Our Culture and the Impact of Historical Trauma

Date: 

Friday, September 24, 2021, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

In-person lecture and streaming live from Harvard School of Dental Medicine, REB Auditorium

REGISTER HERE

 

FEATURING Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and Former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs

 

Cheryl Andrews-Maltais is the Chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah. The Tribe is located on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. They are part of the Great Wampanoag Tribal Nation; known as The People of The First Light, and were signatories on the 1621 Treaty of Peace between the Wampanoag Nation and the King James I of England. The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe has been Federally Recognized for over 30 years. They have also enjoyed mature status as a Self-Governance Tribe for almost 20 years with both the BIA and IHS. As Tribal Chairwoman, Mrs. Maltais also serves on the Board of Directors of the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET), and serves as the Easter Region Delegate on the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tribal Self Governance Advisory Committee, the Indian Health Service Office of Self Governance Advisory Committee (as the Alternate Delegate), the Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC), and the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee (HHS-STAC). She also serves on the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribal Cultural and Historic Commission and is the Chairwoman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming Corporation (AWGC). She previously served on the Center for Disease Control Tribal Advisory Committee (CDC- TAC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Tribal Advisory Committee (SAMHSA-TAC).

 

Before being re-elected as the Chairwoman, Mrs. Maltais completed a Presidential appointment in Washington DC for the Obama Administration as the first Tribal Leader to become a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. Her professional experience combined with her comprehensive tribal government knowledge and experience provided the expertise necessary to manage a diverse portfolio of issues; ranging from federal recognition, to tribal self-governance, to historic preservation and Sacred Sites’ protections, to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) regulations, to tribal consultations, to domestic and international issues on women’s rights and protections, to international repatriation.