It took around six to eight months for Shawnee Cleaners & Linen to reopen their doors after a disastrous fire. Throughout the last few years, things have begun looking up for the Yancey family, and in December of 2019, they opened two new locations with the help of the Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, expanding to three across two cities.
Within days of emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Health Services began receiving and administering vaccines to combat the coronavirus in central Oklahoma.
We’ll hear information regarding CPN Health Services COVID-19 vaccine distribution and 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.
During this time, many of the CPN Eagle Aviary residents are building nests, and the pairs there have become more territorial and vocal while defending their space. Everyone’s appetite has increased. Many times, they forecast the weather better than the local meteorologists.
Each month leading up to June, the Hownikan will feature the history and background of each scheduled honored family selected for the 2021 Family Reunion Festival, including the Bruno, Darling, Hardin, Higbee, Lewis, Nadeau, Slavin and Smith families. The first in this series is the Bruno family. Like many French-Canadian settlers with ties to the Potawatomi, the Brunos were once successful fur traders and trappers.
While many potential foster parent applicants hesitated during 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tribal member Lacey Buettner opened up her home for the first time. After working with FireLodge Children & Family Services, she felt confident in stepping up to the task.
Attending Family Reunion Festival as a child exposed Ragan Marsee to Bodéwadmimwen for the first time, which inspired her to connect with her Potawatomi culture and language. Today, she serves in the CPN Language Department as an aid, teaching students Bodéwadmimwen.
CPN’s Women, Infant and Children’s programs found new and innovative ways to continue serving clients across 7 counties in central OK during the pandemic. WIC assists more than 1,400 individuals each month, providing access to nutritious foods & education to low & moderate-income clients.
The Oklahoma Legislature pushed all but a few bills aside in order to pass a budget and conclude the 2020 session. A number of bills that could impact Oklahoma tribes are likely to resurface in 2021.
Language Department Director Justin Neely discusses ways to learn Potawatomi during the upcoming year and what staff accomplished in 2020.