FACT SHEET

in action

United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc.

informed and contributing

members of their tribes, villages, communities, States, and

Nation. UNITY reaches these

youth through a variety of programs and activities, including

national and regional leadership

conferences, training seminars,

awareness campaigns, multimedia publications, and sports

clinics.

Background

UNITY’s inception wasn’t

planned; it simply evolved from

a series of American Indian

programs directed by J.R. Cook.

After a successful basketball

coaching career, Cook spent a

decade working with the Upward Bound project at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, OK.

Cook felt that American Indian

youth had more negative than

positive influences in their lives

and more reasons to fail than to

succeed.

Aware of the tremendous waste

of talent among American

Indian youth and the negative

peer pressure that surrounded

them, Cook saw a need for an

organization that would help

these youth use their talents in

a positive way. In the mid1970s, he began working with

the Weatherford community to

purchase and renovate the

building that housed the Southwest Indian Cultural Center.

The center received an Indian

Education Dropout Prevention

and Cultural Retention grant

from the U.S. Department of

Health, Education, and Welfare

(now Health and Human Services) to work with American

Indian youth in 10 public

schools in western Oklahoma. 

The project was very successful. One outcome was that the

young participants exhibited a

marked increase in self-esteem.

When Cook approached the

youth about taking the necessary steps to expand the program to regional and national

levels, they gave their enthusiastic support. On April 16,

1976, UNITY was incorporated

by Yumi Sagiri

United National Indian Tribal

Youth, Inc. (UNITY) is a nonprofit, national network organization promoting personal development, citizenship, and

leadership among American

Indian/Alaska Native youth.

An outgrowth of an American

Indian education project in

southwestern Oklahoma,

UNITY began as a small group

in 1976 and has expanded to a

nationwide organization that

today reaches more than 50,000

American Indian/Alaska Native

youth.

UNITY’s mission is to foster the

spiritual, mental, physical, and

social development of American

Indian/Alaska Native youth and

to help build a strong, unified,

and self-reliant Native America

through greater youth involvement. Underpinning the UNITY

philosophy is the belief that

the most effective way to bring

about positive and lasting

change among American

Indian/Alaska Native youth is

to prepare them to become

August 2001 NUMBER 07

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
YFS–00107 Youth in Action Fact Sheet

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/OJJDP

PERMIT NO. G–91

as a nonprofit organization in Oklahoma;

in 1978, it relocated its headquarters

from Weatherford to Oklahoma City.

UNITY is governed by a 10-member

council of trustees, whose members (all

of whom are American Indian) include 5

young professionals who were former

UNITY members.

An early milestone for UNITY youth

came at the 1980 National UNITY Conference in Great Falls, MT. Participants

wrote a “Declaration for Independence,”

in which they pledged to take charge of

their destiny by becoming involved in

the organization’s decisionmaking process and promoting economic development (i.e., self-sufficiency and

sustainability).

Youth Councils

UNITY has succeeded in working

with American Indian/Alaska Native

youth through the development of youth

councils—local groups of youth ages 15

to 24 who come together for a common

purpose. The youth councils, which are

sponsored by tribes, Alaska Native villages, high schools, colleges, and urban

organizations, can vary in size from a few

members to hundreds of members. 

Through the councils, youth learn leadership skills while helping others in their

communities, tribes, or villages. Youth

councils are involved in a wide range of

activities, such as cultural preservation,

environmental awareness, community

service, and promotion of healthy lifestyles. Involvement in a council helps

youth develop self-esteem and confidence through support and encouragement from their peers. They also learn

how to organize and conduct meetings,

use parliamentary procedure, plan

events or programs, coordinate community service projects, and work with

community, tribal, and village leaders. 

The UNITY Network

Members of more than 220 youth councils in 34 States are committed to making a difference in their communities.

The UNITY Network includes all youth

councils and provides a forum for communication and sharing of information. It

ties all the youth councils together and

teaches council members how to develop productive contacts within their communities and with other youth leaders

throughout the country. Benefits of joining the UNITY Network include

leadership training opportunities, representation on the National UNITY

Council, access to the UNITY News

electronic newsletter, and opportunities

to meet youth leaders from across the

country, elected officials, and key decisionmakers at the national level.

It costs $25 for a youth council to join

the UNITY Network. Individual youth

who don’t belong to a youth council can

join for $5.

For Further Information

For more information on UNITY and its

programs, contact: 

United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc.

500 North Broadway, Suite 250

P.O. Box 800

Oklahoma City, OK 73101

405–236–2800

405–971–1071 (fax)

unity@unityinc.org

www.unityinc.org 

Yumi Sagiri is a former Student Intern

with the Office of Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention.