Indian Leaders Wrap Up Conference in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Story-Date: 05:20 a.m. PST Sunday   , November 1, 1998

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Indian Leaders Wrap Up Conference in Myrtle Beach, S.C.


By Yolanda Jones, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 24--Tribal leaders with the National Congress of American Indians
ended their weeklong conference Friday and renewed their vow to continue to
fight attacks on Indian sovereignty.

And one way to do that is to introduce the more than 100 resolutions the
organization approved Friday afternoon on the last day of the NCAI
conference.

The resolutions range from tribes supporting the 2000 census, so American
Indians are counted, to environmental protection on tribal land and land
use rights.

The NCAI leaders will take the resolutions and lobby Congress for approval
so that Indian rights are protected.

"Tribal leaders understand the pending legislation, and what we're going to
do is step up and stop the attacks on tribal sovereignty, and this is what
the resolutions are all about," said Ernie Stevens, first vice president of
the NCAI and representative of the Oneida tribe from Wisconsin.

Stevens said a highlight of the conference for him was the youth
participation from tribes involved in the NCAI's youth commission.

At the conference, the youth commission established a set of bylaws and
selected four youth representatives who will be the voice for the group
with the NCAI.

"They are our future, and I'm proud that so many came to Myrtle Beach to
attend this conference," Stevens said.

The NCAI is the oldest and largest Indian organization in the country
fighting for Indian rights. There are 225 tribal members and 2,000
individual members.

The Catawba Indian Nation was the host of the conference and lobbied to
bring it to Myrtle Beach.

"Bringing the NCAI to Myrtle Beach gave a lot of Western tribes the chance
to see what was going on in Indian country on this side of the country,"
said Dewey Adams of the Catawba Indian Nation executive council. "The
economic development of South Carolina was impacted because a lot of money
was spent here during the conference."

The conference brought $4 million to $5 million to the Grand Strand, Adams
said.

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