Secretary Juana Majel-Dixon of the National Congress of American Indians is opening the second and final day of the executive council winter session in Washington DC. #ECWS19 @NCAI1944 pic.twitter.com/bl2UjhnXKF
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) is here! She is addressing the National Congress of American Indians for the first time. #ECWS19 @RepDavids pic.twitter.com/y7eeQuaoJK
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) credits her Ho-Chunk mother with helping her win election to Congress. “I think she knocked on more doors than I did,” she said of her mother Crystal Herriage. #ECWS19 @RepDavids pic.twitter.com/6pD2dsxCNA
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) urges more Native women to seek seats in the US Congress. “Whoever is in the audience thinking about running, do it.” #ECWS19 @RepDavids pic.twitter.com/Q4xqExiknh
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Cedric Chavez, council member from Southern Ute Tribe, is providing National Congress of American Indians with update on S.245, the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments. The bill was signed into law in December. https://t.co/5ICr1SifFl #ECWS19 pic.twitter.com/1rtwRnGV4q
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Cedric Chavez, council member from Southern Ute Tribe, says S.245, the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments, will streamline the Bureau of Indian Affairs by imposing deadlines on making decisions. “BIA will actually have time limits.” #ECWS19 pic.twitter.com/j1LifGlltd
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Attorney Keith Harper (Cherokee), former US Ambassador, is providing an update on Brackeen, the Indian Child Welfare Act case being closely watched across the nation. “It’s challenging the fundamental tenets of Indian law.” #ECWS19 @AmbHarper pic.twitter.com/Mr0DhyebXD
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“Indian Country is in the fight of our lives,” executive director Sarah Kastelic of the National Indian Child Welfare Association says of Brackeen, the Indian Child Welfare Act case being closely watched across the nation. #ECWS19 #DefendICWA @NativeChildren pic.twitter.com/ujmvL0IEBG
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“We’re not going to be laid back and passive anymore. We’re going to step up to the plate,” Gil Vigil, president of National Indian Child Welfare Association, says of Brackeen, the Indian Child Welfare Act case being closely watched across the nation. #ECWS19 @NativeChildren pic.twitter.com/A9hGsdKfna
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is here. Last year he gave the National Congress of American Indians an update on his DNA. He said a test showed he wasn’t Indian. #BenCarsonsDNA #ECWS19 pic.twitter.com/VaXJBOiV7i
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“No Native American communities lost a single dime during the shutdown,” Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said of the recent 35-day lapse in federal government appropriations. Deadline to avert another shutdown is Friday. #ECWS19 pic.twitter.com/9jUz7OlkXk
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) is addressing the National Congress of American Indians. He serves on the Appropriations Committee, Environment and Public Works Committee, Budget Committee and Foreign Relations Committee. #ECWS19 @SenJeffMerkley pic.twitter.com/XOOS0UoIie
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“Our tribal communities have always been the voice of conscience,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) says of the need to address protect the environment and address climate change. #ActOnClimate #ECWS19 @SenJeffMerkley pic.twitter.com/8yRUoAZnsM
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Arizona) is addressing the National Congress of American Indians. He represents a district in Arizona that includes 12 tribes. #ECWS19 @RepOHalleran pic.twitter.com/qAfBdEg6SX
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“We want to cut down on that backlog,” Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Arizona) says of Bureau of Indian Education schools in need of replacement and repair. He said 60 BIE schools are either condemned or due for long-overdue fixes. #ECWS19 @RepOHalleran pic.twitter.com/F6dnAskkuB
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is addressing National Congress of American Indians. She chairs Senate Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies and has served on Senate Committee on Indian Affairs for all 16 years of her time in Senate. #ECWS19 @lisamurkowski pic.twitter.com/IeLxowtIMw
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) vows to get Savanna’s Act, a bill to address the #MMIW crisis, signed into law. “It will be an even stronger bill.” The Senate passed bill last year but a Republican (male) held it up in the other chamber. #ECWS19 #MMIWG @lisamurkowski pic.twitter.com/ICOAajO2gM
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
David Bernhardt, Deputy Secretary of the Interior, is addressing the National Congress of American Indians. He has been nominated to serve as Secretary by President Trump. #ECWS19 @DOIDepSec pic.twitter.com/qGeUQIBp6a
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt says the reorganization of the Department of the Interior will not change the regions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education. “I can assure you that they will remain intact.” #ECWS19 @DOIDepSec pic.twitter.com/I4tZbuHhRH
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt is dropping a controversial land-into-trust proposal that tribes have opposed. “I have no interest in modifying our 151 regulations unless you want them changed so we are not going to go forward with that matter.” #ECWS19 @DOIDepSec pic.twitter.com/TahtDINtjx
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney is addressing the National Congress of American Indians. She is the first Alaska Native woman to serve in the position, a political one at the Department of the Interior. #ECWS19 @USIndianAffairs pic.twitter.com/I18z5C62B3
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Tribal leaders are already lining up to ask questions of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney as she addresses the National Congress of American Indians. #ECWS19 @USIndianAffairs pic.twitter.com/F5ixws0gPL
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney also says reorganization at Department of the Interior will not change boundaries of Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education. “Our current regional structure will remain intact.” #ECWS19 @USIndianAffairs pic.twitter.com/7W1U504ea3
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao is addressing the National Congress of American Indians. In a curious request, she has asked for no photos to be taken of her from the first two rows of the room. #ECWS19 @SecElaineChao pic.twitter.com/P0Gso2FPmQ
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Virtually no one cared about this Tweet but Secretary Chao @SecElaineChao wants Indian Country to know that she did not ask for no photos from the first two rows rule, according to a staffer, even though everyone was clearly told not to take photos from first two rows. #ECWS19
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Instead, what Secretary Chao @SecElaineChao was concerned about, according to this staffer, was people bunching up in front of the podium and taking photos of her. #ECWS19
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
That sounds like a reasonable request except that bunching up almost never happens at NCAI meetings, except for a surprise (Elizabeth Warren, Valentines Day, 2018) or for a special presentation (i.e. a tribal gifting ceremony). #ECWS19
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Only consistent media at #ECWS19 was Indianz, the mighty @Native_NewsNet, and the hard working staffers from @IndianCountry. We do not bunch up. @NCAI1944 also has a photographer working non-stop. No bunching up there either.
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
But anyway that's the reason we did not get close to Secretary Chao @SecElaineChao because everyone in the room was told not to take photos, not only from the first row, but from the second as well. 🚫📸 #ECWS19
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao promises a regulation for the new Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program will be developed “by the end of this year.” More Info: https://t.co/Of6jrFYu9u #ECWS19 @SecElaineChao pic.twitter.com/908gs6tOqR
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“We are working with many of you toward a path of greater self-determination and self-sufficiency,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar tells National Congress of American Indians. #ECWS19 @HHSGov @SecAzar @IHSgov pic.twitter.com/8NuLAjPzQc
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“This conduct is utterly unacceptable and it will not be tolerated at IHS,” Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says of recent conviction of @IHSgov pediatrician for abusing boys on the Blackfeet Nation. Trial pending for abuse at Pine Ridge. #ECWS19 @SecAzar pic.twitter.com/AFPB5Ibaxk
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Also, Secretary Azar has asked HHS Inspector General to investigate policies regarding allegations of abuse within Indian Health Service. Former IHS pediatrician Stanley Patrick Weber was sentenced to more than 18 years for abusing boys on Blackfeet Nation. Weber is appealing.
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Former IHS pediatrician Stanley Patrick Weber also awaits trial in South Dakota for allegedly abusing boys on Pine Ridge Reservation. He was subject of @frontlinepbs + @WSJ expose "Predator on the Reservation" https://t.co/DzNxaCNIbf
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
The executive council winter session of the National Congress of American Indians has concluded. Tribal leaders are now heading to a White House listening session this afternoon. It’s the first such session of the Trump era. It is closed to press and public. #ECWS2019 pic.twitter.com/MwEkPzA3OR
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
The National Museum of the American Indian @SmithsonianNMAI is moving forward with the long overdue National Native American Veterans Memorial. “This fall we intend to break ground,” says Director Kevin Gover (Pawnee). It due to open Memorial Day 2020. pic.twitter.com/7nZoGnk4zL
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
“The veterans memorial is simply long overdue,” says National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel, a veteran who serves as co-chair of advisory committee. The National Native American Veterans @SmithsonianNMAI is due to open Memorial Day 2020. pic.twitter.com/yGcTtk2bSS
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 13, 2019
Vice ChaIr Robert McGhee of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, whose father was a veteran, announces $1 million donation to the National Native American Veterans at the National Museum of the American Indian @SmithsonianNMAI. Due to open Memorial Day 2020. pic.twitter.com/HGfRnvlQRD
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 14, 2019
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) says Democrats in House will take up legislation to provide advanced appropriations to Indian Health Service and protect agency from shutdowns. Pallone chairs House Committee on Energy & Commerce. @FrankPallone @EnergyCommerce pic.twitter.com/8PYAL9As58
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 14, 2019
“Where we can work together we can get things done,” Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) tells tribal leaders. Young, whose children and grandchildren are Alaska Native, is the Dean of the House, having served since 1973. He serves on House Committee on Natural Resources. @repdonyoung pic.twitter.com/dBdJONoiLw
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 14, 2019
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) is chair of new House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States. “It breaks my heart to hear bills waiting” years to get passed. Vows to correct past wrongs that affected Indian legislation in recent years. @NRDems @RepRubenGallego pic.twitter.com/i5Vf5lHsi1
— indianz.com (@indianz) February 14, 2019
Native leaders deliver rebuke of Trump administration at State of Indian Nations (February 11, 2019)
Twitter Recap: The 17th annual State of Indian Nations address (February 11, 2019)
Tribal leaders gather in nation's capital amid threat of another shutdown (February 11, 2019)
