Staff & Commissioners

Stacey Montooth, a citizen of the Walker River Paiute Nation, is the Executive Director of the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs (DNAA), appointed by Governor Steve Sisolak on Sept. 1, 2019. Under recently elected Governor Joe Lombardo, Montooth continues as the liaison between our 28 federally recognized Tribal Nations, Bands, Colonies, and 62,000+ Urban Indians who choose to make Nevada their second home. She is a member of Governor Lombardo’s cabinet.

DNAA was created by statute in 1965 to “study matters affecting the social and economic welfare and well-being of American Indians residing in Nevada” and serves as the liaison between Tribal communities, Tribal citizens, and the State.

A direct descendent of a survivor of the Stewart Indian School, Montooth is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She has spent over a decade in service to Nevada Tribes. From 2012-2019, Montooth worked at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony as that Tribe’s first public relations/ community information officer. During her six-year tenure, she organized community events and implemented communications plans and campaigns on behalf of tribes and thousands of Native Americans. Montooth also served as a crucial liaison for press inquiries as well as legislation involving key tribal issues, including health care and taxation.

Upon returning to Northern Nevada in 2007, Montooth was the Indian Education liaison for her alma mater, Churchill County High in Fallon, Nev. Prior to returning home to the Great Basin, Montooth spent nearly 12 years working in community relations, primarily in higher education and college athletics.

Sarina Nez, a citizen of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California, who has worked for the State of Nevada for over a decade, joined the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs as its office coordinator, and was recently promoted to program officer.

“I am honored to join such a talented and inspiring team,” Nez said. “I look forward to continuing the work DNAA has initiated to better the lives of our Native People.”

Of both Washoe and Paiute descent, Nez was born and raised in Carson City, Nev. With 14 years of Nevada State Government experience, she began her public service career in 2007 with the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR), and most recently worked with the Office of Governor Steve Sisolak.

She is a graduate of Carson City High and holds two Associate Degrees from Western Nevada College.

The great granddaughter of Henry Moses Rupert, one of the first graduates of the Stewart Indian School, Nez’s family ties to the school include many aunts, uncles, cousins, and various relatives working and living at Stewart. Currently, the DNAA’s office is located on this historic campus.

An enrolled citizen of the Yomba Shoshone Nation and a descendant of the Washoe Nation, Melanie Smokey has strong ties to the Stewart Indian Boarding School. In 1918, her grandmother, Alice Kawich Hooper, was her first relative to attend the former federal Indian boarding school.

Like many of our relatives, Miss Alice was punished for speaking Newe daygwan, so she spoke English in the home while Melanie’s grandfather, Art Hooper, spoke Newe Daygwan. Melanie recalls her grandmother stressing the importance of formal education, but also instilled the importance of knowing who and from where she came.

Melanie has those formal credentials from Humboldt State University (HSU) where she was trained by the Indian Teacher Education Personnel Program, earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree, and completed the teaching credential program. She received a culturally rich education at HSU, and continues to learn from elders for which she is grateful. Also, Melanie recently earned a certification as an iNaturalist through the California Tribal College.

As the SISCCM Education Curator, Melanie creates learning opportunities for guests who may not know about the Indian boarding school experience. She also works with community members who provide classes to help us to remember our past, and celebrate our future.

Chris Ann Gibbons began with the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs in 2005 and is currently the Curator for the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum. As Curator, Chris is responsible for the organizing and preserving of the archival documents, photographs, and artifacts that tell Stewart’s history. Chris feels very fortunate to be part of the team responsible for opening the Cultural Center & Museum in December 2019.

Chris is a graduate of Southern Oregon University with a Bachelor’s degree in History and minors in both Native American Studies and Art History. In addition, she holds a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Before coming to the Commission, Chris worked in educational outreach and programming for the Southern Oregon Historical Society.

Janet Davis began with the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs in July of 2023 and is currently the grant administrator for the department. In her capacity as a two-year, contract employee, Janet will administer $20 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to all of Nevada’s Tribes as the DNAA received this money from the Governor’s Recovery Funds in December of 2022.

Janet, a retired educator, was a community liaison and afterschool coordinator for 30 years at Natchez Elementary School in Wadsworth, Nev. In 2020, Janet was elected to a two-year term as the Chairwoman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Nation.

Further, Janet currently serves on the National Not Invisible Act Commission, making recommendations to the Department of the Interior and Department of Justice to improve intergovernmental coordination and establish best practices for state-tribal-federal law enforcement to combat the epidemic of missing persons, murder and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.

Lori Arrive is a citizen of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone who was born in Elko, and raised in Stillwater on the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Reservation.

As the office manager for the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs (DNAA), Lori is responsible for the day-to-day operations of our stand-alone agency, helps with event management, and she also co-maintains DNAA social media platforms.

The daughter of Stanley Arrive and Evelyn Brown, Lori had volunteered for the annual Stewart Father’s Day Powwow.

Lori graduated from a Bureau of Indian Education (BIA) institution, the Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon. She continued her education at the Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana.

Also, during her summer beaks, Lori graduated from the  Shoshone Youth Language Apprenticeship Program at the University of Utah.

The youngest sister in a family of six, Lori currently lives in Sparks, Nevada.

“I have always been passionate about American Indian issues. The Stewart site is a project that I would like to see to fruition. The Stewart project has an important story to tell in the plight of American Indian and Nevada history,” says Kelly. A founding member and officer for the Stewart Indian School Preservation Alliance (SISPA), recently Kelly was re-appointed to a second term as a commissioner, this time by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.

Staci Emm has been with the University of Nevada, Reno Extension since July of 2000 and currently is a Professor and Extension Educator in Mineral County, Nevada. Previously, she was the Program Officer for Extension programs for Nevada Indian Tribes.

Emm was born in Reno, Nevada, grew up on the Walker River Paiute reservation, and is a member of the Yerington Paiute Nation.

She is a graduate of Mineral County High School (1991), earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno (1996), and earned a Masters of Agriculture from Colorado State University (2003).

Emm is nationally recognized for agricultural and American Indian Extension programs. Currently, she works with several team members to deliver agricultural Extension programs in Nevada; manages and oversees the Mineral County Extension office; is a project director for the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP); and works with American Indian tribes in Nevada and throughout the United States on land, water, and USDA program access issues.

Tammi Tiger is serving her second term with the Commission, re-appointed in 2024. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, descendant of Muscogee and Seminole nations. Ms. Tiger is the Director of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Tribal Education Initiative in the world-ranked College of Hospitality at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). In her role, she is focused on developing future generations of leaders in Tribal gaming & hospitality enterprises across Indian Country.

She is also appointed to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Participatory Democracy and serves on the Board of Directors with IAF, INC – an Indigenous-led arts and education nonprofit in southern Nevada.

Ms. Tiger’s career in public service started with Clark County, department of Public Works, where she spent 25 years in administration and operational support for the engineering, construction and maintenance of public infrastructure with one of the largest counties in the nation and home to the iconic Las Vegas Strip.

She obtained a Master’s degree of Public Administration from UNLV, where she is a founding member of the Native American Alumni association. Ms. Tiger is a long-time community organizer supporting local, state and national advocacy for Tribal issues.

Dr. Arlie Stops spent the early portion of his life in Montana, living on the Crow Reservation. His father, Arlie Stops Sr., was born and raised on the Crow Reservation and was 100% Crow. Dr. Stops was raised in a family of 10 children on the reservation, where many of them still reside.

As a teen, Dr. Stops attended St. Labre Indian School in Montana where the majority of the students were Crow or Cheyenne. He was the first of his siblings to attend college, graduating from the University of Montana with a BA in English and a Minor in Native American Studies. He began his 25-year career in higher education at New Mexico State University, serving as the Assistant Director of Financial Aid. Having grown his career at many notable colleges and universities, notably California State University Los Angeles, the majority of his career was spent at the College of Southern Nevada, where he oversaw enrollment management and student services. To be closer to his children, Dr. Drops relocated back to Las Vegas in 2013, where he has been teaching high school English at Desert Pines High School.

Dr. Stops has four children that he is very proud of, two daughters having graduated from UNLV and one son from Point Loma Nazarene University. His remaining son followed the path of entrepreneurship and owns and operates a successful barber shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His oldest daughter serves as the Vice President of Tribal Brand Marketing & Strategic Initiatives for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in Southern California. His youngest daughter just completed her first semester at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law.

Dr. Stops earned a Masters degree in Education from New Mexico State University in 1981. In 2004, he earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is looking forward to leveraging his education and professional experiences with the initiatives set forth by Governor Lombardo for the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs.

A member of the Chumash Tribe, Dr. Art Martinez is a nationally recognized traditional knowledge keeper and educator.  If not on the lecture circuit outlining the value of traditional Native American lifestyles, he can be found at pow wows throughout North America dancing, singing, drumming, or serving as the arena director or emcee.  Dr. Art Martinez is a renowned speaker on several topics related to community psychology needs, services, and benefits for Tribal communities.

With a doctorate and a master’s degree in psychology—the science of behavior—Dr. Martinez is a clinical psychologist.  He has served on many technical expert groups for the United States Health and Human Services Administration.  His career work and treatment specialization focuses on Indian Child Welfare in America.  Dr. Martinez is a Diplomate and Fellow at the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. He has received many awards for his work in the field of child abuse and inter-generational trauma, as it affects Native people and communities.  As a trusted voice, Dr. Martinez is recognized and esteemed not just by national organizations, but by the Indigenous people in the many communities which he serves.

Moreover, Dr. Martinez identifies as a holder of traditional responsibilities, and he is called upon in this role throughout Nevada and California. In June of 2025, during the annual Stewart Father’s Day Powwow for which Dr. Martinez often volunteers, he took an oath of office as a commissioner for the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs.