The American Indian Veterans Memorial Initiative (AIVMI) is a project spearheaded by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.  In early 2011, Stephen Bowers, a Vietnam combat veteran, and founding member of the Seminole Color Guard, along with former tribal Chairman Mitchell Cypress, launched an effort to have a statue put along the Vietnam Walkway near the Vietnam Wall on the National Mall in Washington D.C. that represents an American Indian soldier.

With continued support from the incoming Chairman, James E. Billie, a two-tour Vietnam veteran, and the other Tribal Council members, among them, Andrew Bowers, Jr., also a Vietnam veteran, the Initiative is gaining “its legs”.

Dr. Tome Roubideaux, a five-and-half-tour Vietnam veteran and member of the Rosebud Lakota Sioux tribe, and Dr. Robert “Bob” Primeaux, also a Vietnam veteran and member of the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux tribe have joined “The Team” to help support for the Initiative throughout Indian Country.

Janene Alford, a member of the Absentee Shawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma organized AIVMI’s first Blanket Honor Dance at a pow-wow in Tulsa, OK on December 31st, 2011.

For more information, contact Stephen Bowers at the Seminole Tribe of Florida, telephone 954-966-6300 ext: 11480 or email sbowers@semtribe.com