During this episode, we visit with an author about her new book that tells stories from a Tribal elder’s childhood, a domestic violence prevention specialist about National Stalking Awareness Month and a historian about the 155th anniversary of the last treaty CPN signed with the federal government.
January is National Stalking Awareness Month
January is National Stalking Awareness Month, shining a light on the more than 6 million victims each year in the United States. I spoke with Kayla Woody, CPN’s House of Hope Domestic Violence Program Prevention Specialist, about what stalking looks like, the need for education and how to help those in need.
“Stalking is probably one of the most under-reported crimes in the nation because it is very difficult to prove. The evidence can look very different, and to be able to charge someone with stalking, you really have to have that pattern of behavior,” Woody said.
CPN’s House of Hope regularly updates its website with upcoming events and trainings at cpnhouseofhope.com. Find them on Facebook @cpnhouseofhope. If you or someone you know is experiencing stalking, domestic violence or sexual assault, call House of Hope’s 24/7 crisis line at 405-878-HOPE or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-787-3244.
New novel tells the story of a Kansas childhood during the Dust Bowl
The Kansas prairie during the 1930s pushed farmers to their limits. The combination of the Great Depression, still the worst economic collapse in U.S. history, and the Dust Bowl droughts resulted in painful sacrifices and restructured agricultural practices throughout the country.
During that time, Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member Mary Peddicord Prickett lived on her family’s farm in Wamego, Kansas. Family friend Kim Ross listened to Prickett talk for hours about her childhood, and her stories inspired Ross to write her first novel, Deep Roots, Tall Sky.
“Having a firsthand source material who can answer your questions from 1934 is a fleeting and brilliant gift. … When I started working on this, (Mary) was 90-some years old, and I thought, ‘Oh, we probably don’t have long to get these questions, to get this help,’” Ross said.
Kim Ross is currently searching for a publisher for Deep Roots, Tall Sky.
Prickett walked on in November 2020 at 95 years old due to complications from COVID-19 but not before she read the first draft of Ross’s novel. Read Mary Peddicord Prickettt’s obituary in the February 2021 edition of the Hownikan at cpn.news/hownikan2021.
155th anniversary of Treaty of 1867
February 2022 is the 155th anniversary of the Treaty of 1867, the last of several treaties that the Citizen Potawatomi signed with the U.S. federal government. This treaty was the final push for the first Citizen Potawatomi families to move from Kansas to Indian Territory. The U.S. Government officially ended treaty negotiations with Native American tribes in 1871.
“They were signing these treaties because they knew what it meant to resist. They knew ultimately the federal government had the power to force you to bend to their will. So we’re going to move into this new era, agree to these new terms, but we’re going to try to do so as much as possible on our own turf. We’re going to try to do the best we can to make this government work with us and for us, not just bend us to their will,” said CPN’s Cultural Heritage Center Director Dr. Kelli Mosteller.
The CHC works tirelessly to preserve and share the culture of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and its history. Learn more at the Cultural Heritage Center’s website at potawatomiheritage.com. Follow the CHC on Facebook at @cpnculturalheritage.
Learning Language
It’s time for Learning Language, when the CPN Language Department joins us to teach vocabulary, songs, stories and more. In this segment, department director Justin Neely introduces shapes and teaches how to describe them in Bodéwadmimwen.
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.