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Ingrid Washinawatok PDF Print E-mail
ingrid.jpgFlying Eagle Woman
July 31,1957 - March 4,1999

"Since the time that human beings offered thanks for the first sunrise, sovereignty has been an integral part of indigenous peoples' daily existence. With the original instructions from the Creator, we realize our responsibilities. Those are the laws that lay the foundation of our society. These responsibilities manifest through our ceremonies... Sovereignty is that wafting thread securing the components of a society. Sovereignty runs through the vertical strands and secures the entire pattern. That is the fabric of Native Society." -- Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa, 1999

O'Peqyaw-Metamoh passed into the spirit world on March 4, 1999. She was a loving mother, wife, daughter,sister, aunt, friend, and proud member of the Menominee Nation. Ingrid was an internationally known humanitarian who worked for Indigenous peoples' rights, Indigenous women's issues, sovereignty, human rights throughout the world.

Throughout her lifetime, Ingrid was an activist when it came to promoting Indigenous cultures and traditions. She was Executive Director of the Fund for the Four Directions in New York City, a private fund, where she planned, organized and directed grant-making policies and initiated a new effort to promote and revitalize Indigenous languages and cultures. Ingrid touched the lives of countless people who remember her positive energy, charismatic personality and radiant enthusiasm for making the world a better place. We will miss her energetic presence, her laughter,and her leadership. Ingrid will be remembered as a remarkable woman who served her people and others selflessly.

AWARDS AND HONORS RECEIVED BY INGRID
  • Recognized as the 1998 Indian of the Year by the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers
  • Selected as a Fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation's Next Generation Leadership Program
  • Received the 1995 Fredrick Douglas Award From the North Star Fund, for her Outstanding Contributions To the Struggle For Political, Social And Economic Justice For All People in the Spirit Of Fredrick Douglas
  • Was an Active Member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace, Convened By Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum
  • Participated in and organized sessions for the first through the fourth State of the World Forum Conferences in San Francisco
  • Served as an Official Translator for an international NGO At the Second International Conference on Indigenous People And Land
  • Served as a Delegate to the 2nd Through the 8th And the 37th Sessions Of the Commission On Human Rights and the 12th and 15th Session Of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples
  • Served in 1994 as Chairperson Of the NGO Committee of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples
  • Board Member of the American Indian Community House
  • Founding Member of the Native American Council, New York City
  • Received the Fanny Lou Hamer Award,1992, for Work on Behalf of Indigenous Peoples
  • Received Keys From the City Of Scranton, Pennsylvania,1993
  • Co-Produced the Film Documentary "Warrior"
  • Received the Asian-Americans For Equality Award 1987-For Building Racial Harmony And Economic Cooperation
  • Received the International Women's Leadership Award of the International Cross Cultural Black Women's Institute. 
Last Updated ( Sunday, 15 July 2007 )
 
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