Archived News Item

Late-Breaking News!

The Tribe has been awarded 10 FEMA trailers. The trailers are single-wide, 3 bedroom, 14 feet wide, 64 feet long (back to tongue), 5 axle and approximately 50,000 lbs.

For now, interested tribal members may complete a Housing Application and write FEMA Trailers at the top. Please contact one of our housing offices for more information or to request an application (Chelsea Office, phone 918-789-2525; Bartlesville Office, phone 918-337-6590; Caney, KS Office, phone 620-879-2189). You may also check the Tribe’s web site at www.delawaretribe.org; there may be a special application form in the future.

The tribal member who obtains the trailer is responsible for land, utilities, and moving costs, although assistance for utilities and moving costs may be available.

The Tribe will also contract to move the trailers. Mobile homes awarded to the Delaware tribe will most likely be transported from one of three locations: Selma, Alabama; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; or Neosha, Missouri. Pickup date and location is unknown at this time. If you are interested in bidding to move one or more trailers, please contact Cece Biggoose at 918-337-6572 or at cbiggoose@delawaretribe.org.

by Bruce Martin

was asked to write a little about the Copan Pow-wow this year, so from my perspective here goes. Thursday is the day lots of the Delawares show up and set up camp. A big dinner was held at the Bucky Buck, Bonnie Thaxton camp. A lot of good food and a lot of good people gathered around to eat, talk, and tell stories. Thursday evening was a time for the old social dances and stomp dancing, held in the evening. The weather was nice, the songs were nice, and it was a very good evening.

Copan is famous for rain at some point in time during the pow-wow, but not this year. I think it was the dustiest year we have had in a long time, and windy, but actually wasn’t too hot.

Copan used to be known as the start of the Pow-wow season, and it seemed like this year everyone was excited about coming to Copan.

I had the honor to help out as the Arena Director for Friday evening while Dude Blalock went to his daughter’s graduation and I really enjoyed watching the youth dance and contest. It made me feel good to see a lot of good young dancers up and coming, and seeing them continue on this tradition. The singing is always great at Copan and this year was no exception. I enjoy all the chorus girls that come and help out as well, it just makes the drum sound as “they say” that much more better.

Saturday afternoon was the famous Indian Football Game. It looked as if the men were cruising to an easy victory. So I went back to camp and visited with others. I heard that something crazy had happened and the women ended up winning the game. I will have to go back and look over the tapes and see what happened.

Saturday evening is usually a bigger crowd, and was good to see some old friends there, people came from all over the country to attend this event, Bartlesville, Dewey, Pawhuska, and actually I met a lady from Montana that was there dancing in her Crow Dress. Also friends from the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas were there, and even some of my old Upward Bound Students and staff were there. Good to see everyone again.

Guess I couldn’t talk about Copan without mentioning the Dog Pound. We took up the Old Skool Fancy Dance Contest again. But I have to give tribal member Mike Gabbard credit for us doing this again. He contacted me on Facebook and asked if we were going to have the Old Skool contest, that a lot of people he has talked with really liked it and enjoyed it, so I got with all the guys and we agreed to do it again. We held a camp 50/50, and Rob, Jay, Jimmie, and myself went camp to camp selling 50/50 tickets to raise money for our contest. We also auctioned off a few blankets, and we did pretty good thanks to all of the campers and visitors. There were around 10 dancers entered into this contest, but the one who stood out to us was Vincent Jackson. Well, in my opinion!… He was there Friday night, and danced all night. He did such a good job in the contest and all weekend, that the Committee selected him as the head man dancer for next year.

Sunday was the men’s contest. Its always a lot of good dancers in all categories. I always enjoy watching the contests, but I really like to just watch the Intertribal’s and everyone dancing together. Listening to the songs, and
just relaxing to the sounds of the dancers’ bells, jingles, and laughter while dancing in the arena. I think that is more of what Copan Pow-wow is about, the friendship, and families getting together, all the visiting and joking and teasing each other. That is what I enjoy the most.

This year the Pow-wow committee selected three new members to be on the committee for next year, I was very surprised they asked me to join them. Jimmie Johnson and Turtle KillsCrow were the other two they invited. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of mischief I can get into now. But I know the three of us will do our best in joining with the rest of the committee to make next years pow-wow as much fun and enjoyable of an experience for everyone as this year’s.

Wanishi.

Traditional dancer Eric Hicks (Creek, Crow, Onondaga).	Unidentified Crow woman dancer from Montana
Fancy Dancer Vincent Jackson, Delaware	Jake Lawhead

The Delaware Tribe of Indians Cultural Preservation Committee (CPC) took on a project several years ago to restore the Delaware Pow Wow Grounds bleachers.

Over the years, the CPC has paid for repairs, and volunteers have replaced boards and painted. This year, the CPC assessed the bleachers and decided funds could be utilized to give a new coat of paint to the bleachers.

The CPC enlisted the help of a local volunteer organization called “The Dirty Bandanas.” The Dirty Bandanas helped paint all of the bleachers. The CPC also purchased some wood and the Dirty Bandanas constructed and painted several new arena benches.

The Dirty Bandanas is a Native American-based motorcycle club. They come from many tribes. The club’s intention is to create a positive and wholesome atmosphere for the Native American community, their members, their families, and the state and its communities. The club’s goal is to always promote a positive image for all Native American people.

The Dirty Bandanas offer manpower and service at no charge to any event or charitable cause that will benefit the Native American community and people of all tribes. However, they are not confined to or limited to only Tribal events. Any event will be considered and all efforts will be made to participate.

The Dirty Bandanas also enjoy recreational riding activities. They encourage anyone and everyone to join them for a short ride around the community, a day trip, or even, on occasion, a weekend trip.

We want to say WANISHI to the Dirty Bandanas for their service to the community, tribal and intertribal functions!!

Oklahoma Indian Summer Festival, northeast Oklahoma’s premier Native American festival, is currently looking for artists and vendors for the 2012 festival, scheduled Thursday-Saturday, September 20-22, 2012 at the Bartlesville Community Center located at the corner of Cherokee Ave. and Adams Blvd. in Bartlesville, OK.

Oklahoma Indian Summer, the state’s largest intertribal event and cultural exchange, features a pow wow with both competitive and non-competitive dancing on Friday and Saturday and a juried Native American and Western Art Show and Market, showcasing the talents of more than 30 artists. Additionally 20-30 arts and craft vendors are also asked to join the event outside, making for a unique and dynamic festival.

According to Festival Director Jenifer Pechonick, over 14,000 visitors from across the state and beyond take part in Oklahoma Indian Summer annually.

“In 2000 the Oklahoma Tourism Industry Association selected the festival as the Outstanding Event of the year” she says, noting the 2011 Indian Summer Festival was also a contender for “Outstanding Event” Redbud award from Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation.

She says vendors typically feature arts, crafts, games and decorations which reflect the Native American theme of the festival, and notes interested parties do not have to have a CDIB card.

Pechonick says as usual arts and crafts vendors will play a very important part of the festival experience.

“We are looking for some unique vendors to join us in making this year’s event the best yet” she said.

“We’re happy many of our artists and craft vendors return year after year, but we have space available.” The deadline for vendor and concession submittals is July 15th. The fee covers all three days of the festival and includes electricity.

“We have visitors come from all over Oklahoma and the surrounding states to enjoy the fest,” she said.

“We’d invite everyone to come be a part of Oklahoma Indian Summer.” Applications may be obtained on the festival’s website and should be sent to: Oklahoma Indian Summer Festival, P.O. Box 3455, Bartlesville, OK 74006.

For Further Information. Interested teachers, artists, concessionaires and vendors should contact Jenifer Pechonick, festival director, at (918) 331-0934 or e-mail jeniferp917@aol.com.

Web Site: www.okindiansummer.org

Pawhuska, Okla. – The Osage Tribal Museum, Library & Archives, the oldest tribally-owned museum in the country, commemorated the unveiling of the final Osage bust of THE OSAGE TEN on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at the Constantine Theatre in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. The creation of The Osage Ten began over 100 years ago in Pawhuska when molds and pictures were made of ten live models from the Osage Tribe and cast into full-size plaster busts by Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Natural History. The Smithsonian created this collection to be displayed at the California-Panama Canal Exposition in 1915-16 as part of “The Evolution of Man” exhibit. Millions of people from around the world attended the historical event.

During the past seven years, the Osage Tribal Museum has been collaborating with the Smithsonian in obtaining replicas of The Osage Ten to be permanently displayed at the museum. This exhibit collection brings to life again the Osage tribal members and, in a sense, brings them home to be honored and remembered of an era long ago.

Descendants of Albert Penn, the first replica bust to be unveiled in 2005, retrieved and donated their ancestors bust to the Osage Tribal Museum. The other busts that have been donated in the past six years are: Shun-kah-mo-lah (Charles McDougan), Wah-To-Ke-Ah (WilliamFletcher), Henry Pratt, Ah-Hu-Shin-Kah (Little Wing), Che-Sho-Wah-Ke-Pah (Fidelis Cole), Wa-Xthi-Zhi (Charles Wah-Hre-She), and Wah-Noh-She-Shin-Ki (Principal Chief Fred Lookout). The guardians who escorted the busts out were Joseph Tillman (Wah-hrah-lum-pah); Tim Lookout (Fred Lookout); Rebekah HorseChief (Charles Wah-hre-she); Fidelis Davis (Fidelis Cole); John Tallchief Lemon (Little Wing); Bill Fletcher (William Fletcher); Cameron Pratt (Henry Pratt); Mike McDougan (Charles McDougan); Joseph Pratt (Shun-kah-mo-lah), and Joe Don Brave (Albert Penn).

Among the distinguished guests were former Osage Principal Chief George Tallchief; former Osage Principal Chief Charles Tillman; former Osage Principal Chief James Gray; renowned Osage poet Carter Revard, Ph.D., who created a poem, especially for this occasion; David Hunt, Ph.D., of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; and representatives from many American Indian tribes and nations, including Chief Pechonick.

Reactivating our judicial system is a major goal of Chief Pechonick and the Council. It is essential that we have a formal functioning court system to ensure the health and welfare of our people, exercise commercial relationship and contracts with nonmembers, and qualify for various grants and programs. Our court system has not been a functioning body since we regained Federal Recognition.

To accomplish this goal, Judges Rick Barnes, Don Mason Jr., and Charles Randall have been working to prepare the building blocks to get our court system back in operation.

In August 2011, our team was awarded travel scholarships from the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes to attend the “Fostering Connections Tribal Gathering” in Oklahoma City. This addressed the problems, goals, action items, strategies, activities, and objectives associated with child welfare. Large numbers of Native Children have been placed in DHS Foster Care that would be better served with a Tribal Child Welfare Practice. The Judicial Guide to implementing the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 provides many Native American children important federal protection and support for the first time by allowing Tribes to directly administer their local programs.

In April 2012, we attended the Tribal Court Training Program for Judges funded by the BIA Office of Justice at the University of New Mexico School of Law Southwest Indian Law Clinic. This course covered all aspects of conducting a court from initiation of a case through resolution. Introduction to Indian Civil Rights Act, the Major Crimes Act, and the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 were covered with concepts of jurisdiction. We were able to participate in exercises to simulate various courtroom activities with seasoned judges (all of the other participants in the program had five to twenty-five years experience as tribal judges).

On June 12-13 we attended the Sovereignty Symposium in Oklahoma City sponsored by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Oklahoma Bar Association, Oklahoma City University School of Law, University of Tulsa College of Law, and the University of Oklahoma College of Law. There we focused on the court’s desire to computerize all state records into a new system which the Supreme Court plans to expand to include tribal courts, the components of the Indian Law and Order Act, the use and impact of social media in the Native American community, the issues associated with Indian trust land acquisitions, and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). ICWA remains a huge Indian issue. No Indian tribe or nation is immune from the problems surrounding child neglect and eventual adjudication. Indian children do end up in a system that is at times overwhelmed. Many of these children are victimized a second time by a system with many flaws. There is a consistent link between neglected children and those minors who end up in the juvenile criminal system. Indian children are much more likely to fall into this category and ICWA can be a tool to help us do something about this problem.

Indian Governments are sovereign and on equal footing with state governments. Sovereignty is important and all Indians should stand together, as a united front, to assert our right to govern ourselves. There remains a lot of work to get our judicial system where it needs to be. Currently we are identifying how and where to establish our court. We are also planning to review our current laws and codes and make recommendations necessary to bring these up to standards that will both meet the needs of our tribe and conform to Federal laws.

On Thursday, May 24 2012, Delaware tribal member Gayle Hatch went to the opening of the Native American Olympic Exhibit at the Smithsonian and had the opportunity to stand beside Jim Thorpe’s son and the legendary Billy Mills, first American to win the 10,000 Meters. Now who is Gayle Hatch, you ask? Let me tell you a few things that I have found out in the past few weeks about this remarkable tribal member:

In his early youth Gayle Hatch lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma, until his father moved the family to Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the age of 10. Gayle remembers fondly coming back to Oklahoma and traveling to Tulsa to visit his grandmother, who was Delaware, and grandfather, who was Wyandotte. His grandmother, the president of the Tulsa Indian Women’s Club at the time, told stories of what it was like when she was young, telling him what she had heard about the Trail of Tears and other Native people. She gave Gayle a book about Jim Thorpe that would influence the rest of his life. Looking through the book he saw all of the pictures and marveled at the accomplishments of the man he looked up to and decided he wanted to be like. Gayle went to his father and asked him if he would help him reach his goal. His father made him promise to give it 100% and he did.

Going to Baton Rouge’s Catholic High School, Gayle kept that goal in mind and proceeded to excel in basketball, football, and track. He set school records in basketball, averaging 35 points and 23 rebounds, records that still hold 55 years later! He attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana where he played basketball, again setting records those have lasted 51 years. After college, Gayle was drafted into the ABL (American Basketball League) where he played for the Chicago Majors for a few years before returning back home.

While building his real estate business in Baton Rouge, Gayle started working out with Alvin Roy, a local gym owner, on a weightlifting/strength and conditioning program. When a group of investors bought out Alvin’s gym, he told them the best thing for them to do would be hire Gayle to run the place. So after an offer and several discussions his wife Peggy, Gayle accepted the position and started on the path that has led to 49 National and American Championships. Coach Hatch developed the Hatch System for weightlifting/strength and conditioning, which six National Football champion teams have used during their championship seasons. At the 2000 Olympic Trials he was presented an award for being the winningest coach and has been inducted into multiple Halls of Fame over the years.

In the summer games of 2004 Gayle was honored to serve as the head coach of the USA Men’s Olympic Weightlifting Team. “It’s like climbing Mt. Everest and reaching the summit! You remember everything that had brought you to this point. Parents, grandparents, coaches, teammates, everyone is there with you. Then it is down to business and getting to the matter of why you are here.”

Both Gayle and his wife Peggy will be going to the 2012 Games in London this year. Neither has had the opportunity to visit England yet and they are looking forward to touring the countryside while cheering on the US Olympic Team as they strive for greatness. We are honored to have a photo of Gayle in his 2004 Olympic uniform which hangs in the Wellness Center where, under the gaze of this great man, you can work out 8 AM to 8 PM Monday-Friday and 8 AM to 1 PM on Saturdays.

Osage Financial Resources, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization and Native CDFI, out of Pawhuska, that assists residents of Osage and surrounding counties with; asset building, credit restoration, classes on home purchases, financial education and various loans. As a Native CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution), OFR has to qualify individuals by our income guidelines. These programs are for Native Americans and Non-Native Americans.

What is an IDA?

Individual Development Account – is a match savings account that allows the participant to save their own money and receive a matching amount at the ratio set by that company.

OFR IDA Requirements

• 18 or older
• First-time college student, or can’t have completed more than 23 credit hours
• Resident of Osage County or surrounding counties(Kay, Noble, Pawnee, Tulsa, Washington)
• Max of 42% Debt-to-Income ratio for Down Payment
• Must have part-time job for Post-Secondary Education IDA

Osage Financial Resources
IDA Programs

There are two different IDA saving goals that participants can choose from:

Post-Secondary Education IDA – Participants must open their account with a deposit of $100. For the six month IDA, it is $40.00 a month over five months or $18.00 a month over twelve months, for a total of $300.00 of their own savings. This will be matched 8:1. In the end, participants will have $300.00 of their savings, and $2,400 in match from OFR, for a total of $2,700 towards a post-secondary education asset purchase.

Allowable purchases for participants saving for postsecondary education: books, tuition, laptops, and education-related materials and equipment.

Down Payment IDA – OFR is willing to work with participants who would like to save from six months to two years in this IDA program. Participants must open their account with a deposit of $100. Thus, for example, participants saving for a homeownership asset purchase could deposit $200.00 a month over six months, $150.00 a month over eight months, $120.00 a month over ten months, $100.00 a month over twelve months, or $50.00 a month over twenty-four months, for a total of $1,200 of their own savings. This will be matched 3:1. In the end, they will have $1,200 of their savings, and $3,600 in match from OFR, for a total of $4,800 towards a homeownership asset purchase.

Allowable purchases for those saving for homeownership: closing costs, down payment and taxes and insurance on a home, manufactured home, modular home, or mobile home. Lease to purchase homes do not qualify for the Homeownership IDA.

These two programs are for individuals that are looking towards homeownership or furthering their education. It is first-come/first-serve and there are no catches. We have reviewed many IDA programs and there is no program that gives an 8 to 1 match on their Post-Secondary IDA. That helps cover at least a third of a year at Junior College, third of a semester at a university, and, at Tri-County Tech in Bartlesville, covers all cost of 12 programs and pays 60% of the remaining three programs. We have a limited amount of funds/slots so if you are interested please call 918-287-1989 or visit our offices at Stoneridge Estates in Pawhuska.

Osage Financial Resources
Loan Programs

OFR has three loan programs:

Homeownership and Home Improvement

• The home/home improvement loan is up to $100,000 with a 3% down payment required.
• Must have at least a 600 credit score to enter program and qualify by our debt-to-income ratio (42%).
• The interest rate will not go above 6% and the lowest it will go is 4%.
• Must complete Homebuyer Education class

Credit Builder

• Is a $500 loan with a 6-month term
• Must qualify under OFR’s income guidelines
• Debt-to-Income ratio can’t exceed 50%
• Complete Financial Education class

These are programs that have the goals of improving or building a credit score, give financial and homebuyer education, improvement on a current home, or purchasing a home. OFR’s Homeownership Program has just started and we are ready to help those that are interested!! Please call 918-287-1989 for more information or you can stop by our
offices at Stoneridge Estates in Pawhuska.

Ryan Malone
Development Services Coordinator
Osage Financial Resources, Inc.
r.malone34@yahoo.com
1825 E. Main Street,
P.O. Box 835
Pawhuska, OK 74056

Dr. Brice Obermeyer, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Emporia State University, and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Delaware Tribe of Indians will give a lecture on Monday, June 11 at 7:30 PM, at the Kansas State Historical Society Potawatomi Baptist Mission in Topeka, Kansas. The lecture is entitled “The Delaware Reservation in Kansas” and is given as part of the Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School 2012.

It is free and open to the public.