SYCUAN CHIEF HANK MURPHY Blog
Hank Murphy founded the Sycuan Fire Department in 1974 and has served on the Sycuan tribal government for more than 30 years.
Chief Murphy currently heads the Sycuan Fire Department, including the elite Sycuan-BIA Golden Eagles Hotshots IHC air and wildland fire-fighting divisions.
  
HANK MURPHY, Sycuan Kumeyaay Indian elder biography:
Mr. Hank Murphy NATIVE AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY
PROFESSIONAL PICTURES BLOGS:
 SYCUAN FIRE DEPT 30th Anniversary Photos, OCT 2004
Wildland Academy Program: MULTIMEDIA
232nd Marine Corps Birthday Ball Pictures, NOV 2007
Staff & Crew WEB BLOGS: Meet Sycuan firefighters and staff
RED EAGLE BLOG: Young Professional Fireman
Hank Murphy Henry R. Murphy has been married to Shirley Murphy, Oglala Lakota Tribe, Pine Ridge South Dakota, for over 36 years. Mr. Murphy is pictured above in 2007 seated between his wife and Rob, one of their three sons. Gloria Garcia is seated beside Mrs. Murphy.
Chief Hank Murphy, Sycuan Kumeyaay, inspects his troops during the 2006 Sycuan-BIA Wildland Academy.
Chief Murphy with Drill Instructor Solis and Drill Instructor Castro pose for a 2006 academy boot camp picture.
Hank Murphy, a US Marine Corps Korean War veteran, is pictured in a Sycuan historical tribal photo, 1992 Sycuan pow wow grand entry reservation picture. Mr. Murphy is an active member of local VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and participates in many official events.
BORN AND RAISED on the Sycuan Indian Reservation, Hank Murphy left the Sycuan reservation when he was 17 to join the U.S. Marines and serve our country in time of war.
NATIVE SAN DIEGAN REAL SAN DIEGO NATIVE
A "real" San Diego Native American Indian, Hank Murphy's maternal grandparents are from the federally-recognized Inaja and Sycuan Kumeyaay reservations in San Diego County, and his paternal grandparents are from the La Huerta Kumiai Indio ejido comunidad in Baja California Norte, Mexico.
Hank Murphy's indigenous Kumeyaay ancestors have occupied this San Diego County and US-Mexico border region for over 12,000 years.
To learn more about the Kumeyaay Indians, please visit the www.kumeyaay.info California Indian web site.
Sycuan Kumeyaay Indian Hank Murphy is pictured in a rare historical Sycuan tribal photograph in California Native American Indian pow-wow regalia dancing on the Sycuan Indian Reservation during the 1991 Sycuan Powwow.
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP -- ROLE MODELS
Shirley and Hank Murphy sponsored Stephanie La Chappa, a 12-year-old young Kumeyaay girl from the Sycuan band, and led her naming and honoring ceremony during a large California Indian powwow and traditional Kumeyaay gathering in 1992.
Shirley and Hank Murphy have taken an active role in the Sycuan Powwows since Sycuan's first powwow in 1990.
Anna Sandoval (above in black), Sycuan Kumeyaay Indian, started the Sycuan powwow in 1990 and it has evolved into one of the largest Native American California pow wows in North America, offering some of the largest cash prizes for Native American pow-wow dancers.
Anna's mother, Ada Prieto, Kumeyaay, is pictured in a blue dress along with famous celebrity Hollywood Indian actress Dawanna Murrell in traditional buckskin dress and a soon-to-be-identified famous male Native American movie star.
Mr. Murphy established the Sycuan Color Guard and Sycuan Honor Guard units for the Sycuan tribe. The volunteer Sycuan guard is comprised of tribal police officers, reservation security and fire department personnel who have completed previous military tours.
The Sycuan color guard tours the nation and performs in parades, Native ceremonies, sports events, and military-style funerals for fallen firefighters.
INDIAN GAMING HISTORY IN SAN DIEGO
Sycuan Councilman Hank Murphy (2nd from left), and Anna Sandoval (seated in center) are the key Sycuan tribal members who established the modern Sycuan Casino in the late 1980s, including Sycuan tribal council member GEORGIA TUCKER (far right). Georgia Tucker is seated beside her brother, DANNY TUCKER, current chairman of the Sycuan Tribal Government.
Their hard work and perseverance set in motion the foundation that would afford for Sycuan's unprecedented future growth and financial success in its many Sycuan tribal investments, including the U.S. Grant (landmark luxury hotel), Sycuan Ringside Promotions (boxers and boxing event promotions), the Sycuan Resort (country club: hotel, championship golf courses, professional tennis).
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 s a husband and wife team, the Murphys' genuine concern and generosity towards their fellow tribal members and non-tribal communities have been witnessed over decades of active, positive involvement to improve the lives of everyone around them by actively supporting their indigenous cultures and tribal communities.
Having been born and raised on the poorest Indian reservations in North America, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have overcame harsh financial poverty and held true to their traditional values, earned college degrees, and have not been swayed by the Sycuan band's rapid financial growth over the past decade and new wealth.
The Murphys' lifetimes of selfless service to the community in turn have provided real opportunities for countless other Native and non-Native people and given them chances to learn, work hard and grow as individuals to help build better productive living communities and improve the quality of life for their families, the children and elders here in the turn of the 21st Century.
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Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are traditional leaders and role models in their Southern California Indian community.
Together as a team, the Murphys established the Sycuan Fire Department, the Kumeyaay education department, and the Sycuan medical and dental clinics on the Sycuan Indian Reservation.
Pictured above and below at the Sycuan Resort, formerly known as Singing Hills Country Club, Dehesa Valley, Mrs. Murphy opens a discussion during a Native American think tank sponsored by California gaming tribes of Southern Calif.
Shirley and Hank Murphy's forward thinking, active participation and unwavering support is directly responsible for providing a positive atmosphere to produce the massive original creative content on the KUMEYAAY.INFO site, which has in turn provided for the GEHOTSHOTS and SYCUANFIRE web sites' creative content and quality of work.
 KUMEYAAY MOVIE STAR:
Hank Murphy actor and narrator co-starred with Danny Tucker singer vocals in a Native American PSA short movie "One Voice" produced by H. B. Barnum, Hollywood, California. Watch this Native American movie free on line.
Kumeyaay Indian Ron Christman, Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Indians speaks on behalf of Hank Murphy during a public Kumeyaay honoring ceremony in Balboa Park pow wow. Kumeyaay elder Jane Dumas, Jamul Indian Village • a Kumeyaay Nation, was also honored during this famous California Indian cultural event in San Diego.
Madam President Cecelia Fire Thunder of the Oglala Lakota Indian Nation, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Kyle, South Dakota, presents a beautiful buffalo Lakota Indian blanket to Chief Murphy during the 2008 Sycuan-BIA Wildland Fire Academy on the Sycuan Indian Reservation.
President Fire Thunder is the sister of Hank's wife, Shirley, and the aunt of Sycuan Firefighter Leland Red Eagle, a member of the elite Golden Eagles Hotshots wildland Native American fire crew.
The Sycuan Fire Department is helping the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation — the poorest Indian reservation in the United States — to establish a modern reservation fire department.
HANK & SHIRLEY MURPHY COFOUNDED the KUMEYAAY.INFO cyber institution for The Indigenous Peoples of California tribal village web site which got over 30,000,000 hits in its first three years on the internet.
Mr. and Mrs. Murphy donated the webmaster's air transportation hotel time expenses to produce the KUMEYAAY.INFO Smithsonian museum documentary on the Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians national museum display on the Kumeyaay Nation in Washington D.C., the Nation's capital.
Blog text and all pictures by founding webmaster GARY G. BALLARD.
Blog Photos and Text courtesy of KUMEYAAY.INFO © 1989-present.
COPYRIGHTED photos may not be used and/or altered in any way without the express written permission of Gary G. Ballard. Please see the respective website User Agreement for information regarding use and minimum fees for unauthorized usage and/or alteration of copyrighted material.
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