Here is a roundup of business news from around Indian Country.
Government
• Bryan Newland, the former chairman of the Bay Mills Indian Community in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, has been named Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Newland was also formerly Chief Judge of the Bay Mills Tribal Court. In the Obama administration, Newland served as counselor and policy adviser to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs from 2009 to 2012. He is a graduate of the Michigan State University College of Law.
• Daniel Cordalis was appointed as Deputy Solicitor for Water for the U.S. Department of the Interior. A member of Navajo Nation, Cordalis came to the position from private practice and previously served as an attorney for Earthjustice and the Yurok Tribe, and clerked for the Colorado Supreme Court and the Native American Rights Fund. He has more than a decade of experience on natural resources, water and land management cases for tribal governments and conservation organizations. Cordalis holds a bachelor’s degree from Rice University, and earned both a master’s degree and doctorate in law from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Contracting
• Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Seven Generations Architecture + Engineering, a part of the Bodwé Group of companies at Mno-Bmadsen, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indian’s economic development arm, took home four honors in the 2020 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Southwest Michigan Design Awards. Two design submissions received Honor Awards: The Leadership Camp Treehouses and the Arcadia Festival Place Master Plan. The firm also won Merit Awards for an Indiana private residence and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe D1 Health Clinic in Onamia, Minnesota.
Economic development
• Amelia Smiley-Rivera (Jiyál’axch) has joined the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska as an employment and training manager. In the role, Smiley-Rivera will help families reach their goals of being self-sufficient and securing sustainable livelihoods. Smiley-Rivera previously served in the State of Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services and held prior roles in behavioral health, education and social services. She earned an undergraduate degree in humanities from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo. and master’s degree in secondary teaching from the University of Alaska Southeast – Juneau.
Law & Policy
• The American Bar Association has honored Barbara Creel (Pueblo of Jemez) with a 2021 Spirit of Excellence Award. The annual award, given by the ABA’s Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity, honors professionals who have achieved excellence and supported others within their legal careers while demonstrating a commitment to racial and ethnic diversity. Creel’s career has focused on public defense, particularly around Native American rights and individual civil rights. She currently serves as director of the Southwest Indian Law Clinic at the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she’s also a professor.
Hospitality
• Alaska Native-owned Cape Fox Lodge in Ketchikan, Alaska was selected by booking provider Hotels.com for one of its 2021 Loved By Guests awards. The award winners are selected based on 2020 reviews from a minimum of 50 guests. Cape Fox Lodge had an average rating of 8.4, according to a statement. The lodge’s 69 rooms and two suites were renovated in 2019 and the property celebrated 30 years in business in 2020. Located near the Tongass National Forest, the lodge is a venture of the Cape Fox Corporation, an Alaska Native corporation for the village of Saxman in Southeast Alaska representing about 400 Tlingit shareholders. The corporation operates a range of commercial businesses and various federal contracting entities.
