The first Anishinaabek Caucus of Michigan
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Win Awenen Nisitotung (Sault Tribe newspaper), 3/15/19
Anishinaabek Caucus Mission Statement
The Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party educates, empowers, and advocates on issues that Native Americans deem important to Indian Country, including but not limited to Treaty Rights and Tribal Sovereignty.
“The State of Michigan occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabek – Three Fires Confederacy, the Odawa (Ottawa), Ojibwe (Chippewa), and Bodewadmi (Potawatomi). The Michigan Democratic Party recognizes historic Indigenous communities in Michigan and those forcibly removed from their homelands. We further recognize the ongoing relationship of dependence upon, and respect for, all living beings of earth, sky, and water. In offering this land acknowledgment, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history, and experiences.”
BOARD MEMBERS
Andrea Pierce Chair
Andrea Pierce is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
Tribal member helps found Anishinaabek Caucus
Nat Spurr
Vice-Chair
Nat Spurr is a member of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi.
Julie Dye Secretary
Julie Dye is a Pokagon Band Potawatomi Nation citizen and Neshnabemwen (Potawatomi language) apprentice. As a Native rights advocate and environmental activist, she works to improve the lives of Michigan’s Indigenous people through education and political action.
Julie was an ARCUS Center for Social Justice Leadership (Kalamazoo College) Regional Fellow, a graduate of Southwestern Michigan College and currently resides in Dowagiac, MI.
She serves as a Board Director for Kalamazoo ERACCE, Secretary for the statewide Anishinaabek Caucus of the Democratic Party, Vice-Chair of the Pokagon Band Elders Council and member of the Michigan Coalition Against Racism in Sports & Media.
Brandi Nehila Treasurer
Brandi Nehila is a Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians citizen.
Eva Menefee
Acting Treasurer