NIC Staff

Executive Director

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775-687-7601

Stacey Montooth, a citizen of the Walker River Paiute Nation, is the Executive Director of the Nevada Indian Commission (NIC), 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.

The NIC 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.

Program Officer

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775-687-8333

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 Indian Commission 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 the Nevada Indian Commission has initiated to better the lives of our Native People.”

Of both Washoe and Paiute descendant, 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 Nevada Indian Commission’s office is located on this historic campus.

 

Educator Curator
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775-687-7606

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 known 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.

Curator III

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775-687-7604

Chris Ann Gibbons began with the Nevada Indian Commission 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.

Grant Coordinator

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

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

Further, Davis 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.

A citizen of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Nation, joined the Nevada Indian Commission on Jan. 8, 2024, as the administrative assistant. Maradan comes to the NIC from the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Currently residing in Stillwater, Nev., the Indigenous territories of the Toi Ticutta (the cattail eaters), she is a Douglas High graduate from the class of 2015. Maradan enjoys beading, attending cultural events, raising her dog Lola and spending time with family.

Maradan has a strong connection to Stewart Indian School as she is the direct descendent of Auggie Moyle, a campus maintenance employee from the early 70’s until the school’s closing in 1980. Maradan’s grandfather Auggie lived on the Stewart campus with his family including her father, Mitch Moyle and her auntie Audrey Moyle Lathrop.

Maradan’s great, great grandmother Nina Dixon was a Stewart alumnus whose photograph hangs in the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum. Maradan’s great uncle, Alvin Moyle, was a former, longtime chairman of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Nation.

“I am grateful to have this opportunity to make positive changes for my people,” Maradan said.