Serving American Indians

The new American Indian Community Outreach Center in Van Nuys is trying to get word of its opening out to American Indians in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. And welcome word it is.

The center is the first to serve American Indians living in the three valleys since a similar center lost its funding and closed almost five years ago. Through the efforts of the Southern California Indian Center and the American Indian Health Council and with office space and phones provided by Los Angeles County, the new center opened last fall to provide information, counseling and referral services.

Los Angeles County is home to the largest urban Native American population in the United States, with an estimated 20,000 American Indians in the Valley area alone.

Many of the Valley’s Indians are members of California tribes. Thousands more moved to the area from reservations--some prompted by the government’s assimilation and relocation programs of the 1950s and ‘60s--leaving behind friends, family and traditions.

Already 50 to 75 people a day call or come by the center, with questions ranging from where to find dental care to how to make sure children are receiving educational benefits to when the next local powwow will be.

The Valley center serves not only as a lifeline for needed services but as a tie to a culture and heritage that is a rich but too often invisible part of the Valley community.

The American Indian Community Outreach Center at 7555 Van Nuys Blvd. can be reached by calling (818) 901-3501.