P.O. Box 189 � Miami, Oklahoma 74355 �918-542- 2441

Points of Interest:

The Shawnee Tribe held it’s first Veterans Day celebration on Thursday, November 10th at the Shawnee Tribe Community Building located in Mi-ami, Oklahoma. The event kicked off at 11 am with the Miami, OK American Legion Post #147 Funeral Detail and the Vi-etnam Veterans of

American Chapter #277 giving a flag presentation. The crowd was then wel-come by Chief Spark-man followed by a few words from Brian Hen-drix, Deputy Assistant for Native Amer-ican Af-fairs

for the State of Oklahoma.

The free lunch-eon was for all who attended, followed with fellowship and resource and referral materials and booths for veterans. All five branches of the armed service were represent-ed with the 138 at-tendees.

Booths that were set up with materials for Veterans included groups from the Amer-ican Legion from Jay and Miami, American Red Cross with their Veteran History Pro-

ject, Tulsa Veteran Ser-vices, Mus-cogee Veter-ans Ser-vices , North-

east Tribal Health Sys-tems and Work Force Veterans Coordinator. All of these booths had resources and person-nel on hand to answer questions and help vet-erans with services they might be eligible.

Veterans Day is a time for us to pay our re-spects to those who have served. It was a very successful first event and we look for-

ward to hosting the event next year. The Tribe would like to thank Tena Booth and Business Council mem-ber Herb Adams for all their hard work in making this event pos-sible.

1st Veterans Day Celebration Held

SPRING 2016

The Shawnee Journal 29 South Highway 69A Miami, Oklahoma 74354 918-542-2441

Shawnee Language 2

Children and Family Services Update

3

Environmental Program Update

4

Program and Services Available

5

Heritage Center Planned

6

Chief’s Update 7

New Tribal ID Card Available

7

Inside this issue:

Veterans Day Celebration Held

Heritage Center Shawnee Language Chief’s Update

PAGE 2 THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL

Shawnee Language

Ki wa ki’Hachi mo More Talk 

Ni he way te’si la wi= what is he doing? Ko quay=I don’t know. Kay pa’ na ta ma wa=Go help him. Kay pa’ na ta ma wa wa=You all go help him. Ko mo chee’ Ho ma tay’ Na ta mach=He might need help. Ne yo le’ Ho ma tay’ na ta machee way=maybe he wants help. Ne yo le’ ho ska ta kay la’ na ta machee way=maybe he wants

help. Key’ Ho wi si la sa mam’ha=you will make him feel better. Ma ta’ Ho’wi ya ka way=No’ he is mad. Ko chee way=Why? K’sa ki’ Ho’ lo ka te thi=because he is tired. Ho’ No ko thi’ wi ya ka way=he looks mad. Ho’ No ko thi’ lo ka te thi= He looks tired. Key’ Ha wa to’ Ne pee=take him water. Ne yo le’ Ho ka’ka la mo=Maybe he is thirsty. Ma ta’ Ho’me la wa te thi= No he is lazy. Ni shi te hay’ Ho’me la wa te thi=I think he is lazy. Pi yea kwa’ key’sa pa wi ke ma=However, you go soothe him with

kind words. Key’Ho we si’pe na la=you treat him good. Wa hee’ Ni pa nee wa’ no key=Ok I will go see him again. Ko-kwi le ni=He is an outstanding man’ Sup ka hee=sure enough! Ki’tee pwe=You are right.

PAGE 3 THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL

Children and Family Services Program Update

The Child Care and Develop-ment Fund (CCDF) is a prima-ry federal funding source de-voted to providing low- income families that are working or participating in education and training with help paying for child care and improving the quality of care for all children. On November 19, 2014, Presi-dent Obama signed bipartisan legislation that comprehen-sively updated the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act for the first time in nearly twenty years. The law made important statutory changes focused on strengthen-ing child care to better support the success of both parents and children, while also providing new emphasis on the im-portance of providing high quality early learning educa-tion and care for our youngest learners.

The Child Care and Develop-ment Block Grant Act of 2014 provides flexibility for Tribes in many areas, which will help Tribes address their unique needs. This CCDF Final Rule balances CCDF dual goals of promoting families’ financial stability and of fostering healthy child development while providing flexibility for Tribal communities. The re-quirements in this Final Rule focus on the importance of health and safety and high quality child care. The Final Rule is the result of several months of consultation on the new law and the notice of pur-posed rulemaking with Tribes as well as past consultation with Tribes and Tribal listen-ing sessions.

In January the CCDF program helped sponsor the following trainings: “Promoting Chil-dren’s Success through Social and Emotional Techniques.” This (3) hour training provided child care providers techniques that support social and emo-tional development, even when children are displaying chal-lenging behaviors and identi-fies strategies, such as problem solving and games to teach children emotional literacy and emotional regulation. Partici-pants learned about the execu-tive functions of the brain and how they help children develop the skills necessary for success in school and life.

In February we provided an-other Safe Sleep : Reducing SIDS & SUID” training as well as a two hour training on “Infection, Prevention & Con-trol “ and provided child care providers detailed information on topics that included 10 of the most dirtiest places in your home, why hand washing is important and keeping hands clean. Other topics cov-ered included steps to keep hands clean, types of soap to use, when to use cleaners, san-itizers, or disinfectants, disin-fecting toys, diaper changing areas, bathroom sinks, clean up of blood or body fluid spills, class room cleaning checklists and standard universal pre-cautions in child care settings. If you have any questions re-garding tribal child care ser-vices please feel free call our staff at 918-542-7232 or visit our tribal website.

Currently the Shawnee Tribe’s child care program serves 121 children, 73 families. The av-erage monthly client co-pay for child care services is $ 17.86 and the average monthly sub-sidy paid for child care per child is $243.03.

On Saturday, December 3rd, 2016, the Shawnee Tribe host-ed their annual Children’s Christmas Party at the Shaw-nee Community building. This year there were over 300 tribal members and their families attending our holiday gather-ing. Eric Wensman gave a prayer in our Shawnee native language after which everyone enjoyed a traditional holiday meal and the opportunity to relax and visit with friends and family. The Tribe provided each tribal household that at-tended the event a Christmas bag filled with goodies. Tribal-ly enrolled children age’s birth to 12 years of age received their own Christmas gift and the chance to visit with Santa and his elves.

The Shawnee CCDF program works with local, state agen-cies and Tribal CCDF pro-grams to provide quality devel-opmental support for children and their families. The Shaw-nee CCDF program also assists in improving the quality of care available to support chil-dren’s healthy development and learning by supporting child care licensing, developing quality improvement systems to help programs meet higher standards, and offering sup-port for workers to attain training and education.

PAGE 4 THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL

GREEN GARDENING TIPS So the darn groundhog saw his shadow and if you be-lieve him, folklore says there will be six more weeks of winter. The way I’m seeing it here in the Midwest, I don’t know that folklore will hold true this year or not. Either way, here are some environmentally con-science tips for planning this spring for your summer gardens.

GROW YOUR OWN HERBS

A small indoor herb garden adds greenery to a home while providing fresh flavorful ac-cents for winter recipes. Basil, thyme, oregano, sage and parsley are great herbs for be-ginning gardens. Place your plants in a spot where they’ll receive at least five hours of sunlight. A south-facing windowsill is ideal. Keep the soil moist and enjoy your locally grown herbs all winter.

TURN FOOD SCRAPS INTO “GARDENER’S GOLD”

Reduce waste and give your garden a healthy dose of nutrients by composting food scraps and yard clippings. Or, if wigglers don’ give you the willies, give vermicomposting a try. Using compost, or “worm tea”, is a great way to fertilize your garden naturally. Short on space? Not to worry, compost bins and worm condos come in a variety of sizes and shapes.

START A COMMUNAL GARDEN

Community gardens are a terrific way to transform unused space in your town. They beautify neighborhoods, supply low-cost produce, and unity people in learning how to grow resources locally and with their own two hands. Design your garden with your community’s needs in mind and enlist a coordinator to organize and oversee a volunteer work schedule. Donate leftovers to food charities or local school lunch programs.

PROTECT PLANTS WITHOUT PESTICIDES

If you’re a new gardener, chances are you’ll be surprised by some sort of infestation be-fore growing season is over. Connect with local gardeners to determine the most com-mon problems in your region, then look for organic fixes. Many pest control solutions can be concocted from household items: for example, aphids are deterred by garlic and cay-enne pepper, slugs find eggshells unappealing, and ants dislike coffee grounds and vine-gar. Before you apply organic treatments, be sure to research their effect on beneficial insects like ladybugs.

Environmental Program Update

PAGE 5 THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL

Programs and Services Available Programs and Services currently available for tribal members. All ap-plications are available at the tribal website at www.shawnee-tribe.com

Education Assis-tance Program avail-able to tribal members who are currently en-rolled in accredited colleges or vocational programs and have at least a 2.5 GPA.

Education Achieve-ment Award Pro-gram available to trib-al members who have graduated from high school and are attend-ing post secondary schools. This program is for degrees complet-ed on or after May 1, 2011.

NAHASDA Emer-gency Housing As-sistance Program for tribal members living within a 50 mile radi-us of Miami, OK and who qualify under the income guidelines. Assistance includes rent/mortgage pay-ments if eviction or foreclosure is under-way, utility bills when a shut off notice has been received or pro-

pane purchases if tank is below 20%. Assis-tance may only be re-ceived once a fiscal year from October 1st through September 30th.

Child Care Assis-tance Program availa-ble to tribal members who live within a 100 mile radius of Miami, OK. Assistance is avail-able to households where parents or guard-ians work or are in school and qualify un-der the income guide-lines.

Pequot Pharmaceuti-cal Discount Pro-gram is available as a mail in prescription pro-gram. All tribal mem-bers are eligible for the program. To get more information and to en-roll in the program, call 1-800-342-5779 or visit the website at www.prxn.com. The customer service repre-sentative who answers your call will ask for a group number and that number is 0242. If you forget that number, simply say you are a member of the Shawnee Tribe.

Shawnee Language Classes are held every Tuesday evening at 6 pm at the Shawnee Community Building in Miami, OK. Come and enjoy learning the Shawnee language and engaging about in con-versation about our his-tory. Classes are taught by Eric Wensman. For more information you can contact Eric at 918-542-2441 or email him at ewensman@shawnee-tribe.com

If you are needing a change of address form, change of name form, an enrollment replacement card form, a new photo id enrollment card form please remember to visit the website at www.shawnee-tribe.com to download all these documents.

Do we have your current address? If not, you will not receive your newslet-ter, program notices and other informational ma-terials. To update your address simply log on to our website or call the tribal office at 918-542-2441 and ask for a change of address form to be mailed to you.

PAGE 6 THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL

Heritage Center To Be Constructed For the last year and half tribal staff and business council members have been working to develop a Herit-age Center that is going to be constructed in Miami along Will Rogers Turnpike. The 6,000 square foot cultur-al center will be built in two phases. Construction will begin in May with hopes of a completion date by the end of the 2017 calendar year.

The Heritage Center will feature artifacts and a place to tell the story of the Shaw-nee Tribe. Although our Tribe is included in other displays at larger museums, we wanted a place to call our own. This facility will serve as both a Heritage Center with the purpose of educat-ing visitors about our Tribe, as well as an archive that provides storage and preser-vation of historical docu-ments and artifacts for view-ing and study by tribal members. Our hope is the center will provide a place where tribal members can disconnect from today’s envi-ronment and reconnect with their history and culture.

The project is being funded by two different Indian Com-munity Development Block Grants that were awarded to the Tribe through the De-partment of Housing and Urban Development for a total of $1.6 million.

PAGE 7 THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL

Our casino project has been approved by the Bu-reau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. We are presently waiting on the signature of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. We do not anticipate any prob-lems with this next step. We are currently in the planning stages of the fa-cility and are moving for-ward.

I hope you have taken the time to read the different articles throughout this newsletter and read about some of our new projects and events that have tak-en place. I want to thank Business Council member Herb Adams for his efforts in assisting with the Vet-erans Day celebration. It

was a well attended event and I am grateful we were able to honor our veterans.

I am very proud of our Trib-al Business Council for the dedicated effort they have put forth to make our Tribe successful. I know I compli-ment our committed staff in almost every newsletter but it certainly makes my job easier.

I want to thank our Second Chief Ben Barnes for his dedication to the Tribe and his efforts. I want to also thank Treasurer Roy Baldridge for his service and assistance in working with the Forest Service De-partment and the Depart-ment of Agriculture. Sec-ond Chief Barnes, Treasur-er Baldridge and our Ad-

ministrator Jodi Hayes have put forth a lot of effort towards our new Heritage Center. It is a very ambi-tious project and I am look-ing forward to seeing it come to fruition. The city of Miami has taken over the Welcome Center on I-44. We are looking forward to working in conjunction with them.

Please mark your calendars down for June 10th. That is the date for the Children’s Pow Wow. I know everyone anticipates this event every year. I hope everyone has their garden plowed and are looking forward to an enjoy-able spring and summer.

Ron

Update from the Chief

New Tribal Photo ID Card Still Available Please remember to get your new tribal photo ID. We have had a great response to the new ID card. We ask that tribal members stop by anytime between the hours of 9 am and 4pm to have their new photo id card made. For those that are una-ble to come by the tribal office to have a photo taken, we have an applica-tion available online on our website at www.shawnee-tribe.com under the “what’s new” tab or under the “government” drop down menu under the “forms” tab. Tribal members can mail in a passport photo and completed application for those that are unable to travel to the tribal office to have their photo taken. Photo id’s will not be issued to tribal members under the age of 18. Minors may still be issued new id cards, they will just not have a photo on them.

To the right is an example of the new photo id. If you are a veteran you may submit a copy of your DD214 to have that delineation on your tribal photo id card.

MAIL TO:

MARK YOUR

CALENDARS

CHILDREN’S

POW WOW

JUNE 10, 2017

THE TRIBAL OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED THE

FOLLOWING DAYS:

GOOD FRIDAY

APRIL 14, 2017

MEMORIAL DAY

MAY 29, 2017

APPLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE FOR:

CCDF DAY CARE

ASSISTANCE

EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT

AWARD

NAHASDA EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE

Phone: 918-542-2441 Fax: 918-542-2922 E-mail: shawneetribe@shawnee-tribe.com

THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL  

 

PUBLICATION

OF THE

SHAWNEE TRIBE  

THE SHAWNEE JOURNAL SPRING 2016

SHAWNEE TRIBE

P .O. BOX 189

MIAMI ,OK 74355