2018 Peace Tree Ceremony

The Native American Studies Program welcomes the public to its 26th annual Peace Tree Ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 11:30 a.m. at the Peace Tree. The Mountainlair ballrooms will serve as a rain location for the ceremony.

This year’s guest of honor is Sarah Kastelic, the executive director of the National Indian Welfare Association. She is an enrolled member of the Alaska Native Village of Ouzinkie, a subsistence community in northeastern Kodiak Island, whose presence dates back at least 9,000 years. Kastelic has led the National Congress of American Indians welfare reform program and was the founding director of NCAI’s Policy Research Center. She is a national award-winning leader who has been called, “a transformational leader working to further research policy that empowers American Indian and Alaska Native communities.”

Kastelic's public lecture, "Protecting Children, Preserving Families: Lessons from the Indian Child Welfare Act," will take place on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballroom.

The event is sponsored by the Carolyn Reyer Fund for Native American Studies, School of Social Work, Department of Psychology, Department of Political Science, the College of Education and Human Services and the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Contact: Bonnie Brown, Native American Studies Program Coordinator