NIEA AWARD WINNERS
NIEA is proud to honor the educators and advocates who continue to make a lasting impact on Native education. NIEA honors award winners every year at our National Convention.
+ Demmert Cultural Freedom Award
2005 Jemez Charter School New Mexico
2006 Lower Kuskokwim School Alaska
2007 Aha Punana Leo Native Hawaiian
2008 Rough Rock Community School Arizona
2008 Nixyaawii Community School Oregon
2008 Chief Leschi School Washington
2009 Bug O Nay Ge Shig School Minnesota
2010 Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Washington
2010 Arapahoe Language Lodge Wyoming
2010 Ke Kul ‘o Samual M. Kamakau Laboratory Public Charter School Hawaii
2011 Eva B. Stokely Elementary School New Mexico
2012 Osage Nation Language Program Oklahoma
2013 Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke’elikolani College of Hawaiian Language Hawaii
2013 The Shoshoni Language Project Utah
2013 Keres Children’s Learning Center New Mexico
2014 Halau Ku Mana Hawaii
2015 Aha Kauleo Statewide Council Hawaii
2016 First Alaskans Institute Alaska
2017 National Coalition of Native American Language Schools & Programs National
2018 Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu School Hawaii
2019 Ka Papahana Kaiapuni, Hawaiian Language Immersion Program
2019 Yup'ik Immersion Program
2019 Kha'p'o Community School
2022 Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Language Program
2023 Salamanca City School District Seneca Language Program
+ Educator of the Year
1977 Dr. William G. Demmert, Jr., Tlingit/Sioux
1978 Dr. Robert J. Swan, Chippewa-Cree
1979 Evaulu Russell, Kiowa
1980 Stuart Tonemah, Kiowa-Comanche
1981 Dr. Murton McCluskey, Blackfeet
1982 Agnes Chavis, Lumbee
1983 Dr. Michael Doss, Crow
1984 Dr. Gerald Gipp, Hunkpapa Lakota
1985 Tom Thompson, Blackfeet
1986 Dr. Larry LaCounte, Chippewa
1987 Dr. Lloyd Elm, Onondaga
1988 Lionel Bordeaux, Sicangu Lakota
1989 Dr. Joseph McDonald, Salish-Kootenai
1990 Dr. Janine Pease Pretty-on-Top, Crow
1991 Dr. Cornel Pewewardy, Comanche-Kiowa
1992 Dr. Joseph Martin, Navajo
1993 Edward Parisian, Chippewa-Cree
1994 Dorothy Kiyukan, Prairie Band of Potawatomi
1995 Dr. David M. Gipp, Hunkpapa Lakota
1996 Dr. John W. Tippeconnic III Comanche
1997 Dr. Karen Gayton Swisher, Hunkpapa Lakota
1998 Dr. Sandra J. Fox, Oglala Lakota
1999 Carmen Taylor, Salish-Oneida
2000 Dr. Barry Harding, Lumbee
2001 Dr. Sue Ann Warner, Comanche
2002 Danielle Walking Eagle, Sicangu Lakota
2003 William Mehojah, Kaw
2004 Joyce Silverthorne, Confederated Tribe of Salish-Kootenai
2005 Richard B. Williams, Oglala Lakota
2006 Vida Stabler, Umoho
2007 Larry Kimura, Native Hawaiian
2008 Dr. David Kekaulike Sing, Native Hawaiian
2009 Denise Juneau, Mandan and Hidatsa
2010 Michelle M. Parada, Rincon Band of Luisena Mission Indians
2011 Keiki Kawai’ae’a, Native Hawaiian
2012 Dr. Rick St. Germaine, Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe Tribe
2013 Leon Oosahwe, Keetoowah Cherokee
2014 Marilyn Charging, Arikara Nation
2015 Mandy Smoker-Broaddus, Assiniboine/Sioux
2016 Dr. Heather Shotton, Wichita, Kiowa, Cheyenne
2017 Matthew Remle, Hunkpapa Lakota
2018 Betty Ojaye, Navajo Nation
2019 Tami Johnson, White Earth Ojibwe
2021 David J. O'Connor, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe
2022 Cecilia Firethunder, Oglala Lakota
2023 Stephen Bell, Lumbee
+ Lifetime Achievement Award
2003 Rosemary Christensen, Bad River Chippewa
2003 Dr. Lionel Bordeaux, Sicangu Lakota
2004 Dr. William Demmert, Tlingit, Oglala Lakota
2005 Dr. Will Antell, White Earth Ojibwe
2006 Joe Abeyta, Santa Clara Pueblo
2007 Grayson Noley, Choctaw
2007 Eva B. Stokely, Diné
2008 Henrietta Mann, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma
2008 Gerald Gipp, Hunkpapa Lakota
2009 Anagayuquq Oscar Kawagley, Yupiaq
2009 Cheryl Kulas, Oglala Lakota/Turtle Mountain Chippewa
2010 Dr. Joseph F. McDonald, Confederated Salish and Kootenai
2010 Elouise C. Cobell, Blackfeet
2011 Joann Sebastian, Morris Sault St. Marie Chippewa
2012 Dr. Teresa Makuakane-Drechsel, Native Hawaiian
2012 John Tippeconnic, III, Comanche
2013 Dr. Sandra J. Fox, Oglala Lakota
2013 Dr. Lloyd Elm, Onondaga
2014 Robin Butterfield, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
2015 Namaka Rawlins, Native Hawaiian
2016 Joyce Silverthorne, Confederated Tribe of Salish-Kootenai
2017 Dr. Sherry Allison, Navajo Nation
2018 Joe Garcia, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo
2019 Makalapua Alencastre, Native Hawaiian
2019 Dr. David Beaulieu, White Earth Chippewa
2019 Shirley Tuzroyluke, Alaska Native
2021 Bridget Ann Neconie, Pueblo of Acoma
2021 Dr. David Kekaulike Sing, Native Hawaiian
2022 Dr. Cornel Pewewardy, Comanche-Kiowa
2023 Dr. Joseph Martin, Diné