Tex Hall was president of the National Congress of American Indians twice, founded in 1944. Hall is chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in North Dakota and lives in New Town, N.D.

Daniel Sumner directs the University of California Agricultural Issues Center in Davis, Calif.

David A. Bositis is a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., that focuses on public policy issues of concern to African-Americans. He runs the center’s National Opinion Poll, which samples African-Americans as well as the general population. He is a source for statistics […]

Joseph Martin, a Menominee, was president of the National Native American Bar Association in 2005.

Mechel “Mickey” Paggi directs the Center for Agricultural Business at California State University, Fresno.

Buffy Sainte-Marie, who is Cree, is a singer, composer, artist and educator. She founded and operates the Nihewan Foundation for Native American Education.

The Rev. Harry Knox is president and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a national community of religious and spiritual people, denominations and organizations from all faith traditions dedicated to achieving reproductive justice. The coalition includes initiatives directed at African-American and Hispanic congregations. Knox was previously a member of the religion council of […]

Bill Bigelow, along with Bob Peterson, is editor of Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (Rethinking Schools, 1998). Bigelow works for Rethinking Schools magazine and teaches a class at Franklin High School in Portland, Ore. He is the curriculum editor of Rethinking Schools and the co-director of the Zinn Education Project.

Mike L. Graham, who is Cherokee, is founder of United Native America, which is working to abolish Columbus Day and create a federal national holiday for Native Americans. The online holiday petition which he started has more than 63,000 signatures.