The American Indian Ambassadors Program is organized around 4 basic core cultural values:• Relationship - Kinship: We are related to all things and our relationships dictate our roles in society. • Responsibility - Community: We are responsible for our relatives.• Reciprocity - Cyclical: Relationships and responsibilities are circular in nature and all things are connected.• Redistribution - Generosity: We have a responsibility to share resources and information for the good of the whole.
In 1993, the American Indian Ambassadors Program was created with a purpose to rekindle dormant visions, renew and energize the current leadership and empower emerging leaders to create new avenues for Native Americans to express their cultural values in all arenas of contemporary life. Up to eighteen participants are selected to participate in this two-year fellowship. They are usually in the age range of 25-35. They represent a cross section of the Native American population. Both urban and reservation-based individuals are selected. Program selectors attempt to build a class of diverse individuals through a selection matrix that accounts for gender, regional, tribal, social, educational and professional consideration. Ambassadors selected tend to be early to mid career, representing an array of professions, including law enforcement, health, public administration, the arts, business, telecommunications, education and tribal governance. Each Ambassador brings to the Program a rich background and the unique values of their tribes and communities.
For more information about Americans for Indian Opportunity please visit our website at www.aio.org.
The Taos Indians and the Battle for Blue Lake, Comanche Woman, How People Harness their Collective Wisdom and Power to Construct the Future in Co-Laboratories of Democracy, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Ten Little Indians, The Business of Fancy Dancing: Stories and Poems, Indian Killer, Following Harvest, In Defense of Congress, God is Red a View of Native Religion, American Indians American Justice, Genocide of the Mind New Native American Writing...
Chief Joseph, Ten Bears, Quanah Parker, Sacagawea, Pocahontas, Evo Morales, Ada Deer, Margaret Gover, LaDonna Harris, Wilma Mankiller, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and all the Indigenous Peoples trying to make a difference.