Gumbs Relected As Regional V.P. Of National Congress Of American Indians

Lance A. Gumbs, the former tribal chairman and current tribal representative from the Shinnecock Indian Nation, was reelected to a seventh term as the regional vice president to the National Congress of American Indians for the Northeast region at its 78th annual convention, held October 7 through October 14.

The National Congress of American Indians, founded in 1944, is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities to protect and advance tribal governance and treaty rights with the United States. Gumbs was elected by the tribal leadership, delegates and individual members of the 26 tribes located throughout the Northeast from Maine to Washington, D.C., and will serve in this position for another two-year term. Gumbs has continuously been elected as the regional vice president or alternate vice president for the Northeast, one of the 12 regions across the United States, that make up the body of the National Congress.

As the new session gets underway there are a number of issues that affect Shinnecock and the rest of the tribal nations in the Northeast and across the country, including the American Rescue Plan and the designated funding earmarked for tribal governments and communities, the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous, the horrors attributed to the Indian boarding schools, and tribal land restoration. The National Congress of American Indians is headquartered at the Embassy of Tribal Nations in D.C.

“I look forward to working with the 11 other regional vice presidents, serving the tribal nations in my region and all of the tribal nations across the country as we continue the quest to protect tribal sovereignty and uphold the federal government’s trust responsibility to the 574 federal tribes and the 100 plus state tribes in the process,” said Gumbs. “There is a lot of work to be done with the new administration moving forward, including the reinstatement of the upcoming Tribal Leaders Summit under President Biden.”