News and Events

News Archive

UDALL FOUNDATION AWARDS 2013 NATIVE AMERICAN CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIPS


Posted: 4/11/2013

The Udall Foundation is pleased to announce that 12 students from 12 tribes and 11 universities have been selected as 2013 Native American Congressional Interns. They were selected by an independent review committee of nationally recognized Native educators and tribal policy leaders on the basis of academic achievement and a demonstrated commitment to careers in tribal public policy.

This highly regarded internship program is intended to provide American Indians and Alaska Natives with an insider's view of the federal government. The internship is located in Washington, D.C., and is known for placing students in extremely competitive internship positions in Senate and House offices, committees, Cabinet departments, and the White House, where they are able to observe government decision-making processes firsthand.

The Udall Foundation awards approximately 12 internships every summer on the basis of merit to American Indians and Alaska Natives who are college juniors or seniors, recent graduates from tribal or four-year colleges, or graduate or law students who have demonstrated an interest in fields related to tribal public policy, such as criminal justice, cultural preservation and revitalization, education, economic development, health, law, natural resources protection, and tribal governance.

The 12 Udall Interns will complete an intensive, 10-week internship in the summer of 2013. Special enrichment activities will provide opportunities to meet with key decision makers. From 1996 through 2013, 209 American Indian and Alaska Native students from 110 tribes will have participated in the program.

The 2013 Native American Congressional Interns are

  • Charisse Arce, Village of Iliamna of Alaska, interning with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, Division of Indian Affairs;
  • Karla Bird, Blackfeet Nation of Montana, interning with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Indian Education;
  • Darrell “Tiger” Brown Bull, Jr., Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, interning with the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs;
  • Nora Cata, Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, interning in the office of U.S. Senator Tom Udall;
  • Daniel Hickey, Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, interning with the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Majority Office;
  • Vincent Holguin, Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe of California, interning in the office of U.S. Senator Mark Udall;
  • MariKate Hulbutta, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma, interning in the office of U.S. Senator Martin T. Heinrich;
  • Brittany Hunt, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, interning in the office of U.S. Senator John McCain;
  • Thomas Jones, Aleut (Naknek) and Cherokee, interning in the office of U.S. House Representative Raúl M. Grijalva;
  • Kelbie Kennedy, Choctaw of Oklahoma, interning with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, Division of Indian Affairs;
  • Cara Wallace, Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, interning with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Indian Affairs;
  • Byron “Craig” Williams, Jr., Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, interning with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Tribal Justice.

To learn more about the 2013 Udall Interns, click here.

About the Udall Foundation
The Udall Foundation is an independent federal agency that was established by Congress in 1992 to provide federally funded scholarships for college students intending to pursue careers related to the environment, as well as to American Indian students pursuing tribal public policy or health care careers. In 1998, the Foundation grew to include the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, created by Congress as the federal government’s only program focused entirely on resolving federal environmental disputes. The Foundation also cofounded the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, which is a self-determination, development, and self-governance resource to Indigenous peoples.

For additional information, please contact Teresa Bravo at 520-901-8561 or bravo@udall.gov.


Back to the News and Announcements Archive