Redbird is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization with over twenty years of service to the Native American and non native community. We have five main programs which include two Native American gatherings, two environmental programs and our educational facility, Chilao School. In 2014 we added a sixth program area - arts - to our scope of activity. Our work is funded entirely by donations. We are an all volunteer group. There are no membership dues or member roster. In addition to our Board of Directors, we have an advisory council which provides valuable guidance regarding all of our programs.

We hope through our work to bridge the gap of cultural misunderstanding that continues to exist between the original inhabitants of the western hemisphere and the many cultures who are now here. Much has been lost in the way of knowing how to care for our Mother Earth. Our modern lives displace us from the reality of our connectedness to and dependence upon her for everything we need; healthy food, clean air, good water, fertile land. We share our breath with the standing silent nation, the plants who give us the oxygen we breathe. When we realize that we really are connected, perhaps we will begin putting our priorities in order and caring for the planet that gives us our life.

Our Origins - Redbird was born from an educational exhibit titled "Spirits In The Material World - Native Americans Today". A number of the people who were original contributors to the exhibit became the first Board Members, and in 1994 Redbird applied for and received state and federal recognition as a non profit association.

The Spirits exhibit was shown in over 100 locations in southern California and Ohio. In its formative years, Redbird was involved primarily with educating non-Indian people about native culture, and helping native people find their relatives, both living and historical. The Children of Many Colors Powwow, first held in 1994, has always been our signature event, along with the Blanket, Toy and School Supplies Drive.

In 2002 we amended our mission statement to be inclusive of the one thing none of us can live without - a healthy planet. "Creating a sustainable future" is an all-inclusive way to address our concern for and actions on behalf of protecting our global environment, and the ancient wisdom that offers us ways to do so.

Home ownership and end of life transitional care are larger issues that Redbird has sought to address. In 2008 we were taking great strides towards creating our first facility, "Redbird Ranch", envisioned as a four to six unit elder housing community for native people in their end of life stages. We were unable to fulfill that dream in 2008. Elder housing remains a goal to which we are committed, and for which there is substantial need.

The name Redbird was given to one of the group's founding members by Cheyenne Beasley of the Cherokee nation in or about 1988. It was unanimously chosen as the name for the newly-formed association by its first Board of Directors.

Today - Redbird's work continues to embrace the goal of creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding among cultures, and re-creating a meaningful connection with our home planet.

Our present programs include the Children of Many Colors Intertribal Powwow, our annual Blanket, Toy and School Supplies Drive and Mini-Powwow, the Forest Recovery Project, the Pinon Project, arts, culture and environmental programs at our land base, Chilao School, and the multi-media, multi-cultural art exhibit Highway 2 - the journey and the destination.

No one among us is independent of our home planet, our Earth Mother, and so we can all embrace the need to make good choices in our lives; to live in balance, to take actions that will be good for the seven generations yet unborn. Our programs represent a mixture of cultural and environmental efforts that reflect and embrace this inseparable connection...what the late Felix Garcia Montoya called one and the same...Life and Land.

2015 Board of Directors

Michael A. Reifel, San Carlos Apache Nation, United American Indian Involvement, Member At Large
Jorge Lechuga, Navajo Nation, Wildhorse Native American Association, Member At Large
Gene Albitre, Kumeyaay Nation, Standing Bear Powwow, Member at Large
Laurel Methot, Metis, UCLA Medical Center, Member at Large
Gary Pickett, Flintknapper, Cultural Demonstrator, Member at Large
Corina Roberts, European/Cherokee/Osage, Writer and Photographer, Founder