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by Tim Hudson

A delegation of Delaware Tribal officials were recently on hand for an open house for the new Cherokee Nation Health Center in Ochelata, Okahoma.

On May 5, Delaware Chief Chet Brooks, Assistant Tribal Chief Bonnie Jo Griffith , and tribal member Benita Shea were among those in attendance for an open house held at the new $10 million Cooweescoowee (prounounced coo-WEE-scoo-WEE) Health Center, which will serve Natives in northeastern Oklahoma.

The 28,000-square-foot facility is five times larger than the existing Bartlesville Health Center which it will replace, and also offers a much wider variety of services. It is the first of four new health facilities that will be completed under a $100 million health care improvement plan using Cherokee casino profits.

The new health center has 10 exam rooms and offers family medicine, full lab services, optometry, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy with drive-thru, radiology, disease prevention, and more.

“You’ve been a part of us for so long” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said of the Delaware group as he addressed the crowd.

“And we are happy to have you here.”

Delaware Tribe of Indians Chief Chet Brooks says the facility is wonderful.

“It’s a fine looking facility and it will provide all kinds of care,” he said.

“Medical, dental and optometry assistance to our tribal members…. I’m very pleased with the new clinic.”

He says that the clinic’s location is better for tribal members, in that it’s about 10 miles closer than the existing clinic and “will have additional services.”

Assistant Tribal Chief Bonnie Jo Griffith agrees, saying, “We appreciate it being so close and modern.”

“As tribal council members, we are happy the Delaware tribe will be able to use it” she said.

The facility carries historic Cherokee Nation Principal Chief John Ross’s Cherokee name, Cooweescoowee, which is a type of bird. Ross is the longest serving chief of the Cherokee Nation, leading the Cherokees from 1828 to 1866 and across the Trail of Tears. Cooweescoowee is also the name of the northwestern historic district of the Cherokee Nation.

“The health center, and this is true of of all our health centers, is open to any member of any Federally recognized tribe” Cherokee Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr said.

“And any member of the Delaware Tribe may certainly use the health center.”

He says that some of the programs however are limited to the Cherokee Nation’s citizens.

“Some of those programs will only be available to Delaware members who have dual citizenship….if a Delaware is carrying both cards they are eligible for any service.

He says that for more information on which services are available may be obtained by calling the clinic at 918-453-5000.

by Tim Hudson

Oklahoma weather and tornados weren’t enough to deter the Delaware Tribe of Indians delegation from a recent conference on Aging Listening Session.

According to Delaware Elder Nutrition Program Leader Allan Barnes, “We did get interrupted by the tornado sirens and were escorted to the designated Storm Shelter safe rooms until the all clear was given.”

The scare happened on May 11, during the 2015 American Indian and Alaska Native White House Conference on Aging Listening Session held in Norman, Oklahoma.

According to the OICOA, (Oklahoma Indian Council on Aging) the event was held in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services Region VI & VII Tribal Consultation Session and included attendees from thirty-one Tribal Nations from Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico, and Washington.

Attendees traveled from far and wide to voice their concerns about aging in Indian Country.

During a session with Assistant Secretary for Aging, Kathy Greenlee and Cynthia LaCounte, Director of American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Programs, Oklahoma weather reared its ugly head in the form of a severe tornado warning in the area, sending attendees to seek shelter in the lower levels of the building.

“We were down there for 45 minutes to an hour,” Barnes said.

“No one seemed too ruffled by the idea of a tornado. If anything, there might have been a sense of claustrophobia.”

He says that the safe rooms the attendees were divided into were fairly spacious so there was no crowding and he got the opportunity to visit with several people.

“One lady from Albuquerque said when they had storms they were more concerned about lightning strikes and flash flooding” he said.

Another elderly Indian lady I sat down and visited with, said she was from southern Oklahoma and they would just sit out on the front porch and watch them because she was too old to be worried!”

After the threat had been lifted, Assistant Secretary Greenlee and Director LaCounte graciously resumed to the session and listened to every person presenting testimony until the session’s conclusion at 8:00 PM.

“All of these sessions, meetings, and conferences are very worthwhile and are a benefit to our tribe,” Barnes said.
“Our Delaware Tribe’s history and our origins from the East Coast is a very interesting story to most that don’t know we were one of the tribe’s to greet the first Europeans who came to America.”

He says that he feels like the seminar, even with the storm troubles, was very worthwhile.

“What I took away from the sessions for the Delaware people would be the influential contacts and their offers of assistance to our Tribe, whenever a need existed” he said.

by Tim Hudson

A recent compact between Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker and the state of Oklahoma should have Delaware tribal sportsmen very happy.

The agreement, which takes effect January 1, will expand hunting and fishing rights for the Cherokee Nation, and in turn, Delawares with dual membership, to all 77 Oklahoma counties.

“By creating and signing this compact, we have reaffirmed our tribal sovereignty,” Cherokee Principal Chief Baker said. “I am proud the Cherokee Nation is the first tribe to compact with the state in proper recognition of our long-held treaty rights to hunt and fish the lands within not only our jurisdictional boundaries, but all 77 counties in Oklahoma. No Cherokee will ever be fearful of arrest or prosecution for exercising their inherent rights to hunt and fish.”

“It’s a great thing that they are doing this,” Delaware Tribe of Indians Chief Chet Brooks said.

Overlapping state and tribal jurisdiction are often confusing when it comes to native citizens’ rights to fish and hunt the land without facing unnecessary and unlawful prosecution from state wildlife enforcement officers. According to the Cherokee, under the new compact, citizens will “now be able to freely exercise their treaty rights across the state and without fear of arrest or prosecution off tribal land. The compact is the result of several months of careful negotiation to ensure Cherokee Nation citizens’ rights were not only preserved, but strengthened.”

Delaware Tribe of Indians Council Member Nate Young says the compact is a reflection of tribal sovereignty.

“To have the ability to enter into this type of compact is all about tribal sovereignty,” he said.

“And it’s safer for both the Delaware citizen and for everybody else to not have to worry about being apprehended and having to go through the court system.”

He calls the agreement “win-win.”

“It was the smart and safe thing to do, it’s good for the state and it’s good for us,” he said.

According to Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr., Delaware tribal citizens with dual membership over the age of 16 will receive a hunting and fishing license annually and free of charge, along with one deer tag and one turkey tag. Two dollars from each license issued will go to the state in obtaining federal grants to help preserve the state’s wildlife and natural habitats.
“The license will be issued to all of our Delaware that have dual citizenship, whether they request it or not” he said.

“The only thing that will hold that back is a bad address, so everyone needs to make sure that their information is kept up to date.”

Press Release
June 2nd, 2015
by Tim Hudson

Delaware Child Development Center will be breaking ground on their new Child Development Center June 2nd, 2015 at 2 P.M. The building will be located on Lenape Addition on the Delaware complex at 5110 Tuxedo Blvd, Bartlesville, OK. Delaware Tribal Council Members, Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce, team members, friends, and family will be in attendance for this highly anticipated event. The Child Development Center will be a larger facility than what is currently located on the property. In 1999, the Delaware Child Development Program built their first child care center in Bartlesville with four small classrooms. They quickly outgrew the facility.

The new Delaware Child Development Center will be constructed across the parking lot from the current building and adjacent to the Delaware Child Development Resource and Education Center. The current DCD building will be re-purposed for other needs within the Tribe, including expansion of the elder nutrition program.

The new center will be able to serve 90 children, ages birth through five years, and almost DOUBLE the capacity of the present child care center, which has 47 enrolled and 151 children on the waiting list. The new and improved center will have adequate space to create gardens and other natural outdoor play environments recommended as best practice for early childhood programs. The added outdoor space will allow for an infant playground that will be designed to specifically meet the needs of infants and provide them with a safe outside play environment to explore their surroundings.

“We are looking forward to finally opening a new space for children in Bartlesville that will meet more of the growing need for quality programs for young children. Our teachers are very excited to have added indoor space and to be able to add natural outdoor environments that are so beneficial to children.”
–Sherry Rackliff

DCD Centers use a developmentally appropriate curriculum that provides a structure for teachers to observe children and document their progression of developmental growth and structure classroom experiences that will enable every child in the class to grow and develop to her fullest potential. Observations of the children by the teachers include experiences that encompass the full range of a child’s growth from developing language skills, early literacy, mastering fine motor techniques, exercising gross motor activities, social skills, cognitive development, art, music, and more.