The Bay Area Indian Relocation Conference |
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15 September 2003 ATTENTION: Assignment desks, minority affairs reporters |
Contact:
Carol Hyman
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WHAT
The Bay Area Indian Relocation Conference, an event that will bring together community members and University of California, Berkeley, faculty members and students for a dialogue about the Bay Area's Native American population. The event is being sponsored by the UC Berkeley Native American Studies Department.
WHEN
Thursday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The keynote address will be at 10 a.m.
WHERE
10 a.m.-12 noon, 370 Dwinelle Hall
1:30 - 5 p.m., Ethnic Studies Library, 20 Stephens Hall
WHO
The keynote speaker will be Dr. William Willard, professor emeritus of American Indian studies, American cultures and anthropology at Washington State University.
A panel discussion will be led by Geraldine Martinez-Lira and Marilyn St. Germaine, Bay Area Native American community leaders.
DETAILS
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than 90,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives live in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The majority are urban dwelling Native Americans not native to this area, but brought here as a result of federal or private programs.
The Bay Area Indian Relocation Conference focuses on urban Indians living in the Bay Area, and the many federal, private and corporate programs that have brought Native Americans to the Bay Area. The featured speaker, Dr. William Willard, is the son of Cherokee immigrants who were recruited by the Hume Bennett Timber Co. to the San Joaquin Valley in 1908. Willard is well known to many members of the Bay Area Indian community, He was involved in the development, approval and oversight of Bay Area Indian health care programs. Willard also spent many years studying Indian relocation issues.
In the afternoon, a panel of local experts and community activists will discuss issues concerning Bay Area Indian relocation.