Title: In Support of Enhancing Tribal Sovereignty and Improving Indian Education through the Development of a Model Web Site for Tribal Education Departments

 

WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest national organization established in 1944 and comprised of representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and local Tribal concerns; and

WHEREAS, the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and employment opportunity, and preservation of cultural and natural resources are primary goals and objectives of NCAI; and,

WHEREAS, there are over 90 tribes in this country with Tribal Education Departments (TEDs), and the number of tribes with TEDs is increasing on an annual basis; and

WHEREAS, these TEDs serve hundreds of thousands of American Indian / Alaska Native students; and

WHEREAS, the TEDs could better serve tribal students and the TEDs could better interact with other tribal agencies and with non-tribal governments if they had Web sites and were linked electronically via the Internet; and

WHEREAS, if a model TED Web site were developed, it could be shared with and adapted to those tribes with TEDs to the benefit of their tribal students, and it could encourage more tribes to develop TEDs that would serve even more tribal students;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI support the development of a model Web site for Tribal Education Departments, and the linkage of TED Web sites via the Internet; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that NCAI work with tribes, the National Indian Education Association, the Native American Rights Fund, and other national Indian organizations to carry out the goals of this resolution.

The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2000 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Centennial Hall in Juneau, Alaska on June 25-28, 2000 with a quorum present.

_____________________________

Susan Masten, President

Juana Majel, Recording Secretary

Adopted by the General Assembly during the 2000 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Centennial Hall in Juneau, Alaska on June 25-28, 2000.