During this episode, we’ll hear about CPN Health Services COVID-19 vaccine distribution and learn the 5 love languages for kids and families. Also, a Tribal member who is an author and radio show host talks about his recently found spirituality.
Keeping it ultra-cold: CPNHS rolls out COVID-19 vaccines
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services received its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine in late December. CPNHS has created logistics and procedures for every step of containment and care for COVID-19 throughout the past year. CPN Chief Medical Officer Dr. Vascellaro led the efforts for each step of the process, including putting together a plan for distribution of this vaccine that requires ultra-cold storage and thawing prior to injection.
“We’ve literally had to make the playbook; we’ve had to create so many things from scratch. Due to that insight, myself and the leaders in the health system, we’ve known what was going to happen about 3 weeks before everybody else did,” he said.
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services hosted its first drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Friday, January 8. For more information regarding vaccine distribution drives, follow CPN on Facebook.
CPN author discusses spiritual awakening, Native American issues on new radio show
CPN member Randy Kritkausky describes the last few years as “transformative.” Living in Vermont, he never had a strong geographic connection to the Tribe but always desired to learn more. He began feeling closer to nature and his beautiful surroundings in the forest at the time his mother walked on.
Ever since, Kritkausky’s been writing and telling others about what he feels is a new part of his life and Indigenous identity. In September 2020, he released his first book, Without Reservation, about his spiritual awakening. He now hosts the radio program, Indigenous Perspectives, as a platform for educating others.
“Each program is an effort to — without hitting the listeners over the head with a sense of guilt — an effort to do a reality check on what people in the mainstream might have a misunderstanding or a gap in their understanding of who (Native Americans) are and how we experience our lives,” Kritkausky said.
Visit randykritkausky.com for more information about his work. You can find Indigenous Perspectives on healthylife.net. New episodes stream on the fourth Thursday of every month at 11 a.m. CST.
The 5 Love Languages
Almost 30 years ago, author Gary Chapman, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy, released a book titled “The 5 Love Languages.” It outlines five primary ways people show and enjoy receiving affection: acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, physical touch and words of affirmation. While the book was intended for couples, the series has grown to include books on children, showing appreciation for co-workers, singles and more. Citizen Potawatomi Nation FireLodge Children & Family Services Family Preservation Coordinator Darian Young discusses the love languages with clients frequently. While she mainly focuses on parent-child relationships, she finds they apply to many aspects of life.
“It’s not that we have to be perfect in every area, it’s just that we have to spend some time figuring out what we are comfortable with, the areas that we want to work. And if it’s an area that we have to work on, and our son or daughter or someone in our life needs that, then that’s just more motivation for us to work on it for them,” Young said.
Learn more about services and information from FireLodge Children & Family Services at cpn.news/firelodge or on Facebook.
Learning Language
It’s time for Learning Language, when the CPN Language Department joins us to teach vocabulary, songs, stories and more. Now, Language Department Director Justin Neely tell us a story about the bear, mko.
For more information and opportunities with language, including self-paced classes, visit cpn.news/language. You can find an online dictionary at potawatomidictonary.com as well as videos on YouTube. There are also Potawatomi courses on the language-learning app Memrise.
Hownikan Podcast is produced and distributed by Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Public Information Department. Subscribe to Hownikan Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and wherever you find your favorite shows. Find digital editions of the Tribal newspaper here.