Julia Coates was born in Pryor, Oklahoma and was raised primarily in the Redwood Country of northern California. She attended San Francisco State University, where she received BAs in English and Anthropology. She received a PhD in American Studies from the University of New Mexico, while dividing her residence between Albuquerque and Window Rock, AZ, on the Navajo reservation. She has worked on Indian issues for over twenty years, including lobbying and consultant organizations. She has been an instructor at the University of New Mexico and the Institute for American Indian Arts, and has conducted extensive interviews and research on the At Large Cherokee citizens.

She was employed by the Cherokee Nation for seven years as a Staff Development Officer. She is presently a professor of Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis, but is on leave this year in order to act as a Visiting Professor of Cherokee Studies at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, where she is one member of a team tasked with launching its new Cherokee Studies degree. She presently resides in Tahlequah, OK, but has for many years divided her residence between Oklahoma and California. Her brother, Mark, and father, Glen, reside in northern California, and her late mother, Jan Rea, resided in Taos, New Mexico.

1)Create the Cherokee Nation Community Association, the non-profit that acts as an umbrella over the 24 At Large satellite organizations

2) Increase funding to the Community Organization Training and Technical Assistance (COTTA) budget for enhanced programs for the At Large citizens

3) Establish the National Treasures program under the Cherokee Nation and open it for the consideration of At Large citizens to also be honored

4) Extend HUD Section 184 (mortgage assistance) programs to Arkansas and Texas, where it did not previously apply.

In addition, Julia Coates… Click to learn more