NSU Center for Tribal Studies hosts Indigenous Summit

(Tahlequah, Oklahoma) - Indigenous leadership from both male and female perspectives will be the focus of a free summit hosted by the Northeastern State University Center for Tribal Studies. The Indigenous Mens and Womens Leadership Summit will be March 10 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the University Center on the Tahlequah campus.

The event will provide a forum for higher education students and others to discuss and recognize their role as Indigenous leaders in Indian Country. Summit presenters include Tall Paul, Sharice Davids, Corey Still, Dr. Stacy Leeds, Paradigm Shift and Ramos TaeKwonDo.

Tall Paul is an Anishinaabe and Oneida Hip-Hop artist enrolled on the Leech Lake reservation in Minnesota. Born and raised in Minneapolis, his music strongly reflects his inner-city upbringing. From personal expressions of self, to thought provoking commentary on issues affecting Indigenous and diverse communities as a whole, Tall Pauls music evokes a wide variety of substance and soul.

Sharice Davids recently returned to the Kansas City area after concluding her time as a White House Fellow where she worked within the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and worked on a number of key initiatives of then Secretary Anthony Foxx. Prior to her position as a White House Fellow, Davids served as the deputy director of Thunder Valley CDC in Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where she managed a variety of day-to-day operations, acted as in house legal counsel and laid the foundation for a social enterprise program. She is from the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin, and has dedicated most of her professional life to economic development in Native American communities.

Corey Still is a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. He is an instructor of native languages in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Still is passionate about the education of Native American students and strives to work within the realm of higher education to ensure that education for all Native American youth is not only a dream, but also an achievable reality. Stills current research includes American Indian male undergraduate experiences, American Indian masculinity, American Indian fraternity and sororities and American Indian student leadership. Still currently serves as the National Chairman for Sigma Nu Alpha Gamma, Inc., is a Gates Millennium Scholar cohort and currently sits as the American Indian Graduate Center Scholar liaison for the Gates Millennium Scholars Alumni Advisory Council.

Dr. Stacy Leeds, serves as the University of Arkansas interim vice chancellor for economic development, as well as dean and professor in the School of Law. Her strong record of public service includes currently sitting on the board of directors for the Law School Admissions Council, Arkansas Childrens Northwest, Arvest Bank in Fayetteville and the American Indian Graduate Center. Previous appointments have included NSUs 2015 Sequoyah Fellow, service as a justice on the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court, service as a member and officer on national commissions and service as a member on boards for corporations and academic institutions. Leeds, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, is the only American Indian woman to have served as law school dean in the United States. She is a 2017 NSU Sequoyah Fellow.

Paradigm Shift offers leadership training and development with a primary focus to create opportunities for leaders to lead intentionally. The Paradigm Shift consultants use practical leadership and adventure-based models to help leaders develop powerful relationships, set SMART goals, create personal responsibility and develop a defined purpose.

Denise Ramos will be representing Ramos TaeKwonDo. Ramos will provide a fun, empowering activity session where she will instruct students on self-defense moves.