An attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will discuss "Tribal Sovereignty Now and in the Future," on Tuesday, February 5, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Baobab Lounge at Merrill College on the UC Santa Cruz campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Raho Ortiz, an Acoma Pueblo attorney, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and grew up in Albuquerque, Tucson, and on the Navajo Reservation. He earned his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1990 and his law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1993.
Ortiz has worked with the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona. He has also served as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian affairs in Washington, D.C. In 2001, he began his current position with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco in the Indian Programs Office.
Ortiz's talk is part of Merrill College's "Knowledge and Creativity of First Peoples" lecture series. The next event in the Merrill American Indian Colloquium Series will be March 5, when renowned Pomo basketweaver Susan Billy speaks.
