Since initiating self-governance with IHS in 1998, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has expanded care for members of the tribal community through construction of two clinics and a wellness center and more than doubling the number of physicians and other in-demand medical personnel. This was accomplished through reallocation of administrative expenses to direct care as well Read More »

The month of August means that summer is coming to an end and school is beginning again. The PLACE Tribal Youth Program’s summer session will end with a trip to Six Flag Over Texas in Arlington. This trip will be for the youth who complete 40 hours of community service and keep their grades up. On the agenda for the GET Native Program involves Read More »

For several years, tribal Economic Development Director James C. Collard, Ph.D. has led discussion panels at the annual Sovereignty Symposium. Though not Native American, Collard has long been an advocate for economic development in Indian Country, and his panel discussions with high profile speakers are some of the best-attended events at the symposium. This year’s panel included U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Jay Williams, Oklahoma Read More »

The Flint Hills of Kansas are home to a folk band called The Skirts, which is led on vocals and rhythm guitar by tribal member and Ogee family descendent Elexa Dawson. This year her band released their debut full-length album titled, “Many Moons.” As the lead singer and songwriter for the whole album, Dawson has let her Native roots inspire the project in Read More »

All photos from the 2016 Family Reunion Festival are available online at cpn.news/cpnfest16pics.

One of the most critical pieces of a rail-anchored industrial park is currently under construction at Iron Horse. The park is adding 7,000 feet of internal rail lines, which will have immediate connections to the Arkansas-Oklahoma and Union Pacific rail networks. With construction on the rail system progressing, tribal economic development director James Collard Ph.D. has been working to recruit businesses to the park, which is strategically located Read More »

With approximately 141 children under their supervision, the staff of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Indian Child Welfare Department must keep up to date records for each individual child they oversee. Keeping track of the extensive amounts of paperwork is vital to the department’s mission of monitoring the children and families in their charge. One tribal employee, Tyler Laudette, brings his own expertise from the military and professional Read More »

The recently-established CPN Department of Education is fully staffed with a director, two college advisors and an internship coordinator. We have had the pleasure of speaking to over 100 tribal members in the few past few months, but for those who we have not yet met, we would love to share a little bit about ourselves. Tesia Zientek is a Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal Read More »

  More than two years after a broken City of Shawnee water pipe dumped thousands of gallons of water into the CPN Cultural Heritage Center, the new exhibits are coming together. Many of the visitors who came to Festival and Gathering were able to see the progress while enjoying music, eagle demonstrations, cultural classes and the Citizen Potawatomi Gift Shop. With the help of Read More »

Following the re-elections of representatives Paul Schmidlkofer and Paul Wesselhöft, the 2016-17 CPN Legislature met on June 27, 2016. Resolutions in support of several issues were fully supported, including the tribe’s grant application to the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development at the Department of the Interior, a funding application for Iron Horse Industrial Park to the U.S. Department of Commerce, and applications for Read More »