On July 20, 2010, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch singed into law a bill that creates a New Hampshire Commission of Native American Affairs. The Commissions purposes are to
"recognize the historic and cultural contributions of Native Americans in New Hampshire, to promote and strengthen their own heritage, and to further their needs through state policy and programs." To do so, the Commission is charged with accomplishing these tasks:
- To review and study local, state, and federal issues common to Native Americans and persons of Native American descent living in the state.
- To develop recommendations that will assist state agencies with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-601), and
- To help Native American groups, organizations and individuals in New Hampshire:
- secure social services, education, employment opportunities, health care, housing, cultural opportunities and census information,
- establish and/or continue programs concerning Native American history, culture and affairs and
- promote and strengthen the creation, display and sale of Native American arts and crafts, and provide education information to artisans and marketing outlets promoting the legal labeling of such products as Indian or Native American.
The Commission will have fifteen members, ten of whom will be representatives from the Native American community. Members must be from the State of New Hampshire, and must represent diverse areas and groups, organizations and individuals knowledgeable about Native American history, culture and affairs. The non-Native members of the commission will serve because of their professional positions - the director of NH Travel and Tourism, the director of the Native American Program at Dartmouth College, and archaeologist appointed by the director of the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources, the director of the NH State Council on the Arts, and a genealogist appointed by the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.
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