Contact:
Ken Vandruff
Director of Communications
316.660.6305
March 30, 2012
For immediate release
2017 Tekakwitha Conference coming to Wichita
(Wichita, Kan.) - The Tekakwitha Conference has chosen to hold its 2017 national meeting in Wichita's Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center. The conference is scheduled for July 19-22, 2017, with more than 1,000 expected attendees.
The Tekakwitha Conference was founded in 1939. It strives to unify the Native American Catholic voice, presence and identity while also respecting its diversity. The Conference promotes and maintains regular and ongoing communication and involvement among various tribes and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in America. Its national office is located in Great Falls, Montana.
The Tekakwitha Conference board of directors with the executive director made a decision to hold the 78th Annual Tekakwitha Conference in Wichita after visiting the city at the invitation of Go Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"I was really impressed to learn about Wichita's Native American heritage and how that heritage is celebrated with the "Keeper of the Plains", said Sister Kateri Mitchell, Tekakwitha Conference executive director. "I was also encouraged by the ongoing work of the Mid-America All-Indian Center staff to keep that heritage alive. Once I visited Wichita, it was an easy decision to hold our annual conference at Century II."
Keith Talbert, Go Wichita destination sales manager, led the site tour that included a tour of Century II, Mid-America All-Indian Center, "Keeper of the Plains", Hyatt Regency Wichita and Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview.
"The site tour was the capstone of building a two-year relationship with Sister Kateri that started at the 2010 Religious Conference Management Association World Conference and culminated with the great news that they would come here in 2017," Talbert said.
This is the first time this Native American Catholic conference will be held in Kansas.
NOTE TO MEDIA: Sister Kateri Mitchell is available for a telephone interview. She can be contacted at 406.727.0147. For more information about the Tekakwitha Conference, visit tekconf.org.
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