CHEROKEE, NC, July 2, 2009 – Cherokee Preservation Foundation announced today that Joe Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians, will speak to members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians at an open community meeting on Monday, July 20, at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Cherokee Ceremonial Grounds. Light refreshments will be served.
Garcia is also Chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council and former Governor of Ohkay Owingeh (Pueblo of New Mexico). He will speak about his personal observations of leadership in Indian Country during his service with NCAI, and he will describe the urgent need for tribal nations to train and nurture new leaders to meet present and future challenges. Garcia, whose wife Oneva is a member of the EBCI, is an engineer by profession and has operated his own technology business after having worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for many years.
Garcia is in Cherokee in connection with a two-day leadership conference sponsored by Cherokee Preservation Foundation. The purpose of the gathering is to develop a culture-based leadership learning program that will serve adult EBCI members. Participants will include representatives from EBCI tribal government and a number of organizations on the Qualla Boundary.
Besides Joe Garcia, national guests at the leadership conference who will share their perspectives about culture-based leadership learning for adults include:
--Dr. Manley Begay, University of Arizona, American Indian Studies.
--Ms. Laura Harris, Executive Director of American Indians for Opportunity.
--Dr. David Gipp, President of United Tribes Technical College.
For three years, Cherokee Preservation Foundation has been developing a progression of leadership programs around a central initiative intended to help produce a future generation of leaders that is grounded in traditional Cherokee values and has the skills of modern leadership. The youth leadership programs already established by the Foundation include the cross-cultural eco-study program involving EARTH University in Costa Rica developed in partnership with the Cherokee Reservation Cooperative Extension Service, the Cherokee Youth Council, and the Jones-Bowman Leadership Award Program.
About the National Congress of American Indians
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians (www.ncai.org) is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country. NCAI advocates on behalf of more than 250 tribal governments, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights.
About Cherokee Preservation Foundation
Cherokee Preservation Foundation (
www.cpfdn.org) was established in 2000 as part of the Second Amendment to the Tribal-State Compact between the EBCI and the State of North Carolina. It is an independent nonprofit foundation funded by the EBCI from gaming revenues generated by the Tribe. CPFdn is not part of or associated with any for-profit gaming entity. Since the Foundation’s inception, it has made 512 grants totaling nearly $43 million to EBCI and regional projects and programs that address cultural preservation, economic development and job creation, and environmental sustainability. Every dollar of CPFdn support has been matched by $1.83 in secured grants or other funding or in-kind resources, making CPFdn’s total contribution to the region more than $121 million.
