Mark Fogarty writes... Many Natives never prepare an Indian will due to a lack of trust and misunderstanding. Armstrong pointed to “historical trauma” Indians have faced over land as one of the reasons many Natives are reluctant to make wills. Many do not want to risk having their land taken from them, or feel unsafe that others may see who they are leaving land to. But she said “The will is the only mechanism that you can use to try to take care of those you love.” - Read more...
Roberta Armstrong writes... While I was a student of UW Law, I learned that the Alaska Business Development Center (“ABDC”) organizes a Spring Break opportunity for many law school students to fly into various villages in Alaska to help Alaska Natives complete tax returns. Because I considered Alaskan Native people would benefit from SIRE’s education and services, I volunteered and participated in ABDC’s Tax Campaign and traveled from Seattle, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska. We traveled from Anchorage to five of the seven villages on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Learn more by reading the attached article from the UW Newsletter.
Michael P. Burns writes... "Roberta was excellent at relaying concerns from tribal councils so that corrective action could be taken by Census staff to ensure a complete and accurate enumeration of each Tribal Area. Ms. Armstrong is an exceptionally talented manager and skilled communicator with whom it was a pleasure to work. Her style is empowering and promotes both innovation and consensus." - Read more...
Mr. Charles R. Calica writes... "Roberta brings energy, expertise and outstanding people skills to her work. Her energy is reflected in numerous events she created to encourage our tribal members to seek estate planning services which historically has been an obstacle from traditional Indian belief. I would encourage you to acquire SIRE's services to provide solutions for your tribal community's land retention needs." - Read more...
Douglas Nash writes... "Roberta was assigned to the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon for the summer of 2007. Past efforts to provide estate planning services there had met with little success due to a lack of clients. Roberta's success is seen in the numbers. She drafted and executed 63 wills over the summer and left with 42 wills requested. Not only was this the record number of wills done for the summer of '07, it is the record for the entire four year history of the project. Her ability to secure clients in a normally close and closed community speaks very well of her personality and ability to interact with people." - Read more...
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