Merrill to present at Native American symposium

Tribal member Brent Merrill will be a featured speaker at the upcoming 10^th Sequoyah National Research Center Symposium scheduled for April 8-9 in Little Rock, Ark.

The research center is based within the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Merrill's presentation, "Native Imagery in the 21^st Century," will describe how Indians are portrayed in the media, in the movies and on television, including a discussion of Native mascots, said Merrill.

Sequoyah Executive Director Dan Littlefield, a lifelong member of the Native American Journalists Association, described Merrill, former Smoke Signals editor, as "an intense young man who is quite knowledgeable about current issues in Indian Country."

The center has an all-Native board of directors, though most who attend its annual symposium are non-Native, Littlefield said.