{"id":33653,"date":"2023-11-16T01:52:38","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T06:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=33653"},"modified":"2023-11-16T09:29:50","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T14:29:50","slug":"national-congress-of-american-indian-draws-huge-crowd-for-annual-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2023\/11\/16\/national-congress-of-american-indian-draws-huge-crowd-for-annual-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"National Congress of American Indian draws huge crowd for annual convention"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Fawn<\/a>
President Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians addresses the organization’s 80th annual convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 15, 2023. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
National Congress of American Indian draws huge crowd for annual convention<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, November 16, 2023<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nNEW ORLEANS, Louisiana —\r\nThe nation’s largest inter-tribal advocacy organization is at a major crossroads as it celebrates a milestone anniversary here.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nMore than 2,000 people are attending the National Congress of American Indians<\/a> (NCAI) 80th annual convention in Louisiana’s biggest city. The crowd is one of the largest in the organization’s storied history as a promoter and defender of tribal sovereignty and self-determination.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nJust as significantly, NCAI’s ranks have grown to 250 member tribes at the start of the convention on Monday. In a sign of the importance of the event, a quorum of 150 tribal nations was reached early, on only the second day of the historic gathering<\/a> at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI know we\u2019re going to be here for 80 more years,\u201d NCAI President Fawn Sharp said on Monday as she delivered the final report of two-term stint as the organization’s highest executive.\r\n

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The nation\u2019s largest inter-tribal advocacy organization is marking a milestone event with an election of new leaders and debate on a controversial issue.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nInterest in the 80th annual convention is driven by controversial amendments to the NCAI constitution<\/a>. Tribal delegates and attendees spent more than three hours on Tuesday morning, debating whether to limit membership — and voting rights — in the organization to federally recognized Indian nations and their citizens.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cFake tribes,” Chief Ben Barnes<\/a> of the Shawnee Tribe<\/a> said in summing up what he described as a major problem facing NCAI, “should be of concern to all established tribes with treaty and trust relations with the United States.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Groups claiming to be us … are full voting members here within NCAI,\u201d said Barnes, citing the presence of a “Shawnee” group that lacks a formal relationship with the federal government.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut other leaders pushed back on the notion that federal recognition determines an Indian nation’s legitimacy. Ron Allen, the longtime chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe<\/a> and a past president and treasurer of NCAI, was among those speaking out against the proposed amendments to the organization’s governing document.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t rely on the federal government to identify who we are,\u201d Allen said, noting that when he joined NCAI back in 1978, his tribe in Washington state had yet to gain federal recognition<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\"Levi<\/a>

From left: Levi Rickert, Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, Mark Macarro, Marshall Pierite and Aaron Payment take part in a presidential candidate forum at the National Congress of American Indians 80th annual convention in New Orleans, on November 14, 2023. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn addition to Allen, another prominent leader opposed the amendments. Marshall Pierite<\/a>, the chair and chief executive officer of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe<\/a>, happens to be running for president of NCAI at the convention taking place in his home state of Louisiana.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe will not allow a piece of paper from the federal government to tell us who we are,\u201d said Pierite, whose tribe didn’t gain federal recognition until 1981.\r\n

<\/p> \r\nBut another candidate for NCAI president is backing the constitutional amendments. During a candidate forum held after the lengthy debate, Mark Macarro, the longtime chair of the Pechanga Band of Indians<\/a>, said the spirited discussion is a sign of a healthy organization.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“What you are looking at is honest to goodness, debate here — a difference of opinion, certainly, sharply,” Macarro said on Wednesday, noting that his California-based tribe also supports the amendments. “But as a congress, this is what we do.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe third candidate for president — Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, the chairwoman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe<\/a> — said she saw some value in the amendments. But she wouldn’t commit to a firm position even when pressed by Levi Rickert, the publisher and editor of Native News Online<\/a> who served as a co-moderator of the forum.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I would not presume to say who’s a tribe in California or Louisiana — and I don’t expect anybody from outside of our nation to presume to tell us who’s a tribe or a community,” said \r\nAndrews-Maltais, whose Massachusetts-based gained federal recognition in 1987<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\"David<\/a>

David Weeden, chair of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, delivers a speech in support of his candidacy as Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians during the organization’s 80th annual convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 14, 2023. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut another leader from Massachusetts opposed the amendments. David Weeden, the chair of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe<\/a>, happens to be running for vice president of NCAI.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe the Mashpee stand for unity,\u201d said Weeden, whose tribe didn’t gain federal recognition until 2007<\/a>, one of the more recent cases.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Shawnee Tribe, along with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians<\/a>, have teamed up to offer two amendments to the NCAI constitution that tie “Tribal Membership” to those tribes with an acknowledged nation-to-nation relationship with the federal government. Groups with state recognition will be participate under “Associate Membership” — a designation that does not come with voting rights.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Tribes from miles away are coming to our ancestral homelands, to tell us … that we are not a tribe,\u201d said Lora Ann Chaisson, Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation<\/a>. On the opening day of NCAI’s convention, she delivered the land acknowledgement as one of the Louisiana-based host tribes.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nA third amendment, proposed by the Ute Tribe<\/a>, limits “Indian Individual Membership” in NCAI to citizens of federally recognized tribes. The proposal further requires candidates for all officers in the organization to be the same.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“We are a treaty tribe,” said Mike Natchees, a Ute council member. “Follow the rules — that’s where we’re coming from.”\r\n

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