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Hurricane Harvey’s rains destroyed the home of Cherokee Nation citizen Mary Margaret DeFiore, a resident in the Cinco Ranch Equestrian Village neighborhood of Houston. 

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             <img src="http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Images/2017/9/11600_nws_170919_HurricaneHarvey_bb1-L.jpg" alt="http://www.cherokeephoenix.orgCherokee Nation citizen Mary Margaret DeFiore lives in the Cinco Ranch Equestrian Village in the Park Hollow neighborhood of Houston, Texas, which suffered damage from floodwaters released from the Addicks and Baker reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey. COURTESY" />
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                Cherokee Nation citizen Mary Margaret DeFiore lives in the Cinco Ranch Equestrian Village in the Park Hollow neighborhood of Houston, Texas, which suffered damage from floodwaters released from the Addicks and Baker reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey. COURTESY
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</div>    <h2>Houston Cherokees recovering from Hurricane Harvey</h2>
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                <img src="http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Images/2017/9/11600_nws_170919_HurricaneHarvey_bb2-L.jpg" alt="The Cinco Ranch Equestrian Village in the Park Hollow neighborhood of Houston, Texas, is littered with debris from Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 hurricane will cost Texas $150 billion to $180 billion in recovery efforts, Gov. Greg Abbott said. COURTESY" title="Houston Cherokees recovering from Hurricane Harvey">
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            The Cinco Ranch Equestrian Village in the Park Hollow neighborhood of Houston, Texas, is littered with debris from Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 hurricane will cost Texas $150 billion to $180 billion in recovery efforts, Gov. Greg Abbott said. COURTESY
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        BY
BRITTNEY BENNETT <br /> Reporter – @cp_bbennett    </div>
 
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                09/20/2017 12:00 PM
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            HOUSTON – When Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25, it dumped more than 50 inches of rain and affected many people, including Cherokees.<br /><br />Hurricane Harvey’s rains destroyed the home of Cherokee Nation citizen Mary Margaret DeFiore, a resident in the Cinco Ranch Equestrian Village neighborhood of Houston. <br /><br />Her property backs up to an area that serves as a reservoir for Houston, though she said subdivision developers failed to disclose that fact. As a result, her home was in the path of the floodwaters released from two reservoirs as they reached capacity. <br /><br />“We are in the group that was flooded deliberately when they opened the gates and dumped the Addicks Reservoir into the Barker Reservoir so that the people with the county estates would be less affected,” DeFiore said. “We were never expecting to be victims of somebody releasing from another reservoir into ours because ours is like the affordable housing section of the builders who built down here.” <br /><br />The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ordered the floodwaters’ release and is now facing a lawsuit by Fulkerson Lotz LLP on behalf of several communities, including DeFiore’s. The firm estimated the release caused approximately $3 billion in damages, according to the Houston Business Journal.<br /><br />“In our suit, we are asking only that the government compensate property owners for their losses caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to use their home as a flood plain,” stated the law firm in a Facebook post. “We understand that the government felt it had to release to avoid a greater problem, but when the Corps made the decision to use vast residential and business areas as a water holding pen, it took those properties just as if it had taken them to make a road.”<br /><br />DeFiore said there was minimal warning to evacuate beforehand, and afterwards she and her husband faced price gouging at a hotel as they sought shelter. <br /><br />The Federal Emergency Management Agency has since stepped in to house her husband and other first responders, while DeFiore has been taken in by “the kindness of strangers.”<br /><br />The couple’s home suffered damage and the future is uncertain while Houston begins its recovery.<br /><br />“The house, there’s no carpeting. Everything’s torn up,” DeFiore said. “We had the cabinets removed. I need to have my insulation vacuumed out and then new insulation put back in because of the moisture. My walls in the entire house, the wallboards are cut all the way up to four feet. I don’t know what we’re going to do because we can’t move back in. I’m a nomad. I’m going to max out my credit cards. The insurance does not cover housing or food or anything. I’m going to have to have time to sit down on my computer and start applying for grants so that we can get our lives back.”<br /><br />CN citizen Vicki Henrichs, who lives in a Houston suburb, also suffered damage to her home after the release of floodwaters from two upstream dams. As with DeFiore, Henrichs said her neighborhood was only given warning of the release the day before. <br /><br />“Social media appeared to be the warning system, as residents looked outside to see water gushing from storm drains, then engulfing their yards and houses at frightening speed. Many sent alerts for rescue by social media,” she said. “The northern portion of my subdivision is a disaster area where most could not return to homes for many days to retrieve the majority of possessions due to remaining high water.”<br /><br />Henrichs escaped the brunt of the damage, though home repairs are still ongoing after more than 30 inches of rain created a crack in her ceiling and two feet of floodwaters and mold filled her garage.<br /><br />Harvey is not the first hurricane for the Henrichs, who weathered Hurricane Rita in 2005. She credits that experience and her Cherokee roots for when it came time to prepare. <br /><br />“Credit my Cherokee maternal grandmother and my Cherokee mother for advocating for preparedness for many conditions,” she said. “Therefore, I always have ‘hurricane ready’ nonperishable foods and supplies and do supplement them for (a) typical hurricane season. Additionally, I have an emergency kit for my dog and ready-to-go baggage for my own needs.”<br /><br />Wade McAlister, Cherokee Citizens League of Southeast Texas president, said his group held a meeting after Harvey made landfall to begin organizing and collecting gift cards for affected families. <br /><br />“The families that do need stuff can use those over time, and it’s something that we can continue to give out two to three months from now,” he said. “It’s not like a bunch of bottled water and then they don’t need water anymore or we have a bunch of clothes and we don’t need clothes anymore. The needs are always changing.”<br /><br />CCLST Vice President Michele Hayes said many gift cards were for Lowe’s Home Improvement, Target and Wal-Mart so that families can buy essentials and start rebuilding. <br /><br />“The long-term things are going to be the hardest like paying for gas and groceries or just ice because since they don’t have a home, they’ve been forced to keep their food in coolers because they don’t have refrigerators. Just think about camping long term, what you would need, that’s what they need,” she said.<br /><br />As of Sept. 19, the organization had helped more than 20 families, and that number was expected to rise. <br /><br />“We’re still getting requests and we’re still getting donations,” McAlister said. “I think during the storm and during the initial aftermath and even now during the recovery, I think Houston is showing the best side of its citizens. This is the most diverse city in the United States and everybody has been able to come together and take care of each other.” <br /><br />Information on how to donate to the CCLST can be found at <a href="http://www.cherokeeatlarge.org" target="_blank">www.cherokeeatlarge.org</a>.<br /><br />Texas Gov. Greg Abbott estimated that recovery would take several years and cost $150 billion to $180 billion. According to The Weather Channel, the Category 4 hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph when it made landfall near Rockport.
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                                <img src="/Images/Bios/120Brittney2-L.jpg" alt="Brittney Bennett is from Colcord, Oklahoma, and a citizen of the United Keetoowah Band.  She is a 2011 Gates Millennium Scholarship recipient and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and summa cum laude honors.
 
While in college, Brittney became involved with the Native American Journalists Association and was an inaugural NAJA student fellow in 2014. Continued mentorship from NAJA members and the willingness to give Natives a voice led her to accept a multimedia internship with the Cherokee Phoenix after college.  
 
She left the Cherokee Phoenix in early 2016 before being selected as a Knight-CUNYJ Fellow in New York City later that same year. During the fellowship, she received training from industry professionals with The New York Times and instructors at the City University of New York. As part of the program, she completed a social media internship with USA Today’s editorial department.
 
Now that Brittney has made her way back to the Cherokee Phoenix, she hopes to use the experience gained from her travels to benefit Indian Country and the Cherokee people. " /> <br />
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                            <a href="/authors/details/120">BRITTNEY BENNETT</a> <br />
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                             brittney-bennett@cherokee.org &#149; 918-453-5560
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Brittney Bennett is from Colcord, Oklahoma, and a citizen of the United Keetoowah Band.  She is a 2011 Gates Millennium Scholarship recipient and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and summa cum laude honors.
 
While in college, Brittney became involved with the Native American Journalists Association and was an inaugural NAJA student fellow in 2014. Continued mentorship from NAJA members and the willingness to give Natives a voice led her to accept a multimedia internship with the Cherokee Phoenix after college.  
 
She left the Cherokee Phoenix in early 2016 before being selected as a Knight-CUNYJ Fellow in New York City later that same year. During the fellowship, she received training from industry professionals with The New York Times and instructors at the City University of New York. As part of the program, she completed a social media internship with USA Today’s editorial department.
 
Now that Brittney has made her way back to the Cherokee Phoenix, she hopes to use the experience gained from her travels to benefit Indian Country and the Cherokee people.  <br />
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                <h5><a href="/Article/index/11987">Court hears tribal challenge to South Dakota child removals</a></h5>
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        BY
ASSOCIATED PRESS <br />     </div>
 

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                     02/17/2018 02:00 PM
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                A lawyer representing two American Indian tribes urged a federal appeals court Tuesday to keep in place the changes a judge ordered for a South Dakota county&#39;s system of removing children from homes in endangerment cases.

Stephen Pevar, a tribal law specialist with the American Civil Liberties Union, told the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that before those protections were imposed, the system was stacked against tribal families. From 2010 through 2013, the state was granted custody of all 823 Indian children it sought to remove from homes in Pennington County.

&quot;The state won 100 percent of the proceedings,&quot; said Pevar, who is representing the Oglala and Rosebud Sioux tribes in the case. &quot;It would have been a miracle if these parents had prevailed because they were denied elementary due process.&quot;

The tribes sued the county in 2013, saying its procedures for conducting initial hearings in such cases violated the federal Indian Child Welfare Act. The tribes argued parents were denied basic due process protections in these informal hearings, including the right to a court-appointed attorney and to see and challenge the allegations against them.

The chief U.S. district judge for South Dakota, Jeffrey Viken, sided with the tribes in three rulings in 2015 and 2016. He ordered changes to give parents more rights at those initial hearings, which are required to be held within 48 hours of a child&#39;s removal from the home to decide whether the child should be returned to the home or be placed in the custody of the state Department of Social Services. Parents previously weren&#39;t guaranteed legal protections until a later stage in the process. The county, which includes Rapid City, is now abiding by the judge&#39;s orders.

While the case applies most directly to Pennington County, the case has attracted attention elsewhere in Indian Country. The Cherokee Nation and Navajo Nation, the two largest tribes in the U.S., and other tribal groups filed a friend-of-the-court brief that said this lawsuit is vital to ensuring that courts follow the Indian Child Welfare Act, which was enacted in 1978 in response to widespread abuses by state child welfare systems against Indian children and families.

The law sets standards for removing Indian children from their families, terminating parental rights and placing them in foster or adoptive homes. The brief says other states in the 8th Circuit have statutes or procedures in place to ensure those standards are met.

Lawyers for Pennington County State&#39;s Attorney Mark Vargo and other officials named in the case argued that the lower court did not follow proper legal procedures, so its decisions should be overturned. Much of their appeal turns on complex legal arguments over whether the state&#39;s attorney or the presiding judge in the southwest corner of the state counted as policy-makers responsible for the old procedures who could legally be sued over them.

Parents did get full legal protections later in the process well before their parental rights could be terminated, said attorney Jeff Hurd, who represents Craig Pfeifle the presiding judge for the South Dakota judicial circuit that includes Pennington County.

The appeals court took the case under advisement. Chief Judge Lavenski Smith called it &quot;a very difficult case&quot; and said the panel would rule as soon as possible, but didn&#39;t specify when.
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                <h5><a href="/Article/index/11986">CNB business joins effort to manage tribal lands</a></h5>
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                     02/16/2018 03:00 PM
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                TULSA — Cherokee Services Group has secured a contract to aid the federal government in its effort to analyze, measure and manage tribal forest lands located in Indian Country and the United States. 

CSG, a Cherokee Nation Businesses consulting company, is supporting the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Branch of Forest Resources Planning with assisting the Forest Service in restructuring and improving its Continual Forest Inventory software, which is used to monitor and quantify forest composition and conditions. 

“The Forest Management Service Center is working with Cherokee Services Group on the development of a new CFI processing and analysis software tool for the BOFRP,” Mike Van Dyk, forest vegetation simulator group leader for FMSC, said. “We are pleased to be part of such an important collaboration with the BIA in providing essential tools for the assessment and management of tribal forest lands.” 

CNB officials said the five-year contract currently has a value of $810,000 but they expect that amount to increase of the contract’s life because of the amount of work and resources necessary for the project.

The tribally owned company is refactoring the software to best practice and tested-development standards that leverage modern object-oriented practices. The updated software will assist service center representatives with long-term forest plans for tribal entities. 

“The Forest Service Management Center’s Forest Vegetation Simulator model and the National Volume Library, both of which are heavily integrated into the CFI application, use scientifically validated, merchantable volume estimates to project future forest conditions,” CSG Manager Bob Freeman said. “Our placement of resources at the center allows for direct, unimpeded communication with the developers of this nationally recognized and industry standard software.” 

The FMSC provides products and technical support for the Forest Service and is solely responsible for development and maintenance of the Forest Vegetation Simulator, a nationally supported framework ensuring consistency among forests in vegetation dynamics modeling.

For more than a decade, CSG has been providing federal and commercial clients with IT solutions and business support services. Wholly owned by the Cherokee Nation, CSG specializes in software and application services, network infrastructure services and business process services. 

Headquartered in Tulsa, it has a regional office in Fort Collins, Colorado, and 22 additional offices nationwide. For more information, visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cherokee-csg.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;www.cherokee-csg.com&lt;/a&gt;.
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                <h5><a href="/Article/index/11982">CN webinars help citizens hone technology skills</a></h5>
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ASSOCIATED PRESS <br />     </div>
 

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                     02/15/2018 04:00 PM
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                TAHLEQUAH (AP) – Within the past 10 years, technology has advanced so rapidly that Americans are racing to stay abreast of the latest computer software, cellular devices and the ever-expanding reach of the Internet.

The Cherokee Nation Community and Cultural Outreach Program is helping citizens stay up to date with the newest and most efficient technology, so nonprofit organizations and individuals can excel in a more connected world.

“Most of the folks that we work with are in their 60s or retirees, so they’re definitely digital immigrants,” said Chris Welch, technical assistance specialist. “Sometimes they’re scared of the process of technology. We want to bring it to light to them and show them it’s not as scary as it seems.”

The CCO hosts the Technology Webinar Series the second Thursday of every month.

The group has been offering the seminars for two years now, and the lessons have become more intensive.

“We started with very basic computer tips and tricks, even to the point of navigating the desktop - how to copy and paste, just simple things,” said Brad Wagnon, technical assistance specialist. “Then we’ve gone through a lot of Microsoft programs, like Powerpoint, and just have gotten more advanced as it goes.”

After working with the CCO and watching webinars, nonprofits have taken steps to improve their method of getting their message to the public. One nonprofit organization “gave a new meaning to cut and paste,” said Welch.

“They literally typed their grant out on a typewriter, cut it out and then pasted it into the space with glue,” he said. “That’s what we were dealing with to begin. That same organization now has built its own website and they do a digital newsletter every month, so they’ve gone from that to the other end of the spectrum within a three-year period.”

In the past, the CCO has offered training on self-improvement topics, like how to manage stress. The department has since tried to help citizens build skills that will transfer into a successful nonprofit organization. This year, the group’s technology webinars have focused on social media.

“With the social media stuff we’re focusing on this year, it’s going to help them market and tell the story of their nonprofit organization to everybody,” said Welch. “Most of them don’t realize this, but most of their viewers these days are millennials. By 2025, 75 percent of the workforce is going to be millennials, so they definitely are going to have to learn to tell their story in a different way, so we want to try and help them with that.”

The CCO helps nonprofit groups through the help of another nonprofit organization. The webinars are based on trainings from gcfreelearn.org, which was created to help nonprofits grow.

The most recent webinar spotlighted how to use Google Hangouts and Skype. Each webinar airs at 6 p.m. the second Thursday of the month, and is available on the CN YouTube page. All of the videos are archived, so anyone who misses one can still watch it.

The next Technology Thursday Series is March 8 and will focus on Instagram. For more information, call 918-207-4953.
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                <h5><a href="/Article/index/11985">CN Veterans Center hosts Valentine’s dance</a></h5>
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        BY
KENLEA HENSON <br /> Reporter    </div>
 

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                     02/15/2018 02:00 PM
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                TAHLEQUAH – Local veterans gathered on Feb. 13 at the Cherokee Nation Veterans Center for the center’s first Valentine’s Day dance and social event. 

The Veterans Center was transformed into a Valentine’s wonderland with paper hearts leading attendees into the building and holiday d&#233;cor placed throughout. The event featured a live band, a photo booth, food, desserts and fellowship. 

“We always enjoy hosting our veterans, and tonight is a special opportunity for them to fellowship and create some lasting memories at our Cherokee Nation Veterans Center,” Deputy Chief S. Joe Crittenden said.

Couples, as well as singles, young and old, listened and danced to the music of the Three F’s. The band transported attendees back in time with songs from genres such as country and western and sweetheart songs from the 1950s and 1960s.   

Loretta Reed and her husband Terry Reed, both served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam. Loretta said they were “thrilled” to have a place to celebrate Valentine’s Days. 

“We are so thankful and so blessed to have an event offered like this. So thank you so much Cherokee Nation and everyone who had a helping hand in this. The food was delicious and so very well-prepared and beautifully placed,” Loretta said. “We are just so thrilled that they would take the time and energy to provide us a place to have a party and have a happy Valentine’s Day.”

Barbara Foreman, CN Veteran Affairs director, said the dance is one of many new events the center is trying. 

“We have been looking at some new ideas and we thought the only way we are going to know if they work or not is to try them. The veterans were excited when we mentioned it and their spouses were really excited, so we thought we would go ahead and try it. This is just a fun social event for them to come together at,” Foreman said. “We just want to get the word out and to let our veterans know that our facility is here, so that’s why we are doing these activities.”

She said veterans could expect to see more social events on the Veterans Center calendar this year. For more information, call 1-800-256-0671 or visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cherokee.org&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;www.cherokee.org&lt;/a&gt;. 
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            <div class="content-title"><a href="/Article/index/11978">Read More</a></div>

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                <h5><a href="/Article/index/11978">Descendants of Nancy Ward group hosting bus trip to Cherokee sites</a></h5>
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        BY
STAFF REPORTS <br />     </div>
 

                 <div class="dateTime">
                     02/14/2018 04:00 PM
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                TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Association of the Descendants of Nancy Ward will host a bus trip in conjunction with its March 24, 2018, annual meeting.  

Buses will leave Oklahoma on Tuesday, March 20 and return Sunday, March 25.  

Sites visited in Tennessee are expected to be: Chota memorial (birthplace and home of Nancy Ward), Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, Blythe’s Ferry, Hair Conrad Cabin, Brainerd Mission and Red Clay State Historic Park. 

Sites visited in Georgia are expected to be: The Vann House, Springplace Cemetery, New Echota Historic Site and the 1755 Taliwa Battle Site. 

At 9:30 a.m., Saturday, March 24, the association’s annual meeting will be held at Nancy Ward’s gravesite in connection with a monument dedication led by Daughters of the American Revolution.

Buses will pick up passengers on March 20 at the following locations: 8 a.m., Hard Rock Casino, Catoosa; 8:50 a.m., Cherokee Casino, Fort Gibson; approximately 9:40 a.m., Cherokee Casino, Sallisaw. 

Cost of the trip for individuals is $705 for single hotel occupancy and $520 for double occupancy. For more information, email &lt;a href=&quot;mailto: descendantsofnancyward@gmail.com&quot;&gt;descendantsofnancyward@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;. 
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                <h5><a href="/Article/index/11977">National Native American Veterans Memorial finalists chosen</a></h5>
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        BY
STAFF REPORTS <br />     </div>
 

                 <div class="dateTime">
                     02/14/2018 12:00 PM
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                WASHINGTON – The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian James Dinh, Daniel SaSuWeh Jones (Ponca) and Enoch Kelly Haney (Seminole), Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne/Arapaho), Stefanie Rocknak, and Leroy Transfield (Maori: Ngai Tahu/Ngati Toa), who advanced to the second stage of the National Native American Veterans Memorial design competition.

The five finalists shared their visions for the memorial and presented their initial design concepts at a public event held at the museum on Feb. 7. At the event, Kevin Gover, NMAI director, spoke of the gravity of the responsibility to design a national memorial to Native American veterans. Native Americans have served in every American conflict since the Revolution and have served at a higher rate per capita than any other group throughout the 20th century.

“Most important is their pride in what they have done and their commitment to the well-being of the United States,” said Gover. “To realize that these men and women served well a country that had not kept its commitments to their communities over its history. They are perfectly aware of it, and yet they chose to serve. And to me that reflects a very deep kind of patriotism. A belief in the promises of a country that had not kept its promises to them up to that time. I can think of no finer example of being Americans than the way these men and women chose to serve over those years.”  

Links to view the finalist’s design are:

• &lt;a href=&quot;http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/nnavm/Dinh-Stage-I.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;James Dinh&lt;/a&gt; 

• &lt;a href=&quot;http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/nnavm/Jones-Haney-Stage-I.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Daniel SaSuWeh Jones (Ponca) and Enoch Kelly Haney (Seminole)&lt;/a&gt; 

• &lt;a href=&quot;http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/nnavm/Pratt-Stage-I.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne/Arapaho)&lt;/a&gt; 

• &lt;a href=&quot;http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/nnavm/Rocknak-Stage-I.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Stefanie Rocknak&lt;/a&gt; 

• &lt;a href=&quot;http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/nnavm/Transfield-Stage-I.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Leroy Transfield (Maori: Ngai Tahu/Ngati Toa)&lt;/a&gt; 

The finalists will have until May 1 to evolve and refine their design concepts to a level that fully explains the spatial, material and symbolic attributes of the design and how it responds to the vision and design principles for the National Native American Veterans Memorial. The final design concepts for Stage II will be exhibited at both the Washington, D.C., and New York museums May 19 through June 3. The museum’s jury of Native and non-Native artists, designers and scholars will judge the final design concepts and announce a winner July 4.

The memorial is slated to open in 2020 on the grounds of the museum.

This project is made possible by the support of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Bank of America, Northrop Grumman, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Hobbs, Straus, Dean &amp; Walker LLP, General Motors, Lee Ann and Marshall Hunt, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Sullivan Insurance Agency of Oklahoma.

The museum was commissioned by Congress to build a National Native American Veterans Memorial that gives “all Americans the opportunity to learn of the proud and courageous tradition of service by Native Americans in the Armed Forces of the United States.” Working with the National Congress of American Indians and other Native American organizations, the museum is in its third year of planning for the memorial.

For more information, visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.AmericanIndian.si.edu/NNAVM&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;www.AmericanIndian.si.edu/NNAVM&lt;/a&gt;.
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