Native Youth voices heard at the 2011 National Intertribal Youth Summit

On July 24 – 28, 2011, 150 American Indian/Alaska Native students from 45 different tribes participated in the 2011 National Intertribal Youth Summit, held at the Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The 2011 National Intertribal Youth Summit is a youth leadership conference for tribal youth participants to meet other American Indian and Alaska Native youth and for federal agency leaders to discuss issues impacting youth in Indian Country. Some of the special activities for the week included: a Town Hall style session with Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli; a daily exercise session sponsored by First Lady Michelle Obama’s "Let's Move!" program as well as golf, soccer, and nutrition education clinics; a field trip to attend a feast day at the Santa Ana Pueblo; and special sessions targeting leadership development, healthy relationships and lifestyles, education, substance abuse prevention, cultural preservation, community development and protecting the environment. Throughout the week, youth participants prepared a public service announcement (PSA) that will be featured on You Tube. The summit ended with a spirited dance and game night.

Officials from the Obama administration and the U.S. departments of Justice, Interior, Health and Human Services, and Education attended the summit to listen to the Indian Country students' concerns on a variety of issues, ranging from drug and alcohol abuse, education, healthy relationships and protecting the environment.

Photos from the summit can be seen here: http://www.justice.gov/css-gallery/gallery-tribalyouth.html