HUD Marks American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

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Julie Potter - Cherokee

Native Brief: WASHINGTON - The US Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, Office of Native American Programs has worked with the group of leading national American Indian and Alaska Native organizations who have collaborated with tribal and federal government offices to mark American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month with special programs and festivities.

"Native American Youth - Our Most Precious Resource," is the national theme of the month, and HUD will mark it with an event on Wednesday, November 30, at 11 am in its Washington headquarters.

The program will be emceed by Julie Potter, an intern from the Washington Internships for Native Students (WINS) Program at American University. Potter produced a documentary about the impact of housing on Indian reservations. Her tribe is the Eastern Band of the Cherokee located in Cherokee, North Carolina.

Ms. Derrith Watchman-Moore, HUD Region VII Administrator, will be the main speaker. Also invited are Mellor Willie, the Executive Director of the National American Indian Housing Council; and speakers from the Penobscot Nation Native Boys and Girls Club and the Center on Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute.

"HUD is honored to help mark November as a time to reflect on our Native youth and how the generations of future leaders can help tribal communities keep moving forward on everything from housing to education, thanks to their tribal leadership and their proud legacies," said Rodger Boyd, HUD's Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Native American Programs.

Young people under the age of 18 are a growing share of America's Native population, accounting for nearly 32 percent of the 5.2 million American Indian and Alaska Natives (2010 Census data). It's expected the growing Native youth population that will be more active in the nation's workforce, higher education and among the electorate.

photo credit Blue Lagoon Productions; posted November 10, 2011 7:10 am est