NCAI hands out Indian Country Leadership Awards at DC session

Tuesday, March 1, 2011  

The National Congress of American Indians handed out five Indian Country Leadership Awards at its winter conference in Washington, D.C., last night.

The honorees include Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the new chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee; Tom Perrelli, the associate attorney general at the Department of Justice; Billy Frank, Jr., a member of the Nisqually Tribe of Washington; the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the late Wilma Mankiller, the former chief of the Cherokee Nation.

“Unwavering leadership is an important quality of a hero in Indian Country; each of the awardees have proven their commitment through actions, changing Indian Country for generations to come,” NCAI President Jefferson Keel said. “It is a personal honor to be able to posthumously recognize the lasting legacy of Wilma Mankiller. Her example as a tribal citizen and tribal leader is a standard that will live forever.”

NCAI will rename its fellowship program as The Wilma Mankiller Fellowship Program for Tribal Policy and Governance in honor of Mankiller, who passed away on April 6, 2010.

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Press Release: NCAI Announces Indian Country Leadership Awards (NCAI 2/28)

Tribal leaders head to Washington for NCAI winter conference (2/28)