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.
Despite diagnoses increasing by 377 percent between 2007 and 2016, demographic data on the roughly 32 million food allergy patients is limited. However, according to a study published in March 2020 of more than 23 million children nationwide receiving Medicaid benefits, Native American children were 24 percent less likely than their white peers to have a diagnosed food allergy.
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.
January is National Stalking Awareness Month, and Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s House of Hope wants to educate everyone on this form of abuse and the reasons it is unacceptable.
Language Department Director Justin Neely discusses ways to learn Potawatomi during the upcoming year and what staff accomplished in 2020.
The Potawatomi hold their own oral traditions linked to astronomy, and learning about these customs ensures teachings survive for generations to come while simultaneously creating a sense of balance between the past, present and future.