “It’s deeply embedded
in our himdak (culture)”. The opening of the Hau’pal
Health Center represents the end of decades of work,
and more importantly, a victory for the members of the
Gila River Indian Community.
Gila River Health Care Corporation

Spring 2019
32
SPS+ Architects recently completed conceptual
design for the American Indian Veterans Memorial. The
Memorial, a unique interpretive landscape design, is
proposed to be located at Steele Indian School Park in
Central Phoenix.
The Memorial’s design not only captures the essence
and spirit of the project itself but blends many
conversations, from City of Phoenix representatives,
Tribal veteran’s family members, and many Tribal
Nations who have supported this journey for two
decades. Kent Ware, Vice President with American
Indian Veterans Memorial Organization explains, “The
memorial will honor all American Indian Veterans.”
The design team at SPS+ Architects understood
that the sacred eagle plays a critical role in the story
behind the American Indian Veterans Memorial. The
eagle symbolizes freedom, spirituality, mystery, and
journey – and therefore becomes a leading concept
associated with reflection and remembrance.
The Memorial will integrate into the landscape
seamlessly with its well-considered design. Richard
K Begay Jr., AIA, Associate & Lead Designer at
SPS+ Architects states, “Arriving at processional
stairs, visitors will be greeted by two upright steel
structures, which artistically express an eagle’s
wings – they ‘Carry the Spirit of the Warrior’ from
day to night. As a cycle that never stops, therefore,
the memory of the American Indian Veteran will be
lasting and forever.”
SPS+ American Indian Veterans Memorial SPS+ Architects Complete Concept
for the American Indian Veterans Memorial

33
Spring 2019
Native architecture and engineering firm Terraform
Development is expected to break ground on
Change Labs’ 4,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar
location in Tuba City later this year. Change Labs will
be the anchor tenant in the firm’s new Towering Cliff
8 development, an ultramodern mixed-use building
on eight acres in central Tuba City, the Navajo Nation’s
largest town.
“We want Change Labs to meet the real wants and
needs of business owners, that’s why we’re here
tonight,” said Fleming, a former Silicon Valley CEO
who has been leading workshops and listening
sessions and gathering data across the Navajo Nation
since 2013. “Should we prioritize on-site child care, a
jewelry-making studio, or a T-shirt press? Tonight, is a
promise to the community: change is coming.”
In addition to a coworking space with tools and
resources like desk space, laptops, and printers,
Change Labs will offer artist residencies and business
incubation services, giving business owners access to
training and mentorship.
“Our people are entrepreneurial — from selling
burritos to cutting hair at home — we find ways to
make money to support our families. But we don’t
always think of ourselves as business owners,”
said Change Labs Director of Business Incubation
Jessica Stago. “These small businesses are part of
a vibrant, if largely invisible, local economy. If we
can support and grow these jobs, the economic
impact in our communities will drive down poverty
and create better and more sustainable professional
opportunities.”
Change Labs Tuba City Incubator Change Labs Co-Working
Hub Means Business for Navajo Nation

Spring 2019
34
Indian Affairs Announces $74.2 Million
WASHINGTON – Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara
Mac Lean Sweeney announced
the Blackwater Community School,
located within the Gila River
Indian Community in Coolidge,
Ariz., will receive $30.1 million
dollars, and the Quileute Tribe
will receive $44.1 million dollars
for the Quileute Tribal School
located on Quileute reservation in
La Push, Wash., to award design-
build contracts for new school
buildings. In 2016, Indian Affairs
selected both schools as two of 10
schools for replacement through
the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
replacement school construction
process.
The Blackwater Community School
has elected to manage the project
using a design-build contract
for their new school through a
Public Law 100-297 Grant and
the Quileute Tribe has elected to
manage the project using a design-
build contract for their new school
through a Public Law 93-638 Self-
Determination Contract.
The Division of Facilities
Management and Construction for
Indian Affairs (DFMC) will provide
oversight verification throughout
the project and will be available
to provide technical support
to the Blackwater Community
School and the Quileute Tribe. The
replacement project for Quileute
Tribal School authorizes a new
60,950 GSF campus supporting a
projected K-12 grade enrollment
of 79 students. The replacement
project for the Blackwater
Community School authorizes
a new 88,547 GSF campus
supporting a projected K-5 grade
enrollment of 409 students.
“A school’s environment is as
important as the lessons taught in
the classroom,” Bureau of Indian
Education Director Tony Dearman
said. “We are proud to work with
Indian Affairs to build a new school
where we can deliver excellent
in-classroom instruction on the first
day it opens its doors.”
Quileute Tribal School was the
second 2016 NCLB School to
complete the planning phase and
first to complete a preliminary 20%
design. To ensure compliance with
Washington State requirements
and enhanced community
involvement this project provides a
Language/Cultural Lab, permanent
stage space, and a wood carpentry
vocational shop. This project will
be fully compliant with Washington
Sustainable Schools Protocol
and the Guiding Principles for
Sustainable Federal Buildings.
The current school facility is in a
designated tsunami zone near
the ocean. The new school site is
located at elevation safely outside
the tsunami zone.
The Blackwater Community
School is the third NCLB School
to completed planning. To ensure
compliance with Arizona State and
Gila River Tribal requirements and
enhanced community involvement
this project provides a Language/
Cultural Lab, Science Lab/
Traditional Farming and Gardening
classroom, Art Program Classroom
and a Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics
Classroom. This project will be
fully compliant with Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) Protocol and the Guiding
Principles for Sustainable Federal
Buildings.
The Laguna Elementary School
received the first award of $26.2
million to award a design-build
contract on May 2, 2018. Within
the next few weeks, Dzilth-Na-O-
Dith-Hle Community School in
Bloomfield, N.M. will begin the
preliminary design stage and will
be the fourth school to be funded.
The remaining six schools are
expected to complete the planning
phase by the end of 2018.

NATIVE A+E Magazine Spring 2019 Inaugural Issue

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