AISES is excited to announce that Hattie Kauffman will be the opening keynote speaker at its signature event, September 21 – 23, 2017 in Denver, CO! Hear from Ms. Kauffman on Thursday, September 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., and join us to learn from more than eighty speakers who will address the Conference throughout the three-day event.
Kauffman is a four-time Emmy Award-winning news correspondent and has served as a frequent substitute anchor on CBS This Morning. In her two decades with the network, Hattie also reported on 48 Hours, Street Stories, Sunday Morning, CBS Radio, CBS Special Report, the Early Show and CBS Evening News.
A featured national speaker and consultant, Kauffman will share her experience on a range of topics including personal growth, women and leadership, television and social media, and career advancement.
In 2013, Kauffman published an autobiography titled, Falling into Place: A Memoir of Overcoming. It looks inside her remarkable life that started with her broadcast career on college radio at the University of Minnesota. A member of the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho, Kauffman is the first Native American journalist to file a report on a national network evening news broadcast. She is a gifted reporter and storyteller who changed the course of her life in meeting personal and professional challenges. In changing the course of her life, she became a source of inspiration, personal empowerment, and force for change for others.
Norbert Hill, Jr., retired Director of Education for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, and Founder of Winds of Change Magazine will address participants as the featured speaker at AISES 40th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, September 23 in Denver.
Hill’s career is deeply rooted in American Indian education, nonprofit leadership, publishing, and philanthropy. He was Vice President of the College of Menominee for their Green Bay campus and he served as the Executive Director of the American Indian Graduate Center in New Mexico. Norbert was Executive Director of AISES for 15 years. Among his other accomplishments is board service for Goodwill Industries, National Indian Youth Council, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, Native American Sports Council, and the Environmental Defense Fund. He has served as president of the Dr. Rosa Minoka Hill Foundation since 1982. He holds honorary doctorates from Cumberland College and Clarkson University.
Perhaps best known for his expertise on American Indian views, culture, and diversity, Hill has served as an advisor over the course of his career with the American Chemical Society, the University of Colorado School of Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Institutes of Health Office of Minority Programs, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Hill authored Words of Power – Voices from Indian America. He has written various articles, reports, and editorials seen in Kiwanis Magazine, The Magazine of Higher Learning, The American Indian Graduate, Winds of Change Magazine and more.
American Indian Nations across the country have benefitted greatly from Norbert’s passion, commitment and leadership. It is our honor to greet and welcome Norbert home at this year’s 40th Anniversary Conference and Gala to show our gratitude and outward appreciation for his service to AISES and others. Please join us on this special night in acknowledgement and celebration of Norbert Hill as he shares “Untold Stories” that is sure to produce tears, humor, memories, and laughter. Norbert is a good storyteller who knows the secrets to grabbing listeners in a bear hug and never letting you go.
In 1982 the Northern Cree Singers were founded by Steve Wood, and his brothers Randy and Earl Wood. The group originates from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation but is made up of members from the Treaty 6 area, most notably the Frog Lake Cree Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Samson Cree Nation, Louis Bull Cree Nation, and the Poundmaker Cree Nation.
Northern Cree currently have 37 albums out on market that are distributed world-wide by their record label, Canyon Records from Phoenix, AZ. They have garnered multi-Grammy nominations, multi-Juno nominations, and have been awarded multi-Native American Music Awards and Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. They have also won numerous powwow singing competitions. Northern Cree is the only traditional Canadian Aboriginal group to have ever been nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award. They have also created music for, and appeared in, the major motion picture “Grey Owl,” which was produced and directed by the great Lord Richard Attenborough.
Northern Cree are role models for all First Nations people and live by their founder’s motto: “If you believe in yourself, who you are, where you come from, your culture and more importantly your language, it will take you to places you have never even dreamed of.” You can find out more about Northern Cree by exploring thier website, and albums can be ordered from Canyon Records.