Archived News Item

On Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Delaware Tribe will host a Housing Seminar at the Delaware Tribal Complex, 170 NE Barbara, Bartlesville, Okla., in Forsythe Hall at the Community Center at 6 p.m.

The seminar, presented by Legacy Tribal Consultants, will provide details of the Section 184 Native American Home Loan program. This event is free and open to the public. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.

The Section 184 loan program offers competitive, low mortgage interest rates for: home purchase, refinance, rehab or construction including double-wide and modular homes — and loans are not limited to property on tribal lands.

Approved borrowers must be members of a federally recognized tribe with photo I.D. and tribal registration card.

Unlike traditional loan programs which are credit-score driven, Section 184 loans do not require a particular credit score. Instead, borrowers must demonstrate a pattern of good rental or mortgage history for the past two years, have all credit collections, judgments and tax liens paid, and have two years of work history in the same line of work and/or school enrollment.

Approved borrowers must be currently employed with verified income and those with past credit problems must provide written explanations of derogatory credit.

The loan program, guaranteed by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has lower down-payment requirements than traditional loan programs. The Section 184 loan program offers borrower down payments of only 2.25% for mortgages over $50,000 and just 1.25% for mortgages under $50,000.

In addition, the source of down payment funds may be: borrower’s own funds, gift funds, secured loan funds or tribal down payment assistance.

Another attractive feature of the Section 184 loan program is that in purchase scenarios, contracts may specify that sellers pay prepaid fees, such as taxes and insurance, and other costs at the home closing. For more information, call the Delaware Tribe of Indians at 918-337-6590.

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Press Release Prepared by: Roseanne McKee, McKee Public Relations on behalf of the Delaware Tribe of Indians with permission of Chief Paula Pechonick.

Contact info: mckeepr@outlook.com or the Delaware Tribe of Indians: 918-337-6590.

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.

The July 2014 issue of the Delaware Indian News is now online. Tribal members should receive their copy in the mail by July 1.

To view the newspaper in PDF format, please click here.

The Elders Committee voted to honor members of the Elders Committee who pass in 2014 and the future by placing a brick in their honor in the Memorial Garden in Bartlesville. The first two bricks the Elders Committee will provide will be for William W. Baughman, grandson of Katy Whiteturkey Day, and our Cherokee brother, Robert R. “Bob” Ladd, who passed away earlier this year.

But this is not all! The Memorial Garden needs lots of bricks! We invite families to purchase a brick for their loved ones who have gone before.

The bricks will be 12 x 12 inches in size, pewter in color. Each brick can have up to 8 lines with up to 20 characters, punctuation, and spaces for each line. The cost is $50.00 per brick.

To order a Memorial Brick, send us a description of what you want on your brick and a check payable to Delaware Elders Committee:

Delaware Tribe of Indians
Attn: Elders Committee
170 N. Barbara
Bartlesville, OK 74006

Need more information? Email: elders@delawaretribe.org or Call: Mary Randall 918-336-0584

By Kenny Brown, Chair

Attention Lenape Veterans! The Delaware Tribe of Indians Veterans Committee was officially formed on Feb 26, 2014. John Sumpter called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm and called for election of officers. Elected were:

Chair – Kenny Brown
Vice Chair – Homer Scott
Secretary/Treasurer – Susan Cade
Lenape Color Guard Unit Leader – John Sumpter

Meetings will be held quarterly. The next meeting will be held August 13, 6 pm at the Delaware Community Center in Bartlesville and we encourage all our Veterans to attend.

The Tribal Enrollment Department is gathering information on our tribal veterans. The forms are available on the Delaware Tribe’s website, and we are asking all of our men and women who have served or are currently serving to fill out the forms.

The Veterans Wall of Honor was recently unveiled and we are seeking additional pictures. If your picture or the picture of an ancestor isn’t on display, and you would like it to be, bring it to the Delaware War Mothers. They will get a copy made for the wall and get the original back to you. The copy becomes the Tribe’s property for permanent display.

The Lenape Veterans Color Guard is looking for additional members. For more information email John Sumpter (longwalkerlongwalk@sbcglobal.net) or Kenny Brown (kennybrown27@ cox.net).

The Veterans Committee will be gathering information on activities and events of interest to Veterans. We will also catalog organizations and resources that help meet the needs of Veterans. Pray for your Veterans.

Pittsburg State University of Pittsburg, Kansas awarded a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, to Jacob Seely of McPherson, Kansas at the Commencement ceremonies on Friday May 9, 2014. Jacob is the son of James and Jeanie Seely of McPherson, Kansas, the grandson of the late Walter Seely of Lindsborg, Kansas and the great grandson of the late Eva Louise Seely of Lindsborg, Kansas.

On May 3, 2014, the Osage Nation and Delaware Tribe hosted the 2014 Tribal Foster & Adoptive Family Recruitment Fair at the Delaware Community Center 170 NE Barbara in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Fourteen tribes, two DHS offices, and two DHS vendors were on hand to take applications, answer questions and share program information on becoming a certified and licensed tribal foster or adoptive home.

The Oklahoma Indian Child Welfare Association (OICWA) and Casey Family Program–Indian Child Welfare Program were also in attendance.

Casey Family Programs is a major sponsor of this event. Casey Family Programs is the nation’s largest operating foundation focused entirely on foster care and improving the child welfare system. Their office is located in the state of Colorado. Founded in 1966, Casey Family Programs work to provide and improve and ultimately prevent the need for foster care in the United States.

Native American Tribes in Oklahoma need more tribal foster and adoptive homes. Our tribal children, when removed from the care of their parents, due to child abuse and neglect, often, end up in non-Indian foster homes. When this happens, tribal foster children suffer the risk of losing their culture and identity. The tribal homes that are certified through tribal Indian Child Welfare (ICW) programs get filled up fast, often the home(s) ends up adopting the children they care for and the home is closed out as they cannot take in any more children.

We have had a lot of good tribal foster and adoptive homes, but the need is still there. We invite all interested tribal people to become a licensed and certified tribal foster home.

The tribes represented at this event were: Osage Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, Iowa Tribe, Cherokee Nation, Seminole Nation, Sac & Fox nation, Absentee Shawnee, Citizen Potawatomi, Kickapoo Tribe, Creek Nation, Chickasaw Nation, Ponca Tribe, Pawnee Nation, and Kaw Nation. DHS office and vendors represented were Tallgrass Family Services, St. Francis Community Services, DHS Adoptions, and Osage County DHS.

At 12 noon, during lunch, there was a guest speaker: Mr. Daryle Conquering Bear. Daryle is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and has experienced over seven years in the Colorado foster care system and aged out at 18 years old. Daryle has struggled with the challenges of culture and identity loss. Now, having overcome these struggles, he helps Indian County by being a youth voice on panels and round-table discussions. He serves as an advisory council member and consultant for the National Resource Center for Tribes. Daryle started his advocacy work with Foster Club, as an All-Star intern. He is currently a consultant for National Resource Center for Youth Development, and has testified before congress on behalf of his Native American tribe. He has worked closely with senators and congressional members to tell his story and to be a voice of advocacy for tribal children in foster care.

At 10 am and 1 pm, a panel of tribal foster and adoptive parents answered questions and told about their experience in caring for tribal foster children.

Lunch was provided, and there were be children’s activities. Door prizes were given away throughout the day, including a TV and DVD player, a spa package, Pendleton blankets, Pendleton towels, $75.00 Walmart gift card, gas cards, and a painting donated by Ponca City artist June Teichmer.

Thank you to all who attended. We urge tribal people/families to commit themselves in caring for their tribal foster and adoptive children. Please help and “Protect Our Children, Keep Them Close to their Roots”; apply to become a certified and licensed tribal foster home!!!

For more information, please call Osage Nation Social Services Foster Care Specialist Jenny Rush-Buffalohead or Adoption Specialist Rebecca Fish at (918) 287-5335, or Delaware Tribe ICW Director Allan Barnes at (918) 337-6520.

VETERANS COMMITTEE
WEDNESDAY JUNE 11, 2014 6:00pm
DELAWARE COMMUNITY CENTER – FORSYTHE HALL

ALL VETERANS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE

JOIN US TO DISCUSS CURRENT ISSUES ON VETERANS BENEFITS THROUGH THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION (VA) AND OTHER AGENCIES

PROVIDE INPUT ON GREATER ACCESS TO VETERANS SERVICES AT THE TRIBAL HEADQUARTERS IN BARTLESVILLE

DISCUSS THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE LENAPE COLOR GUARD AND BECOME A MEMBER OF THIS CEREMONIAL UNIT

The weigh out for the Choose to Loose program was concluded on Thursday, June 5.

The winners and amount of each award:

1st Place, John Moore, losing 10% of his total body weight, $200

2nd Place, Rachel Overmyer, losing 7.8% of her total body weight, $100

3rd Place, Robin Murphy, losing 7.2% of her total body weight, $50

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered!

BIA OFFICE OF TRUST SERVICES
TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT

PLEASE VISIT WEBSITE: ionemiwok.org
Click link: BIA Water Resources Technician Training

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: June 9, 2014

The Office of Trust Services is now accepting applications from Native American high school graduates who are interested in Water Resources Technician Training Program which will be formally known as Native American Water Corps.

Training Dates: July 8 through August 3, 2014
Training Location: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Housing: ASU dormitory

You must get the application and all pertinent requirements at the above website.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: June 9, 2014

Note: Students who successfully complete the training program will receive a 4-month voucher, for full-time temporary employment with a tribal government and/or Government Agency in an entry level Water Resources Field to aid in their development of higher education/career development.

If you have questions, please call:
Christina Mokhtarzadeh, 202-208-5480
Toni Village Center, 202-208-3956 or 202-208-4004