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DoD Celebrates National Native American Heritage Month

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The observance of National Native American Heritage Month each November gives the Defense Department an opportunity to honor the service of some 21,000 American Indian and Alaska Native service members and civilians, a defense official told DoD News.

Joe Sarcinella, the department’s senior advisor and liaison for Native American affairs, said the department benefits when members of the nation’s 566 federally recognized tribes join the military community and add to its diversity.

Native Americans have the highest per capita number of service members in the country of any ethnic group throughout the U.S., he said.

Expanding Opportunities for Native Americans

“Military service, in particular, is hugely important in Indian Country. … We’re trying to make sure that more and more native people make their way into DoD, not just in the military but in civilian roles as well. I know there’s a lot of outreach that’s happening,” Sarcinella said.

Sarcinella said he recently attended the National Congress of the American Indian’s annual meeting in Atlanta, where he spoke to a number of representatives from schools with mentoring programs for native students.

“There is a dialogue that’s happening,” he said. “Native students want to come in and work for the Department of Defense, not just in a tribal capacity, but in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It’s really a growing field.”

He said one great example is Navajo Technical College, which has numerous defense contracts. “They’re doing some amazing work in science and technology,” he said. “I believe they actually worked on the Mars [Exploration] Rover.”

Filling the Role of Liaison

Sarcinella is tall, with a long braid of dark hair. Interviewed wearing a suit, eagle-talon necklace and fancy cowboy boots, he described his heritage. He said his father’s family was first-generation French and Italian; his mother’s mother was Hunkpapa Lakota and Assiniboine, from Canada; and his maternal grandfather was “non-removed Creek and Scottish, from Tennessee.” His wife is a member of the Navajo nation.

He grew up with a high level of cultural fluency, he said. “My whole life was pretty much civic service, community service, really focused on Indian country,” he added.

Sarcinella said as a “one-man band” for DoD, he has a full portfolio. He’s the “go-to person” for Native American and Native Hawaiian affairs. He also manages the Native American lands and environment mitigation program, “where DoD goes in and cleans up DoD impacts on tribal land.”

Sarcinella works with interagency partners including the departments of Interior and Energy on tribal affairs, and trains DoD military and civilian personnel on proper tribal consultation methods.

He earned a master’s degree in federal Indian law and policy before attending law school, and he has worked with tribes, in academia and for nonprofits before accepting his current position with DoD.

The job he holds for the department is in partnership with the National Congress of the American Indian. “I thought it would be a good way to serve Indian country, and also serve my government and my country,” he said.

Sarcinella said his advice to native students is to get a broad range of experience along with an education.

“Education is key, but … if you are coming from a reservation, you have to try to get those internships, those externships, those abilities to actually leave your home turf,” he said. “Actually get out there and see how the government operates.” Similar to internships, externships offer students formal training and hands-on experience in their field of study.

Government Outreach Efforts Increasing

Sarcinella noted the department engages in vigorous outreach with Native American communities, and the department’s Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity, or ODMEO, is “really going above and beyond,” he said -- working with SAIGE, the Society for American Indian Government Employees, conducting training, and expanding opportunities.

ODMEO also is working to implement a strategic plan to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce, in line with Executive Order 13583 to establish such an initiative governmentwide, he noted.

Sarcinella added that President Barack Obama recently created the White House Council on Native American Affairs.

“It’s the first time in history that native people have actually had the ears of the secretaries, in an established body that meets regularly to discuss tribal affairs,” he said. “It’s in its first year, [and] it’s going to be very interesting to see what comes about from that body.”

DoD will honor National Native American Heritage Month with programs and activities at installations around the world. In addition to the monthly observance, Nov. 28 is Native American Heritage Day. The theme for this year’s observance is “Native Pride and Spirit: Yesterday, Today and Forever.”

(Follow Karen Parrish on Twitter: @ParrishDoDNews)
 

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