FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<br> <br>CONTACT:<br><br>University of Connecticut<br>Native American Cultural Society Office<br>Theo. Van Alst, Coordinator: #860-486-9755<br><a href="mailto:theodore.Van-Alst@uconn.edu">theodore.Van-Alst@uconn.edu</a><br>
<br> <br>Mikki Aganstata: #860-953-5286<br><a href="mailto:spaul9460@sbcglobal.net">spaul9460@sbcglobal.net</a><br> <br> <br>Presenting and Representing Indians in Connecticut: a Public Forum about HB 5141, An Act to Create A Commission on Native American Indian Affairs<br>
<br>Storrs, CT April 17, 2008<br> <br>The Native American Cultural Society Office at the University of Connecticut at Storrs invites you to a public forum regarding important legislation currently working its way through committees in the Connecticut General Assembly, "Presenting and Representing Indians in Connecticut:<br>
A public forum about HB 5141, An Act to Create A Commission on Native American Indian Affairs." The event will take place on Thursday, April 17, 2008, from 7 to 9 pm, at the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and CT Archaeology Center, 2019 Hillside Rd. Unit 1023, Storrs, CT.<br>
<br>The forum will feature a panel including Trudie Lamb Richmond (Schaghticoke), Mikki Aganstata (Eastern Cherokee), and Sherman Paul (Maliseet), which will be co-moderated by Debra Sharkey, appointee to CT Indian Affairs Council by the Governor and Dr. Kevin McBride, Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. Dr. McBride is also an Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Connecticut.<br>
<br>This is event is aimed at both the UConn Storrs campus and the larger public in Connecticut, especially American Indian people who reside in the state and those who are members of the five tribal nations whose homelands and reservations are located here. The goal of the forum is to educate people about this grass-roots effort by American Indian people and their non-Indian allies in Connecticut. <br>
<br> <br>Co-sponsors for this event include:<br><br>The Native American Cultural Society Office and<br>The Vice Provost for Multicultural and International Affairs<br> <br><br>For additional information on HB 5141, An Act to Create A Commission on Native American Indian Affairs, see: <a href="http://commissiononamericanindianaffairs.pbwiki.com/">http://commissiononamericanindianaffairs.pbwiki.com/</a><br>
<br> <br>- END -<br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Theo. Van Alst<br>Coordinator<br>Native American Cultural Society Office<br>University of Connecticut<br>860-486-9755