Oct. 7, 2021, 02:30:00 PM
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs appointed the first Tribal and Indian Affairs Advisory Committee on October .
The committee will advise and guide the VA Secretary on all matters relating to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and Native American veterans.
American Indians, Native Hawaiians, and Native Americans have a rich heritage of service in the American forces and have served with honors in all major conflicts for more than 200 years. There are approximately 160,000 AI / NH / ANveteransnationwide.
“This committee gives tribal leaders as well as American Indian, Native Hawaiians and Alaska Native Veterans a place at the table with the highest levels of leadership within the VA,” said Office of Tribal Government Relations Director Stephanie Birdwell. “It offers an unprecedented voice in how programs, policies and services may be delivered and provided.”
committee members are appointed for two to three years. The first 15 members and areas of representation are Adam Archuleta (Albuquerque Region), Jack Austin, Jr. (General Member), Jestin Dupree (Billings Region), Manaja Hill (Great Plains Region), Reyn Kaupiko (Organization Hawaiian native), Nickolaus Lewis (Portland area), Kevin Meeks (Oklahoma City area), Galyn Minkel (Bemidji area), Angela Pratt (Nashville area), Chief William Smith (Alaska area), Eugene “Geno” Talas (Phoenix area), Tewa “Ted” Tenorio (California area), Sonya M. Tetnowski (Urban Indian Health Organization), Alfred “Fred” Urbina (Tucson area) and James Zwierlein (Navajo area ).
Access the complete list of biographies of the advisory council members. here:
Rewritten by the Veteran x team.
sourced from: https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5726
