July Tribal Council Meeting Held in Lawrence, Kansas

On July 7, 2014, the Tribal Council meeting was held in Lawrence, KS for the first time in over 147 years. The Tribal Council met at the tribal property in North Lawrence to conduct the monthly meeting. Our Lawrence property is in the seat of the newly reclaimed jurisdiction area of the Delaware Tribe’s former reservation in Kansas. Our ancestors had to leave there in 1867 and move to the Cherokee Nation Indian Territory where the tribe has lived since. The Tribal Council concurred that it is important to establish this land base for tribal jurisdiction and thereby conducted an official meeting at this location. In January we began having quarterly Tribal Council meetings in Caney, KS and this month they met in Lawrence. Maintaining an official presence in Kansas demonstrates our resolve to expand governmental services there.

In November 2010 Chief Pechonick re-established the monthly meetings in Bartlesville soon after taking office. Prior to that, the previous administration conducted the Tribal Council meetings in several different towns in Oklahoma. Following the announcement of an expansion into Kansas, the quarterly meetings in Kansas are now a regular occurrence. Approximately 20 Tribal members and visitors in the Lawrence area attended the July 7th meeting and their enthusiasm was encouraging to the Tribal Council’s expansion efforts.

Tribal Council members with Brian and Kathy Pine, former owners of the Lawrence property.