History @ High Noon: The North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission

5 East Edenton Street,Raleigh NC 27601

09 November, 2022

Description

IN PERSON EVENT: Daniels Auditorium, North Carolina Museum of History Speakers: Kerry Bird, Director, and Quinn West Godwin, Associate Director, North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission Make plans to attend a special History at High Noon as we celebrate Native American Heritage Month by welcoming Kerry Bird and Quinn Godwin, the director and associate director for the newly created North Carolina American Indian Heritage Commission. Bird and Godwin will give us the inside scoop on what the commission does and how it will promote inclusivity and accurate representation across our state sites and resources. Director Kerry Bird is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and is of Lumbee tribal heritage. He is president of the Triangle Native American Society and a former president of the National Indian Education Association, the oldest and largest organization that works to advance culturally relevant educational opportunities for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students. Bird is a member of the Dix Park Community Committee, the local advisory board for the Ackland Art Museum, the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation Board, and the UNC World View Council of Advisors. He currently serves on the Alumni Committee for Racial and Ethnic Diversity and formerly served on the Board of Visitors for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bird graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Associate Director Quinn West Godwin was born and raised in Pembroke, NC, and is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Godwin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dramatic arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a JD from the UNC School of Law, where he served as president of the UNC Native American Law Students Association in his final year. In late 2017 and 2018, Godwin completed the UNC American Indian Center’s Native Leadership Institute as part of its third cohort. For the past four years, he has served as field coordinator for Governor Roy Cooper’s Office of Public Engagement and Inclusion, where, among other tasks, he served as an outreach liaison to diverse communities across the state.