Original CIRI enrollee Richard Perry (Yup’ik and Athabascan) describes himself as an artist, writer and storyteller.
Shareholder Spotlight: Richard Perry
Original CIRI enrollee Richard Perry (Yup’ik and Athabascan) describes himself as an artist, writer and storyteller.
CIRI shareholder Clara Amidon (Yup’ik and Unangan) never dreamed she’d be teaching virtually during a pandemic.
Even during a global pandemic, CIRI shareholder Eric Watson is committed to helping the eight federally recognized tribes within the Cook Inlet region collaborate and strengthen their relationships with each other and with Cook Inlet Tribal Council.
CIRI shareholder Amber Christensen Fullmer (Inupiaq) decided to mark her hands and arms with traditional lines because, as a mixed-race person, “I could step out of being Native and into whiteness without thinking about it,” she explains.
A family tragedy at a young age set CIRI shareholder Cynthia Demientieff on a lifelong path of helping others.
When LeeAnn Cooper Garrick was a young teen, her father picked her up after school one day and took her to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to apply for her Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood card.
CIRI shareholder Rhonda Shelford Jansen’s art may evoke images of the past, but it took coming into her own as an adult and evolving past a “fear of failure that begins to diminish when you reach middle age” to commit to the act of creating said art.
Though CIRI shareholder Clinton Ray Lageson spends much of his time collaborating with and advocating for Alaska Native and American Indian people across the U.S., his heart is at home with his Tribe and his family.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, CIRI shareholder Thomas Yates (Athabascan) wanted to fight.
With a background in political science, a heart to help and a passion for activism, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that CIRI descendant Piper Tolbert could one day hold the highest office in the land.