Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member and Piedmont High School junior Shelby Grove was awarded a 2022 State Superintendent Award for Arts Excellence in Visual Arts for her work, “Tools,” which showcases her skills in shading and expresses her experience of change during the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, Citizen Potawatomi Nation District 12 Legislator Paul Schmidlkofer spent several weeks working on the set of the Peabody Awards-winning show Reservation Dogs as they filmed season two. The comedy-drama created by Seminole Nation citizen Sterlin Harjo tells the story of four Indigenous teenagers growing up in rural Oklahoma and their efforts to determine their futures.
As a high school senior, Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member Shelby O’Steen received the Jim Thorpe High School Volleyball Player of the Year award from the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in June 2022. The Bright Path Program recognizes the top high school athletes from across the state for their athletic and academic prowess.
Tribal member Mark McBride serves his community of Moore, Oklahoma, as the Oklahoma House Representative for District 53. He is motivated by community, and is particularly interested in improving education in the state and preserving sites of cultural and architectural value.
Jeannie Wamego Van Veen tells of her experience becoming a teacher and advocating for teachers as a part of the National Education Association.
This episode focuses on Behavioral Health Awareness Month and the societal stigma of having behavioral health issues. We also meet the only Citizen Potawatomi Nation member serving in the Oklahoma legislature and hear about a study on tribal economic impact in Oklahoma.
Tribal member Preston Stovall, Ph.D., specializes in metaphysics, the philosophy of the mind, and the philosophy of language. He currently teaches at University of Hradec Králové and lives in the Czech Republic.
In a time of fast fashion when customers often wear runway-inspired items a few times and discard them, many Indigenous designers and producers focus on creating unique pieces that stand the test of trends. Designer Leslie Deer, who is also the Cultural Activities Coordinator at CPN’s Cultural Heritage Center, prefers to make timeless pieces.
With three grocery stores, two casinos, two health care clinics, several restaurants, and many other enterprises and services, Citizen Potawatomi Nation always looks for ways to improve its electrical system and reduce power consumption. CPN tribal member and Toupin family descendant Justin Whitecotton leads the electrical department as its director, and each day brings new challenges and exciting opportunities.
Tribal member Kevin Roberts shares his journey to understanding what it means to say “Bodewadmi Ndaw!”