2025 Regional Tribal Emergency Management Summit
Hosted by
Highlights from 2026
The fourth annual Regional Tribal Emergency Management Summit took place from May 6-8, 2026, in Rapid City, South Dakota. The 144 participants included Tribal emergency managers and personnel engaged in emergency response from Tribes in Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Professionals with 15 Tribal affiliations gathered to make collective progress on topics including disaster response, leadership, search and rescue, and access to resources.
Want to see overviews and resources from previous summits?
2026 Session Overviews & Resources
Solving Community Emergency Challenges with Core Logic
Art Rave | Director, Cheyenne River Long-Term Recovery Group
Art Rave is Director of the Cheyenne River Long-Term Recovery Group (CRLTRG), a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening disaster preparedness, response, and community resilience across the Cheyenne River Reservation and surrounding South Dakota. His work encompasses Tribal partnerships, CERT training, disaster recovery housing, volunteer coordination, and resilience hub development. Through partnerships with the CDC Foundation, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, and regional public health agencies, Art bridges emergency management, public health, and community development to build lasting capacity across the region.
This session equiped emergency management professionals with practical strategies for sustaining Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs during non-disaster periods by applying the Core Logic Model to program development, volunteer engagement, and community partnerships. Participants learned how to identify community challenges, align resources, and implement structured activities that strengthen CERT team readiness and collaboration with Tribal governments, local responders, and community organizations. By exploring real-world examples from Tribal communities, attendees gained actionable tools to improve volunteer retention, enhance coordination across agencies, and build stronger, more resilient emergency response systems within their own jurisdictions.
Resources:
Operational Communication Strategies for Disaster Response and Preparedness within Tribal Nations
Marty Antone | Lead Trainer (Tribal Program), National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University
Marty Antone is the Lead Trainer for the FEMA-funded Tribal Program at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University. He is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and previously served as Director of Homeland Security for the Oneida Nation. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Mr. Antone brings deep experience in Tribal sovereignty and culture, public safety, and close coordination with Tribal leadership, health departments, and elders. His emergency planning work reflects the community’s geography, language, and cultural values.
For this workshop, participants learned how to develop communication workflows that support community feedback, shared situational awareness, and trust within Tribal Nations during emergencies. Participants gained insights about key components of disaster communication workflows, the role of Tribal leadership and emergency managers in information flow, and integrating community-centered approaches to communication during emergencies.
Resources:
The Importance of Exercising Tribal Sovereignty
Joshua Arce (CEO, Partnership With Native Americans) moderated this panel discussion on Tribal Sovereignty with Terry Nelson and Tommy Thompson.
Key themes and takeaways
Knowing your jurisdictional standing. Panelists discussed the critical difference between treaty Tribes, P.L. 280 Tribes, and self-governance compacts—and how that status shapes a Tribe’s ability to respond to ICE activity, manage law enforcement, and access federal resources directly rather than through the state.
Tribal ID as a sovereignty tool. Several Arizona Tribes have worked with the state DMV to add Tribal affiliation to compliant state-issued IDs. Panelists also highlighted mobile enrollment options and ongoing efforts to get Tribal IDs recognized at TSA checkpoints.
Wildland fire and the 638 pathway. Recent federal directives have restricted BIA wildland fire crews from responding to structure fires—a serious gap in reservation-level protection. Crow Creek is forming a 501(c)(3) volunteer fire department and pursuing a 638 contract with the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, which would transfer program control to the Tribe and allow expanded service delivery.
Show up or be left out. The Department of Homeland Security hosts a monthly Tribal affairs call open to all federally recognized Tribes. Registration is available through the DHS website. Panelists emphasized that participation is how Tribes shape policy before it affects them.
Service agreements as leverage. A Tribal law enforcement representative from Oneida Nation (Wis.) described how Tribes can document services provided to non-Tribal jurisdictions—law enforcement calls, fire response, road maintenance—and convert that into formal service or tax-offset agreements with counties and municipalities. These agreements build relationships, generate revenue, and formalize recognition.
Relationship-building as a long-term strategy. Across all panelists, the consistent thread was investing in stakeholder relationships before a crisis—with Tribal councils, county EMs, state agencies, and federal partners—so the infrastructure for response already exists when needed.
Getting to Implementation on Flood Mitigation Projects
Bill Brown | Senior Project Manager, Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM)
Bill Brown is the senior project manager and past Director of ASFPM’s Flood Science Center, overseeing science-based research focused on reducing flood risk. Previously, he served as the inaugural stormwater executive manager for Arlington, Texas, where he developed a comprehensive stormwater and floodplain management program. Over a 30-plus year career, Bill has worked across the private sector, municipal and county programs, academia, and nonprofits. He has served as chair of the Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management, co-chair of multiple ASFPM committees, adjunct faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington, and on a National Academy of Sciences committee studying FEMA flood maps.
Funding hazard mitigation and water quality improvement project planning and construction can be challenging. This presentation discussed potential strategies to establish funding streams as well as programs and options to supplement and support mitigation projects.
Resources:
Building Digital Authority for Tribal Emergency Communication
Brent Powell | Web and Media Producer, Headwaters Economics
Brent Powell is the Web and Media Producer for Headwaters Economics, where he supports the organization’s web and media products, including work focused on wildfire and flooding resilience. He brings expertise in digital communications and media production, with a focus on helping rural and underrepresented communities build capacity with knowledge and skills to take hold of their own disaster mitigation and preparedness narratives.
When an emergency strikes, it’s too late to start building an audience. Tribal emergency managers who have cultivated a consistent digital presence — through websites, social media, and traditional media engagement — arrive at a crisis with something invaluable already in place: a community that knows who they are, trusts what they say, and knows where to find them. This workshop opened with a presentation covering social media, websites, and the importance of practicing with media tools before you need them. The remaining time was spent at three hands-on demonstration stations where participants practiced skills that make digital communication more effective: Better Sound, Better Video, and Better Tools.
Resources:
Bridging Sovereign Nation and County Emergency Management
Lori Mike | Emergency Response Manager, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Lori Mike is the Emergency Response Manager for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, based in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, where she has lived for nearly two decades. A proud wife, mother of two, and soon-to-be grandmother of five “Takojas,” Lori began her tribal service in 2020 as a COVID deputy and has since grown into a dual leadership role, also serving as Elderly Support/Rez Runner Director. Her Emergency Response Program spans more than two million square miles, two counties, and 22 communities. Lori is deeply committed to building resilience and capacity across the Cheyenne River Reservation through strong partnerships with tribal leaders, PWNA, FEMA, and fellow tribal programs.
Della Dearborn | Emergency Manager, Dewey County / Cheyenne River Reservation
Dellray “Della” Dearborn is the Emergency Manager for Dewey County, South Dakota, located within the Cheyenne River Reservation, where she was born and raised. Della’s path to public service was shaped early — becoming a family caretaker at 12, enlisting in the Army National Guard at 16 as a Crane Operator with the 211th Combat Engineering Unit, and later putting herself through college to earn a degree in Business Management and Accounting. Her work across multiple government agencies has deepened her expertise in tribal and business law, community self-sufficiency, and collaborative emergency planning. Della is passionate about building resilient communities through partnership, preparation, and shared purpose.
Two emergency managers — one serving a sovereign Tribal nation, one a rural county — shared how they navigate overlapping jurisdictions, built trust across governments, and coordinated resources on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Drawing on hard-won lessons, they discussed MOUs, communication strategies, after-action insights, and the collaborative frameworks that protect lives and build community resilience when it matters most.
GIS for Flood Resilience
Eleanor Rappolee | GIS Research Analyst, Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM)
Eleanor Rappolee is a GIS Research Analyst with the ASFPM Flood Science Center, where she supports national projects that advance flood resilience, hazard identification and mapping, and community-driven mitigation planning. She holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Geological Sciences from Michigan State University. Eleanor’s background spans geospatial analysis, natural hazards research, and public perception studies, with prior experience at the U.S. Geological Survey and in academic research on flooding and earthquakes. At ASFPM, she applies her interdisciplinary skillset to develop technical guidance and training resources that help state, Tribal, and local partners strengthen their floodplain management capacity.
This session discussed how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to assess flood risk. It provided an overview of types of GIS software, key datasets necessary to map flood risk, how some of those datasets are derived through Hydrologic and Hydraulic (H&H) Modeling, and how to assess flood risk once those datasets are mapped in the software.
Resources:
Caring for Community with Food and Medicine
Luke Black Elk | Chef & Farm Director, Hohwoju Otunwe & NATIFS — Linda Black Elk | Ethnobotanist, Author, Education Director NATIFS
Luke and Linda Black Elk are food sovereignty activists and teachers of traditional plant knowledge, gardening, food preservation, and foraging. They collect and prepare Indigenous foods and medicines for communities across North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and beyond. Luke is a chef specializing in the traditional foods of Turtle Island, Farm Director at Hohwoju Otunwe, and Wild Foods Procurement Specialist at NATIFS. Linda is a renowned ethnobotanist, author, and Education Director at North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems. Together, they serve on the board of Makoce Ikikcupi and ensure their three sons remain connected to this vital work.
Rising grocery and fuel prices have everyone talking about food security — and many of us are being encouraged to stock up, forage, garden, and preserve our own foods and medicines. Food and medicine sovereignty is a long and winding road, especially for families. Luke and Linda Black Elk discussed ways to support our communities on the journey toward food sovereignty, along with practical tips for building an Indigenized home or community food pantry.
Resources:
Using Two-Way Communications for Disaster Preparedness Simulations within Tribal Nations
Daniel Osgood | Senior Research Scientist, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University
Daniel Osgood is a Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University, where he leads the Financial Instruments team. His work focuses on disaster communication systems for Tribal Nations and communities, and he has previously worked with University of Arizona extension programs on Tribal Nations activities. Dr. Osgood and his team have developed disaster preparedness and insurance programs for millions of smallholder farmers across dozens of countries, and have extensive experience in public health applications of disaster risk communication.
Erika Porter | Tribal Nations Program, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University
Erika Porter is a trainer at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University, for its Tribal Nation program. She is also the Founder and President of The Freedom Legacy, while pursuing a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. Drawing on experience at the intersection of emergency management, community development, and Indigenous resilience, Erika works alongside Tribal Nations and disaster-impacted communities to strengthen resilience and build capacity where it’s needed most.
In this session, attendees explored disaster risk communications approaches that reflect the values of each individual community through text-based simulations. This exercise engaged attendees in methods to apply novel two-way communication technology and improve risk communication concepts in Tribal Nations and communities. Attendees identified risk communication techniques that they can incorporate in a disaster communication plan to take back to their Tribal Nations and communities for use before, during, and after hazard events.
Resources:
Building a Tribal COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster)
Terry Nelson | Emergency Management Coordinator, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
Terry Nelson serves as Emergency Management Coordinator with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Division of Emergency Management, providing strategic and operational support across all phases of disaster response. An enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, Terry is a Marine Corps veteran who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His career spans healthcare emergency management across federal and private sectors. He holds a Business Management degree from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business and maintains his Certified Emergency Manager designation through the International Association of Emergency Managers. Terry is committed to building partnerships that strengthen community resilience.
Tribal communities face unique challenges when building networks of organizations ready to respond in times of disaster. A Community Organizations Active in Disaster — or COAD — can be a powerful tool for strengthening that capacity. Terry Nelson, Emergency Management Coordinator for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, shared best practices, challenges, and successes from efforts to build a Tribal COAD.
Resources:
Building Emergency Infrastructure in Real Time: Institutionalizing Incident Command and Crisis Communication in Year One
Vicki Alberts | Public Relations/Emergency Public Information Officer and Law Clerk, Spirit Lake Tribe
Vicki Alberts serves as the Public Relations and Emergency Public Information Officer (PIO) and Law Clerk for the Spirit Lake Tribe (Three Affiliated Tribes) in Fort Totten, North Dakota. She has supported policy development, ICS institutionalization, and intergovernmental coordination within Tribal government. Ms. Alberts served in an Incident Commander/PIO capacity during a sustained multi-month water incident on the Spirit Lake Reservation, leading public emergency notices and search-and-rescue communications, and has worked to strengthen Tribal-state emergency partnerships.
Participants gained practical strategies for institutionalizing emergency management across Tribal government rather than relying on a single office or individual. Using a sustained multi-month water incident as a case study, this session demonstrated how to formalize incident-specific Incident Commander designation, integrate crisis communication into the Incident Command System (ICS), and align finance and governance with emergency response. This session helped communities strengthen continuity, clarify command structure, and build long-term capacity rooted in governance and resilience.
Tribal Opioid Response Program & NARCAN
Cameron Ducheneaux | Youth Overdose Prevention Program Manager, Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board
Cameron Ducheneaux is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Program Manager for the Preventing Youth Overdose Program with Great Plains Tribal Leaders’ Health Board, which serves tribal communities across a four-state region. Before transitioning to public health, Cameron served in law enforcement with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, specializing in People Crimes and Death Investigations. His law enforcement background and deep roots in the Cheyenne River community fuel his commitment to protecting tribal youth from the devastating impacts of substance use.
Cameron Ducheneaux explored the life-saving use of NARCAN in overdose emergencies.
Resources:
Suicide Prevention & QPR Training
Mary Beth Schlabach | Director of Disaster Relief and Outreach, Catholic Social Services
In partnership with Catholic Charities USA, Mary Beth Schlabach provides disaster relief across the region and contributes to the development of training resources for disaster relief professionals throughout the Midwest network. A certified QPR Gatekeeper Trainer through the QPR Institute, Mary Beth has brought suicide prevention training to a wide range of audiences, including high school students, office and frontline staff across multiple sectors, and faith community leaders. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work and also serves her community as a volunteer EMT.
Mary Beth Schlabach gave a presentation on the use of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) method in suicide prevention
Resources:
Fifth annual
Regional Tribal Emergency Management Summit
When: May 2027
Where: TBD, South Dakota
Cost: Free (Limited scholarships available for lodging)
All Tribal Emergency Managers and personnel engaged in emergency response for Tribes across Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa are invited to join Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health Board, Partnership With Native Americans, Headwaters Economics, and the Association of State Floodplain Managers for our fifth annual Tribal Emergency Management Summit.
Let us know if you’re interested.
Host organization contributions to the Summit were made possible by generous support from Indian Health Service (IHS Cooperative Agreement U1B1IHS0007), USDA Forest Service, and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.