Archived News Item

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

Participants in the “Choose to Lose” program will weigh out from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on June 3, 4, or 5, 2014. These weigh outs-must be witnessed by a member of the Wellness Council, or their designee, and signed off by both the participant and the witness. The same scale used for the weigh-ins will be used for the weigh-outs.

Choose to Lose is a weight loss program sponsored by the Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Wellness Council, and the Delaware Health and Wellness Center. This program is open to all members of the Delaware Health and Wellness Center, age 18 and over. For Delaware Wellness Center membership information, call 918-337-6590. For information on Choose to Lose, please call Bonnie Jo Griffith, 918-331-3805 or email her at bjogriffith@aol.com.

Prizes will be awarded to the three participants obtaining the largest percentage of weight loss. The person having the highest percentage of weight loss will receive a $200 cash award. The participant with the second high percentage of weight loss will be awarded $100 cash, with the third highest winning $50. Winners will announced at noon on June 6.

The Delaware Health and Wellness Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It is located at the Tribal Complex at 170 N.E. Barbara, Bartlesville, OK.

Even participants who don’t fall in the money ranking will be winners if they lose weight. Choose to Lose and enjoy this time of healthy activity and eating. Hopefully after eight weeks each of us enrolling in this program will have developed healthy living habits, which are worth much more than the monetary awards. Join us as we encourage everyone to join in and possibly get a bit of extra cash in their pockets. Most importantly though, let’s all be encouraged to get healthy and help end the cycle of diabetes and obesity among Natives. We can do this!! CHOOSE TO LOSE!

» VIEW FLYER

By Bonnie Jo Griffith
Co-Chair, Wellness Committee

A new film about the Lenapes in Indiana is being given a special showing at the Delaware Community Center on May 21, 2014, at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm. This project was undertaken by film students at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, with the full cooperation and support of the Delaware Tribe of Indians tribal government and Conner Prairie Interactive History Park.

The Lenape on the Wapahani River is an immersive learning project at Ball State University. Funded by the Hamer and Phyllis Shafer Foundation, the project seeks to provide educational resources about the Delaware (or Lenape) Native Americans during their time in East Central Indiana from the 1790s through 1821. Partnering with the Delaware Tribe of Indians and Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, the documentary and associated website provide a rich and detailed look at this often overlooked story about the Delaware Native American experience in Indiana.

To learn much more about the project, please visit their web site at www.lenapeonthewapahani.org.

Gaffer Andrew Bultemeier, Cinematographer R. Aaron Webster, Director Kayla Eiler, and 1st Asst Camera Kathie Green prepare for interviews on Bartlesville campus.	Field Audio Specialist Ben Kruis, Gaffer Andrew Bultemeier, 1st Asst Camera Kathie Green, and Director Kayla Eiler.
Crew films during Delaware Days, September 2013.	Curtis Zunigha, Director of Cultural Resources Anita Mathis, and Chief Paula Pechonick answer questions at premiere showing at Ball State University, April 2014.
Executive Director Alina Beteringhe answers questions with Kayla Eiler.	Executive Producer Kelli Huth talks with Tribal Manager Curtis Zunigha.
Curtis Zunigha with executive producers Chris Flook and Kelli Huth.	Filmmakers (right) and tribal officials answer questions at the premiere at Ball State University.

Flyers

Click on the flyer below to see an enlarged version.

Delaware Nation would like to provide a Lenape Language program that best suits Delaware Nation citizens and descendants as well as the Delaware Tribe of Indians. Delaware Nation will use your feedback for a grant application and for the development of future programs.

The survey, which can be downloaded below, can be completed and mailed to the Delaware Nation Complex, scanned and returned to nickykaymichael@gmail.com, or called in to Nicky Michael, Language Manager or Lauryn French Language Assistant at 405-247-2448 ext 1406. Because the grant application is due on April 11, they would prefer a call-in or email.

» DOWNLOAD AND VIEW SURVEY

Congratulations to the recipients of scholarships for the spring 2014 semester. We are proud of you!