Part III: Tribes and States Working Together for AI/AN Children

Part three in our series on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Early Childhood programming will feature three states that have done exemplary work on improving State-Tribal relations.

In the first part of the series, we heard from Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Dr. Anton Truer who discussed their books and set the stage for how we can improve services to AI/AN families.

In the second part of our series, we discussed sovereignty and what it means to state governments. Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan joined Patina Parks, Director of Tribal-State relations for Minnesota Gov. Walz, and Melanie Benjamin, Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, to examine sovereignty from a State and Tribal Government point of view.

This upcoming session, Tribes, and States Working Together for AI/AN Children, will showcase three states – New Mexico, Oregon, and North Dakota – that have made Tribal relations a priority. It will include how States have worked nation-to-nation with Tribal Governments and steps they have taken to ensure AI/AN children in their states receive the services they need and deserve.

Featured Participants

Panel discussion with:

Elizabeth Groginsky
Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Early Childhood and Care Department

Jovanna Archuleta
Assistant Secretary for Native American Early Education and Care, New Mexico Early Childhood and Care Department

Kirsten Baesler
State Superintendent of Schools, North Dakota

Crys O’Grady, J.D.
CCDF Administrator, Oregon State Child Care

Moderated by:

Barb Fabre
CEO, Indigenous Visioning

Linda Smith
Director, Early Childhood Initiative, BPC