About the Co-Curators
Carrie Howell
Carrie Howell is Pawnee/Flandreau-Santee Sioux from Oklahoma, and she has two daughters and four grandchildren. A graduate of Metro State College in Denver in the field of Human Services, with emphasis in Addiction Treatment, she has 20 years of experience as a substance abuse counselor with youth and adults, and 10 years as an interpreter for the deaf. For 30 years, Carrie has managed Seven Falls Indian Dancers, family dance troupe who performs Native American social and exhibition dances. Her beadwork has won awards and she taught cultural arts such as making corn husk dolls as well as teaching children to teach.
Carrie was Program Manager of the Nurturing Parenting Program in the Denver Indian Family Resource Center. During that time, she developed a nurturing parenting program for Native Americans, publishing her knowledge. She has been a Nurturing Parenting facilitator for 12 years, and a National Trainer/Consultant for 10 years. Carrie is the current President of the Native American Women’s Association, and Chairperson of the Garden of the Gods Rockledge Powwow, where she also taught cultural arts to visitors.
A member of the Denver American Indian Festival for years, she curated its 2019 Virtual Festival and got 25,000 views. She is the Chief Operating Officer of the First Nations Foundation, which seeks to reach out to partner with other non-profits to benefit needs of the Native American.
Lynne Holman
Lynne Holman is Cherokee and was born in Colorado. Her grandparents migrated to Rifle, Colorado from Missouri in the late 1800s and built many buildings in Rifle. Her paternal connections are all members of the Cherokee Nation. They came across the Trail of Tears to allotted land in Adair, Oklahoma. Lynne became a Registered Nurse at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, and was in that career for 43 years. She founded the Colorado Occupational Health Nurses Group, and co-founded the Colorado Rehabilitation Insurance Nurses Group, both of which are still in effect.
Lynne was a Founding Member of the Colorado Cherokee Circle, which strives to preserve the language and culture of the Cherokees. This led to founding the Denver American Indian Festival, a free family festival open to all people to let them learn and share in the arts, culture, music, dance, and food of Native Americans. Her festival is going into its 8th year with over 40 Tribes represented. She also recently helped found the First Nations Foundation to do more to address the needs of Native Americans. Lynne has been honored as Cherokee Elder of the Year, and a 7 Everyday Hero for her continuing work for Native American cultural, educational, and cross-cultural opportunities for understanding. When not working on the Festival, she enjoys spending time with her husband and her children and grandchildren in Colorado.
