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Tribal Leaders, Legislators, Journalists, Religious Leaders Discuss Media Coverage of Native Americans
- Two Day Symposium March 2-3 at Wyndham Hotel in Washington, DC
- Montana Governor, Sen. Inouye, President of National Congress of American Indians speaking
For immediate release: Friday, February 24, 2006
Contact: Jim Cason: 202-903-2531, Adam Klepper: 202-903-2512
Tribal leaders, members of Congress, journalists, scholars, and religious leaders will gather in Washington, March 2-3, 2006, for the conference, "Hear Our Story: Communications and Contemporary Native Americans." Native and non-Native leaders will discuss the contemporary situation of American Indians and explore ways to overcome invisibility and to challenge distorted depictions of indigenous people in the United States.
Where: Wyndham Washington Hotel, 1400 M St. NW, Washington, DC
When: Thursday, March 2 (8:30 am-5 pm)-Friday, March 3, 2006 (9 am-1 pm)
Leaders of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Native American service organizations, and journalists from Native American media will share facts, stories, and successes from the Native American experience with political leaders, journalists, and leaders of faith-based organizations.
This unique event will provide an opportunity to talk about the collective Native American experience today and share personal and professional stories.
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, Sen.Daniel Inouye (HI), and key congressional staffers will also be participating. Faith-based organizations, among others, are sponsoring this symposium to provide an opportunity for Native Americans to give their diverse, but strong perspectives on the media and on controversal subjects.
"The focus on lobby scandals and gambling has almost drowned out all other coverage of Native Americans in the United States today," explained Pat Power, director of the Native American Program at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Quaker organization that is coordinating the conference. "We hope this event will provide the journalists, legislators, and others who attend with a first-hand view of the reality of Native American life today."
The day-and-a-half symposium has attracted national attention. Almost every Native-owned and operated print and broadcast organization has praised and publicized the event. Among the speakers are a Native philosopher and thinker of the first rank (John Mohawk), a Native journalist who is editorial page editor of a mainstream newspaper (Mark Trahant) and the only Native American member of Congress (Rep. Tom Cole), but also the President of the Center for Media and Public Affairs known for its content analysis studies (Robert Lichter) and key speakers from Capitol Hill.
The Friends Committee on National Legislation is a non-partisan Quaker lobby in the public interest that represents 26 Yearly Meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (called Quakers). FCNL speaks for itself and like-minded individuals. Working with a network of constituents in every congressional district in the United States , FCNL seeks to bring the concerns, experiences and testimonies of Friends to bear on national policy decisions. FNL has had a Native American advocacy program since 1973.
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