Ned Norris Jr. (born 1955) is chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation of southern Arizona. He previously held the office for two consecutive terms from 2007 to 2015,and was returned to the office in 2019. Norris previously worked as the director of marketing and public relations for the O'odham Gaming Authority.[1]
Additionally,Norris was employed as the director of public relations and marketing for the Tohono O’odham Gaming Authority.[2] He resigned from this position in 2003 when he was elected the Vice Chairman of the Tohono O'odham nation.[2] Norris has also worked for the Desert Diamond Casino as assistant director of public relations.[2]
Vice Chairman of the Tohono O'odham (2003–2006)
In 1999,Vivian Juan-Saunders announced her intention to challenge incumbent Tohono O'odham Chairman Edward Manuel,who was seeking a second term in office.[1] Juan-Saunders chose Norris as her running mate in the election.[1] Manuel defeated Juan-Saunders to win a second term as chairman.[1]
In 2003,Vivian Juan-Saunders once again sought the chairmanship with Ned Norris Jr. as her running mate.[1] She and Norris won the election with 59% of the vote in a rematch with Edward Manuel,who was seeking a third term.[1] Norris became the Vice Chairman of the Tohono O'odham under Chairman Vivian Juan-Saunders,the first woman to lead the Tohono O'odham.[3] He held the post until his resignation in June 2006.[3]
Chairman of the Tohono O'odham (2007–2015,2019–)
Video featuring Norris about protecting Tohono O'odham burial grounds in 2020.
In 2007,Norris challenged incumbent Chairman Juan-Saunders in the Tohono O'odham executive election.[3] Norris ousted Juan-Saunders in the election,which was held on May 26,2007.[3] He received 1,766 of the 3,105 total votes cast by Tohono O'odham voters.[3] His running mate,Isidro Lopez,became the Vice Chairman of the Tohono O'odham.[3] Norris and Lopez were formally inaugurated as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation on Friday,August 3,2007.[4]
He announced that his priorities as Chairman are to attract college educated Tohono O'odham back to the reservation,as well as focus on health care and the alleviation of unemployment.[2]
In 2011,Norris announced his candidacy for re-election as chairman. Wavalene Marie Romero,a Tohono O'odham councilwoman,is Norris' running mate for vice chairman. Vice Chairman Isidro Lopez chose to retire rather than seek a second term.
On Saturday,May 28,2011,Ned Norris Jr. was re-elected to a second term as Chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The total number of votes was 3,729. Norris received 2,238 votes defeating Juan-Saunders who received 1,491 votes.
In May 2015,Norris and his running mate Romero were defeated by former Chairman Edward D. Manuel by 213 votes.
In May 2019,Norris won a runoff election to defeat Manuel and to return to the office of Chairman.[5]
The Tohono Oʼodham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The United States federally recognized tribe is the Tohono Oʼodham Nation.
Pima County is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the population is centered. The county is named after the Pima Native Americans, also known as Tohono O'odham, who are indigenous to this area.
Oʼodham or Papago-Pima is a Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, where the Tohono Oʼodham and Akimel Oʼodham reside. In 2000 there were estimated to be approximately 9,750 speakers in the United States and Mexico combined, although there may be more due to underreporting.
The Akimel O'odham, also called the Pima, are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona, as well as northwestern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. The majority population of the two current bands of the Akimel O'odham in the United States are based in two reservations: the Keli Akimel Oʼodham on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and the On'k Akimel O'odham on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. national monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona that shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. The park is the only place in the United States where the senita and organ pipe cactus grow wild. Along with this species, many other types of cacti and other desert flora native to the Yuma Desert section of the Sonoran Desert region grow in the park. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is 517 sq mi (1,340 km2) in size. In 1976 the monument was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, and in 1977 95% of Organ Pipe Cactus was declared a wilderness area.
Pima Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Pima County, Arizona. It serves the Tucson metropolitan area with a community college district consisting of five campuses, four education centers, and several adult education learning centers. It provides traditional and online instruction for over 144 programs. The college also offers workforce training, non-credit personal interest classes and post-baccalaureate certificates. PCC is one of the largest multi-campus community colleges in the United States, with relative ranking varying between fourth and tenth largest. PCC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Tumamoc Hill is a butte located immediately west of "A" Mountain and downtown Tucson, Arizona. It is home to many radio, television, and public safety transmitters. The 860-acre ecological reserve and U.S. National Historic Landmark was established by the Carnegie Institution in 1903. The University of Arizona (UA) owns a 340-acre (1.4 km2) preserve and leases another 509 acres (2.06 km2) as a research and education facility. The Steward Observatory maintains a small astronomical observatory with a 20-inch (510 mm) telescope on the hill. Besides being a prominent landmark, Tumamoc Hill has a long and varied history, and is currently an important site for ecological and anthropological research as well as a refuge and a recreational option for the people of Tucson. Part of the University of Arizona, the Desert Laboratory is located on Tumamoc.
Arizona's 7th congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona. The district stretches along the Mexico–United States border and includes the western third of Tucson, parts of Yuma and Nogales, as well as Avondale and Tolleson in Metro Phoenix. It is currently represented by Democrat Raúl Grijalva.
The Baboquivari Peak Wilderness or La Bestia is a 2,065-acre (8 km2) wilderness area in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is located in the Baboquivari Mountains 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Tucson, Arizona. It is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The United States Congress designated the Baboquivari Peak Wilderness in 1990. It is the smallest such designated wilderness in the state of Arizona. Today, the 2,900,000-acre (12,000 km2) Tohono O'odham Nation lies to the west. Baboquivari Peak's elevation is 7,730 feet. It is a popular site for many climbers, tourists and other visitors to Arizona and can be seen in the distance from the Kitt Peak National Observatory.
Sunnyside High School, opened in 1955, is home to two thousand students located on the south side of Tucson, Arizona. Sunnyside offers a variety of extracurricular programs, advanced placement courses, and specialized career and technical training programs. It is a part of the Sunnyside Unified School District.
The Tohono Oʼodham Nation is the collective government body of the Tohono Oʼodham tribe in the United States. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation governs four separate sections of land with a combined area of 2.8 million acres (11,330 km2), approximately the size of Connecticut and the second largest Indigenous land holding in the United States. These lands are located within the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona and border the Mexico–United States border for 74 miles (119 km) along its southern border. The Nation is organized into 11 local districts and employs a tripartite system of government. Sells is the Nation's largest community and functions as its capital. The Nation has approximately 34,000 enrolled members, the majority of whom live off of the reservations.
Vivian Juan-Saunders is an American politician who became the first woman to lead the Tohono O'odham Nation of southern Arizona in 2003. She served as Chairwoman of the Tohono O'odham from 2003 until 2007.
Edward D. Manuel is an American politician and current Chairman of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation council. He previously served the post of the Tohono O'odham nation of southern Arizona from 1995 until 2003. He is from Pisinemo, Arizona.
Isidro Bernard Lopez is an American tribal leader who has served as the Vice Chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation of southern Arizona since 2007.
Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Sells, Arizona. As of fall 2023, TOCC's student body was 96 percent American Indian/Alaskan Native. Tohono O'odham Community College serves approximately 1174 students. As of 2012, the college's faculty and staff was 57 percent American Indian, half of whom were O'odham.
Augustine Baptisto Lopez, Sr. was the tribal chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation, Arizona.
The Keep the Promise Act of 2013 is a bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during 113th United States Congress. The bill would prohibit the establishment of casinos on land in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area on Indian land acquired after April 9, 2013. If passed, the bill would have the immediate impact of preventing the Tohono O'odham Nation from building a casino on a piece of land in the Phoenix area which they purchased in 2003, and are currently in the process of having designated a reservation. The law is seen as being directed at them.
Queens Well is a populated place in Pima County, Arizona. It has an estimated elevation of 2,041 feet (622 m) above sea level. Queens Well is located in the Schuk Toak District on the east side of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The area had multiple solar powered wells installed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Juan Dolores, was a Tohono O'odham Native American of the Koló:di dialect, acting as one of the first linguists of the O'odham language. He is the first person to document traditional Tohono O'odham fables and myths, and worked with Alfred L. Kroeber to document the first studies into the O'odham language's grammar, which would eventually be compiled and published alongside other documents in The Language of the Papago of Arizona by John Alden Mason.
Consuelo Hernandez is an American politician. She is a Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives elected to represent District 21 in 2022. She is president of the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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