State of the Nations Symposium

George Horse Capture, recently senior curator for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and now retired to Great Falls, is the organizer of a State of the Nations Symposium that began yesterday in Great Falls at the University of Great Falls. It was as much a reaction to as a part of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, though Sacajawea’s niece, 6th times removed, was present, wearing moccasins with her pants suit. She is very beautiful.

I attended only one panel of presentations and wondered what would be useful for this blog. Since the presenters were billed as the “top guns” for their fields, I decided that I would list them in alphabetical order. Transcriptions are to be available later. Five or ten years ago, these "experts" would all have been white. Today they are are Native Americans and no less expert:


Dr. Earl Barlow, retired Director of Indian Education, BIA. (Education On and Off Indian Reservations.)

Narcisse Blood, Coordinator of Kainai Studies, Red Crow Community College, Cardston, AL. (Defending Rights: An Indian World View on the Environment)

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, recently the U.S. Senator from Colorado: (Activating Indians into National Politics.)

Dr. Duane Champagne, Professor, NA Studies, UCLA. (The Rise and Fall of American Indian Studies Programs of American Universities)

Dr. Richmond Clow, Professor of Native American Studies, University of Montana. (Defending Rights: An Indian World View on the Environment)

Eloise Cobell, Exec. Director, NA Community Development Corp. and lead plaintiff in the Indian Trust Fund lawsuit. (The Indian Trust Fund: Can It Be Settled?)

Walter Echo Hawk, staff attorney, NA Rights Fund, Boulder, CO. (Federal Legislation and Its Effects on Tribes)

Dr. Margaret Field, Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies, San Diego State University. (Language Immersion: The Goals and Outcomes)

Ray Gardner, V-Chair Chinook Nation, Raymond, WA. (Blood Quantum: The Issues of Tribal Membership and Federal Recognition.)

Joyce Good striker, Director, Blood Institute, Cardston, AL. (Language Immersion: The Goals and Outcomes)

Kevin Gover, former Assistant Secretary of the BIA and Professor of Law, Arizona State University. (The BIA Today and Tomorrow)

Stephen Graymorning, Prof. of NA Studies, University of Montana. (Blood Quantum: The Issues of Tribal Membership and Federal Recognition.)

Tex Hall, President of the National Congress of American Indians and Tribal Chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara National Tribal Business Council. (Leadership in Indian Country)

Suzan Shown Harjo, director Morning Star Institute, Washington, D.C. (Activism: Time to Change)

John B. Herrington, First NA astronaut for NASA. (Involving Indian Youth in Science.)

Emil Her Many Horses, curator, Cultural Resource Center, National Museum of the Plains Indian. (Traditional Art for Future Generations.)


Jim Pepper Henry, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. (Nagpra & Repatriation: Returning Cultural Heritage to Tribes)

Rick Hill, moderator, artist and consultant, Ohsweken, Ontario. (American Indian Nations Today. What Do You Think?)

Tim Johnson, Editor, “Indian Country Today”. (Getting Press Coverage for American Indian Stories)

Marietta King, author of “Native American: Food is Medicine.” (Nutrition in Indian Country)

Darrell Robes Kipp, Director, Piegan Institute, Browning, Mt. (Language Immersion: The Goals and Outcomes)

Polly Latray, Montana Director, USDOL Veterans Employment and Training. (Military Veterans: Changed Lives)

Rosalyn Lapier, research historian. (Nutrition in Indian Country)

Chief Oren Lyons, faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Onandaga Council of Chiefs and Professor of American Indian Studies at SUNY: Buffalo, NY. (Indigenous Rights in the International Arena)

Pauline Matt, traditional herbalist. (Nutrition in Indian Country)

Dr. Monica Mayer, family medicine practitioner, Fort Berthold Reservation, N.D. (Medicine On and Off the Reservation)

Robert McSwain, deputy director, Indian Health Service, Washington, D.C. (The Role of the IHS)

James Nason, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Anthro, U of Washington. (From Battlefields to Boardrooms: A Rich Complexity of Enduring Pride and New Achievement. Closing Keynote.)

Jim Northrup, author of “The Rez Road Follies” and “Walking the Rez Road,” Sawyer, MI (From the Heart: Indian Writers Tell Their Stories.)

Janine Pease, VP for NA Studies, Rocky Mountain College, Billings. (Civil Rights: A Montana Example)

Dr. David Penny. VP of Exhibitions and Strategies, Curator at Detroit Insitution of Art. (Traditional Art for Future Generations.)

Jenny Perez, editor, Fort Belknap Tribal News. (Getting Press Coverage for American Indian Stories)

Dr. Helen Maynor Scheirbeck, Assistant Director of Public Programs at the NMAI. (Status of Eastern Tribes)

Lenor Scheffler, attorney, Chairwoman of the Native American Law Practice Group for best and Flanagan LLP. (Multi-jurisdictional Issues on the Reservation) (American Indian Nations Today. What Do You Think?)

James Parker Shields, V-Chairman, Little Shell Chippewa Tribe, GF. (Blood Quantum: The Issues of Tribal Membership and Federal Recognition.)

Dr. C. Matthew Snipp, Professor of Sociology, Stanford University. (An Overview of Indian Populations.)

Cris Stainbrook, President Indian Land Tenure Foundation, Little Canada, MI. (American Indian Homelands: the past, present and hopeful future)

Dr. David Hurst Thomas, curator of anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York. (Nagpra & Repatriation: Returning Cultural Heritage to Tribes)

Mark Trahant, editorial page editor, Seattle Post-Intelligencer. (Getting Press Coverage for American Indian Stories)

Rebecca Tsosie, Lincoln Prof. of NA Law and Ethids, Exec. Director of Indian Legal Affairs, Arizona State University, College of Law.

Dr. Carey Vicenti, Professor of Sociology, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO. (Fate of the Modern Indian)

Lisa Watt, American Indian Museum consultant, Portland, OR. (Today’s American Indian Tribes and their Museums)

Jonathan Windy Boy, HD-32 rep, Montana House of Representatives. (Get Involved: Working within State Politics.)

Carmelita Wright, Navajo short stories, student at Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO. (From the Heart: Indian Writers Tell Their Stories.)

Gordon Yellowman, Sr. Tsistsistas, Chief Southern Cheyenne, OK. (Maintaining the Traditions in the Face of a Modern World)