I initially heard about the Native American Political Leadership Program’s INSPIRE Pre-College Summer Program during the summer between eighth and ninth grades. I applied the following summer, only to find out that they were accepting rising seniors and recent high-school graduates, so I committed the program to memory and applied in the winter of my junior year at Tecumseh High School. I received an Read More »

The personalities of Native American leaders of the pre-removal era are less widely covered than their American counterparts. For every dozen chronicles of American statesmen or military leaders from the early 1800s, there are significantly fewer documented accounts relating the lives of tribal leaders of the same era. Though resources are few and far between, one account offers insight into the thoughts and experiences of Read More »

Amidst the ballot options available to CPN voters at the 2016 Family Reunion Festival were confirmations of executive appointments to the CPN Supreme Court. Tribal member Jennifer Lamirand was the newest supreme court justice approved by tribal voters and swore her oath of office during the 2016 General Council meeting at Festival. The Hownikan spoke to Read More »

Oklahoma continues to have some of the highest rates of behavioral health disorders, which include mental health and substance abuse disorders. Unfortunately, many Oklahomans do not receive the help they need. Due to these factors, among others, the state continues to have high rates of completed suicides. According to the American Association of Suicidology, on a national level, suicide is the second leading cause of Read More »

Each year, the students in the Potawatomi Leadership Program spend much of their six-week internship completing projects to benefit the tribe. “It is an intentionally open-ended project,” said CPN Department of Education Director Tesia Zientek. “They are to come up with a project that impacts the tribe in some way. That’s all we tell them because we want them to be creative and use their Read More »

With the summer behinds us, we have jumped straight into fall sessions here at the FireLodge Tribal Youth Program. These include the: Get Native Program – The tribal youth learned the histories of some of our neighboring native nations including the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe and the Sac and Fox Nation. After the classes were finished there was a Native Quiz Bowl with the winners receiving Read More »

In 1838, the Potawatomi Indians in the state of Indiana were forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands by order of the U.S. government. The 859 Potawatomi who started the journey traveled across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and finally Kansas before finally arriving at their intended destination. The loss of life, 41 in total, resulted in the removal becoming Read More »

Four young women competed in the annual Miss Potawatomi Pageant during the 2016 Gathering of Potawatomi Nations in July. These ladies had to be 13-19 years of age and demonstrate their knowledge of the Potawatomi culture in order to compete. Enedina Banks, who works in CPN’s language department, organized the pageant at the Gathering, which reminded her of holding a similar title. “When Read More »

Starting in mid-August, CPN Health Services patients in need of same-day care for minor medical issues have the option of visiting the tribe’s two new immediate care clinics. Located at both tribal clinics from 1-5 p.m. each weekday, the new immediate care programs aim to cut down on wait times for primary care physicians.  “These immediate care clinics are strictly for walk-ins and will Read More »

In the coming year, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will enforce new rules on predatory lenders, also known as payday lenders, who offer short-term loans with expensive fees.  Critics of the rules claim that the crackdown will have a dire impact on those who use payday loan services. Typically the 12 million Americans who take out at least one payday loan a year Read More »