The New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs will hold a public meeting on March 22, 2023, at 10:00 A.M. The meeting will be held via Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89383151879?pwd=VHVCbEw0eFlTalhjSUtyZGxlN0FTZz09

The agenda will include updates on the COVID 19 Grant awarded to the Commission through the Department of Health, the National Telecommunications Administration, a presentation on 9-8-8 Suicide/Mental Health Hotline by the Department of Human Services, and Tribal Updates.

If there are any questions, please feel free to call our office at 609-633-9629.

Hello NACF Colleagues and Friends,

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation announced an open call today for applications for our LIFT–Early Career Support for Native Artists program. LIFT is a one-year award and early career support program for emerging Native artists to develop and realize new projects. The program’s focus is to provide financial support and professional development to artists whose work aims to uplift communities and advance positive social change. The application deadline is March 16, 2022, at 5:00pm PT.

Eligible applicants must be individual Native artists working in dance/choreography, fiction/poetry writing, film/video, multi-disciplinary arts, music, performance art, theater and screenplay writing, traditional arts, or 2D + 3D visual arts. Artist applicant must be an enrolled member or citizen of a federally-recognized or state-recognized American Indian tribe or Alaska Native corporation, or of Native Hawaiian ancestry. We encourage artists to apply who are shaping their practices and for whom the award may serve as a launching point in their career.

You can learn more about the program and find a link to the application on our website, here: https://www.nativeartsandcultures.org/2022-lift-open-call

Please see two informational flyers and our press release attached. We would greatly appreciate it if you would help spread the word to community members, artists, organizations, and/or colleagues in your network who might be interested.

For inquiries about the LIFT program and application process, please contact Reuben Roqueñi, Director of Transformative Change Programs, at reuben@nativeartsandcultures.org or 503-388-3720, or Laura (Cales) Matalka, Program Manager, at laura@nativeartsandcultures.org or 360-334-7285.

Our deepest gratitude for your efforts!

Sincerely,

Reuben Roqueñi
Director of Transformative Change Programs
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
www.nativeartsandcultures.org

The New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs has received a grant of $580,000 to provide COVID-19 services to New Jersey’s three State-recognized Tribes and inter-tribal communities. The grant from the New Jersey Department of Health covers three years of services, including outreach and education, program administration and vaccination services. The grant has enabled the NJ Commission to hire a statewide Commission Coordinator, and each of the State-recognized Tribes to hire a Tribal Coordinator. Gail Gould is the statewide Commission Coordinator within the NJ Department of State. Tony Powell is the Tribal Coordinator for the Ramapough Lenape Nation in north Jersey, and Sherry Caputo, a Registered Nurse, is the Tribal Coordinator for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape. Additionally, three AmeriCorps members from the COVID SERVICE CORPS of Montclair State University will be deployed to assist this initiative. To date 15 vaccine clinics have been conducted, including one for children. Gail Gould also serves as liaison to the NJ Department of Health for implementation and reporting on the grant. We are pleased at the strong interest of tribal members in this endeavor to address the challenges in tribal communities. The email address is gail.gould@sos.nj.gov and her phone number (856) 506-2620.

 

On Thursday, October 21, 2021, St. John United Methodist Church held its first Mobile Command Vaccination Clinic. Several boosters and first-time vaccination shots were administered. This is the second event scheduled by Gail Gould, the New Jersey State American Indian Covid Coordinator, within the New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs. The first mobile vaccination clinic was held Sunday, October 17, in conjunction with the Nanticoke Leni Lenape Tribe. The St. John UMC will host another clinic next month.

The Meaning behind Indian Heads, Tomahawk Chops, and Other Racist, Demoralizing Logos and Images in American Culture: Massacre and Myth

By Eileen De Freece, PhD
Ramapough Lenape Nation
Commissioner, New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs

For well over a hundred years, Native American leaders and activists have rejected the use of the Indian Head, as well as other images as logos for schools, sports teams, advertisers, and even coins. ...

 

Ms.Garland, of Neptune, New Jersey is a long-time champion of New Jersey’s Native American heritage. A member of the Sand Hill Band of Lenape, she is a tireless advocate for her people and for Native American history and rights generally. A lifelong educator, Claire taught for 36 years in the Tinton Falls School District. She received her BS in Education from Monmouth College (now Monmouth University) and her Master in the Sociological and Philosophical Foundations of Education from Rutgers University. A lifelong educator, Claire’s teaching has not been limited to the classroom but includes regular presentations to schools and community groups where she has shared the stories of her ancestors, New Jersey’s first inhabitants. She has researched and written about the life and times of Cherokee Indian Ike of Monmouth, developed a CD, website, and Facebook page on the Sand Hill Indians, consulted on museum exhibits, and presented on NJNTV. She has lectured across the state on the Lenape people and is the recognized expert on the Sand Hill Band. Her presentation “American Indian Culture Surrounds Us” has enlightened generations of New Jerseyans regarding our state’s rich Native American heritage. Claire is also a member of the New Jersey Council on American Indian Afairs where she serves with diligence and distinction. In honor of her tireless work to educate the public on New Jersey’s Native Americans, past and present, she is presented an award of the NJ Historical Commission.

The 19th Amendment did not bring the right to vote to all Native women, but two experts in a conversation said it did usher in the possibility of change.

By Cathleen D. Cahill and Sarah Deer

The Indigenous suffragist Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, also known as Zitkala-Sa, a citizen of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. After the ratification of the 19th Amendment, she reminded the rejoicing, newly enfranchised white women that the fight was not over.
Credit...National Museum of American History

The Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) is soliciting proposals through its Native American Business Development Institute (NABDI) for technical assistance funding to hire consultants to perform feasibility studies of economic development opportunities, including tourism development.

The National Park Service Community Assistance in Conservation and Outdoor Recreation program will provide technical assistance with locally-led conservation and outdoor recreation project. This is a great way to receive trail planning, concept designs, facilitation, signage, programming, partnership outreach and community engagement.

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*Throughout the NJCAIA website, we include links to information on other websites. We provide these links solely to help users find additional useful information.

The New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs was hosted by The Hopewell Museum for its quarterly meeting on September 25, 2019.

The return of ancestors and artifacts can become a form of restorative justice.

By Chip Colwell
Dr. Colwell is an anthropologist and museum curator in Denver.

University of Northern Colorado maintenance crew workers guide a 600-pound bear totem pole top into a crate to be shipped back to the Tlingit Nation in Angoon, Alaska, where the totem originally stood and disappeared in 1908. - CreditCreditGlenn Asakawa/The Denver Post, via Getty Images

Meeting of the NJ Commission on American Indian Affairs, May 18, 2017 at the New Jersey State Museum. Pictured from upper left: Commission Chair Lewis Greysquirrel Pierce, Rowena Madden, Steven Burton, Eileen DeFreece, Claire Garland Renee Copola, Greg Lattani, Justin Higgs, Joanne Hawkins, Urie Ridgeway.

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
Iroquois statement