Nash County Public Schools Indian Education Parent Committee
HISTORY OF THE NCPS INDIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM
Nash County Public Schools Federal Program Department began researching the possibility of creating a Native American parent and student focus group during the 2022-23 school year at the request of parents. After holding an interest meeting, it was clear that parents and students were interested in creating a committee that focuses on the cultural and academic needs of our American Indian student population. The NCPS Indian Education Parent Committee (IEPC) was officially formed in August 2023 and has been hosting cultural events and student/parent events since that time.
NCPS IEPC Current Officers
Rashena Hooper, President: iepcchair@ncpschools.net
Stacey Lynch, Vice President, slynch701@gmail.com
Dana Tanner, Secretary: iepcsec@ncpschools.net
NCPS Federal Programs
Janet Morris, IEPC District Liaison: jjmorris@ncpschools.net
Adriana Havier, Federal Programs Assistant: ahavier@ncpschools.net
N.C. Tribal and Urban Communities
Did you know the following tribes are represented in the Nash County school district?
Haliwa-Saponi: The name Haliwa is derived from the two counties: Halifax and Warren, which are the ancestral homelands of the Saponi people dating from the 1730s. They re-organized and adopted their current form of government in 1953 and were recognized in 1965 by the state of North Carolina.
Chickasaw Nation: The Chickasaw Nation established its Constitution of 1856 during huge gatherings at Good Spring (now Tishomingo, Oklahoma), and they established their own territory in present-day, south-central Oklahoma.
Lumbee: The Lumbee Tribe was recognized by North Carolina in 1885. In 1956, the U.S. Congress passed the Lumbee Act which recognized the Lumbees as being American Indians. The Lumbee take their name from the Lumber River, which winds through Robeson County, North Carolina.
Navajo Nation: Established in 1868, the majority of the Navajo Nation extends into the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, covering over 27,000 square miles.
Tohono O’odham: Historically, the O’odham inhabited an enormous area of land in the southwest, extending South to Sonora, Mexico, north to Central Arizona (just north of Phoenix, Arizona), west to the Gulf of California, and east to the San Pedro River. In 1917, the main Tohono O’odham reservation was established.
Saponi Nation of Ohio: The Saponi Nation of Ohio is a tribal community composed of descendants and heirs of the historic
Saponi Nation. The Siouan ancestors have lived in the Ohio River Valley area since before 1200 A.D.
Waccamaw Siouan: The first written mention of the Waccamaw Siouan Indians appeared in historical records of
1521 by the Spanish explorer, Captain Franciso Gordillo. The Waccamaw Siouan Indians are
one of eight state-recognized Native American tribes in North Carolina and are located
predominantly in the southeastern North Carolina counties of Bladen and Columbus.
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma: Kiowa people are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated
southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th
centuries, and eventually into the Southern Plains by the early 19th century. In 1867, the Kiowa
were moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Today, they are federally
recognized as Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma with headquarters in Carnegie, Oklahoma.
Sioux: The Sioux are one of the largest and oldest Native American tribes in North America, dating
back three thousand years. The Sioux first lived in the central Mississippi River Valley and Great
Lakes region before moving west following the Iroquois Nation’s conquest of their territory.
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