Tribute to Governor Rhodes 13th Annual Wendell Chino Recipient from Annette Alvarez on Vimeo.
PHOENIX, Arizona – A tribal elder with 10 children, 23 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren, who began serving Indian country more than four decades ago, will receive the Wendell Chino Humanitarian Award at the National Indian Gaming Association’s 2011 Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention.
The National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) convention will take place April 3-6 at the Phoenix Convention Center. The annual conference event brings together Indian gaming industry leaders, tribal leaders and representatives from more than 200 tribal governments who own and operate more than 400 casinos. The conference provides opportunities for networking, training and certifications for Indian gaming, and workshops on some of the most crucial issues facing Indian country. Around 2,000 people are expected to attend. A Cultural Reception will feature singers and dancers from nearby Indian nations as well as a Tlingit dance troupe from Alaska. And more than 350 exhibitors will display their goods and services at the trade show.
The Wendell Chino Humanitarian Award Banquet is one of the high points of the social events at the conference. This year’s recipient of the Wendell Chino Award is Gov. William R. Rhodes, 78, of the Gila River Indian Community. Before taking the oath of office on January 1, 2006, he served his community, beginning in 1970, as chief judge, lieutenant governor, and tribal council member. Rhodes began his career with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and later moved to the Gila River Police Department. He was the first Native American Deputy Sheriff with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office from 1965 -1968. Throughout the years, Rhodes has served on many boards and volunteer organizations. He is an elder with the Goodyear Presbyterian Church and has served on the Native American Committee on Native American Ministries for 18 years.
Wendell Chino, the award’s namesake, is an iconic figure in Indian country. He was a nationally recognized leader of the Mescalero Apache Nation, serving most of his life as his nation’s president. During that time he raised his tribe from poverty to prosperity through his advocacy and practice of “red capitalism.” He urged tribal nations to regain control of their lands, exercise sovereignty and grow. And he modeled his philosophy by turning the Mescalero reservation into a small business empire that raised his nation to a level of economic growth never before experienced by any other Native American tribe. Chino reportedly once joked that “The Zuni make jewelry, the Navajo make blankets, and the Apache make money.”
NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. congratulated Rhodes in advance of the conference. “Gov. Rhodes has worked his entire career in advocating for tribes and he’s really served Indian country at a great level,” Stevens said. “The Wendell Chino Award Humanitarian Award is one of the highest awards in Indian country and Gov. Rhodes has certainly earned it.”
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