National | Politics

House subcommittee to hear from tribes and tribal organizations

Monday, March 14, 2016

Cherokee Nation Chief Bill John Baker. Photo from Cherokee Nation

Dozens of tribes and tribal organizations are presenting their funding priorities to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies this week.

The testimony will be spread over four sessions on Thursday and Friday. Witnesses include National Congress of American Indians President Brian Cladoosby, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and Cherokee Nation Chief Bill John Baker. All sessions will be webcast, according to the subcommittee.

The presentations will help lawmakers decide what goes into the appropriations bill that funds the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, the Indian Health Service, the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians and other related agencies. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-California), the panel's chairman, and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), the ranking Democrat, have sought to boost funding levels as much as possible under constraints set by Republican leaders.

As part of that effort, the subcommittee will take testimony from top BIA and BIE officials on Wednesday. The hearing also will be webcast.

The full list of witnesses for the hearings on Thursday and Friday follows:

Thursday, March 17, 2016 9:00 AM
Carolyn Lubenau
Chairwoman
Snoqualmie Tribe

Frances Charles
Chairwoman
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

William B. Iyall
Chairman
Cowlitz Indian Tribe

David Bean
Councilman
Puyallup Tribe of Washington State

Fawn Sharp
President
Quinault Indian Nation

Timothy Ballew II
Chairman
Lummi Nation

Jim Peters
Second Council Member
Squaxin Island Tribe

Orvie Danzuka
Council Member
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

W. Ron Allen
Chairman and CEO
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe

W. Ron Allen
Chairman
United States Section of the Pacific Salmon Commission

Joseph Pavel
Vice Chairman
Skokomish Tribe of Washington State

Patrick Luke
Vice Chairman
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Edward Johnstone
Treasurer
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Phil Rigdon
President
Intertribal Timber Council

Brian Cladoosby
President
National Congress of American Indians

Lloyd B. Miller
Counsel
National Tribal Contract Support Cost Coalition
Ashley Tuomi
President Elect of the Board of Directors
National Council of Urban Indian Health

Lisa Elgin
Secretary
National Indian Health Board

Brandie Miranda-Greany
Vice Chair
Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc.

Mark LeBeau
Chief Executive Officer
California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc.
Esther Lucero
Executive Director
Seattle Indian Health Board

Shaquita Bell
Incoming Chair
American Academy of Pediatrics
Thursday, March 17, 2016 1:00 PM
Carrie Billy
President and CEO
American Indian Higher Education Consortium

Lawrence Mirabal
Chief Financial Officer
Institute of American Indian Arts

Leander "Russ" McDonald
President
United Tribes Technical College

Ahniwake Rose
Executive Director
National Indian Education Association

Kerry Venegas
Vice President
Tribal Education Departments National Assembly

Ryan Wilson
President
National Alliance to Save Native Languages

Aurene Martin
Board Member
National Indian Child Welfare Association

Kirk Francis
Chief
Penobscot Indian Nation

William Harris
Chief
Catawba Indian Nation

Roy Cypress
Interim Chairman
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians

Brian Patterson
President
United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund

Audrey Hudson
Mayor
Metlakatla Indian Community

John Lincoln
Chair
Maniilaq Association

Nick Gasca
Deputy General Counsel
Tanana Chiefs Conference

Douglas Eby
Vice President of Medical Services
Southcentral Foundation

Charles Clement
President and CEO
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium

Christopher Bolton
Chief Operation Officer
Norton Sound Health Corporation
Friday, March 18, 2016 9:00 AM
Bill John Baker
Chief
Cherokee Nation

Mickey Peercy
Executive Director of Self-Governance
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Sara Smallwood
Director of Public Policy and Promise Zone Coordinator
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

Everett Waller
Chairman
Osage Minerals Council

James Floyd
Principal Chief
Muscogee Creek Nation

Vernon Miller
Chairman
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa

Victoria Kitcheyan
Treasurer
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

Floyd Azure
Chairman
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation

Myra Pearson
Chairwoman
Spirit Lake Tribe

Cory Spotted Bear
Councilman
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation

Robert Flying Hawk
Chairman
Yankton Sioux Tribe

Harold C. Frazier
Chairman
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe

John Yellow Bird Steele
President
Oglala Sioux Tribe

Ervin Carlson
President
InterTribal Buffalo Council

Carri Jones
Chairwoman
Leech Lake Band of Ojibew

Larry Wawronowicz
Natural Resources Director
Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa

Jessica L. Burger
Tribal Council
Littler River Band of Ottawa Indians

Mic Isham
Chairman
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

Levi D. Carrick, Sr.
President
Chippewa Ottawa Resources Authoirty

Tom Miller
President
Association of Community Tribal Schools

Sarah A. Cormell
Health Clinic Director
St. Croix Chippewa Tribe of Wisconsin
Friday, March 18, 2016 1:00 PM
Robert Miguel
Chairman
Ak-Chin Indian Community

Edward D. Manuel
Chairman
Tohono O'odham Nation

Elbridge Coochise
Chief Justice Retired
Independent Tribal Courts Review Team

Ed Secakuku
Vice Chairman
Ute Tribe of Utah

Lindsey Manning
Chairman
Shoshone Paiute Tribes

Michael Chavarria
Governor
Santa Clara Pueblo

Myron Armijo
Governor
Santa Ana Pueblo

Russell Begaye
President
Navajo Nation

Dr. Tommy Lewis Jr.
Superintendent of Schools
Navajo Nation

Walter Phelps
Chairman
Navajo Hopi Land Commission
Navajo Nation Council Delegate

David Martinez Jr.
President
Ramah Navajo School Board for the Pine Hill School

Faye BlueEyes
Program Director
Dzilth-Na-O-Dith-Hle Community Grant School

Angela Barney Nez
Executive Director
Dine BiOlta School Board Association

Jerry Chavez
Vice President
Association of Navajo Community Controlled School Board, Inc.

Nancy R. Martine-Alonzo
Secretary and Treasurer
Ramah Navajo Chapter

Suzanne Acuna
Board Member
Akimel O'Otham Pee Posh Blackwater Community School