Jacqueline Johnson-Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, spoke at a lecture sponsored by the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies at BYU on Friday.

The focus of the lecture was to inform students about NCAI, the oldest and largest tribal government organization in the United States.

"NCAI was created in 1944, in a time when several bills were introduced in congress to terminate tribes across the country," Pata said. "The tribal leaders from all across the nation came together to fight these policies with determination and just like many organizations in Washington, D.C., we got created in the basement of somebody's house when someone volunteered to be the director of the organization."

From its humble beginnings five decades ago, with only 100 individual members, the NCAI has now become the voice of 250 member tribes from all across the United States. The organization now serves as the major national tribal government organization and is "positioned to monitor federal policy and coordinated efforts to inform federal decisions that affect tribal government interests."

"Even though all the tribal leaders recognized that we have our own autonomous tribal governments and nations, we needed to have one organization ... and they all agreed to move forward and create an organization which determined common policy by way of a democratic consensus mechanism," Pata said.

Pata explained that NCAI is an institution that members of Congress seek advice from on policy recommendations and voting. The NCAI is also an institution that the White House and its various agencies seek guidance on how to consult with tribes.

According to its Web site, NCAI serves to secure for American Indians and their descendants, the rights and benefits to which we are entitled; to enlighten the public toward the better understanding of the Indian people; to preserve rights under Indian treaties or agreements with the United States; and to promote the common welfare of the American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Pata informed the students about some of the successful programs of NCAI.

"We have been more successful since 2001(in policy and judicial matters) because of the way we now rethink the way we move forward on our legal structures," Pata said. "Secondly, we have created a judicial nomination project. This isn't only about getting our first ever-native judge ... but also about educating current judges on Indian law. We also created a policy research center, for putting forward progressive Indian policy recommendations."

Commenting on the success of NCAI in putting forward the issues concerning the Native Americans, Pata said, "NCAI is a success because the organization knows its purpose and that is to protect sovereignty of tribes."

The NCAI is currently involved in a broad range of policy matters including issues such as sovereign immunity, taxation, finance and banking and health and human services.

Email: gvishweshwaran@gmail.com

Copyright Brigham Young University 30 Mar 2009