By Troy Littledeer | @troylittledeer
LAS VEGAS, NV. — Keetoowah Chief Joe Bunch traveled to Las Vegas for the 81st National Congress of American Indians [NCAI] Conference. Making the trip with Chief Bunch was UKB Secretary Joyce Hawk, UKB Treasurer Sonja Gourd, and UKB Councilor Terry Kingfisher.
NCAI is a non-profit organization that advocates for a bright future for generations to come by taking the lead to gain consensus on a constructive and promising vision for Indian Country. The organization’s policy issues and initiatives are driven by the consensus of our it's membership, which consists of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments, tribal citizens, individuals, and Native and non-Native organizations.
“Our purpose of being there was to represent the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians,” Chief Joe Bunch said. “The assistant Chief and I wholly agree that if we’re not at the table when some of these decisions are being made, then we’ll be left out.”
Chief Bunch said that a main objective of being at the conference was to strengthen government-to-government relationships, both with the United States and other tribal entities. One of the UKB Admin’s goals in attending the NCAI conference is to find new federal program dollars. The UKB leaders also met with the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Interior Brian Newland and visited with IHS Director Roselyn Tso while in Las Vegas.
Photo 1: Left to Right, UKB Advisor Bryan Shade, Assistant Secretary of Department of Interior Brian Newland, UKB Treasurer Sonja Gourd, UKB Secretary Joyce Hawk, and UKB Councilor Terry Kingfisher. Photo by Lani Hansen.
Photo 2: Left to Right, UKB Councilor Terry Kingfisher, UKB Secretary Joyce Hawk, UKB Chief Joe Bunch and Eastern Band Chief Michell Hicks. Photo by Troy Littledeer
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