National Endowment for the Humanities Appoints Jason Packineau as NEH’s Strategic Advisor for Native and Indigenous Affairs

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Packineau (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Pueblo of Jemez, Pueblo of Laguna) as NEH’s first Strategic Advisor for Native and Indigenous Affairs.

In this new position, Packineau will serve as the lead policy and strategy advisor for NEH’s outreach and engagement with Tribal Nations and Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. He will also coordinate NEH’s Tribal consultation policy, develop partnerships that enhance the agency’s support of Indigenous communities, and support convenings, listening sessions, capacity-building, and information sharing among state and jurisdictional Indigenous networks.

“We are thrilled to have Jason Packineau join NEH in this important and historic role,” said NEH Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo). “Packineau brings with him wide-ranging expertise in K–12 and higher education and deep ties to Indigenous communities throughout the country. We are excited to have him spearhead NEH’s outreach to Tribal Nations and communities to expand access to humanities resources and help bring the hidden histories of Native American peoples to light.”

Packineau is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation in North Dakota, with family connections to the Pueblo of Jemez and Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico. His career in education has broadly covered direct teaching efforts and administration in both K–12 and post-secondary education settings. Most recently, Packineau was the Associate Director for the Harvard University Native American Program and currently serves as the Board President for the NACA-Inspired School Network (NISN), a nationwide organization that supports and promotes Indigenous-led education efforts. For seven years, Jason worked as an elementary school teacher in the D.C. Public Schools system.
 

National Endowment for the Humanities: Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.