Jennifer Porter is the current tribal chair of the

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmi) is a federally recognized tribe of Lower Kootenai people, sometimes called the Idaho Ksanka. The Ktunaxa ( ; Kutenai pron. ), also known as Kutenai (), Kootenay (predominant spelling in ...

. She was born in

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

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 ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in sout ...

. 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 or Kootenai river is a major river in 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, the l ...

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

. 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 facilit ...

"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 Female 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