 BLACKWELL, CHARLES W. Chickasaw Nation Ambassador to the United States of America and Director of Native Affairs & Development Group, died on January 2, 2013, of respiratory complications following surgery. Raised in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, near the Blue River and other small towns in the Chickasaw Nation, he was graduated from East Central State College, OK, and from the University of New Mexico School of Law. As an educator, lawyer, and diplomat, Ambassador Blackwell was a nationally known and forceful advocate for Tribal sovereignty and the fulfillment of the Federal-Tribal trust relationship, for building partnerships between the private and Tribal business sectors, and for Native health and education. He is survived by his two sons, Geoffrey and Jonathan Blackwell, their spouses, and three granddaughters. A memorial service will be held at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC on Saturday, January 26th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Memorial services will also be held in Ada, Oklahoma, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully asks that any donations please be sent in memory of Charles W. Blackwell to the Loneman School, P.O. Box 50, Oglala, SD 57764, on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
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