Jennifer Porter is the current tribal chair of the

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho ( Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmiFirst Voices—Ktunaxa Home Page: About Uwww.firstvoices.com/explore/FV/sections/Data/Ktunaxa/Ktunaxa/Ktunaxa/ref>) is a federally recognized tribe of Lower Kootenai people. They are an ...

. She was born on the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

in Fort Defiance and is half Navajo and half Kootenai. She replaced her uncle on the Kootenai Tribal Council when she was 23. Porter has promoted educational and cultural programs, including a computer program to teach students words from the

Kutenai language The Kutenai language ( ), also Kootenai, Kootenay, Ktunaxa, and Ksanka, is the native language of the Kutenai people of Montana and Idaho in the United States and British Columbia in Canada. It is typically considered a language isolate, unrel ...

. She has three children, two of whom attend the Boundary County School District public school. Porter has been active in efforts to save the

Kootenai River The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, ...

white sturgeon White sturgeon (''Sinosturio transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous (migratory) fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, ...

. In 2009, she signed an agreement with

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

"to develop an enhanced tribal card for the purpose of crossing the border with the U.S. and Canada". In January 2012, the Kootenai Enhanced Tribal Card (ETC) was designated "as a travel document acceptable for entering into the United States through a land or sea port of entry".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Jennifer Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Native American politicians Women Native American leaders Ktunaxa people People from Fort Defiance, Arizona Women in Idaho politics 21st-century Native American women Native American people from Arizona American people of Navajo descent Kootenai Tribe of Idaho