Prairie Band Potawatomi News · Conference. On December 16 Obama spoke to tribal leaders in the...

On January 10 Tribal ChairmanSteve Ortiz and Tim Rhodd, chair of the Iowatribe, gave Sam Brownback a Pendletonblanket during his inaugural swearing in.Following the presentation, the Little SoldierSingers sang an honor song. The ceremonywas held at the House chambers inside theCapitol building.

Brownback was elected as Kansas’46th Governor last November. Before he waselected, he made two visits to the PBPNincluding one in October, where he met withthe four Kansas tribes, and another in Julywhen he made a campaign stop to meet withTribal Council and attend a reception in hishonor.

Before he was elected Governor,Brownback was a U.S. Senator. During histenure he pushed for the passage of a NativeAmerican Apology Resolution that he intro-duced in 2004 before the United StatesCongress with former Sen. Ben NighthorseCampbell, of the Northern Cheyenne Nation.Before becoming a Senator in 1996,Brownback served in the House ofRepresentatives for one year and prior to thatwas an attorney, radio broadcaster, teacherand administrator. He was raised in LinnCounty, Kan. and graduated from KansasState University and the University of KansasLaw School.

Chairman Ortiz andLittle Soldier Singers participate inKansas Governorinauguration ceremony at Capitol

Prairie Band Potawatomi NewsA Report to the People of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Spring 2011

Mark your calendar!April 1 Firekeeper Golf Course opensApril 16 General Council meetingApril 17 PBP Earth DayApril 22 PBP government offices closed

Good Friday/EasterMay 15 Firekeeper Golf Course grand openingMay 30 PBP government offices closed

Memorial Day June 10-12 PBP Annual Pow-wow

Firekeeper Golf Course set to openApril 1

Kansas tribal leaders attendWhite House TribalNations Conference

L to R: Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress ofAmerican Indians, Twen Barton, Sac & Fox Nation of Missourichair, Laura Razo, Kickapoo of Kansas vice chair, Steve Ortiz,PBPN chair, and Tim Rhodd, chair of Iowa Tribe of Kansas,were in attendance during President Obama’s speech at the sec-ond White House Tribal Nations Conference on Dec. 16 inWashington, D.C.

Tribal representativesconverged on Washington, D.C.the third week of December tomeet and hear an address fromPresident Obama at the secondWhite House Tribal NationsConference.

On December 16 Obamaspoke to tribal leaders in the audi-

torium of the Department ofInterior. Leaders from all fourKansas tribes were in attendanceand actively involved in severalactivities throughout the week.

For more informationand photos see page 3 inside thisissue of the News.

Photo courtesy of Topeka Capital-Journal

The Firekeeper Golf Course willofficially open for business April 1.

Right now, Randy Towner, golfpro/manager, Michael Powell, assistant golfpro, and Morgan Rockhold, food and bever-age manager, are busy putting on the finishingtouches inside the clubhouse and coordinatingefforts with the grounds crews to get the busi-ness ready.

A grand opening is scheduled forMay 15 with sports celebrities Notah Begay,Bill Self and Roy Williams.

See pages 6 and 7 inside this issue ofthe News for more information on Firekeeper.

Tribal membersare invited

to free rounds of golfon

March 28-29

Food and beverages for salein the new clubhouse

snack bar! Pro shop now open!

Call 785.966.2100 for tee times

PRESORT STANDARD U.S.Postage Paid Permit #10P.O.Box 116

Mayetta, Kansas66509-9114

Potawatomi NewsP.O. Box 116

Mayetta, KS 66509-0116

Physical location:16281 Q RoadMayetta, KS

66509Phone: 785.966.3920

Fax: 785.966.3912Editor: Suzanne Heck

Email: [email protected]

Message to the Nation from Steve Ortiz, Tribal Council Chairperson

The Prairie Band Potawatomi (PBP) News is a quar-terly publication of the Prairie Band Potawatomi(PBP) Nation. Editorials and articles appearing in thePBP News are the responsibility of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the opinion or attitude of thePBP News staff, Tribal Council, Gaming Commissionor the Nation. The PBP News encourages Letters tothe Editor but all letters upon submission must includethe signature, address and telephone number of theauthor. Letters are subject to editing for grammar,length, malicious and libelous content. Please submititems by email or by other electronic means if possi-ble. The PBP News reserves the right to reject anymaterials or letters submitted for publication and itemssubmitted past the deadline. Photos submitted withnews articles will be returned after publication with aSASE or can be scanned if brought to the News office.

Government Potawatomi Newsspring 2011

2011 Potawatomi Gathering

hostedby

Hannahville PotawatomiWilson, MI

August 10-13

•Economic Development conference•Golf tournament

•Language conference•Youth conference

•Pow-wow/Parade of Nationsand more

Trip details and more in the next issue of the News

The challenges facing Tribal Council, concerning the Shabehnay land,have been brought forth again this quarter. The Tribal Council has decided to seeka proposal from Anderson Law on the options and consequences of placing theShabehnay land into Trust for Gaming Purposes, Land into Trust for Non-GamingPurposes and starting Class II gaming with the current documentation. At thispoint, the National Indian Gaming Commission will not rule on the Shabehnayland eligibility for gaming unless the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs rules theShabehnay land is a reservation. There will be no ruling unless an application ismade to take the Land into Trust for the Assistant Secretary to make a determina-tion as to its reservation status. Then, adding to this complex situation, the ForrestCounty Potawatomi are inquiring as to the land's status. As chairman, I haveadvised the Tribal Council to make an application for Land into Trust for GamingPurposes, but ultimately the decision of placing an application for the Land intoTrust will need a vote of four to the affirmative to do so. The Illinois AttorneyGeneral has not heard from the Department of Interior on the land's reservationstatus, but to our knowledge, the Attorney General stands committed to challeng-ing the Shabehnay land eligibility for gaming. The local community nearShabbona, Ill. has also seen changes on the DeKalb County Board ofCommissioners and is waiting to see what action the PBPN will take on gaming.

This year the PBPN will also have to look closer at what its funding pri-orities are. For one, the PBPN has lost its public transportation grant due to meet-ing its maximum grant eligibility period but the PBPN will be able to fund publictransportation until the end of 2011 in a limited capacity. Secondly, there are con-cerns regarding the possible lack of funding by the Administration for NativeAmericans (ANA) to guarantee funding of the Language program beyond Sept. 30but Tribal Council has committed to providing limited funding until Dec. 31. Ona positive note, President Barack Obama is continually working with Departmentof Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to fundIndian health care. For the Federal Year (FY) 2012, a $4.6 billion budget is pro-posed, which is a $571 million increase over the FY 2010 budget. SecretarySebelius, in a recent meeting of members of her Secretary's Tribal AdvisoryCommittee (STAC), in which I am a member, informed us that she has reducedfunding in the other nine agencies of DHHS and increased funding to the IndianHealth Service (IHS). However, no one knows at this point what Congress will doto reduce spending and the IHS may be impacted in the end. The Office ofPersonnel has been assigned the responsibility to devise a plan for the tribes andtheir affiliates to purchase health insurance for their employees through theFederal Government Health Plan. The plan is currently being developed but wewere told that we will not have any information for at least five or six months.

Other activities:

• Tribal members can play golf for free on March28-29 in a second soft opening of the Firekeeper GolfCourse and the Grand Opening is scheduled for May 15;check the website for updates about these events. • The PBPN gave testimony to some members ofthe Kansas Legislature about the impact of the State ofKansas entering into a Class III compact with the Wyandotte Tribe in Oklahoma,regarding its casino in Kansas City, Kan. The Wyandotte Tribe is also planning toopen a Class II casino in Park City outside of Wichita, Kan. In the mid-1990s, theWyandotte Tribe made application to the Interior Department to open the Class IIcasino, but as of yet, the Department of Interior has not ruled on the land's eligi-bility for gaming. Also, in the Wichita area Peninsula Gaming has won the bid tobuild a casino near Mulvane, Kan. Lastly, the Hollywood Casino at the KansasRace Track in Kansas City, Kan. is also tentatively scheduled to open in the fall2012 with construction underway.• On February 18-19, I attended the 66th Annual Ira Hayes celebration andIWO JIMA flag raising ceremony, in Sacaton, Ariz., with our We-Ta- Se AmericanLegion Post #410 group. There were 128 groups that attended the celebration.• On February 24-25, I attended the DHHS Region 6 & 7 TribalConsultation meeting in Oklahoma City. The meeting consisted of tribes inKansas, Oklahoma, and Texas and regional directors. The regional directorsbrought collected comments from their tribal groups regarding funding opportuni-ties and problems that were addressed about the 10 agencies under DHHS. I servedas the moderator for Region 7 during the two day meeting. • On February 27- March 2, I attended the National Congress of AmericanIndians Mid-Winter Legislative Summit and Congressional update and DHHSSTAC committee meeting in Washington, D.C. • On March 3-6, I travelled to Neopit,Wis., to meet the family and attendthe funeral of former PBPN Tribal Police Officer Steve Cook.

Steve Ortiz (Mon-wah)Tribal Chairman

President Obama speaksat

White House Tribal Nations Conference

Jancita Warrington, Tribal Council member,left, and Twen Barton, Sac and Fox Nation ofMissouri Chair, at the Tribal LeaderPreparatory Meeting that brought leaderstogether to discuss important issues to pres-ent to Obama and his staff. President Barack Obama spoke to tribal

leaders at the White House Tribal NationsConference on December 16. His speechmade news when he announced that the U.S.would support the United NationsDeclaration of the Rights of IndigenousPeoples for the first time. Obama also metwith tribal leaders and held a reception at theWhite House during the week.

Navajo Code Talkers provided the Color Guard for theceremony and the young boy in the photo is HunterStreet, 7, (Hidatsa/Dakota) who sang a flag song.

L to R: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary for IndianAffairs, Yvette Roubideaux, Indian Health Services Director,Louis Maynahonah, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma Chair, SteveOrtiz, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Chair, Gus Frank,Forest County Potawatomi Chair, Michael Burgess, ComancheNation Chair, and Burton Warrington, Policy Advisor forAssistant Secretary of Indian Affairs.

Chairman Ortiz, front row, far right, is a member of the TribalConsultation Team that met at the Indian Affairs Office in theDepartment of Interior on Dec. 15.

Lisa Murkowski(R-AK) spoke atthe Legislativemeeting. Themeeting wassponsored by theNational IndianGamingAssociation andNationalCongress ofAmericanIndian.

Jancita Warrington at the Legislative meetingheld on Dec. 13 at the Dirksen Building.

L to R: Steve Ortiz, Nedra Darling, Karl Brooks andTim Rhodd. Ortiz and Darling are PBPN and KarlBrooks is the Region 7 Administrator for EPA. Rhodd isan Iowa. Darling is in Public Affairs for the DOI.

Meetings were held

Dec. 13-16, 2010in D.C.

Photos by

SuzanneHeck

KansasTribes

attendedevents andactivities

Receptionswith

dignitarieskept Tribal

Councilmembers

busy


The four tribes of Kansas met with theJoint Committee on State-Tribal Relations at theCapitol on Jan. 26 to discuss a proposed tribal stategaming compact between the State and WyandotteNation.

The proposed compact would allow theWyandotte Nation to have Class III gaming at itsexisting 7th Street Casino located in Kansas City,Kansas. Presently the casino is authorized forClass II gaming which allows only for electronicbingo and pull-tabs. Class IIIgaming, asspelled out by theIndian GamingRegulatory Act(IGRA), wouldallow slots andtable games.

C a r o lForman, adesignee from thef o r m e rGovernor's office,gave an overviewof the compact tothe Committee.Following herp r e s e n t a t i o n ,chairpersons fromthe Prairie BandP o t a w a t o m iNation, Sac andFox Nation of Missouri, and Kickapoo of Kansaspresented testimony in opposition of the compactalong with Mark Gunnison, attorney for the IowaTribe, and Mark Dodd, attorney for the Sac andFox.

The compact was negotiated when formerGovernor Mark Parkinson was still in office in

2010 and in order for the compact to be approved,the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relationsmust review and recommend it first before it issent to the 2011 Kansas Legislature. Some com-mittee members are new to the Kansas Legislaturesince the last election.

One of the major concerns voiced by trib-al leaders was that they were not consulted ormade aware of the negotiations about the proposedcompact before it was announced by Parkinson's

office. Another argu-ment was that theWyandotte Nation isnot headquartered inKansas and does nothave its casino locatedon a reservation whichmakes it different fromthe other Kansas tribes.Some tribal representa-tives said they are con-cerned with some of theterminology that is inthe proposed compactand do not want toincur any regulatorycosts should the com-pact be approved.

T h eWyandotte Nation pre-sented their testimonyto the Joint Committeeon Feb. 9 and the fol-

lowing week the Joint Committee met and madetheir recommendations to Gov. Brownback whowill have the ultimate decision.

At press time, no announcement had beenmade from the Governor’s office regarding thedecision.

Kansas tribes testify againstWyandotte Nation Class III bid for

gaming before Joint State-Tribal Relations Committee

Chairman Steve Ortiz present-ed testimony at the JointCommittee on State-TribalRelations meeting on Jan. 26at the State House.

The Joint Committee is com-prised of several Kansas legis-lators that meet periodically todiscuss issues that affectNative Americans and the stateof Kansas.

Attending the Joint Commitee on State-TribalRelations meeting were, left to right, Mark Gunnison,Jancita Warrington, Carrie O’Toole, Laura Razo, andP.J. McKinney. Gunnison is an attorney who spoke onbehalf of the Iowa Tribe that day. Warrington andO’Toole are on the PBPN Tribal Council and Razoand McKinney are Kickapoo Tribal Council mem-bers.

Retraction: In the winter 2010 edition of thePotawatomi News on page 5, it listed VernonWahweotten as deceased which was incorrect. The Newsregrets the error.


We-Ta-Se color guardmarch in Arizona

Six members of We-Ta-Se American Legion Post #410traveled to Sacaton, Ariz. where they marched in the66th anniversary of the IWO JIMA flag raising ceremo-ny on Feb. 18-19. We-Ta-Se was one of 128 entries andare seen standing in back of some Navajo Code Talkerswho were in the parade. We-Ta-Se members who madethe trip were, left to right, Ralph Lundin, B.J. Darnall,Jim Potts, Steve Ortiz, Tim Ramirez, and FrankShopteese.

The IWO JIMA ceremony honors Ira Hayes, a PimaIndian, who was made famous for helping to raise theAmerican flag on Mount Suribachi in a photograph thathelped symbolize the ending of World War II.

(We-Ta-Se photograph)

Leaders converse

Left to right is Tim Rhodd, Gov. Brownback, and SteveOrtiz visiting afer Brownback received his Pendletongift from the Kansas tribes at the inaugaration ceremo-ny January 10 at the Capitol building.

(photo courtesy of the Topeka Capital-Journal)

Prairie Band members participate in Kansas Day Commemoration ceremonies

We-Ta-Se American Legion Post #410 participated in a ceremony at the Capitolon Jan. 28 that kicked off a year-long series of events planned to commemorate the KansasSesquicentennial. The event began with a performance by the 35th Infantry Division Bandthat was followed by We-Ta-Se honor guard posting colors. The rest of the ceremonyincluded the singing of the national anthem, speeches by Governor Sam Brownback andother Kansas legislators, and a poem that was read by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Kansas'Poet Laureate. The ceremony concluded with the singing of the state song “Home on theRange”.

The Kansas Sesquicentennial Commemoration officially began on Kansas Daywhich was January 29. Festivals, concerts, theatrical performances, quilt shows, and more

took place across the state as Kansans recognized this 150th year ofstatehood.

We-Ta-Se performs at kick off of Kansas Dayon Capitol steps

ABOVE: Left to right, Robert Jackson, JimPotts, Steve Ortiz, Frank Shopteese, Gov.Brownback, B.J. Darnell, and LorrieWahwassuck.

CENTER: Shopteese shaking hands with theGovernor after the ceremony.

FAR RIGHT: Tribal dignitaries at the event.

Tribal members participate in Kansas Day at the Museum

Prairie Band Potawatomi (PBP) members, who belong to the Shawnee County AlliedTribes (SCAT), an intertribal group of Native Americans from the Topeka region, also partici-pated in Kansas Day events that were held for children at the Kansas Museum of History on Jan.28-29. Performances, hands-on learning activities, and demonstrations by historic reenactorswere included in the two-day event. Gov. Brownback also made a special appearance at themuseum on Jan. 28.

LEFT: Daniel Martinez (PBP) is seen standing next to the new Kansas stamp exhibit thatwas unveiled on Jan. 27. He is a member of the Standing Bear Gourd Society that is affil-iated with the Shawnee County Allied Tribes (SCAT).

BELOW LEFT: Galen Hubbard (PBP) is photographed leading a ceremonial dance thatwas held as one of the performances. The Standing Bear Gourd Society is in the back.

BELOW RIGHT: Gov. Sam Brownback pictured, fourth from left, with members of theSCAT group. PBP members in the photo are Hildred Vilander (third from left), andDaniel Martinez (fifth from left). Other people in the photograph are unidentified.


Kansas becamea statein 1861

Specialthanks

toDaniel Martinez

forsubmitting the

Kansas Day at theMuseum

photographs

Randy Towner, Head GolfProfessional

Michael Powell, AssistantGolf Professional

Rob Christie,Golf Course

Superintendent

Meet the Firekeeper management foursome


Firekeeper Golf Course ready to go

On March 28-29 PBPN will members get to play golf for free and alsoexperience the clubhouse’s new snack bar and pro shop.

The pro shop is stocked with several items including golf shirts and hatswith the Firekeeper logo on them and a lot of other items for sale.

Morgan Rockhold, food and beverage manager, told the News that thesnack bar will offer cold sandwiches and hotdogs along with soft drinks and a bar.Beverage carts will be stocked each day for convenient sales on the course and inbetween rounds golfers can stop to refresh themselves in a rocking chair on thepatio. A beautiful fire pit has also been built that is in keeping with Potawatomitraditional ways that sits on the outskirts of the patio facing the western sky.

The 240-acre course is located across the road from the Prairie BandPotawatomi Casino & Resort that is coordinating a lot of stay-and-play packageswith Firekeeper that are filling up fast.

The course is designed with the first seven holes located on open prairieland and the back 11 are designed with great fairways that are nestled in betweentrees and creeks. Jeff Brauer of GolfScapes, Inc. was the course architect for theproject that was constructed by Landscapes Unlimited, Inc. and designed by NotahBegay Consulting. This is Begay’s first signature course.

Firekeeper Golf Course prices

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation tribal member rates with cart

Monday-Thursday-$30 Twilight: $23Friday-Sunday-$40 Twilight: $33

General PublicMonday-Thursday-$50 Twilight: $23Friday-Sunday-$60 Twilight: $33

Tee times may be reserved up to 7 days in advance. Stay and Playpackages with casino may be made 60 days in advance.

The new clubhouse has a full-service golf pro shop and snack bar. Adriving range and practice greens are also available near the club-house.

Before coming toFirekeeper, Randy Townerwas the golf professional atAlvamar Country Club inLawrence, Kan. for 22 years.

He has also been aU.S. Senior Open qaulifierand was voted GolfProfessional of the Year byhis peers in the Midwest sec-tion of the PGA last year.

Michael Powell isfrom Lawrence, Kan. andworked as the assistant golfprofessional at Eagle BendGolf Course before comingto Firekeeper. He was alsoon the golf teams at OttawaUniversity and HaskellIndian Nations Universityand is an enrolled memberof the Osage Nation.

Rob Christie hasbeen at Firekeeper since itfirst broke ground a coupleof years ago. He has partic-ipated in the constructionof several golf courses inseveral states and is now apermanent member of theLandscapes Golf Groupmanagement team that willoversee the golf enterprise.

Log on to receive the latest updates on the golf course atwww.firekeepergolf.com

Morgan Rockhold,Food and Beverage

Manager

M o r g a nRockhold has been hiredas the food and beveragemanager for the clubhouse.She holds a degree fromWashburn University andformerly managed Henry-Ts restaurant in Topeka foralmost three years. She isoriginally from Lindsborg,Kansas.

Facts•Greens/tees: Bent grass•Fairways: Bent grass•Roughs: Turf type tall

fescue•Hazards: creeks (few) and

tall native prairie grasses

•Course: par 72•Long tees: 7,500 yards•Forward tees: 4,500 yards

ABOVE LEFT: Last winter Hardy Eteeyan (PBPN) was seen at the Government Center drawing plansfor a new entry way to the Firekeeper Golf Course. The design will be similar in structure to the metalarchway at Prairie Peoples Park but will include design elements found in the Firekeeper golf courselogo. ABOVE RIGHT: Reservation resident Dave Abeyta, right, is doing the stone masonry work on theentry way and is seen with Tom Jim (PBPN) who is doing the concrete work for the project. Eteeyan’sdesign is being cut out by Topeka Metal Specialties and, weather permitting, should be constructedsoon. Eteeyan, an artist and employee of the PBPN Road and Bridge department, also drew the PBPNlogo that has been used as the Nation’s seal for many years.


Grand Opening May 15

Make it a weekend!

Discounted rates on golffor

tribal members!

Golf course entry way being designed by Hardy Eteeyan

featuring

Notah BegayPGA professional golfer & course designer

Bill Self Univ. of Kansas basketball coach

&Roy Williams

Univ. of North Carolina basketball coach

Changing the nature of golf!

Check for details aboutthe grand opening atwww.firekeeper.com

Notah Begay at Firekeeper’s softopening held for tribal members

last fall.

Stay at your casino

and play some golfright across the street

Proud to be a Prairie Band Potawatomi!

For reservations click on

www.pbpgaming.com

Food Distribution Program holds open house

An open house was held on Dec.21 at the Food Distribution building toshow off some new equipment and anexpansion that was made to the facility.

Thanks to funds made availablefrom the American Recovery andReinvestment Act (ARRA), a new stor-age room and hydraulic fork lift wereadded.

Several people attended theopen house and were taken on tours ofthe facility by Tracy Potts and AngieHester who work in the Food DistributionProgram. Appetizers were served thatwere made from commodity foods andTribal Council Secretary Jim Potter cut acelebratory cake that was purchased forthe occasion.

The Potawatomi Nation hasoperated a food commodity program

since the early 1980s. Service is based onincome-eligible individuals who residewithin the 11-square-mile Prairie BandPotawatomi Nation Reservation. In addi-tion, the program also serves income-eli-gible households who live off the PrairieBand Potawatomi Nation Reservation,but within Jackson and Brown Counties,Kan., in which at least one member of thehousehold is a member of a recognizedIndian nation.

The Food Distribution Programbuilding is located at 15189 K Road,Mayetta, KS, 66509. For more informa-tion call (785) 966-2718 or fax (785)966-2529.

Applications are available online at www.pbpindiantribe.com/community-

services.aspx

From left are Jackie Mitchell, Angie Hester, Jim Potter, and TracyPotts at the Food Distribution Program open house held Dec. 21.The open house was held to show off a new storage room that wasadded to the building and new equipment that was made possiblethrough funds made available from the American RecoveryReinvestment Act (ARRA).

Departments and Programs Potawatomi Newsspring 2011

Submitted by: Tracy Potts

As a reminder to ourclients, gambling profits paid to trib-al members must be counted asincome for purposes of determiningeligibility for Food DistributionProgram on Indian Reservations(FDPIR) benefits. However, we onlycount the household's currentincome. Our program considers cur-rent to be income received within thepast 30 days. Therefore, we urge youto pick up your commoditiesBEFORE your per capita payment isreceived. You may then pick up yourcommodities the following monthAFTER the 16th day of the month,as long as 31 days have passed sincethe per capita payment was received.This way you will not be required toskip a month.

For example: Jane is a trib-al member who receives a quarterlyper capita payment from her tribe.Jane came in and picked up her com-modities on March 1. Jane thenreceived her per cap on March 15.Jane will be eligible to pick up com-modities anytime from April 16-April 30 because 31 days havepassed since she received her percapita payment. This way, Jane doesnot have an interruption in benefits.

The Potawatomi FoodDistribution Program will be closedApril 18-22. We will be attendingour Regional Conference in RapidCity, S.D. Our region is called theMountain Plains Region and is com-prised of 30 Indian TribalOrganizations (ITOs), which arelocated in Wyoming (2), Montana(7), North Dakota (5), South Dakota(7), Nebraska (3), Kansas (3),Colorado (2), and Utah (1).

Clients who received a percapita payment on March 15 willneed to order their commodities theweek of April 25-29. As statedabove, this is due to the fact that wemust count income for the past 30days, which means if you received aper capita payment on March 15, wemust count it as income received upthrough April 15. We have beenreminding our clients about this pol-icy for several months now. Noticeshave been going out in the foodpackages since July 2010. This is nota new rule. It is required by federalregulations. Please remember ourprogram is income-based. If youhave questions about the monthly

income guidelines, please call us at785-966-2718, or email [email protected].

The Food DistributionProgram will also be closed June 6 -10. We will be attending the NationalAssociation of Food DistributionPrograms on Indian Reservations(NAFDPIR) Conference in Catoosa,Oklahoma. This conference is theprimary forum for discussing issuesof national significance involvingthe Department of Agriculture(USDA) Food Distribution Programon Indian Reservations (FDPIR).USDA will be addressing a widerange of important initiatives duringthe conference. These include foodpackage changes under considera-tion, pending regulatory changes, thefiscal year 2012 President's Budget,food safety issues, and the upcomingFarm Bill.

Currently, there are approx-imately 276 tribes receiving benefitsunder the FDPIR through 100 ITOsand five State agencies.Representatives from all ITOs andstate agencies will be in attendance.Attendees will acquire knowledgeand skills from interaction with othertribal and state FDPIR staff, USDAstaff, industry, and other membersthat will help us do our jobs moreeffectively.

Since the Potawatomi FoodDistribution Program will be closedJune 6-10, our clients that willreceive a per capita payment on June15 will need to order their commodi-ties BEFORE June 15 (or before thepayment is received.) Last year'sJune per capita payment was a weekearly, so keep that in mind. Since wewill be closed that entire week,please plan accordingly!

As stated above, we havebeen disseminating informationabout how per capita payments arefactored into the household's month-ly income for several months now,and some clients are still unaware, orthey do not understand the policy. Isincerely apologize for the confu-sion, but I hope my clients realizethat it is to their advantage becausethey are no longer required to skip awhole month as they did in the past.Skipping months caused undue hard-ship for many of our clients, so weare pleased that we can work aroundper capita payments and still distrib-ute commodities on a continuousbasis.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CLIENTS OF THE POTAWATOMI FOOD DISTRIBUTION

PROGRAM

The following is a notice from the PBPN Attorney's office regarding the Prairie BandPotawatomi Nation becoming a sex offender registration and notification jurisdiction.

Legal NoticePursuant to a 2007 Tribal Council Resolution, the Nation will become a sex offenderregistration and notification jurisdiction pursuant to the Sex Offender RegistrationNotification Act (SORNA), Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of2006. The SORNA establishes minimum national standards for sex offender registrationand notification in jurisdictions that include all fifty states, certain Indian tribes, U.S.territories, and the District of Columbia. The Nation is in the process of amending thePotawatomi Law and Order Code to add provisions for sex offender registration. ThePotawatomi Law & Order Code amendment will require individuals who are convictedof certain sex offenses to register with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation PoliceDepartment if they do any one or more of the following: live on the reservation, work onthe reservation, are a student on the reservation, visit the reservation over 24 hours, orif they are convicted in tribal court as a sex offender. The frequency and duration of reg-istration and personal appearances with the Police Department vary according to theoffense committed. The planned date for the law to go in effect is July 1, 2011. For moreinformation, please contact the PBPN Police Department at 966-3024.

Norma Shipshee wassworn in as a member of theHealing to Wellness Court byTribal Council Vice ChairpersonJoyce Guerrero and District CourtJudge Stacy Leeds in January.Shipshee will serve as the commu-nity representative and replacesJuanita Jessepe who resigned lastfall.

Other members on theHealing to Wellness Court are MikeBoswell, Laverne Haag, MaryLeClere, Benny Potts and NathanHale.

The Healing to Wellness

Court is designed to work withoffenders of alcohol and drug-relat-ed crimes through addressingNative American traditional andcultural values. The goal of thecourt is to help individuals gain thetools and knowledge to becomewhole and healthy both mentallyand physically.

The Court has been inoperation for a little over a year.

For more informationabout the court contact RaphaelWahwassuck, coordinator, at785.966.2242.

Left to right: Joyce Guerrero, Norma Shipshee, and Stacy Leeds inthe court chambers at the Judicial Center.

Some of the offices in theGovernment Center have been switchedaround recently in an effort of serving trib-al members more efficiently.

A major reason for the move,according to General Manager LianaOnnen, was to centralize tribal memberservices on one floor in lieu of having themscattered throughout the two-story build-ing. For example, Member Services hasbeen relocated to the lower level of theGovernment Center and is near theEducation Department and HumanResources offices which are departmentstribal members use frequently.

Other departments that were pre-viously on the lower level, like the News,Construction/Maintenance, and Grantshave been moved upstairs for easier accessto the government's administration.

Below is a brief description of theoffice relocation changes:•Upper level-south side

*What used to be the General Managers office is now the Newsoffice*What used to be MemberServices office is now the Attorneys office

•Upper level-north side*What used to be the Attorneysoffice is now the General Managers office /Information Technology (IT) Director’s office*What used to be the ITDirector's office is now the Construction/Maintenance Director's office

•Upper level-east side (near FinanceDepartment)

*What used to be an unoccupied Per Capita office is now the Grants office

•Lower level-south side*What used to be the News office/PBP Health Services/PBPConstruction office is now the Member Services office

•Lower level-north side*What used to be theConstruction/Maintenance Director's office is now PBPHealth Services Inc-PBP Construction Services Director's office

Contact information including phone num-bers and email/fax connections isunchanged.

Government Center offices switched

Member Services is now located

on the lower levelof the Government Center.For easy access, use the outside entrance to the

Government Center locatedon the west side of the

building.

For more informationcall 785.966.4000

Shipshee sworn in to Healing to Wellness Court


Benefit held for family of Steve Cook

A breakfast and lunch fundraiserto benefit the family of Steve Cook wassponsored by the Tribal Police Departmenton March 7 at the Bingo Hall.

Cook, 43, had been an officer withthe Prairie Band Potawatomi PoliceDepartment and died at his home onFebruary 27 of an apparent self-inflictedgun shot wound. He had been with theTribal Police Department since 2006 andwas a Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation trib-al member. He was also a member of theWe-Ta-Se American Legion #410.

Funeral services were held onMarch 5 in Neopit, Wisconsin. His obituaryappears on page 23 in this issue.

Rick Burns, left, and Herb Nance, ofthe Tribal Police Department, prepar-ing chili in the kitchen of the BingoHall for the benefit luncheon onMarch 7. In the morning breakfastwas also served for a donation.

The Boys & GirlsClub sold gifts forValentines Day thatthey created as afundraiser to earnmoney for a spring-break trip. In thephoto to the right, isDerek Otero, left,and ErinPahmahmie whodelivered the gifts atthe GovernmentCenter on Feb. 14.Both Otero andPahmahmie are onthe staff at the club.

The start of the new year is keeping the files stacked high on thedesk of Ida Nadeau who handles student services for K-12 studentsin the Education Department. The program provides financialassistance of up to $250 per calendar year for each K-8 grade stu-dent and $400 per calendar year for each 9-12 grade student forschool related activities. Eligible students must be an enrolled mem-ber of the PBPN and enrolled in public, private or home school pro-grams.

Student Services applications can be downloaded atwww.pbpindiantribe.com/education.aspx


Dr. Jay Johnson, the director for Friends University’sMasters of Business (MBA) program, (far right) was atthe Government Center on Jan. 27 to answer questionsabout the program. In the photo are two people (uniden-tified) who came to learn about the program. FriendsUniversity has partnered with the PBPN in offering col-lege-degree courses that are being taught on the reserva-tion.

Education news

Mowing season beginning: Please remove cemetery items

The landscapers are gettingready for spring and want to alert peo-ple that memorial displays and otheritems need to be picked up at the ceme-teries by April 1.

Ernie Coleman, who works inthe Maintenance department, said thatcrews will begin cleaning the cemeter-ies and mowing soon and they don’twant to throw away memorial itemsthat may have sentimental value.

To contact the Maintenancedepartment call 785.966.4023.

RIGHT: ErnieColeman is a

landscaper in theMaintenance

department andwas photographed

planting flowersin the islands ofthe Government

Center parking lotlast fall.

Judicial Center marks one year anniversary

The Judicial Center has been in operation for a yearnow and this group of individuals, who are all affiliatedwith the Center in various ways, were photographed inthe Court chambers after Norma Shipshee, front row,right, was sworn in to the Healing to Wellness Court.

In the photo with Shipshee on the front row is MarilynBrewer. In back, from left to right, is Terry Barr, StacyLeeds, Royetta Rodewald and Ed Colazzo.

Take the next stepin getting your

college educationthrough

the partnership program

the PBPN hasestablished

with Friends University.

To learn more call

Dorothy Karnowski 785.272.9595

or email at

[email protected]

For PBPN law and order codes

log on to

www.pbpindiantribe.com/pbpn-law-and-order-code.aspx

Mae Joslin was drawing a Christmas decoration when this pho-tograph was taken at the Community Christmas party sponsoredby the Boys & Girls Club and Social Services Department onDec. 22. The party was held at the Bingo Hall and familiesshared a supper and other arts and craft activities.

(Photo by Micki Martinez)

Joyce Guerrero represented Tribal Councilin a “Minute to Win It” challenge withemployees at the All-Employee Christmasluncheon held Dec. 20 at the Bingo Hall.

A large crowd attended the Christmas party held at theFirekeepers Elder Center. The group played bingo and othergames winning prizes and going home with fruit baskets as gifts.

In a flash

LaVerne Hale, standing, with CarolDewitt working at the FirekeepersElder Center Christmas party heldDec. 21.

The Boys & GirlsClub provided theplace for a book fairthat was held Dec.13-14. WorldCarriers TradingPost, an Indian busi-ness, sold booksabout NativeAmericans duringthe two-day fair thatwas open to the pub-lic.

The Curtis Masquat Pool Tournament was held on Mar. 12at the Firekeepers Elder Center


Family Violence Prevention Program supportsNational Teen Dating Violence and Stalking Months

Staff from the PBPFamily Violence PreventionProgram (FVPP) sent out inform-ative materials by email to thePBP community regardingStalking Awareness Month inJanuary and National TeenDating Violence Awareness andPrevention Month in February.

The Family ViolencePrevention Program is housed inthe Social Services Department

and serves enrolled members ofFederally recognized tribes whoare victims of family violence ofsexual assault.

The FVPP is located inthe Health Center. For detailsabout the program call785.966.8343.

Toll free crisis line 1.866.966.0173

Easter-egg-StravaganzaSaturday, April 9

Prairie Peoples ParkLunch at noon

(bring a dish to share)Egg hunts at 1 p.m.

Fun for the whole family-children must be accompanied byan adult

door prizes, egg decorating contest or bring your alreadydecorated egg for judging

Sponsored by:Boys & Girls Club; Tribal Victims Assistance Program; Diabetes Prevention Program;

Family Violence Program

Come celebrateEMS Week

May 15-21at an

open houseat the

Potawatomi Fire Station

May 2111 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Refreshments, prizes and games forthe kids

Call 785.966.2164 for details

Emergency Medical Techinician-B Course

The Potawatomi Tribal Fire Departmentand Highland Community College

are offeringan EMT-B Course

Mon. and Thurs. evenings and 6 Saturdays

beginning Mar. 28.

Cost is $1,320 and includes 12 hours of college credit, books and supplies.

For details call Eric Ganson at 785.966.2164 or to enroll785.285.1487


Special thanks to Prairie Band Potawatomi

department crews

and thePBPN administration

for making sure people

stay safe

Road conditions were icy on U.S. Highway 75 as workers headedhome Jan. 19 but new message boards, like the one above, gaveearly warnings to drivers as to what to expect on the roads.Partial funding for the signs came from the Kansas Departmentof Transportation and the PBPN. Cross section warning signalshave also been placed on the highway.

The Road & Bridge Department hasinstalled new road signs that are more dis-tinct and have the PBP logo on them.

Another brutal Kansas winter kept government offices closed a few daysOver 30 inches of snow has been recorded in Kansas this winter and for

three days in January and four in February hazardous road conditions kept PBPNworkers at home.

It didn’t mean that everyone at the Nation didn’t have to venture out, how-ever, as essential personnel were required to report to work. Reservation roads andparking lots needed to be scraped, the buffalo fed, and other needs of the commu-nity met.

For crews in Road & Bridge and the Maintenance/Lands departments the

work just intensifies during big snow storms and for those that normally work 24-7 shifts, like employees in the Tribal Police and the Fire Department, their work-loads also increase with a higher level of accidents and slide-offs on the roads.

Along with the watchful eye of the General Manager’s office, TribalCouncil, and the News that posts closures to the media, Finance also works during“snow days” to ensure that workers get paid. The Health Center and Housingdepartment staffs should also be mentioned as groups that are placed “on-call” tohelp when individuals are in need.

Winter snaps

Snow beginning to fall on Jan. 19 at the rez.High winds have also accompanied a lot ofthe storms this winter.

Chuck Jacobson shoveling the sidewalksin front of the Government Center.

Left: JohnRupnickiworking onone of thesnow plowsthatMaintenanceuses to cleanthe parkinglots.

Robbie Lange in front of the BingoHall during the last snow that fell onMarch 14.

Closures are posted at

www.pbpindiantribe.com


Emergency information on the reservationIf you are in trouble

Call 911 Not sure what to do?

Call

785.966.3024 or 785.966.2164

W ildfires/Grassfires

wear protective clothing, sturdy shoes, cotton or woolen clothing, long pants, long-sleeved shirt, gloves and handkerchief to protect yourface

take your supply kit choose a route away from fire and hazards,

if possiblelock your home and tell someone where you are

going

If you have time to protect your home

close windows, vents, doors, blinds, curtainsshut off gas metersopen fireplace damper, close fireplace screensturn on lights in every room to increase

visibility of home in heavy smokeoutside the home if the garden hose is

hooked up wet roof and surrounding area

Tornadoes/Flood

listen for outside warning sirens but remember they are an outside system and you may not hear them inside your home

watch for emergency vehicles in your neighborhood and check on your neighbors, if possible

tune to your local television or radio station for information. W eather radios are also a good idea

have your supply kit ready and battery-operated radio and flashlights if the power goes out.

Know these different weather terms

W atch when conditions are favorable for severe weatherW arning when severe weather is occurring or imminent Take cover you are in the path of severe weather so get to a

place of safety as soon as possible

Disaster supply kit

(keep these items on hand and ready to go)bottled waterfood that won t spoil battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries, weather-alert radiochange of clothing including shoesblanket, sleeping bagfirst aid kit with family medicationsspecial items for children, elders, disabled sanitation supplies like baggies, toilet paper and trashbags

extra set of keys, money, credit cards and documents

Emergency information provided by the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency, PBPN Fire, and Police Departments

Tips on how to prepare for spring emergencies

Submitted by: Jonathan Weinberg

The Federal Emergency ManagementAgency's (FEMA) Region VII Office -- con-sisting of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska-- recently established a work group to addressissues relating to tribal governments. While thework group is internal to FEMA, it is com-prised of program office experts who willaddress a wide variety of emergency manage-ment issues that could have a positive impacton reducing the effects of natural disasters inIndian country.

The workgroup is dedicated to work-ing with tribal leaders and representatives tosupport the efforts of tribal communities to pre-pare for and respond to disasters. At its firstmeeting, the group discussed updating aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU)between FEMA and tribal nations in RegionVII, which authorizes the creation of a TribalEmergency Management Coordinating Council(TEMCC). The Council, to be comprised ofrepresentatives from each of the nine federally

recognized tribes in Region VII, provides aforum for FEMA tribal partners in Region VIIto build emergency management capabilitiesand to reduce the effects of natural disasters inIndian country.

When the original MOU was estab-lished on May 22, 2002, tribal leaders fromacross the region presented FEMA's leadershipwith a tribal blanket. The blanket was recentlyhung in a prominent location at FEMA RegionVII headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Thequilt is a constant reminder of FEMA's partner-ship with tribal governments throughout theregion.

FEMA is part of the U.S. Departmentof Homeland Security and its mission is to sup-port citizens and first responders to ensure thatas a nation we work together to build, sustain,and improve our capability to prepare for, pro-tect against, respond to, recover from, and mit-igate all hazards.

For more information, please contactFEMA's Tribal Liaison, Scott Weinberg at:[email protected] or 816-809-4128.

FEMA and Tribal governments: honoring a partnership

Last month the Potawatomi Tribal Fire Department hosted ameeting with regional fire chiefs and other emergency serv-ice personnel from Northeast Kansas. The group, comprisedof representatives from Lawrence, Manhattan, Topeka, andthe surrounding communities, get together once a month toshare ideas and to coordinate efforts they might use inresponding to fighting fires, natural disasters or other emer-gency situations. In the photo on the front row, second fromleft, are Prairie Band Fire Department representatives MattConger, Mike Mills, Ben Green, and Ron Sellens. The meet-ing was held in the training room of the old tribal courtbuilding on March 2.

Tribal Fire Department meets with regional emergency response leaders

Instead of relying on an outsidetrash/recycling collection service the Prairie BandPotawatomi Nation (PBPN) Division ofPlanning/EPA is now providing its own.

On March 3 reservation housing clustersand homes that are listed under the PBPN Housingjurisdiction began being served.

Homes in the following vicinities:Pheasant Run/Quail Court/Buffalo Drive/PrairieVillage (Cluster 5) /K-1 Homes/156th Lane(Cluster 3); scattered rental homes/152nd Lane(Cluster 1)/L-4 Lane (Cluster 2)/N-1 and N-2 Lane(Cluster 4) were given green plastic trash bins andare now getting their trash picked up weekly.

Blue bins were also distributed for curb-side recycling that is also being picked up on stag-gered days. On Tuesdays collectors are at PheasantRun/Quail Court/Buffalo Drive/Prairie Village(Cluster 5) /K-1 Homes/156th Lane (Cluster 3) andon Wednesdays at scattered rental homes/152nd

Lane (Cluster 1) /L-4 Lane (Cluster 2)/N-1 and N-2 Lane (Cluster 4).

All residents living in the designatedgroups listed are required to utilize the service andbeing charged a monthly fee of $15. The fee isassessed through rental/lease payments in thePBPN Housing department. Exempt from thecharges are elders that live in the Prairie Villagecomplex or 156th Lane senior/disabled duplexes orany home with a head of household 62 years andolder.

The new disposal service is supported bythe Potawatomi Law and Order Code, whichrequires that all tribal-owned homes and clusterhomes utilize the Nation's service. The purpose ofthe law is to eliminate health and safety risks asso-ciated with the dumpsters in the neighborhoods,and to encourage environmentally-responsiblepractices from all that live on the reservation.

For more details call 785.966.2946.

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Division of Planning/EPAbegin residential waste disposal/curbside trash collection

to Housing department homes

For policies, rates, curbside collection schedule and recyclable materials go to

www.pbpindiantribe.com/epa.aspx


Nãtwenmânâneniähokmoyak

"We Need You"to preserve our earth...

we need you to do your part...we need you to recycle, etc.

Help us plan and come to the

13th Annual Earth DayCelebration

April 17, 2011

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation

Division of Planning &Environmental Protection

Call 785.966.2946 for details

Charles Wakole in front of the new PBPN trash truck, onthe first day of collection service that began Mar. 3. ThePBPN purchased the truck and is now providing weeklycurbside pick up service to reservation residents.

Submitted by: Adam Irvin, PBP Division of Planning & EPA

The Energy Star Yardstick is a home improve-ment tool that can help give you an idea of how energyefficient your home is. This tool is a simple do-it-yourselfassessment that was created by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA). The yardstick lets you compareyour home's energy use to similar households across thecountry to see how yours measures up. In order to com-plete the yardstick you will need four things: collect thelast 12 month's utility bills; the amount of gallons that youused in your home (example: natural gas, propane,kerosene), the square footage of your home, and the num-ber of people living there. Once you gather this informa-tion, you can input it into the yardstick program that canbe found at the website listed at the bottom of this articlewhich will give you a rating on a scale from 1 to 10 with10 being the most energy efficient. Along with this rating,it will also give you ideas of things that you can do tomake your house more energy efficient.

The Prairie Band Potawatomi (PBP) Division ofPlanning and Environmental Protection conducted anexperiment using this tool that can be found on the energystar website. We chose two houses on the reservation toassess, a Phase 1 home on 142 Road & N-1 Lane and aPhase II home on 142 Road & N-2 Lane. The Phase Ihome has 2,469.28 sq. ft. and used 12,013 kWh of energy

and 376 gallons of propane last year with four residentsliving there. This house scored 7.7 out of 10 on the ener-gy yard stick measurement. The Phase 2 style home hasa square footage of 2,649.66. Last year it used 13,192kWh of electric energy and 403 gallons of propane withfive residents living there. It scored 7.8 out of 10. Bothperformed fairly well in the test, but there are still thingsthat could be done to bring scores even higher.

The first and easiest improvement that you cando is to make sure that there are no air leaks in your home.If there are some, seal those areas with caulk, spray foam,or some weather stripping to make your home more com-fortable and energy efficient. Another recommendation isto add more insulation to your home. The easiest and mosteffective place for extra insulation is in the attic. Installingit correctly can greatly reduce your energy bills.Something else that could be done is to replace any oldand outdated heating and cooling equipment that you havewith newer, more efficient equipment. One other thingthat can also increase home energy efficiency is a pro-grammable thermostat. By setting the temperature backwhen you're sleeping or out of the house, can save around$180 a year in energy expenses. In addition to these rec-ommendations, there are many other great ideas for you tolearn when you try out the Energy Star Yardstick yourself.

How does your home measure up? Use the Energy Star Yardstick to find out

The Energy Star Yardstick is located at:www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=home_energy_yardstick.showGetStarted

Amber Walker chosen Employee of the Year

Amber Walker was awarded 2010 Employee of theYear at the All-Employee meeting held Jan. 21 at theBingo Hall. With her is Walt Racker, who gaveWalker her award, and is on the EmployeeCommittee.

CongratulationsDebby!

Debby Lowe wasnamed the Employeeof the Quarter at theAll-Employee meet-ing. Lowe is a den-

tal hygenist in theDental office at the

Health Center.

Rebekah Jones was recently selected for an Advocacy Fellowship bythe Sunflower Foundation. The mission of the foundation is to serve as a cata-lyst for improving the health of Kansans.

Jones is the Office Manager/Tribal Victim Assistance ProgramManager for the Tribal Police Department and has been with the departmentsince 1998. Presently she is working toward a bachelor of social work degreeat Washburn University and, as part of that program, is completing a practicumrequirement in the PBP Social Services Department.

The Tribal Victim Assistance Program was made possible with a three-year grant and serves the four tribes in Kansas.

Join the Providers Art Circle

Wednesdays, noon to 1 p.m.Old Tribal Court building

Come relax and create some art To learn more call 785.966.3024 and ask for Rebekah or Kent

A room in the old tribal court building hasbeen converted into an activity area for the TribalVictims Assistance Program. On the day this photo-graph was taken, Kent Miller, second from left, wasleading the Providers Art Circle that is held onWednesdays. With Miller is Micki Martinez, facingcamera, and Tracy Potts who were on their lunchhour and creating some art.

The purpose of the program is to exploreart as a tool for creative expression and healingthrough individual and group art projects. There isanother open studio available on Fridays from 1p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and workshops are also providedfor women who are survivors of domestic or otherviolence.

Submitted by: Cindy LeClere

The Language Department staff is well intothe 12th Session. We are working on cookingphrases. The students are creating their own videoby preparing a recipe of their choice and using thelanguage that they have learned. It is a fun projectand they are seeing all the sides of creating a pro-fessional DVD.

On February 7, Larry Berryhill, ImmersionInstructor, and I traveled to Carter, Wisconsin toparticipate in, Mko Kisás Storytelling, sponsored bythe Forest County Band of Potawatomi. We listenedto stories in the language that are only told in thewintertime. Some of the stories that were told aresacred stories so audiotaping was not appropriate.But we were allowed to tape some speakers talkingabout how it was when they were growing up. Itwas a good experience and, as always, it is good tosee and hear our relatives from the North. We allshare the common goal of continuing our language.

In November and December 2010, we heldthree community meetings to discuss the future of our language and part of the data we collected wasto determine which direction we should focus on for our next grant application. The main reason, how-ever, was to promote awareness that we are in a very critical state and need to recruit support for thelanguage effort that is happening in our community.

As always, we invite you and encourage you to participate in the language effort. Our nextsession of classes begin on March 28th and 29th. Feel free to contact our office for any questions.Our phone number is (785) 966-2138.

Potawatomi Language Department news

Ages none words phrase s conversation speaker

0-5

6 to 12 0 5 4 1 0

13 to 20 0 1 0 0 0

21 to 39 1 15 10 0 0

40 to 54 1 14 4 0 0

55 to 64 2 17 10 1 0

65 and

older 1 5 1 2 0

5 57 29 4 0

Here are some cooking phrases for you to learn and use:

Kpoçesan bake petwiwâk pkweshkán flourSaskokwesan fry kottkán baking powderWçanåa cook wawen eggsKwikishan cut sispakwát sugar


Research by the Language Department:understanding levels of language

Hello fellow PBPN members,

If you're interested in being healthier this year and would like to prevent/maintain diabetes, pleaseemail or call Kathy Sterbenz, Diabetes Nurse Educator/Case Manager at 785-966-8207 or [email protected]. She will be glad to visit with you about your participation or any questions you have regarding dia-betes, your lab results, etc. This includes you or your family members.New eligibility criteria for participation in the SDPI DPP include:• An A1c* range for pre-diabetes is now 5.7%-6.4%;• Fast blood sugar between 100 to 125 mg/dl;• Blood sugar 2 hours after a meal should be from 140 to 199 mg/dl; and,• Obtaining an Albumin/Creatinine (A/C) ratio.

*An A1c test measures the average glucose (sugar) in the blood over the previous two to three months.Readings should be similar to that of a non-diabetic, which is 4 to 6 percent. In diabetics, 7 percent is good.An A1c level of 6.5 on two tests indicates a predisposition for diabetes. Source:(http://www.ehow.com/facts_5645853_normal-range-a1c-test-results.html)

Cory Wabski, lifestyle coach, will be assisting Kathy with the DPP classes and is available to helpyou design an exercise program. We have additional monies and will be fixing/replacing some equipment inthe Wellness Center and purchasing more pedometers. Keep an eye out for "new toys!"

** The Wellness Center is open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday **The Community Step Challenge continues-if you haven't enrolled, it's not too late. Team leaders/winnersand treasures were announced March 11. The goal is to "INCREASE YOUR STEPS" weekly. Get moving-be more active this year! A St. Patrick’s Day Fun Walk was also scheduled on March 17 at the Health Center.

The CDC "Return to a Healthy Past" grant will assist individuals with individual/family gardens thisyear as well as learning to compost, can food, etc. Call Eddie Joe at 785-966-8243, if interested or email:[email protected].

From,Carol A. Shopteese, DPP Manager

Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI)/Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)

Upcoming SDPI/DPP Activities

April: Earth Day Activities - April 22 (Earth Day)

May: Out of School Celebration and/or Mother's Day Walk - late MaySoftball Tournament

June: Pow-wow (includes Horseshoe Tourney) and/or Father's Day Walk& Mud Volleyball TournamentSoftball League

Pathways to Healing Conference

April 14-15

Prairie Band Casino & Resort

To downloadbrochure and information go to

www.pbpindiantribe.comand look under

community eventsonthe

home pageor call

785.966.8355

The PBP Health Center ismoving toward the use of a newelectronic medical record systemthat will store patient medicalrecords into one centralized com-puter system.

Presently medical recordsare kept in hard-copy files andstored in a room at the health cen-ter. Every time a patient is seen,their medical file is added to, andthe larger it grows, the heavier it isto hand carry from place to place.

With the new electronicmedical record system, health careproviders will have instant accessto a patient’s medical recordthrough a computer in their officeand also have the added benefit ofbeing able to update records rightthere. The electronic system shouldalso speed up the ability to getmedicines ordered and ready forpickup from the pharmacy.

To ensure that all therecords are safe, a back-up buddy-system computer program is also

being installed in the event that theprimary system crashes or goesdown.

For added security meas-ures, only authorized providers andstaff will be able to look at the elec-tronic health records that will beprotected by two passwords.

Plans call for the systemto be activated in April and phasedin over time. Patients may noticethat visits to the clinic may beslower at first but much more effi-cient in the long run after providersget used to it.

Physicians and other med-ical staff are in the process ofacquiring laptop computers andpatients will begin seeing themused them during their upcomingoffice visits.

For more informationabout the new system call theHealth Center at 785.966.8200.

Health Center to get electronic health record system

Social Services updateLeft: Joanna “Dumps” Mitchellreceived an Oustanding StaffMember Award from the Consortiaof Administrators for NativeAmerican Rehabilitation duringtheir annual conference in SanDiego last December. With her isMorris Taylor who directs thePBPN Social Services DepartmentVocational Rehabilitation program.Taylor nominated Mitchell for theaward for her work directing theYouth Transition Services programfor the PBPN.

The GEN S Youth Council is oneof the groups that has beenorganized as part of the YouthTransition program. The groupconducts community serviceprojects and, at right, are seenwith members of the GamingCommission during an Adopt aFamily gift/food drive that GENS coordinated with the PBPChildcare/Head Start programlast Christmas season.

Health Potawatomi Newsspring 2011

Submitted by: Chris DeCoteau

The PBPN buffalo program began in theearly 1980s with the Kickapoo Nation givingthree buffalo to the program. Shortly after that, 26more were offered that came from two nationalparks up north. Currently the program has 150buffalo ranging from yearlings to adults.

The Lands department staff is responsi-ble for feeding the herd and using anywhere from6 to 10 large round bales of hay per week thatcome from other PBP land tracts. In addition,during the winter months the herd is fed 12 to 24bags per week of range cubes specifically formu-lated for nutritional needs.

The Prairie BandPotawatomi Nation LandManagement Department hasbeen responsible for the wellbeing of the Tribal BuffaloProgram for some time. Withcooperation from local andregional USDA departments, theBureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)and the Intertribal BuffaloCouncil (ITBC), the staff havebeen able to make severalimprovements to the program.Some of these include brush con-trol, weed control, and a fertilizerprogram. In addition, the staffrecently oversaw the constructionof a corral that has been a boon tothe buffalo program. The corral allows for theability to cull or separate the animals when need-ed and also makes it easier to capture and trans-

port them for administering vaccinations, as anexample.

Presently the herd is grazing on two dif-ferent tracts of land that are separated by a bridgecrossing on N road between 150 road and 158road. There is approximately 393 aces of land inthis section and 291 acres of it are natural grassthat allow for grazing. There is a need for moreground, however, to hold the growing herd, andfuture plans are in the works to construct somenew fencing on Potawatomi Tract-130 near 158road and I road to hold a portion of the herd.

Each year two mature bulls are carefullyselected for harvesting and transported live to alocal processing company with the help of USDA

representatives whoapprove the processing sothat the USDA grade sealappears on the packages.The meat is then donatedto some of the other pro-grams on the Prairie BandPotawatomi Reservationand used for funerals,naming ceremonies orgiven to Potawatomigroups, committees, andNative American church-es. Last year over 2,500pounds of meat was dis-tributed.

(special thanks to Chris Decoteau for submitting these photos )


Tribal buffalo program makes new improvements

ABOVE: The tribe’s herd numbers around 150 and canusually be seen grazing on the north side of 150 road.

BELOW: The Lands Department crew recently donatedfrom 700-800 pounds of meat to the Firekeepers ElderCenter along with a stuffed buffalo head. In the photo,from left to right, is Chris DeCoteau, Duane Daugherty,Elliot Masquat, Jason Davis, Travis Darnall, and RussellJim. Not pictured, but also part of the Lands depart-ment are Melvin Lewis and Ahnah Wahwassuck.

A new corral has been installed forthe buffalo program that is makingseparating the buffalo easier whenneeded for vaccinations or trans-porting to other areas.

Royal Valley concert choirs performat Elder Center

Vocal groups from Royal Valley School District per-formed at the Firekeepers Elder Center March 4. Theboys in the photo are, from left to right, Ivan Levier,Kwaki Spoonhunter, and Anthony Riggles who aresingers with the Middle School choir. With them is RoseJessepe who attended the performance that day.

By: Melinda Feldkamp, PBP tiny-k coordinator

Tiny-k is a program whose goal is to pro-vide FREE quality services to PBP tribal membersand reservation families with children ages 0 to 3years with developmental delays, to improve thefunctioning and well being of the child and thefamily. Infant toddler services can benefit thechild, family and community as a whole.

The partnership formed between the fam-ily, community and tiny-k service providers assistwith: enhancing capacities of families to meet theneeds of their child; assisting infants and toddlersto attain age-appropriate developmental levels;maximizing the significant development thatoccurs during a child's first three years of life;reducing feelings of isolation, stress and frustra-tion that families may experience; reducing long-term educational costs to society by minimizingthe need for special education and related servicesat school age; and helping children grow up tobecome productive, independent individuals.

Kansas families with infants or toddlerswho have developmental delays/disabilities areentitled to early intervention services. Eligibilityfor services is determined using parent reports,clinical opinion, and evaluation and assessmentmeasures. Evaluations are provided at no cost tothe families.

Once determined to be eligible, yourfamily will work with a team to define your prior-ities, to learn about resources available to you andto discuss your child's strengths and needs. Youand your team will identify what you want foryour child and how everyone will work together toachieve your family goals.

To make a referralplease contact

Melinda Feldkamp, LBSW at 785-966-2707or

Make a Difference Information Network at 800-332-6262

to find your local network.

About the PBP Infant Toddler Services: tiny-k program

Notes from Brennah Wahweotten:PBPN princess quarterly journal

Youth Potawatomi Newsspring 2011

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of quarter-ly reports being written by Brennah Wahweotten, 13,who was selected as the Prairie Band Potawatomiprincess this year and published in the PotawatomiNews.

Bozho, I hope this update and third report finds you well andhappy! As you know, I have been writing about thepow-wows I've been to as princess for our Nation. Iwant to add my parents have been a very big help andhave supported me all the way. My little brother, Zach,has kept me company, too.

November 26

Indio (Calif.) Pow-wowI loved California; it was warm, bright and sunny. Youcould go swimming in the evening and the exerciseroom was awesome. This was a new pow-wow for me.They had some rockin' drums and good dancers. Theprincesses were very nice and they always had a smileand a spot for me in grand entry. I got some reallygood songs and placed 3rd.

December 31

Tulsa (Okla.) 10th Annual New Years Sobriety Pow-wow

This was in a building similar to the Expocentre inTopeka, Kan. I spent time with another princess, whois one of my best friends, Nawnee LittleAxe. She andI entered the grand entry together and danced intertrib-als. There were about three drums. Lately, I have beendancing jingle and there was a jingle special! I endedup getting 1st place.

January 1, 2011

Comanchee Complex 2011 New Years Pow-wowLawton, Okla.

Happy New Year! This pow-wow was in a small com-munity building. It had concrete floors and a vendorcorner. It was nice. The grand entry line was in singlefile. They had a very good announcer and a big arenawith a center drum. I danced in the 15-and-under headgirl's special and made it into the finals. They had allfour finalists pick an envelope and the winner was the

person who picked the highest amount of cash. Thatwas cool. Then, after that, they had a men's vs.women's fancy special. I didn't get in but it was fun todance to a really fast song like the men's fancydancers.

January 14

Battle of the Plains 2011Bartlesville, Okla.

This was close to a performance for Royal Valley (RV)Native American Dancers and Singers, our schooldance troupe. It's a youth pow-wow where schoolscompete based on the total points they get from theirindividual dancers. I've been attending ever sinceabout 2nd grade. They had really good fast songs forthe teens' fancy and a double beat. But, I didn't dancefancy at this pow-wow. I danced jingle to try to makepoints for our school. Our school got the most points.Whew! This was our 6th year of winning the compe-tition.

January 27

Performance at the RVHS-Kansas DayHoyt, Kan.

This was a small performance, but not for me. I decid-ed to dance both jingle and fancy. I thought I did verywell and danced 15 songs in one day. It was very tir-ing. But I still had fun and didn't have to run that night(hee hee). I felt very proud that I could show myschool and friends my style and my Native culture.

February 5

Haskell Welcome Back Pow-wowLawrence, Kan.

This was an old home pow-wow that was nice to relaxat. I danced fancy in the women's category becausethere were no teens the first night. I didn't place, but Idid have fun. The next day I danced fancy in thebeginning. I found out about a jingle special, got in it,and enjoyed dancing the style. I didn't place, but I hadfun (lol). After the special, I dressed fancy and got inan endurance dance where you had to be the last onedancing. My hair fell out (whoops) so I walked off thearena. One of my cousins, Tamo Thomas, who is in the5th grade, lasted soooo loooonnng! I didn't know shecould dance that long and she made me really proud ofher.

February 19-20

SDSU Brooking Pow-wowBrookings, S. D.

I love going to this pow-wow because they have thebest drums ever. My favorite drum is Elk Soldier andthey were there! I was so excited. I made new friendsand got into a team dance special. They had an extraday for fun stuff, but the weather was bad, so they didthe awards that night. I ended up getting 2nd. Zachdid a good job and got 1st. Since the weather was bad,

we went home and got out of that storm!

February 26

Shawnee High Pow-wowShawnee, Okla.

This was a good little pow-wow. I went last year andgot 1st place. I didn't place this year but I got to seefriends. They had some northern drums (NOT com-mon down south) with good songs. I didn't get anycrow-hops or double-beats, but it was still a goodnight.

So far, my family is looking forward to around ninepow-wows to attend in my final quarter. I will sharedetails in my last report. A few tribal members haveasked how they can help us and thanks. Many peoplehave and are helping me in their own way. If you wantto send any financial help this is what you can do.Make a check or money order to Brennah Wahweottenand send to (Oh, and they will accept cash at the bankonly). Denison State BankAttn: Prairie Band Potawatomi Princess, Brennah

Wahweotten PO Box 283Hoyt, KS 66440

Any money I receive will go toward my pow-wowtravel and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Pow-wowPrincess Special.

I want to let everybody know that my family is spon-soring a teen girl all around dance special, ages 13 -17, during our annual pow-wow so girls have time toget ready. There will be 5 places, along with a jacketfor 1st place, AND I won't be competing). IDs will bechecked, so bring your ID. Our pow-wow is June 10-12. I hope to see everyone there.

Pa ma mi na

Brennah Wahweotten

Girls Jingle (5-7)1st place

Shanokwe Price2nd place

Autumn Wabaunsee

Boys Fancy (5-7)1st place

Nahconbe Wahwassuck

Boys Grass (5-7)2nd placeKJ Miller3rd place

Ruben Tinajero

Girls Cloth (8-10)1st place

Kiikto Thomas2nd place

Jaiana Serna-Blakemore

Girls Fancy (8-10)1st place

Tamo Thomas2nd placeMae Joslin3rd place

Kishno Bell


Zach Wahweotten

Boys Traditional (8-10)1st place

Jayden Serna-Blakemore2nd place

Masen Spoonhunter

Boys Grass (8-10)1st place

Komesh Spoonhunter2nd place

Bryce Garrison

Girls Cloth (11-13)2nd place

Mittna Hale

Boys Grass (11-13)1st place

Meskwes Knoxsah


Daniel Scholfield

Girls Cloth (14-18)1st place

Sylvana Levier

Girls Fancy (14-18)1st place

Alicia Scholfield2nd place

Rebekah Navarro

Girls Jingle (14-18)1st place

Brennah Wahweotten

Boys Traditional (14-18)1st place

Doug Thomas

Royal Valley Singers & Dancers win Battle of the Plains championship six years in a row

Youth Potawatomi Newsspring 2011

Dale "Mad Dog" Messmer, an ex-convict who did a laundry list of crimes thenturned his life around, was the guest speaker atRoyal Valley High School gym Feb. 10.

After his release from over a decade inprison, "Mad Dog" founded The Straight TalkOutreach Program (S.T.O.P.) where he givespresentations about what not to choose in life.He spoke about the dangers of drugs, gangs,violence, and prison from the perspective ofone who has been there.

"Mad Dog" has been a regular on theMaury Povich Show and is a life member of theScreen Actors Guild. He is a certified stuntcoordinator and has appeared in numerous pro-grams and films. He is also a medically/honor-ably discharged United States Marine, former

mercenary, bounty hunter, body guard andpilot.

Royal Valley School Resource OfficerSgt. Russell Whiteside said that "Mad Dog's"presentation was intended for students, parents,adults and anyone who wanted to come hear adose of reality. He said that he had seen "MadDog's" presentation before and was impressedwith what he had to say.

A school resource officer has beenprovided by the Tribal Police Department since2005 when formal agreements were made withU.S.D. #337 and the Jackson County Sheriff'sDepartment. Whiteside makes daily visits toall three schools in Mayetta and Hoyt and isalso active with the Boys & Girls Club activi-ties on the reservation.

Dale ‘Mad Dog’ Messmer gives straight talk to Royal Valley students on crime

•Competed against eight other teams from Oklahoma and Alabama

•200 dancers at contest: RV had 63 attend; 59 compete, and 23 place

•28 dance categories: RV entered 25

•Grand champions since 2004

Did you know?

•RV Native American Singers/Dancers are theonly school-sponsored dance group in Kansas

•There are 81 members in the group that range from kindergarten to 12th grade

Special thanks to Gubba Hale and the LittleSoldier Singers and all the parents, grandparents,aunts and uncles who keep the group function-ing.

-Anita Evans & Connie Peters, sponsors

This group of boys danced in the boys grass category in var-ious age divisions for the Royal Valley Singers & Dancers atthe Battle of the Plains contest. The singers and dancers per-form at several activities and events throughout the year andalso like to compete at area pow-wows. The group is sup-ported by the community and U.S.D. #337 Impact Aid andTitle VII Indian Education funds at Royal Valley.

(photo submitted by Anita Evans)

Tracy Stanhoff, presidentand creative director of AD PRO,was featured on the cover and in anarticle in the 2011 Indian CountryToday Business magazine.

In the article, Stanhoff dis-cussed her advertising and graphicdesign business called AD PRO andprovided information on her back-ground.

She resides in HuntingtonBeach, Calif. and is also the presi-dent of the American IndianChamber of Commerce.

Stanhoff was PBPN chair-man from 2006 to 2007.

Jona Rupnicki wasappointed Director of HumanResources at the Sac & Fox Casino,according to an article in the HoltonRecorder (Dec. 6, 2010). Rupnickihas more than 10 years of gamingexperience and served as a gamingcommissioner for the PBPN forfour years.

Peggy Houston wasnamed the Sac and Fox CasinoGeneral Manager in August. Shehas several years of experience inthe gaming industry having workedas the Director of HumanResources for FireKeepers Casinoin Michigan and DownstreamCasino in Oklahoma. She was alsothe Casino Transition Manager forthe Prairie Band PotawatomiNation and held other casino man-agement positions before that time.

Tim Ramirez received aCommunity Action Award at theDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Scholarship and Awards Banqueton Jan. 15 in Topeka, Kan. Theawards were given to individualswhose actions have made a posi-tive difference in their communi-ty. Micki Martinez nominatedRamirez for the award and he wasselected based on his many yearsof service to the PBPN’s reserva-tion roads and membership ontransportation organizations bothlocal and nationwide.

Dear Editor:

I enjoyed the article thatappeared in the Winter 2010 issue thatwas written by Brennah Wahweotten,PBPN princess.

She documents her experienceson the pow-wow circuit. I am not person-ally involved in the pow-wow endeavors,but I was enlightened by her article andfound it very interesting. I enjoyed a col-lege course in creative writing, and thinkit should be encouraged in the younger setin our tribe. Writing sparks an interest inmore education, encourages creativity andpromotes a strong feeling of self worth. Iapplaud this young lady and her literaryjourney. Brennah’s passion has empow-ered her, and should serve as an inspira-tion to her peers.

William Eteeyan, Jr.

Letter to the Editor

Linda Shopteese made tele-vision news on January 23 on KSNT-TV27 for a snow sculpture she created in thefront yard of her home in Topeka. Sheconstructed a sculpture out of snow thatdepicted a Native American on a horsethat took her about five hours to make.She said on the newscast that she justwanted to show her heritage as a Native

American.

Community Potawatomi Newsspring 2011

Member news and notes

Congratulations to Levonna BigGoose, 7th grade, and LeRain BigGoose, 8th grade, for making the fallhonor roll at South Junior High inLawrence, Kan.

Morgan “Tamo” Thomas

Morgan “Tamo” Thomas, 10,won the Knights of Columbus FreeThrow Contest in her age category byshooting 9 out of 15 baskets. Followingthat, she advanced to the regional com-petition where she lost by one basket to afellow teammate. Both competitors playfor the Kickapoo Rez Ballaz that are inthe Sportzone and YMCA basketballleagues in Topeka.

Morgan is in the 5th grade atRoyal Valley Middle School and is alsoactive with the Royal Valley Singers &Dancers.

Kishno Bell

Kishno Bell, 11,bowled a 236 game in theYouth Girls category atGage Center Bowl inTopeka last January. It wasthe third time she has scoreda 200-plus game. Kishno isin the 5th grade at RoyalValley Middle School andhas been bowling since shewas 6 years old. In addi-tion, she is a member of theRoyal Valley Singers &Dancers.

Congratulations

Charissa “Se-be”Wawasuck-Jessepe

for making the

dean’s honor roll last fallat

Wichita State University

“We are so proud of you!”Love,

Mom, Dad,Mko-kwe, &

Ba-Bisg-i-na

Happy 91st Birthdayto

Mary Wishkeno Delgwho celebrated her birthday

with family and friendsat the Bingo Hall

March 12

CongratulationsNoah O. Wahquahboshkuk

ongraduating

with aMasters of Business Administration

fromBaker UniversityDecember 2010

“We are very proud of you.”-Your family


Graduation shout outs!Congratulations

Lenora Ann Steward Dickenson

graduating with honors as a Health CareAssistant from Meridian (Miss.)

Community College in December.She also became a certified nursing

assistant through the state of Mississippiand plans to further her nursing

education to become an LPN.At her graduation ceremony she was

supported by her husband, Phillip, andniece, Keisha and husband, Reece Bazor.

CongratulationsAngela Guerrero Del-Real

onmaking the dean’s honor roll

at Washburn University.Your family is so very proud of you.

Keep up the good work.We love you.

Mom, Aiyana, Alonzo and all your family.

5K Run to honor Jerry & Terri Tuckwin

Community Notices

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PBP Department of Education stats (as of spring 2011)

•Higher Education is funding 171 undergraduates; 30 masters;2 doctorates

•K-12 (Student Services) is funding 184 students at Royal ValleySchools and 12 students that attend Kickapoo Nation School

(statistics include only tribal families who have chosen to participate)

Jerry Tuckwin (PBPN) was the director of athletics atHaskell Indian Nations Univeristy for over 20 years andheavily involved in the cross-country track program.. Hiswife, Terri, was also a mentor to the students.

Happy 6th Birthday Jordy Wadeon

March 16and

Happy 7th Birthday “KJ”on

May 26

Love you both!Love,

Dad, Mom, & Karis

TTttiiwweennmmoo eeggiinniiggyyáánn((hhaappppyy ddaayy yyoouu wweerree bboorrnn))


Happy Birthday

A.J. RogersSkyler MahkukXavier RogersDarrin Rogers

Telissa Mahkuk

Shis-sha Dan loves you

Happy 5th BirthdayEthan!

March 17

Love,Mom,

Victoria&

Family

Happy 2nd Birthday“Bear”

March 25

Love,

Mom, Dad, Sisters & Family

Birthday Greetings to

Emma Raven Martinez(March 13)

Anthony (Tony) His-Law(March 25)

Amber Dawn Walker(March 31)

Mariah Levelle(April 3)

Inez Dodds(April 7)

Ahshoni Dawn Stanley(May 6)

Birthday blessings to all myrelatives and much happiness on

your special day with many more tocome.

Love always,Cheryl Walker,

Mom, Grandma & Sister

Happy Birthdayto

Jeff & Charlee GoinsMarch 31

From:Misho Kevin Aitkens

Happy 19th Birthdayto

Roman C. Adame

Love,Mom & Damon

Happy 13th Birthday Koby!

From:Your Misho

Kevin Aitkens

Happy Birthdayto

Peytan & Henry Jones

From:Misho Kevin Aitkens

&Crystal Jones

Happy Birthday and much love

toEthan Doc-March 12

Zaw Zee-April 25Tatyum-May 13

From: Your Family

Ganiçâk(those who are born)

Xavier Thomas AlvarezBorn: Jan. 17, 2011

I love you my grandson!

Gramma

Happy 3rd Birthday to

Daylan Wayne Mzhickteno IIApril 21

You are an amazing son andgood brother.

Love, Dad, Mom, & Lil Duane

Happy Birthday Banks kids!

JOSEPH W. HALE, SR.WEK MA BI TUK

MAYETTA – Joseph W. Hale, Sr., Wek Ma Bi Tuk, 62, of Mayetta, died Wednesday, September22, 2010 at the VA hospital in Topeka.

He was born October 26, 1947 on the Potawatomi Reservation at Mayetta, the son ofWilliam and Blanche Wahgo Hale. He graduated from Topeka High School in 1965 and attendedHaskell University, Kaw Area Vo-Tech, and Kansas State University.

Joe worked in various jobs as a laborer and for the Potawatomi Nation, including theenrollment office.

He was a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, the Big Drum Religion, hadserved on the Tribal Council and had worked with the Royal Valley Native American Dancers. Joewas a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He served in Viet Nam where he was combat wounded andreceived the purple heart.

He married LaVerne Kitchkommie. They were divorced.Joe was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Victor Hale and Cecil Hale.Survivors include five sons, Chago Hale, Naseka Hale, Gubba Hale, Wahpi Hale, and

Kwake Hale, all of Mayetta, an adopted son, Wamp Shopteese, six adopted daughters, LoriShopteese, Renee Shopteese, Lemon Shopteese, Tracy Shopteese, Jodi McIntosh, and ToniMcIntosh, one brother, Philip Hale, Portland, OR, one sister, Larene Thomas, Horton, and ninegrandchildren.

Drum services will be Saturday evening at the Dance Ground, west of Mayetta. Burialwith military honors by We-Ta-Se Post No. 410 will be Sunday afternoon in the Matwe-ShobneyCemetery on the reservation. Joe will lie in state until 3:00 p.m. Saturday at the Chapel OaksFuneral Home in Holton. On-line condolences may be made at chapeloaksfuneralhome.com

(Courtesy of Chapel Oaks Funeral Home-Holton, Kan.)

Kamboçâk (those who died)


PATTERSON

MAYETTA- Sarah Blandin Patterson, 97, of Mayetta,passed away Wednesday February 16, 2011 atMedicalodges Jackson County in Holton.

She was born May 14, 1913 on the PrairieBand Potawatomi Reservation in Mayetta to James V.and Ptis-Saw (Kozee) Blandin. She attended BlandinGrade School and graduated from Delia High School.Sarah married Floyd "Pink" Patterson. He preceded herin death on February 25, 1990. Sarah was a housewifeand teacher's aide at Royal Valley Schools. She also owned and operated Pink'sPlace tavern in Mayetta with her husband in the 60s and 70s. Sarah was a mem-ber of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and Our Lady of the Snows CatholicChurch.

She is survived by her granddaughters, Shawn Reed and ShannonPatterson both of Aurora, CO; her two great granddaughters; and numerousnieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, she was also preceded in deathby her sons, Gary Joseph Patterson and Forrest J. "Duke" Patterson, her sisters,Jane Blandin Puckkee, Elizabeth Blandin Tuckwin and Rose Blandin Burke, herbrothers Jacob and James Blandin and her 22 half brothers and sisters.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. Monday February 21,2011 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Mayetta. Burial will follow inMayetta Cemetery. The rosary will be recited 4:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon at thechurch. She will lie in state at Mercer Funeral Home until 2:00 p.m. Sunday.Memorials are suggested for Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church and maybe left in care of Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 270, Holton 66436. To leavea special message for the family, visit www.mercerfuneralhomes.com.

(Courtesy of Mercer Funeral Home-Holton, Kan.)

STEVEN J. COOK

Steven J. Cook, age 43 of Mayetta, KS, passedaway Sunday, February 27, 2011 in Kansas. Born onDecember 23, 1967 in Sheboygan, he was the son ofMichael B. and Kay L. (Rabideaux) Cook, Sr. After grad-uating from Menominee Indian High School in 1986,Steven enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. Afterserving his country for more than seven years he was hon-orably discharged from service. Steven was a Tribal PoliceOfficer for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas and was very proud of hisposition as a police officer. During his career he became a BIA Certified Officer forthe Prairie Band Police and had also done detective work. In November of 2010 hewas happily united in marriage to Denise Fouraker in Mayetta, Kansas. Stevenattended St. Michael's Catholic Church in Keshena as well as St. Anthony's CatholicChurch in Neopit. He was a member of the Wa-te-se V.F.W. in Kansas and a mem-ber of the Prairie Band Tribal Veterans Association. In his free time he enjoyed fish-ing, watching the buffalo on the Potawatomi Reservation and was an avid Packerfan. He also had a love for his cats, Grace and Felix.

Steven is survived by: his wife, Denise; 2 children, Dustin Cook ofMayetta, KS, Rachel Cook of Fond du Lac; a grandson, Elijah Cook; 2 stepchildren,Nathan Powers and Amy Powers both of KS; his parents, Mike and Kay Cook ofKeshena; 7 siblings, Michael Cook, Jr. of Keshena, Ronald Cook of Bismarck, ND,Ken (Sheila) Cook of Freedom, Christopher (Misty) Cook of Gresham, MelissaCook of Shawano, Melinda Cook of Shawano and Tricia (Justin) Broshear ofCincinnati, OH; several nieces and nephews; and a God Daughter, Megan Smith ofShawano.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30pm on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at theSt. Anthony's Catholic Church in Neopit with the Rev. Robert Rank officiating.Military Rites will be conducted by the Veterans of the Menominee Nation and theMenominee American Legion Post #497 at the church following the service.Visitation will be held at the Mike and Kay Cook residence located at N306 PineMeadows in Keshena after 4pm on Thursday until the procession leaves for thechurch on Saturday. A Parish Wake service will be held at the residence on Fridayat 7pm. Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano is assisting the family with thearrangements. Flowers and condolences may be sent to the family in care ofMichael and Kay Cook, N306 Pine Meadows, Keshena, WI 54135 at www.swed-bergfuneralhome.com

(Courtesy of Swedberg Funeral Home-Shawano, Wis.)

LEROY WESLEY JESSEPESHAWNAKUK

MAYETTA - Our brother, and father, Leroy Wesley Jessepe, Shawnakuk,passed away on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at St. Francis Hospital inTopeka.

Leroy was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma on July 11, 1951. He wasthe son of Leroy Jessepe and Constance Magnauck Lewis. He attendedschools throughout Kansas and graduated from Riverside Indian School,Anadarko, Oklahoma where he made numerous friends that he enjoyed seeing from time totime on his travels around the United States. He attended vocational school in Denver,Colorado, He was a free spirit who traveled to all four corners of the United States, workingvarious jobs from construction, farm work, mechanic, chemist, to office clerk. He was a jackof all trades. Whenever he visited family he was always willing to dig in and help out. He wasa member of the Christian faith and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

In his younger years he was a well accomplished athlete, he played football, basket-ball, and learned how to box at a young age.

He is survived by two sons, Paul Jessepe and Cody Nozhackum, both of Mayetta,two granddaughters, Marissa Jessepe and Raelynn Daniels, brothers Charles Lewis of KansasCity, MO, Joseph (Mary) Jessepe, of Mayetta,; sisters Theresa (Robert) Murray, of Poplar, MT,and Imelda Jessepe of Mayetta; nephews James Lewis of OK, Michael (Rachael) Jessepe, ofDenison, Robert (Elisa) Jessepe of Mayetta, Andrew Joseph “A.J.” Ortega, Topeka, Isaac(Cira) Murray of Hilo, HI, Robert Murray, III, of Poplar, MT; nieces Tamara (Will)McClammy, Charlene (Terry) Butler, Leslie Marshno, and Kristin Potter, all of Topeka, Jackie(John) Jessepe-Levier, Jodi Jessepe, and Angela (Gary Chee) Jessepe, of Mayetta, and JessieMurray, of Santa Fe, NM; and many great nieces and nephews.

His favorite pastime was reading and working outdoors. Leroy will be missed by allwho knew him. He was a kind and honest man who lived life on his own terms.

Leroy was preceded in death by his parents, step-father Joseph Lewis, sister-in-law,Christine Lewis, and nephew Billy Potter.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at Our Ladyof the Snows Catholic Church on the Potawatomi Reservation. Burial will follow in the OldDance Ground Cemetery on the reservation. Leroy will lie in state until 3:00 p.m. Friday atthe Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hoyt. He will lie in state after 4:00 p.m. at Our Lady of theSnows Hall where a rosary will be prayed at 7:00 p.m., followed by an all night wake. On-line condolences may be made at chapeloaksfuneralhome.com

(Courtesy of Chapel Oaks Funeral Home-Hoyt, Kan.)

For pow-wow vendor application go towww.pbpindiantribe.com

The Heart ofJacksonHumaneSociety

has grantmoney

available tofix your dogs.

Please call785.364.5156 for details.

Prairie BandPotawatomi

Childcare CenterPublic Hearing

June 3, 1 p.m.

Ben-no-ttehWigwam

15380 K RdMayetta, KS

66509

Voice your ideas and concerns

Plan Process:1. Coordinate the provision of serv-

ices with Federal, State and local childcare and early childhood development programs.

2. Consult with appropriate representa-tives of local governments.

3. Hold at least one public hearing to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the provision of childcare services.

4. Incorporate any changes to the program as a result of the input received during the public hearing.

Please call the Potawatomi Childcare Centerwith any questions at 785.966.2527


ForCobell Settlement Information

go to www.IndianTrust.com

The website contains important information aboutthe $3.4 billion Indian Trust Settlement.

On December 21, 2010, The United States DistrictCourt for the District of Columbia granted prelimi-nary approval to the Settlement. On December 8,2010, President Obama signed legislation approv-ing the settlement and authorizing $3.4 billion infunds.

The website contains good information on how tomake a claim.

Spring Health Fair & Head Start Round-Up

Where: PBP Early Childhood Education Center15380 K Road

Mayetta, KS 66509

When: Friday, April 15, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Health Fair focuses on providing a well-child clinic forchildren ages 3-5 years.

Medical screenings available and resource materials

For details or appointment call 785.966.2707

Sponsored by the PBP Interagency CoordinatingCouncil/Health Advisory/ PAT board

Community Blood DriveMarch 25

8:30 a.m. to 11: 30 a.m.Bingo Hall

Make an appointment online at

www.savealifenow.orgor call

Verna Simon at 785.966.8303

HarvestersRural-Food

Pantrystops at Buffalo

CommunityBuilding

on 158 Road first Friday ofeach month

from9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Call 785.966.2756for details

Eat Healthy-Work OutJoin the Diabetes Prevention Programs

now availableat the PBP Health Center

Call Carol Shopteese at 785.966.8271 for details

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