{"id":25092,"date":"2022-06-10T19:13:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T23:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=25092"},"modified":"2022-06-13T10:31:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T14:31:35","slug":"national-congress-of-american-indians-heads-into-meeting-amid-disarray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/06\/10\/national-congress-of-american-indians-heads-into-meeting-amid-disarray\/","title":{"rendered":"National Congress of American Indians heads into meeting amid disarray"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Dante<\/a>
Dante Desiderio, then serving as executive director of NAFOA, addresses the winter session of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C., on February 12, 2020. The meeting was NCAI’s last in-person session prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic a month later Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
National Congress of American Indians heads into meeting amid disarray<\/div>\r\n
Friday, June 10, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. — Tribal leaders and their advocates are raising fresh concerns about the National Congress of American Indians<\/a> ahead of the organization’s first in-person meeting in more than two years.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nNCAI kicks off its mid-year meeting in Alaska<\/a> on Monday. On the eve of the event, Dante Desiderio<\/a> has been suspended as chief executive officer, according to an Indian law and policy expert with close ties to the largest inter-tribal advocacy organization in the U.S.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“I heard they are messed up,” one tribal leader relayed to Indianz.Com, although a more explicit word was used to describe the situation at NCAI.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAn email sent to NCAI’s communications team on Friday afternoon was not immediately answered. The message inquired about Desiderio’s status within the organization, which he joined as its highest-ranking executive<\/a> barely a year ago.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut an ncai.org email account that tribal leaders and advocates have used to communicate with Desiderio mysteriously went awry on Friday. NCAI’s server returned an error stating that the CEO’s inbox “is unable to receive mail” and may have been “disabled.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I’m not surprised,” another Indian law and policy expert told Indianz.Com of the developments.\r\n

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