MEET NCAI YOUTH COUNCIL'S NEW CO-VICE PRESIDENT
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
Chiminising Band member Rihanna Smith is a senior at Isle High School who will be graduating this June with her high school diploma as well as an Associate’s degree from Central Lakes College through the Post-Secondary Education Opportunity (PSEO) program. She is involved in sports year-round such as basketball (since the 4th grade), track, and cross country. She tried her hand at volleyball and golf as well and loved them both as well. She took some time off to explore the theater with the one-act play and participated in speech. Her academic interests are in math, “But I don’t like proofs,” she laughed. She also likes algebra, critical thinking, psychology, criminal justice, and English.
After graduation, she will be attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus and she is thinking of pre-law, but she hasn’t decided. She may pursue something to do with math, she said.
Her bubbling personality along with her accomplishments in academics, sports, theater, and speech lend the impression she is a genuine leader. But she is humble and doesn’t see it that way. Or she didn’t until last October.
Commissioner of Education Raina Killspotted said Mille Lacs has been looking at ways to get Native American youth from area public schools involved with the National Congress of American Indian (NCAI) Youth Council. She reached out to the partnering schools of Onamia, Isle, McGregor, Hinckley, Milaca, and Brainerd to invite them to send students to the November NCAI Conference in Las Vegas.
Katie Raverty, the Isle schools Indian Education Coordinator, reached out and asked Rihanna if she was interested in attending the NCAI fall conference on an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas. “I mean, I was like, a week in Vegas! Who would ever turn down a trip like that?” she said. “Yeah I will go!”
Rihnna learned Max Blake from Onamia High School and Celeste from McGregor High School were going also. Killspot ted was the mentor, guide, and chaperon for the three youth in Las Vegas. Along with attending and participating in the sessions, Killspotted took them out for a couple of evening adventures after the long days of learning.
They attended the conference on the Youth Track. Rihanna said she was participating in the discussions and “I kept raising my hand,” she laughed. The speaker announced they would be running the election for the NCAI Youth Council and asked for people to apply. “I was not thinking of applying,” she said. But she was encouraged by others to apply, and she submitted her application at the last minute before the midnight deadline.
“I was expecting not to win. The others had so much more experience than me,” Rihanna said.
She ended up elected as the Co-Vice President. The Youth Council has two elected co-presidents, two co-vice presidents, a press secretary, and a secretary. The mission of the National Congress of American Indian Youth according to their website, unite to serve our people’s concerns and interests by enhancing the spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional well-being of tribal youth for a better Native America, according to the website.
Rihanna explained the NCAI Youth Council’s next job was to attend the Executive Council Winter Session (ECWS) Conference in Washington DC in February 2025. The ECWS is the annual meeting of the NCAI Executive Council, one of NCAI’s three main governing bodies. This meeting presents an opportunity for Tribal delegates to hear from members of Congress and the Administration and helps to further the government-to-government relationship between Tribal Nations and the federal government.
The Youth Council met with the NCAI executives to discuss what the initiatives of the Youth Council are and their purpose. The Youth Council promotes youth priorities and uplift youth voices by allowing them to focus on areas of interest. These initiatives are designed to empower young leaders and ensure active participation within NCAI and in shaping policies that affect their futures.
A few of the initiatives the Council decided to focus on for this two-year term are language revitalization, promoting land back, and water rights, engaging in internal affairs, initiating policy, and fostering meaningful and healthy relationships, Rihanna said. The Council is hopeful to let their voices be heard by the executive council to begin the process of creating some policies that move their initiatives forward. “These are what we are passionate about and what we want to advocate for,” Rihanna said.
Each member works on certain initiatives on their own. Rihanna is thinking of including an environmental piece in her initiatives. “I am having a lot of fun and meeting a lot of people,” Rihanna said.
With the encouragement of Killspotted, Rihanna is in the process of trying to start a Mille Lacs Band Youth Council. “Max and I were just kind of joking around about it at the NCAI conference last November and saying, ‘Hey! We should start a Youth Council in Mille Lacs.’ Max said he thinks Red Lake has one, and White Earth has one, so we figured we should have one.”
The holidays came and went and life got busy, but Rihanna said she is organizing her thoughts to move forward to get other youth involved and engaged in a new Mille Lacs Youth Council. With the continued guidance and mentorship of Kill spotted, she is planning on reaching out to the other schools in the area including Nay Ah Shing, Onamia, Isle, McGregor, Hinckley, Milaca and Brainerd to recruit other youth for the Mille Lacs Council. “I don’t really have any experience in starting something like this. I don’t want to start something and have it be lame. But at the same time, I really want to engage more youth,” she said.
Rihanna has gifts of charisma and charm which in turn give rise to her to motivate and engage others. With mentorship from Killspotted and the strong women in her life, it is more likely than not that Rihanna will succeed in whatever she sets her mind to.
