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Desiderio named new NCAI CEO, to lead organization through new challenges WASHINGTON – The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is pleased to announce that Dante Desiderio has been selected as the organization’s new chief executive officer and he will join NCAI on May 11, 2021. In his new position, Desiderio will oversee the day-to-day management and operations of the organization for an improved path to success for NCAI and the NCAI Fund. He will report directly to the NCAI Executive Committee. “We are thrilled to welcome Dante Desiderio back to NCAI as our new CEO at this critical time. He was NCAI’s direc- tor of economic policy during the Great Recession, the last time our country faced such uncertain and challenging economic times. As we emerge from a global pan- demic and the social and economic insta- bility that come with such monumental challenges, there is no better leader to guide us through the recovery and rebuild- ing effort or to help us navigate the future as it pertains to policy and opportunities with the American Rescue Plan,” said NCAI President Fawn Sharp. “It’s been a stressful year for all of Indian Country and with Dante’s leadership, I’m confident we will build our Tribal nations back stronger, more resilient and healthier than ever.” Desiderio, a citizen of the Sappony Tribe, comes to NCAI from the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA), where he spent 10 years as the organization’s executive director. During his tenure, he increased the organization’s commitment to its members and grew its national profile as a steward for Tribal economic development. He instituted the NAFOA Member Tribes model and suc- cessfully transitioned NAFOA to a tribally led organization. “I am honored to be selected by the National Congress of American Indians to serve as their chief executive officer,” Desiderio said. “I’ve always loved NCAI’s work on behalf of their Tribal members Funded Orthodontic Treatment Screening and on behalf of Indian Country as a whole. I look forward to serving once again at an organization I respect and with a team that puts their whole heart into their work, and am ready to meet the chal- lenges ahead. I thank the NCAI Board for the trust they put in me and for the oppor- tunity to return to the Embassy and lead the NCAI team as we work together for the betterment of all of Indian Country.” Desiderio’s time in Native Ameri- can economic policy includes work on multiple economic stimulus and rescue packages, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program under President George W. Bush and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under President Barack Obama. He was an essential advocate and organizer of Tribal leadership voices to ensure Indian Country’s inclusion in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) funding under President Donald Trump and now the American Rescue Plan (ARP) under President Joe Biden. “Dante’s background in leadership, finance and economic policy is second to none in Indian Country. He is the right person at the right time to lead NCAI,” Sharp said. “Dante is proof that the National Congress of American Indians – the oldest and largest and most represen- tative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of Tribal governments and communities – is a place where young Native Americans can come work, learn, grow, be mentored by the best and return to a leadership posi- tion. Dante is a success story I know staff can look to and aspire to be like.” Desiderio is also a leading policy expert in tax and finance, Tribal enterprise development, gaming, entrepreneurship among Tribal members, financial literacy and government contracting. During his career he has been responsible for advis- ing organizations, Tribal leaders, federal officials and congressional offices on Tribal economic policy issues including tax and finance, Tribal enterprise develop- ment, gaming, entrepreneurship among Tribal members, financial literacy and government contracting, making him a leading national expert and advocate for Indian Country’s economic development and tax-related issues. For more information, visit ncai.org. May and June Community Transcription Project If you are interested in gaining skills transcribing and translating historical documents from Nuu-wee-ya’ please contact the Siletz language department at nickv@ctsi.nsn.us. The program hopes to announce opportunities to participate in the May-June training and transcription project soon – and may have stipends available for people interested in participating. How to access language materials online Virtual speaking groups and beginning community classes have begun again. Contact Nick Viles (nickv@ctsi.nsn.us) for login information. Ch’ee-la xwii-t’i (Greetings everyone) General Council Virtual Meeting Saturday, May 1, 2021 • 1 p.m. • Siletz, Oregon Call to Order Invocation Flag Salute Roll Call Approval of Agenda Approval of Minutes Special Presentation Tribal Council Members Committee Reports *Tribal Members’ Concerns Chairman’s Report Announcements Adjourn Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to continue to keep the membership safe/healthy, the May 1, 2021. General Council Meeting will be on the Zoom platform. For access to the meeting link and access code, please email generalcouncil@ ctsi.nsn.us. Please include your name and roll number in the email. The meeting link and access code will be distributed to your email address on April 30, 2021, by 4:30 p.m. *If you would like to discuss Tribal members’ concerns, please indicate so in your email. The Tribal chairman will call upon Tribal members in the order the requests are received. The deadline to request the meeting link and to discuss Tribal members’ con- cerns is April 28, 2021. If you sign up to discuss your concerns, your name with Zoom will need to match the name with which you register. To assist Tribal members during this time of social distancing and the interruption of our normal schedules, this tutorial on how to access language materials and recordings from the Tribal website has been developed. I hope you and your families are safe and healthy during this time. Hopefully many folks can access these materials from the safety of their homes. Go to www.ctsi.nsn.us. Enter in your roll number and last four digits of your Social security number to log on to the Tribal member access area. Click on “Our Heritage.” On the drop down, click on “Language.” Lots of written and recorded mate- rials are available in this section. The Nuu-wee-ya’ (Our Words) Language Dictionary is on this page. You can click on the selection A to Z to look up written English language words and their Athabaskan equivalent. Also on this page are Siletz Dee-ni Volumes 1, 2 & 3. Just click on “Study Materials” and scroll down. Volume 1 contains lessons on body parts, count- ing, relatives, foods and table talk. In these lessons, the written word on the screen is accompanied by audio of the word’s pronunciation. Volume 2 con- tains animals, birds, colors, fish, greet- ings and goodbyes, insects, and trees and brush. Volume 3 contains lessons on sentence structure and word order. Each lesson has a complete prac- tical alphabet sound chart. All three volumes have a word document and audio recording for each lesson. Tests are available if you want to use them. To access the Siletz Talking Dic- tionary, click on Siletz Language web- site. Drop down three lines and click on www.siletzlanguage.org, go to the Talking Dictionary tab and click on it. The Siletz Talking Dictionary Page will appear. Just below the words “Search for” is an empty white box. Type in the word you are searching for and click on the “search” button. The word and the Athabaskan equivalent will appear just below the search box. To hear the word being spoken, simply click on the red ear icon on the left side of the page. You may have to wait a few seconds for the page and sound to load, depend- ing on your connectivity. Some of the words also have pictures. Also on the www.siletzlanguage. org website are 14 Language learning videos and many other culture-related videos, materials and curriculum. May 2021 • Siletz News • 13
