May is Older Americans Month — a time to acknowledge the contributions of older individuals in their communities. The Hownikan interviewed two Citizen Potawatomi elders about their role in the community and their advice for the younger generations.
Will Pappan, one of the third-generation owners of Lively Hope Farm in Wynona, Oklahoma, works to have a positive impact on the industry as he tends to the farm where he grew up and made childhood memories.
Best known for her 2013 book Braiding Sweetgrass, Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a plant ecologist, educator and writer. Dr. Kimmerer was named as a MacArthur Fellow in 2022, and hopes to use the fellowship to work on her next book.
Indigenous cultures across the globe have used tattoos as status symbols, to represent religious beliefs or just for adornment. One Potawatomi artist proud to share her spin on Indigenous tattoo art is Shelly Wahweotten, an enrolled citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and owner of Analog Electric Tattoos in Oklahoma City.
In April, HP Engineering, Inc. announced that its Vice President and Regional Engineering Director Dr. Andrew Mock, PhD, PE, SE, was selected as a 2023 Oklahoma Magazine 40 Under 40 honoree for his contributions as a leader in the architecture, engineering and construction industry.
CPN tribal member Katie Lynch’s advocacy led to the adoption of a land acknowledgement by Rutgers University and the Rutgers School of Engineering. Lynch intends to use her biomedical engineering degree to use science to give back to Indigenous communities around the world.
Kansas City Chiefs starting center Creed Humphrey, a Citizen Potawatomi tribal member, received a warm welcome to his hometown of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Tribal Chairman John “Rocky” Barrett began the event with a blessing, smoking Humphrey off with sweetgrass, cedar, sage and tobacco. Shawnee Mayor Ed Bolt read a proclamation, naming March 4, 2023, as Creed Humphrey Day. Bolt then presented Humphrey with a key to the city of Shawnee.
A quilting group based in Linwood, Kansas, recently presented Citizen Potawatomi Nation veterans with handmade quilts to honor the veterans’ military service. Peggy Pistora, Navarre family descendant, is a member of the Linwood Community Library’s Quilts for Veterans group. She helped organize the Oct. 8, 2022, quilt presentation at the Rossville, Kansas, CPN community meeting.
Tribal member Karla Bylund started her own business six years ago, offering a wide variety of human resources services to Tribal governments and enterprises. Soaring Bird Solutions offers expertise in recruiting, crafting policy and procedure, handling employee investigations or grievances, employee training and development, compensation studies and strategic planning.
Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Chicago-based artist Andrea Carlson made a splash in 2021 when her piece “You are on Potawatomi Land” was installed along the RiverWalk in downtown Chicago.