CSKT Tribal member Bob Gauthier honored for lifetime of leadership
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News from Gwen Lankford, CSKT Executive Communications
PABLO — On March 25, 2024, during the annual meeting of the United Native American Housing Association (UNAHA) in Denver, Colorado, CSKT Tribal Member Bob Gauthier will be honored for his lifetime of achievements regarding Native American housing throughout Indian Country.
“The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are proud to be part of honoring Mr. Gauthier,” said CSKT Council Chairman Michael Dolson. “Our Tribes, and all of Indian Country, have benefitted greatly from his work and legacy over the course of his life, and this tribute to Bob and his work are well-deserved.”
In 1983, Bob Gauthier was hired as the Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority (SKHA) Executive Director, and during his tenure, Bob quickly made significant changes to the development and operation of the SKHA. Bob’s philosophy of, “If it doesn’t say you can’t do it, it means you can,” began as he took the torch and continued until he passed it on to his successor, Jason Adams, in 2003.
During his twenty years at the helm of SKHA, Bob participated and led improvements for housing needs at Flathead, including the construction of over 300 new housing units; building a high-quality maintenance department at SKHA; increasing SKHA staff from about ten to 80; designing and building three new SKHA offices; and successfully applying for, and building, forty Family Self-Sufficiency units for Salish Kootenai College.
In 1985, under a CSKT tribal reorganization effort, Bob led the process of blending Housing Improvement Program (HIP), LIEAP, and Indian Sanitation Facilities Act funding together, in addition to bringing all the CSKT Community Water and Wastewater Systems under SKHA management.
Over the years, one aspect of Bob’s enduring leadership is the importance and effort he has always placed on supporting and mentoring up-and-coming housing leaders, including the SKHA management team, from his days at SKHA, and that included Carolyn Weivoda, Ron Trahan, Carrie Irvine, Al Sloan, Jason Adams, and Ruby Vanderburg. All were Certified Indian Housing Managers, and Bob is the first to declare that most of the things accounted for during his time at SKHA would not have happened without this group.
Additional highlights from his time at SKHA include applying for and building the Felsman Addition, the first-in-the-nation rent-to-own Low Income Housing Tax Credit project consisting of twenty single-family homes; twenty more units of rent-to-own units for Ktunaxa Community Development Corporation in Elmo; working with funding sources to install radio telemetry program to assist community water and wastewater systems in an effort to improve services to tribal members while lowering costs.
Bob spearheaded many firsts for CSKT as well, creating Flathead Finance Program, the first home ownership program in HUD Region Eight; and as the CSKT Economic Development Director, from 2003 through 2006, he was an integral part of the tribal committee to found Eagle Bank— serving as the first Board Chair at Eagle Bank for six years. Today Eagle Bank holds $133 million in assets.
National recognition and the impacts of Bob’s efforts include being part of a team in 1985 that blended Northern Plains Housing Association and the Dakota Territories Housing Association, creating the United Native American Housing Association (UNAHA). He served as the first chairman, and now as administrator in 2024; he’s was a committee member of the National American Indian Housing Council that created AMERIND; he was appointed by HUD to the secretary’s committee that produced regulations for the 1937 Housing Act including the Mutual Help Program in 1988 while also serving on various other national and notable committees such as chairing the Title II Affordable Housing Committee of the Negotiated Rule Making Committee in 1998; the Seattle Federal Home Loan Bank Board; the National CDFI Advisory Board for the US Treasury; and appointment to the Montana Board of Housing from 2003 to 2019.
But one of the most important aspects of Bob’s legacy, is his 1992 appointment, to the National Commission on American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Housing, where he served as Chairman, and then issued a report to the United States Congress entitled, “A Blueprint for Change.” In this report, fifty critical recommendations were made to Congress to improve housing for Native Americans, and it became the core of the new law, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination act of 1996.
With this Act, across Indian Country, tribes have finally been able to exercise self-determination in ways that were more beneficial and aligned for Indigenous communities across the nation, especially here at home on the Flathead Reservation.
“At CSKT, we are proud of Bob, and appreciate the effort and trailblazing he executed for our Tribes and for all of Indian Country,” said Dolson. “We know that without his leadership, the critical need for housing in many tribal communities across America would not be as healthy or meaningful. We congratulate Bob for this acknowledgement of a lifetime of hard work and dedication to the needs of so many.”
Lastly, one other important enterprise that many in the community remember fondly, and would be remiss if not mentioned and acknowledged, is the Gauthier Steak and Seafood Restaurant in Polson, where Bob helped lead as part of a family business.
“I remember Bob saying that one thing you could count on if you were privileged enough to dine at Gauthier’s Steak and Seafood, was that they had very good soup,” said Dolson. “Every time I ate at his family’s restaurant, the service and the food were always excellent … another tribute to Bob and his family and how they provided so much for our community over the years.”
