Oct. 15, 2020 - Vol. 16 Issue 20

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Oct. 15, 2020 -Vol. 16, Issue 20

Annual Tribal Council meeting pulls in over 135 attendees

Rosemary Stephens Editor-in-Chief

(CONCHO, OK) The 2020 annual Tribal Council meeting of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes starts a little different this year due to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the country.

Instead of the usual greeting of hugs and hand shakes, tribal members were met by members of the tribal health department, clothed in PPE and armed with thermometers for temperature checks and extra masks for distribution prior to entering the building.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, the tribes’ held their annual council meeting inside the R.E.Sp.E.C.T. Gymnasium in Concho, Okla. Facial coverings were mandated, and social distancing was encouraged as tribal members filed into the gym.

According to the tribes’ Constitution, an attendance quorum of 75 tribal members must be met to call the meeting to order, and the quorum must be maintained throughout the meeting duration. At one point, there were over 135 tribal members in attendance.

On the agenda for this year’s meeting were 11 resolutions to be addressed and voted on. Out of the 11 resolutions, four resolutions were heard and voted

on, two were withdrawn and five resolutions were not addressed due to losing the mandated 75-member quorum following the lunch break.

The resolutions addressed were: 1. Selection of Tribal Council Coordinator. Candidates vying for this elected position were Wilma Big Medicine, incumbent Michelle Bigfoot, Jewel Turtle and Jennifer Plummer Wilkinson. After the vote, Bigfoot retained the seat of Tribal Council Coordinator for another year, with a vote of 89 for Bigfoot, 6 for Big Medicine, 47 for Wilkinson and 16 for Turtle.

2. FY 2021 Budget. After the vote the 2021 Budget was approved with a vote of 110 yes, 21 no and 4 abstaining.

3. A Tribal Council Resolution to Call for a Special Election to Amend the Constitution for Tribal Council resolution to be mailed out to all tribal members 18 and over to vote. After the vote this item was not approved with a vote of 37 yes, 54 no and 6 abstaining.

4. A Tribal Council Resolution to Amend the Tribal Council Resolution 100408ATC-002 Tribal Council Rules of Order and Procedure. This resolution was withdrawn due to being contingent on the passing of item number 3.

Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal members were screened 5. A Tribal Council Resolution to call for a Special prior to entering the 2020 annual Tribal Council meeting Election to amend the constitution. This resolution held in Concho, Okla. on Oct. 3, 2020. (Photos via Facewas also withdrawn due to being contingent on the book) passing of item number 3.

6. Policy to investigate and Seek the Return of 7. Legal analysis of the impact of the court deci$9,000,000.00 Paid to PokerTribes.com. The resolu- sion in McGirt v. Oklahoma on the Tribes’ reservation was approved with a vote of 62 yes, 3 no and tion.

15 abstaining. Although a similar resolution already 8. Amendment of the Constitution to reorganize as exists on the books from a previous Tribal Council part of the Tribes’ Territory. meeting.

9. Publish online Resolutions, Ordinances, Laws Lunch was served after voting on item 6 and the and Audits for the Members of the Tribes. meeting ended up being adjourned a little after 1 p.m.

10. Public Access to all Boards and Commissions. due to loss of quorum.

11. Live-stream broadcast of all Legislative SesAgenda items not addressed included: sions.

Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes governor tests positive for COVID-19 (CONCH, OK) On Monday, Oct. 5, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Gov. Reggie Wassana announced he tested positive for COVID-19.

Gov. Wassana stated he had lunch on Thursday Oct. 1 with somebody who tested positive on Friday. Wassana chose to not attend the annual Tribal Council meeting in order to quarantine as recommended by health professionals.

“Over the weekend I had a headache and minor aches,” Wassana stated in his release.

By Monday he had also developed a runny nose, thus prompting him to be tested Monday evening, Oct. 5, coming back positive.

“Currently I feel fine and I am trying to resume a normal life without going anywhere, but it’s tough trying to stay home,” Wassana wrote in the release.

His symptoms, as reported on Monday were a mild headache, runny nose, but no fever.

Wassana said for now, Zoom calls and other media will have to be his work environment, and enede with encouraging everyone to keep their masks on and staying safe.

As of Oct. 14, Oklahoma had 101,493 cu-

mulative positive cases of COVID-19, with 1,119 deaths. The state has also reported 11,721 total pediatric cases, with 9.776 cases for ages 5-17 years old, and 1,945 cases among 0-4 year olds.

Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune

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Project CommUNITY: Local official calls President Trump signing two bills into law ‘a win for Indian country’

Tsistsistas & Hinonoei

By Perris Jones, KOCO5

(OKLAHOMA CITY) President Donald Trump signed two bills into law that are aimed at making sure cases of families finding justice for missing and murdered indigenous people don’t fall through the cracks.

“To me, it’s a win for Indian country,” said Larenda Morgan, the government affairs officer for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

Morgan told KOCO 5 she’s kept a close eye on Capitol Hill for legislation to address a crisis among native families.

“The tribal members oftentimes that go missing or go murdered in their cases … for some reason they haven’t garnered the attention that they needed in those cases,” Morgan said. “And I think

part of the reason was maybe a misunderstanding about the jurisdictional boundaries between tribal and state land.”

Morgan knows all too well what those families are going through. Her cousin, Ida, went missing in 2015 and, to this day, there still aren’t answers.

But she said Trump signing Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act into law could change that.

Savanna’s Act requires the Department of Justice to develop protocols for law enforcement to address the issue.

The Not Invisible Act directs the DOJ and the Department of the Interior to create a joint commission on violent crime within and against the Native American community.

“The passage of these laws and the fact that the president signed them into law just gives us some relief that we’re being acknowledged and that these cases do matter, whereas in the past they were overlooked and took a long time for them to be investigated,” Morgan said.

Morgan has also been involved in efforts to address this at the state level.

A bill named after her cousin made it to the Senate floor but didn’t pass because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Morgan told KOCO 5, however, that they plan to reintroduce the bill next session.

(This story first appeared on KOCO5 news.)

Indigenous murdered, missing acts signed into law

By Jessie Christopher Smith, Gaylord News

(WASHINGTON, D.C) Companion bills designed to change the way law enforcement responds to murdered or missing Indigenous women have been signed into law almost symbolically by President Donald Trump on the weekend before Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Combined, the two bills will improve coordination between agencies while developing a plan to combat the rising tide of missing, murdered and kidnapped Native Americans, something that has not happened before. More importantly it brings Indigeous people into the process.

Savanna’s Act honors the name of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a citizen of the Spirit Lake Nation tribe who was found brutally murdered in the Red River near the North Dakota-Minnesota border. Her unborn baby was cut out of her womb days before the 22-year-old mother’s body was discovered.

The Not Invisible Act, co-sponsored by the four sitting members of Congress who are tribal members including Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and MarkWayne Mullen (R-Okla.), seeks to improve coordination between agencies that deal with violence against Native Americans.

The signing comes nearly a year after Trump signed an executive order that formed the Operation Lady Justice task force, to which several Oklahomans have been named.

“One of the most impactful testimonies that I heard was from the father of a missing person’s victim, who talked about his family’s awful experience after the fact,” said Trent Shores, a key member of the Lady Justice committee, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation and the U.S. Attorney Northern District of Oklahoma.

“It was something that I think really hit on all of us, and it was a good reminder, frankly, of the seriousness of the issue that we have,” he said.

Patti Buhl, a Cherokee Nation citizen, who was selected as the new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Coordinator for Oklahoma in June, works closely with Shores and said that the pandem-

ic has slowed down the planned progress of her work with tribal leadership and law enforcement.

Native American women are more than twice as likely to experience violence than any other demographic, and one out of every three Native women will be the victim of sexual assault during her lifetime, according to the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center.

Savanna’s Act and Operation Lady Justice share the common goal of improving communication between federal and tribal law enforcement agencies by updating existing criminal databases and coordinating data-sharing between both entities.

“Once that missing person leaves a reservation and goes to an urban setting, the responsibility for finding that person is with all law enforcement, but the primary jurisdiction may rest, at the front end, with tribal law enforcement and, at the back end, with state and local law enforcement,” Shores said.

“I think it could really go a long way if we continue to expand the Tribal Access Program, to give notice to members of law enforcement in our particular [tribal] region, so that they can be able to look out when someone goes missing.”

However, Sarah Deer, a Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen and a professor at the University of Kansas, said that while Savanna’s Act is a step in the right direction she is “a little skeptical” of the president’s task force.

“I don’t want to ever suggest that we shouldn’t have all kinds of folks at the table working on this,” Deer said. “But the task force is time-limited; it’s not really changing the game.

“We’re going to develop policies, we’re going to train law enforcement, we’re going to prepare people to enter data into [the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System],” Deer said. “I’d like to see more steps providing action, as opposed to information-gathering.”

Deer’s expert testimony on assault against indigenous women played crucial roles in the 2010 passage of the Tribal Law and Or-

Oklahoma has 18 missing or murdered Indigenous women’s cases, 10th-most in the nation, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. Graphic provided by the Urban Indian Health Institute.

der Act and the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Deer reiterated that the next step should be moving toward restoring tribal jurisdiction over all crimes committed by all people, Native or otherwise, on reservations.

“Until we change the structural inequity at the tribal level, when it comes to non-Indian perpetrators, we’re still going to struggle,” Deer said. “I do get a little impatient when it’s more study and more consultation, because we’ve had all of that, when we really just need to fix the identified problems.”

“We’re going to look at the best practices for establishing multidisciplinary teams that will include tribal law enforcement and victim advocates to address cold cases,” Shores said. “And I think we’ll get into more detail in Year Two what kind of a public awareness and education campaign we need for both impacted communities in Indian Country, but also urban communities that may not think about missing and murdered indigenous persons issues impacting their communities.”

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has stationed seven Operation Lady Justice offices across the country to work with local law enforcement personnel and reexamine cold cases, Buhl said.

“Those investigators are already in place, and they are looking at cases as we speak,” Buhl said.

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune

Dept. of Justice grants $1.2M to help Western District of Oklahoma Track Sex Offenders

(OKLAHOMA CITY) The Dept. of Justice has issued grant awards of $1,199,047 to develop and improve systems to register and track sex offenders in the Western District of Oklahoma, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing. Awarded by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs, these grants help states, U.S. territories and tribal communities register and track sex offenders and enable them to meet the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Funds also help maintain the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.

“Citizens are better protected from sexual violence when jurisdictions follow SORNA’s standards,” said OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “The Office of Justice Programs is committed to giving state, territory and tribal officials the resources they need to register and track sex offenders and prevent known threats in one community from posing new dangers to others.”

OJP’s Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART

Office) is awarding approximately $16 million to jurisdictions across the country to develop and enhance programs designed to implement the provisions of SORNA. The SMART Office is awarding almost $800,000 to provide training and technical assistance to jurisdictions implementing SORNA standards. The U.S. Center for SafeSport will receive the $2.3 million Keep Young Athletes Safe grant to continue developing a comprehensive training and prevention program to prevent abuse in the athletic programs of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and related sports organizations.

The SMART Office will award nearly $1 million to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research to support maintenance, operations and technological improvements for the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, NSOPW.gov, which links state, territorial and tribal public registry websites and allows the public to search for registered sex offenders on a national scale.

“The grants provided by the Department of Justice are invaluable in the defense against sexual predators,” said U.S. Attorney Downing.

“Our pursuit of justice is fueled by the resourcefulness and dedication of our national, state, local and tribal partnerships. We are honored to work alongside the dedicated members of law enforcement to continue to uphold and protect our communities from sex offenders.”

“Our mission at the SMART Office is to help our state, tribal and territorial partners register and provide notification to the public of sex offenders within their jurisdictions,” said Kendel Ehrlich, Director of the SMART Office. “We will continue to provide both law enforcement and the public with the tools they need to better inform and protect their communities and themselves.”

The following WDOK organization and Tribes received funding: Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes-$400,000 Oklahoma Department of Corrections-$399,047 Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma-$400,000 More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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Elders can experience Domestic Violence

StrongHearts Native Helpline

Native American Elders are usually considered an elder when they are above the age of 60 to 65, although it varies from tribe to tribe.

In our Native communities, we are taught to respect our elders. We honor them at ceremony, community gatherings, and pow wows.

Their presence is considered to be an honor. We depend on them for wisdom and guidance gleaned from their years of experience. They are invaluable to us. Yet, they can still be victims of domestic violence.

Abuse can happen to anyone. It is not limited to a specific age, class, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

Abuse can happen in relationships where couples are married, living together, dating or have children together.

Violent behavior can appear at any time in a relationship, though possessive, controlling and other alarming behavior often reveals itself as the relationship becomes more serious.

Domestic violence happens when an intimate partner uses a repetitive pattern of abuse to maintain power

and control over their partner. The abuse can physically harm, intimidate, prevent a person from acting freely, or force them to behave in ways they do not want.

Types of Abuse What can domestic violence look like in elder relationships? Domestic violence can look similar in elder relationships as it does in their younger counterparts, but some elders may be more vulnerable to the impacts of abuse and less able to get support.

Physical abuse includes inflicting physical pain or injury upon the victim like pushing, holding or pinching. It can also include prohibiting one to get medical help, withholding medicine, or not allowing one time to heal after illness or surgery.

Emotional abuse includes verbal assaults, threats of abuse, and intimidation.

It also includes isolation, where the abusive partner will not let the victim visit with their relatives. Isolation can be particularly harmful to elders as they may already have limited mobility or relaELDER ABUSE / pg. 7

Norman Main Street Event Center calls for Native Artists Latoya Lonelodge, Staff Reporter

(NORMAN, OK) Many businesses across the world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic were forced to shut down, while some businesses have begun to reopen and creative innovative ways to bring people together in a safe environment.

Like Main Street Event Center in Norman, Okla. Co-owners Tracey Satepauhoodle-Mikkanen, Kiowa/Caddo, and Arvo Mikkanen, Kiowa/Comanche, have made it their goal to continue the tradition of art and its many forms.

For the month of October, Native American artists were called to partake in a live glass painting event that would feature an artist’s work temporarily for two weeks on the front windows of the Main Street Event Center. Following the month of October, for Native American Heritage month, the Main Street Event Center also called for Native American female DJs in Oklahoma to showcase their music on Friday or Saturday nights for the month of November.

Having a passion for the arts, the Mikkanens wear many hats, and one of those hats were the reason they connected to the Main Street Event Center as DJs. Formally known as their DJ names, DJ Sapphire (Tracey) and DJ Adam (Arvo).

The Mikkanens also owned a mobile music business called T-Bird Mobile Service for 20 years.

“We provided music for different types of events and frequently we would be at the same location that’s now the Main Street Event Center and when that space became available, we moved in there,” Arvo said.

Tracey said the hats that they wore as mobile DJs got them connected to Main Street through working as DJs. Tracey also sits on the board for the Auntie Project: Native Women of Service in Oklahoma.

In reopening the Main Street Event Center since the coronavirus pandemic when businesses were forced to shut down, the Mikkanens found themselves in a position to rethink social gatherings in an unprecedented time.

“Music and the visual arts are always important, and we’re dealing now with the situation with the pandemic, how do we continue on with some sense of normalcy and be safe and it was really Tracey’s idea. We’ve had live paints before at the event center, a variety of people, one of our very first opening included a live paint,” Arvo said.

Cheyenne and Arapaho citizen and artist Brent Learned was one of the first artists who volunteered in the live painting. The Mikkanens moved forward with the opportunity to host the live glass painting event.

To follow social distancing guidelines, Arvo said the idea of the event was to have an artist live paint on the glass from the inside of the Main Street Event Center, with Learned as their first featured artist.

“I’ve known Brent for many years and interestingly I’ve always considered him a friend and vise versa, Tracey’s

Brent Learned, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and well known artist, is one of the first participants in a live glass painting event held at the Main Street Event Center in Norman, Okla. (Photos / Latoya Lonelodge) known him as well and I’ve DJ’ed for some of the Native Pop events that he’s done,” Arvo said.

In knowing each other, Arvo said they’ve created at events back and forth.

“I’ve done some events for him and played the music while he’s painting or he’s had an exhibition, it’s kind of a trade situation here but he’s going to be painting from the inside of the glass and it’s going to be a large play glass window, people can observe it from the outside on main street, we have a sheltered patio and we’re able to serve refreshments there and have a safe environment in light of the pandemic,” Arvo said.

Another aspect of the event is music, Arvo said.

“A friend of his named DJ Scratch is going to be playing, he’s going to be inside the event center, we’re going to broadcast the music outside so we can still continue on with focusing on music and try to do it in a safe way,” Arvo said.

In creating events geared towards showcasing art in the midst of a pandemic, Tracey said the pandemic had turned their world upside down as artists.

“Our main goal is doing what we do but safety first, it took us a few months to figure out how we’re going to do this …

being able to observe first of all, as somebody who is a person who enjoys the arts, secondly a artist, where are you going to be able to paint now and how are you going to be able to present yourself in a safe manner and three, our music, same way with our DJs,” Tracey said.

With the service industry they’re in, Tracey said it’s about getting people together and with the pandemic, that had been stripped.

“We are beginning to learn here, the new norm, the new way of being able to operate in the public’s sense, make sure that we’re following the ordinances of the city of Norman, all the way down to the CDC, top to bottom, we want to apply those codes and be safe,” Tracey said.

Tracey said that’s the main goal, but also looking at how they will survive and keep moving forward.

“This is our way as business owners to help not just ourselves but this also helps all those people that we’ve always been able to enjoy in the type of service industry,” Tracey said.

Tracey said while working for a women’s shelter, she’s LIVE PAINT / pg. 4

Cheyenne and Arapaho

Latoya Lonelodge, Reporter/Advertising Sales Rosemary Stephens, Editor-in-Chief T r i b a l T r i b u n e 405-422-7608 / llonelodge@cheyenneandarapaho-nsn.gov 405-422-7446 / rmstephens@cheyenneandarapaho-nsn.gov 1600 E. Hwy 66, Suite 8, El Reno OK / P. O. Box 38, Concho, OK 73022 Fax: 405-422-8204 Society of Professional Journalists members

Oklahoma Press Association member

Native American Journalists Association member

DISCLAIMER: Letters to the editor, opinions and commentaries do not reflect the views of the Tribal Tribune unless specified. Correspondence must be signed and include a return address and telephone number for verification, otherwise it will not be published. The Tribal Tribune reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Submission of a letter does not guarantee its publication. Photographs, news stories or other materials in this publication may not be reprinted without prior permission. Printed by Lindsay Web Press, Lindsay, Okla.

2010-2019 NATIVE AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION MEDIA AWARD WINNER & 2012-2017 AWARD WINNER OF THE OPA BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST

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Tsistsistas & Hinonoei

LIVE PAINT continued from pg. 3 seen Native women struggle as a single parent and is a strong advocate for non-violence.

“I look at my husband and I as being a catalyst to push this business forward, it supports so many people. This is the gamble. I can’t tell you how many women I want to be able to pull in and help them move forward with their arts … I’m fortunate that I have a traditional thinking husband who we have common bonds on, I’m fortunate enough to also understand where we are in life and be able to help with where we’re at in our business,” Tracey said.

As the live painting event took place and featured Learned as the opening artist, Learned made the glass window his canvas and paint his art as the public watched. He later unraveled his piece of artwork to be an Indian headdress wearing a mask alongside a piece of art that read, ‘Rock the Vote.’

Learned said his subject matter is painting the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and pop art.

“I was wanting to do a piece that people would be able to come by and do a type of photo op in front of because it’s only going to be there a couple weeks before the next artist they have in their series comes back and redoes it,” Learned said.

In agreeing to participate in the live glass painting event, Learned said he’s done live paintings throughout his career and usually doesn’t come with anything prepped.

“I usually like to showcase my skills by painting images that I have in mind and have it formed in front of the audience so that way they’re captivated by what they see … as an artist, I think it shows the skill and the integrity of an artist when he’s able to come in and use his imagination to paint from and show that on what he’s doing, no matter if it’s a canvas or glass,” Learned said.

Learned said the event would be his first time painting an actual art piece on glass.

“Usually I’ve done things in the past for different stores when they needed just words or something in that aspect, but this will be the first time I’ll do an actual art piece that’s going to be temporary on a piece of glass,” Learned said.

And with Learned’s idea of creating a photo op for his glass artwork, Arvo said he hopes the Main Street Event Center will become the next destination spot.

“If we were back 50 years, we wouldn’t have cell phones in our pockets, computers, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, all these things we now know. He’s going to be creating a background for photographs and that will be exciting because he’s going to make a back drop that he hopes people will come by, take a picture in front of it, and then repost to their social media. We’re hoping that this may become a destination spot, at least for however long the painting is up,” Arvo said For the month of November, Tracey said she was hoping to have musicians and artists to celebrate Native American month. But the more she thought about it, she wanted to focus more on Native American women.

And while in search of Native American female DJs, Tracey said she found three so far.

“I can’t give names because they have not been confirmed but I do have three women who are looking to DJ,” Tracey said.

Tracey said there are also other aspects to the DJ world, as she wants women to be able to see that they can survive in the industry.

“You can survive in this industry if you know how to market yourself, you know how to stay safe and stay away from the drugs and alcohol, that is one of my biggest focuses here is to live,” Tracey said.

For women wanting to learn to DJ while juggling work, Tracey said it’s hard.

“It’s a different exciting challenging field and you have to know electronics,” Tracey said.

For the Native American female DJ event, Tracey said she’s excited to see the few DJs that want to take part in DJing.

“How far advanced they really are because they were in the scene, one of them was in the EDM scene, the Electric Dance Music scene and that scene in Oklahoma is very electronic, so you have to know what you’re talking about it,” Tracey said.

With a dream in finding someone who is like her that wants to make it in DJing, Tracey said there’s elements that have to come into place.

“But the biggest one is your perseverance and it depends on you, do you, last night I was sitting here and I thought what other 60 year old woman who’s Native American is trying to manipulate this music to fit together, am I just the only person who has this kind of interest,” Tracey said.

Being the second largest venue for the Norman Music Festival for years, Arvo said there were only a handful of DJs that participated and no female Native DJs. When Tracey reached out in search of other DJs like herself and found very few females, she said there are still young ladies who are interested in that same kind of music scene.

“I have seen some talent come through here when it comes to Native musicians and I hope that we get to that at some point where we can showcase our Native musicians too,” Tracey said.

As Native people, Arvo said one of the things we all have in common, whether it’s beadwork, quillwork, painting, or music, is expression of culture.

“You look at how do we express culture?

You can talk your language, you can live in a certain place, but art transcends location, transcends time, and transcends different cultures, it’s something that pulls us together,” Arvo said.

Reaching for the Stars via the Runway Tribal Youth Takes Part in Black Walnut Festival Queen’s Contest

By Latoya Lonelodge, Reporter (HUMANSVILLE, MO) Making her presence known across social platforms and local contests in and around Humansville, Mo., Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal youth Kylie Sittingbull, 16, is striving for her first big win in the pageantry world.

Carrying some experience from participating in school pageantries and pageantries around the area, Sittingbull is most known for Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Humansville. Being a part of those experiences, Sittingbull said it’s given her the confidence to try for a bigger title.

“I never really had things to do it for and when people started voting for me and saying I should do it, it really gave me confidence to go ahead and go for it,” Sittingbull said.

Having participated and getting a feel for the pageantry world, Sittingbull said she feels they are accomplishments.

“A lot of girls don’t get to do those types of things and it really makes you feel self confident and it boosts up your energy and you get to learn all about them,” Sittingbull said.

With local traditions within the area holding a wellknown fall festival called the Black Walnut Festival in Stockton, Mo., on Sept. 2729, Sittingbull saw her opportunity to be a part of her first big contest.

“I really wanted to go for it because it was my first time and I wanted to see how well I would do and it looked really fun to do at first and I was like yeah maybe I should go for it and try to express myself more to areas around where I live,” Sittingbull said.

Chairman of the Black Walnut Festival Queen Contest, Miranda Spangler said the festival is 60 years strong.

“We have Hammons Black Walnut Products in our community and we are basically the nation’s hub for black walnut production. In creating this fall festival it includes plant tours of the production facility and they also have a little retail store,” Spangler said.

Spangler said a number of organizations over the 60 years have organized and executed the festival, with the Stockton Lake Sertoma Club managing it the past several years.

“It is traditionally held in our city park and includes a variety of vendors, whether it be retail vendors, craft vendors, or artisan vendors and then there is nightly entertainment, it was traditionally a 4-day festival, it was recently moved to a 3-day festival and we expanded to some of the joining streets of the park in order to accommodate a larger number of vendors,” Spangler said.

With the variety of vendors, Spangler said there are also civic organizations that are long time vendors for the festival.

“Some of those civic organizations also host their own activities that are on the schedule throughout the festival, whether it be a pedal truck and tractor pull or duck calling contest, and turtle races or an animal pet parade,” Spangler said.

Kicking off the festival, Spangler said there is a parade held on Saturday and in conjunction with the parade there is a Queen Contest that happens off site.

“The queens are included in the parade typically following their school’s marching band and the queens are judged on their poise, appearance, crowd interaction and presentation, that’s one portion of their score and then there is an interview with the panel of judges in business attire, then there is

an impromptu final question presented to them on stage in formal wear in which they are again judged,” Spangler said.

“In holding the Queen’s Contest, Spangler said pageantry isn’t something that’s seen a lot around the area.

“When I go reaching out to schools for contestants and participants, if I miss a school, they tend to reach out to me, they kind of dig for this pageant just because there are not a lot of opportunity,” Spangler said.

In taking part in the Queen Contest for the first time, Sittingbull said overall it went pretty well for her.

“It might’ve been my During the Black Walnut Festival parade, Kylie Sittingbull first time, I was nervous, Landon Hoevet and while her but it went really well and although Sittingbull didn’t better than I expected,” win the crown for Miss Black Sittingbull said.

From participating in Walnut Festival Queen, she the parade to outfit changes said she would be returning throughout the contest, Sit- next year to try again.

“It makes me want to tingbull said her biggest supwork harder for the next one port came from her parents. that comes up and knowing “I had my mom help me that I learned about it the which was a lot of stress first time, I can take all the put off as well, she helped information that I have and me pick out all my outfits prepare for next year if I’m that I would need for my inallowed to run for next year terviews and what I would and put that all together and need to wear and my signs do my best so I can actually that I needed to put up that wouldn’t stay on the car,” win,” Sittingbull said.

In following COVID-19 Sittingbull said. guidelines for the communiOne thing Sittingbull said ty, county and state, Spangler she had to prepare most for said she tried to respect the was talking. guidelines by eliminating in- be mindful of the situation,” “I get really nervous and Spangler said. vitations for extra guests.

I learned in my room, like if With the Queen Contest “We typically allow a there was a crowded room, carrying on despite some difguest or two to be with the I’d talk and learn how to ferences because of COVID, girls to help them get ready express my words to them Spangler said it had actually if they needed it and then we and see how they would feel worked out nicely. always feed the girls a nice about it and that’s what I did “I hate that we weren’t catered dinner before they do to prepare myself for the bigable to have them for dinner, their onstage presentation, gest crown of all time,” Sitbecause I think that is an imwe have traditionally invited tingbull said. portant piece and gives the two people to join them so it With 11 contestants from parents and the girls some was more of a formal dinner, surrounding areas that participated in the Queen Con- but we eliminated that this kind of buy in but we did like test, Sittingbull said it was year to respect some of the that they weren’t lingering quite the competition. And guidelines and just trying to

waves alongside her nephew

all day between interviews and it really gave the girls an opportunity to make the experience about them and other young women,” Spangler said.

As a junior at Humansville High School, Sittingbull said she already has her goals lined out as far as where she hopes pageantry will take her.

“I heard about pageantries being known to be on BEAUTY CONTEST / pg. 5

Tsistsistas & Hinonoei

Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune

college applications and I’ve been wanting to go to a college that does really good in Marine Biology Studies, that’s something I’ve always wanted to do is Marine Biology and knowing about pageantry and how girls know other things about it will really help me in some ways to get where I need to be and learn about it,” Sittingbull said.

And learning, Sittingbull said, was what she liked best about participating.

“Learning to know about what to do and learning about other people and where they come from and how they do things as well,” Sittingbull said.

As for next year, Sittingbull said she’d continue to participate in pageantries.

“I’ll continue to do more as far as COVID allows us to, but I’m hopeful about next year and that I’m able to go for more, hopefully to see if I will be able to win this time and just have my parents be proud of something that runs in the family,” Sittingbull said.

Spangler said the goal

Smokey The Bear says, “Only YOU can stop forest fires.”

And the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ Concho Head Start students were over the moon to meet with Smokey The Bear in person.

To all my family and friends who have lost loved ones this year: I Heard Your Voice In The Wind Today Author Unknown I heard your voice in the wind today And turned to see your face; The warmth of the wind caressed me As I stood silently in place.

I felt your touch in the sun today As its warmth filled the sky; I closed my eyes for your embrace And my spirit soared high.

I saw your eyes in the window pane As I watched the falling rain; It seemed as each raindrop fell It quietly said your name.

October 25th Happy 10th birthday to Aleigha Littlethunder! We all love you very much.

Love, your family

I held you close in my heart today It made me feel complete; You may have died . . . but you are not gone You will always be a part of me.

As long as the sun shines . . .

The wind blows . . .

The rain falls . . .

You will live on inside of me forever For that is all my heart knows.

Happy Birthday Mom From all your kids! We all love you Oct. 30

Happy Birthday Charles D.D. Black From your whole entire family

October 28th Happy 1st birthday to Micah Jo Walker!

Love, Mommy, Daddy and the entire family

BEAUTY CONTEST continued from pg. 4

Happy 18th Birthday Dustan Love your family!

Happy Birthday!

Love you lots brother Mike!

From your sister Denise and family

“Happy Belated 38th Birthday, Vanessa Starr” Sept. 20, Love Ryan, Jasmine, Rhian, Douglas and Myra!”

PAGE 5

for the Queen’s Competition every year is to allow young women to have a place to show others what they’re made of, as some girls are not athletes or scholars.

“A number of the girls this year actually had never done anything remotely close to or thought about pageant and may have never even worn a formal dress technically, so we just want these girls to know that there are differences and those differences can come together and they can express themselves and try new things and be confident and comfortable in reaching out and stepping out and adapting to change,” Spangler said.

Winners for the Black Walnut Festival Queen Contest were: Ms. Social Butterfly Ms. El Dorado Springs, Kraysen Leonard, from El Dorado, Mo., Miss Congeniality Ms. Bolivar, Mia Payne, from Bolivar, Mo., 1st Runner Up was Ms. Halfway, Hannah Walford from Halfway, Mo., and Ms. Black Walnut Festival Queen Ms. Lamar, Kara Morey from Lamar, Mo.

PAGE 6

OBITUARIES

Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune

Margaret Jo Brown

Margaret Jo Brown of Kingfisher, Okla., was born to John and Clara Antelope on Nov. 10, 1944. She went home to the Lord on Sept. 23, 2020 at Kingfisher Mercy Hospital. She was the youngest of 10 siblings.

Margaret was raised and attended school in Kingfisher where she was a member of the First Baptist Church. She could often be found serving food in the kitchen for church related events. In Kingfisher, she met and married Earl Wayne Brown, March 5, 1970 where there are three stepchildren and three children born to this union.

In her earlier years, she loved dancing and hanging at the local juke joints. She also had a love for playing cards, bingo and crossword puzzles. In her later years, she enjoyed taking grandchildren to fairs, circuses, and other fun events. Above all, she

was a caring grandmother that loved all of her family to be together for every holiday.

Margaret had a big heart and knew no stranger. Everyone was welcomed in her home for a hot meal. She was the kind of person who would give her last.

Margaret was a healthcare worker for over 30 years and before retiring, she worked at Lucky Star Casino. She spent her retirement years going out to eat, watching cowboy shows and playing solitary. Margaret was loved in the community and will be greatly missed.

She was preceded in death by both her parents, sisters and brother, and son-in-law.

She leaves behind a legacy of loved ones which includes her husband Earl Wayne, her sister Naomi Pena of Texas, her sister Dina Norwood, her daughters Clarressa of Oklahoma City, Earlicia of

Pat Archer Clark

Kingfisher and Almanita, also of Kingfisher, her sons Roy of Enid, Kevin & Joy of Edmond, and Earl Jr of East Moline, Ill., grandchildren, great grandchildren, greatgreat-children, nieces, and nephews.

Wake service was held Oct. 2 at the Sanders Funeral Chapel in Kingfisher, Okla.

Funeral service was held Oct. 3 at the Kingfisher First Baptist Church, followed by an interment at the Kingfisher City Cemetery.

Ramona Dawn Franklin

Ramona Dawn Franklin was born Sept. 8, 1967 to Jerry Gordon Franklin Sr. and Inez Ann Roman in Clinton, Okla., and passed away Sept. 30, 2020 in her Clinton home.

Ramona was raised in Grinchville, Utah and graduated from Grinchville High School in 1985. She later attended Pharmacy School at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Okla. She had made her home in Weatherford until marrying Emerson Ellis in 2019 and they made Clinton their home. She has most recently worked for the Lucky Star Casino in the

maintenance department.

She is a member of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Church; she enjoyed beading, bowling and hanging with friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents, brother, Jerry Gordon Franklin Jr., and grandparents, Fred and Hulda (Nibbs) Farley.

She is survived by her husOkla. She is also survived band, of the home, three by 10 grandchildren. sons, Thomas Lunsford, A wake service was held Matthew Franklin, and ClifOct. 4 at the Kiesau Lee Futon Lunsford, all of Caluneral home in Clinton, Okla. met, Okla., two sisters, Ruth A graveside service was held Bearshield of Elk City and Oct. 5 at the Clinton Indian Sarah Toledo of Oklahoma Cemetery, officiated by GerCity, and a brother Robert ald Panana.

Dean Franklin of Clinton,

Danielle Raya Danielle Raya was born daughters Lindey Lonebear, in Clinton, Okla., on June 26, Gabriel Standingwater, two 1989 to David Raya and Lin- sons William Lonebear, da Zotigh, and passed away Cruz Standingwater all of Sept. 25, 2020 in Burns Flat. Hammon, her father David Danielle was raised in Taos, Raya of Cordell, three sisters New Mexico, and Hammon, Leanna Cable of WeatherOkla. She graduated Anadar- ford, Rena Raya of Oklahoko High School in 2008. ma City, Mia Raya of OklaDanielle worked at Taco Bell homa City, and two brothers, in Elk City, and loved music, Timothy Raya of El Reno, and White Wolf Wilber of and driving the back roads.

She was preceded Elk City.

An all night wake service in death by her mother Linda Zotigh and one was held Oct. 1 at the Elk brother Steven Cable. City Indian Baptist Church She is survived by two in Elk City, Okla. A grave-

side service was held Oct. 2, with Rev. Mona Bearshield and Rev. Bunny Whitecrow officiating, at the Hammon Indian Mennonite Cemetery.

Eugene Redhat Funeral Services for Eugene Redhat, 87, Kingfisher resident will be held 1:00 P.M., Friday, October 2, 2020 in the First Christian Church in Seiling, OK, officiated by Gerald Panana. Burial will conclude in the Cantonment Cemetery near Canton, OK under the direction of the Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home.

Eugene Redhat was born July 27, 1933 to Roger and Alice (Redcloud) Redhat in Fonda, Okla., and passed away Sept. 27, 2020 in the Cimarron Nursing Home in Kingfisher, Okla.

Eugene was raised in the Fonda community area and attended Concho Boarding School. He has done farm labor most of his adult life.

He is a member of the Mennonite Church; he enjoyed dancing both country and tribal, he was an artist and enjoyed woodworking.

He is survived by sisters, Frankie Lime, Woodward, Betty Williams, Lame Deer, Mont., Donna Gonzales, Busby, Mont., Corinne Washee, Lame Deer, and Anna Lou Black, Tahlequah, Okla., ers, Looks Behind, The Redtwo brothers, Mike Limpy, necks, Crazy Mules, Going Billings, Mont., and Randal Women and Red Cloud.

A private wake service Redhat, Seiling, Okla. He is was held Oct. 1 at the Kiesau also survived by grandson Lee Funeral Home in ClinBrian Redhat -Cheyenne ton, Okla.

A funeral service Arrow Keeper, four nephwas held Oct. 2 at the First ews, Joseph Nightwalker, Christian Church in Seiling, Alfred Nightwalker, AnthoOkla., followed by an inny Nightwalker, Roger Redterment at the Cantonment hat and niece Lisa Redhat.

His family is the Nightwalk- Cemetery.

Elaine Shirley Nibbs-Cowart Elaine Shirley Nibbs-Cowart was born Dec. 20, 1949. She passed from this earth on Aug. 17, 2020.

Funeral services were held Oct. 2, 2020 at the STC The Well Church located at

10220 Systems Parkway in Sacramento, Calif., followed by an interment at the Roseville Cemetery in Roseville, Calif., under the dirction of Sierra View Funeral Chapel.

Pat Archer Clark passed away Oct. 5, 2020 at the Hospice House in Oklahoma City.

Pat was born in El Reno, Okla, where she attended school and graduated in 1955. She attended Redlands Community College and UCO where she received her bachelor’s degree in education. She spent her career teaching at Hillcrest Elementary School until she retired in 2002. She received numerous awards throughout her career.

Pat was a member of Wesley Methodist Church, Delta Kappa Gamma and several educational clubs including 25-year board member of the El Reno Public School Foundation.

OBITUARIES Pat married Don Clark July 1, 1990. They have spent their time traveling to all 50 states and 12 countries including her zip lining over the Costa Rico mountains.

They loved attending as many El Reno football and basketball games as possible and spending time with family and friends. Pat loved to sew, knit, crochet, cook and working in her garden.

Pat was preceded in death by her father James K. Archer, her mother Emma Thompson Archer, son Mark Mathews and daughter Pam McCarther.

She is survived by her husband Donald Clark of El Reno, brother James K. Archer Jr., and wife Nadine of El Reno, son Mike Mathews

Tsistsistas & Hinonoei

and wife Ginger of El Ren, daughter Anita Hock of San Antonio, Texas, Adriann Owens and husband Robert of Minco, Okla., 14 Grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren.

A Memorial Service was held at Wesley Methodist Church on Oct. 13, 2020 under the direction of Wilson Funeral Home.

Mary Ann Friday-Cavillo

Mary Ann Friday-Cavillo of Oklahoma City died Sept.

30, 2020, at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Mary was born Aug. 23, 1952 in Watonga, Okla., the daughter of Lester Meat and Pearl Friday-Meat. She was raised in the Geary and Watonga areas before moving to Hawaii where she lived many years before returning to Oklahoma.

She worked at the Renaissance Waterford Hotel and was a member of the community of faith and attended

the Indian Methodist Church.

Mary was a generous and giving person always ready to help others and feed the homeless even giving all the food in her freezer to a veteran. Her hobby was playing bingo.

She is survived by her children, Anthony Syrill Friday, Tina Marie Anderson and Aniutea Friday-Anderson, companion Frank Hulstrom, brother John B. Addison, sisters, Elsie Ruth Lamebull-Ross and Violet Friday, 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

A visitation was held Oct. 2 at the Huber Benson Funeral Home in El Reno, Okla. A graveside service was held Oct. 3 at the Concho Indian Cemetery.

Angela Island Johnny Angela (Island) John- to “hop in the car” and take ny, 50, a resident of Prague, off to visit different places Okla., passed away on Sept. whether that was by herself 27, 2020 in Oklahoma City. or with her kids. More than Angela was born on Sept. anything, she was compas21, 1970 in Lawton, Okla., to sionate and loved taking Norman Ray Island and El- care of others, especially len Rose (Cedartree) Ward. her family and children.

Angela graduated from Angela was preceded in Ardmore High School in death by her father Norman 1988. After high school, she Ray Island, her great-grandserved our country in the mother Ella Loneman, an ers, Norman Island Jr. and United States Navy for four uncle Cornelius Cedartree Stoney Island, a sister Kelyears. Angela worked for and an aunt Bridget Ellis. ly Acosta and her husband, Tinker Air Force Base af- Those left to cherish AngeAnthony. As well as a host ter serving in the Navy and la’s memory are a son Elof other family members and worked as a transcription- vis Christopher Johnny and friends. ist for the Oklahoma City his wife, Lorena, a daughThe family held a private Indian Clinic for 15 years. ter Aspen Nicole Johnny, service at the Parks Brothers Angela married Michael her partner of more than 15 Funeral Home in Prague, Johnny and they were years, Michael Johnny, her Okla. married for 15 years. mother Ellen Rose Ward and Angela loved to travel and her husband, Frank, broth-

Elizabeth Scroggins Elizabeth Scroggins was born Oct. 2, 1959 in Clinton, Okla., to Elmer Charles and Elizabeth (Lime) Surveyor.

She departed this life on Oct. 7, 2020 in Oklahoma City.

Elizabeth’s early years were spent in Canton prior to her being adopted and moving to the southeast area of state near Broken Bow, Okla.

She graduated high school there and attended Vo-tech training in the medical field.

Elizabeth worked for many years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), most recently for Choctaw County EMS. She loved her work and enjoyed being able to help others. Elizabeth enjoyed watching her granchildren’s sporting events, doing beadwork, watching documentaries, and was a huge OU fan. Elizabeth served

our country in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged.

Elizabeth was preceded in death by her parents, brother Charles Surveyor Jr., sister Linda Rhoads.

She is survived by her husband Sam Scroggins of the home in Hugo, Okla., son Brandon D. ‘Junior’ Moreno of Houston, Texas, daughters Devon Torres and husband Jacob Peterson of Oklahoma City, and Caitlin Torres of Hugo, and son Carlos Torres Jr. of Hugo, sister Norman Surveyor Jones of Broken Bow, Okla., brothers Jerry Surveyor and wife Cordell of Albuquerque, N.M. and Harvey DeWayne Surveyor and wife Cheyenne of Canton, Okla., grandchildren Dayson Williams, Deana Peterson, Jakiyas Peterson, Natayziah

Christopher ‘Chip’ Ray Two Babies Christopher “Chip” Ray Two-Babies passed away on Oct. 2, 2020. He was born March 5, 1983.

Chip was a jokester and loved making other people laugh. He liked rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder

and of course OU. He was a hard worker and loved spending time with his family. He will be deeply missed by all that knew him, in his memory please remember to work hard and party harder.

Torres, Kenneth Freeman Jr., Jaydis Peterson and Rio Torres, nieces and nephews Kim Jones, Micheal Jones, Keelan Jones, Kendra Jones and Khelby Jones.

A wake service was held Oct. 15 at the Canton Community Center in Canton, Okla. A funeral service was held Oct. 16 with Rev. Waylon Upchego officiating, followed by an interment at the Cantonment Cemetery in Canton, Okla.

Tsistsistas & Hinonoei

ELDER ABUSE continued from pg. 3 tionships.

Gaslighting is also a form of emotional abuse. This can occur when the abusive partner blames the victim for their behavior in such a way that the victim begins to question their own version of events or reality. In this situation, it can be very difficult for the victim to recognize that abuse is happening.

Spiritual and cultural abuse happens when the abusive partners uses hurtful stereotypes to criticize the victim, uses tribal membership against them, won’t allow them to participate in traditions, or restricts them from honoring their beliefs.

Sexual abuse includes grabbing and hurting the sexual parts of the victim’s body, pressuring the victim for sex and becoming angry or violent when refused sex.

Financial abuse happens when an abusive partner keeps money, accounts or financial information hidden from the victim. The abusive partner may also give an allowance to the victim or keep the victim’s social security or per capita checks.

They may also use gaslighting as a tactic of control here.

They may say things like, “I’ve always controlled the money.” or “You aren’t good with money.”; or “You have everything you need, don’t you?”

Digital abuse happens when the abusive partner takes away phones, iPads, or computers in a bid to control who the victim can contact.

A Stay Together Era Elders can be more traditional. They came of age when families stayed together even during abuse. Some elders have endured a lifetime of domestic violence. To understand why elder-survivors

of domestic violence stay, consider the following.

L o v e : They have a long history of loving their partner and believe the abuse will someday end.

Family: They want to maintain harmony within the family.

Normalization: Elders may feel they have lived through the violence their whole life and there is no need or way to change it now.

Community: They fear having to leave the community in order to escape the abuse or are embarrassed about what other members of the community would think about the abuse.

Manipulation and Low Self-Esteem: They blame themselves for the abuse, or feel hopeless.

No Money/Resources: They don’t have the resources to leave their situation, or feel a responsibility to financially support their abusive partner.

Denial/Shame: Denial or shame happens when a survivor is embarrassed and wants to protect themselves, their children and/or families from being associated with the stigma of abuse.

Help is Available At StrongHearts Native Helpline, we know that Native American elders are humble and it can be difficult for them to ask for help. Native Americans and Alaska Natives experience domes-

Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune

OBITUARIES

PAGE 7

Mary Kay Sweezy

tic violence at higher rates than any other ethnic group and that elders still suffer intimate partner violence.

Domestic violence and dating violence are not Native American traditions, and neither is ever okay.

StrongHearts Native Helpline is a free, culturally-appropriate, and anonymous helpline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives impacted by domestic violence and dating violence.

We acknowledge and support all victims regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation or relationship status. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence, help is available.

Contact StrongHearts at 1-844-7NATIVE or click on the Chat Now icon to connect one-on-one with and advocate daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT. As a collaborative effort of the National Domestic Violence Hotline (The Hotline) and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, after-hour callers can connect with The Hotline by choosing option one.

Mary Kay Sweezy was born July 1, 1929, to Angus and Josephine (North) Blindy west of Geary, Okla. Her Indian name given to her was “Bah Baad.” She was a direct descendant of the Jabeen Family of the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado. She passed away Oct. 9, 2020 in El Reno, Okla., at the age of 91. Mary won Blue Ribbon first place in the Baby Contest in 1931 at the Cheyenne Arapaho Fair at Ft. Reno, Okla. She attended elementary school first through the third grade at Broadview Schools south of Carlton, Okla.

Mary was baptized at a young age at the Canton Indian Mennonite Church. She graduated from Concho Boarding Schools. Mary and Sam Sweezy were married Oct. 19, 1952 in Clinton, Okla. They moved to California where Sam worked, moved to Denver, Colo., then to St. Louis, MO, and lived in Garland, Texas for a while before moving back to the Greenfield area in 1969. They later moved to Geary in 1971 and have lived

there ever since. She worked for a time at the Chisholm Restaurant, at Concho as a housekeeper for many years and in a donut shop in Geary.

She enjoyed sewing, loved listening to Native American Hymns and music as she drank her coffee and worked on crossword and word search puzzles, cooking, riding the back roads seeing her old home places, enjoyed telling stories of her travels as a young woman, and taking care of her kids and grandkids.

Survivors include Roderick Sweezy and wife Angela of Greenfield, Okla., Julia Marie Svitak and husband Enos Jr., of El Reno, Barbara Sweezy of Geary, Okla., Carol Sweezy of Shawnee, Okla., Norma Sweezy Black and husband Phillip of El Reno, Frank Sweezy and Eva Grace LeFlore of Geary, and Deborah Sweezy of Geary, 19 grandchildren, and many great and great-great-grandchildren, three sisters, JoAnn Soap of Stillwell, Okla., Carol Blindy of Geary, Okla., and Anita Campbell of Geary, and cousins, James H.

North, Charlotte R. Pennington, Nancy Rhoads, Sandra K. Todd, David F. Mehaffy, Edna Mae Buffalomeat Sutton, and Margaret Heap-ofBirds.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Angus and Josephine Blindy, husband Sam Sweezy, daughter Mary Jane Sweezy, two brothers, Leroy and James Blindy, and three sisters, Marie Rouse, Marjorie Tusing, and Stella Charley.

An all night wake service was held Oct. 12 at the Tri-County building in Geary, Okla. Graveside services were held Oct. 13, with Rev. Waylon Upchego officiating, at the Greenfield Indian Baptist Cemetery in Greenfield, Okla.

Gloria Pratt Uranga Gloria Pratt Uranga was born Dec. 16, 1930, in Geary, Okla., to James Monroe and Julia Pratt and passed away Oct. 8, 2020 at her home in Wichita Falls, Texas at the age of 89 years, 9 months, and 22 days.

Gloria was raised in Geary and attended school in Geary, Weatherford, Clinton, and Concho Indian School. In 1962, she married Clemente Uranga in Wichita Falls, where Gloria worked at the hospital and raised her family.

She was president of the Colony Pow-wow Committee and Elder of the Year for the Cheyenne and Arapaho

Tribe. Gloria enjoyed traveling, going to the casinos, and spending time with family and friends.

Gloria is survived by her sisters, Lela Marie Brill, Mary Lou Stevens, Patricia Waysepappy, Sandra Pratt, Leah Pratt, Letha Gayle Pratt, Julie Pratt, Alicia Pratt, Regina Pratt and Geraldine Brown; her brothers, Oscar Pratt, Stephen Pratt Sr., Adam Pratt, and Mike Toahty and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, three sisters, Carla, Marilyn and Karen, and two sons, Stacy Lee Riggs and Charles Al-

fonso Uranga.

Visitation was held Oct. 12 at the Lockstone Funeral Home in Weatherford, Okla.

A graveside service was held Oct. 13 at the Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford, Okla.

James Eugene Washington James Eugene Washington, 40, of El Reno, former resident of Seiling, Okla., passed from this life on Oct. 8, 2020. He was born to Gilbert and Darlene Washington in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 19, 1979. He grew up in the Seiling area and attended Seiling Schools. James was a stay at home dad, raising and caring for his five children Aleilah, Raven, James “J.J.”, Charles and Ryan with the help of the love of his life Dorcas Blackbear. The couple made their home in Seiling until recently moving to El Reno.

James was preceded in

death by grandparents, James and Ruby Nightwalker and Harry and Grace Keller, parents, Gilbert and Darlene Nightwalker, and sister Shelene Whiteshirt.

Left to carry his legacy are Dorcas Blackbear of the home, children Aleilah Hill, Raven Blackbear, J.J. Washington, Charles Washington, and Ryan Washington; brother Gilbert Washington Jr. and companion Angela Nelson of Seiling, Dawn Washington of Woodward, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends.

A wake service was held Oct. 11, 2020 at the Reding-

er Funeral Home Chapel.

A funeral service was held Oct. 12 at the First Christian Church of Seiling, followed by an interment at the Cantonment Indian Mennonite Cemetery.

Tsistsistas & Hinonoei

Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Tribune

PAGE 8

‘A Devastating Blow’: virus kills 81 citizens of Mississippi Choctaw Tribe (CHOCTAW, Miss.) For Jason Grisham, it began with a fever. Then came the chills, lingering headaches and a terrifying realization about what the symptoms might mean.

At the time, in early April, only a handful of residents in his Native American tribe in central Mississippi had tested positive for the coronavirus. But within days, Grisham, 40, would join a list that has only grown staggeringly longer.

Soon, his wife and oldest daughter would also be sick.

All three would survive, but the cases would continue to tear through the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians unabated, eventually sickening more than 10% of the tribe’s 10,000 residents and killing at least 81 people.

“We were prepared; we always wore our masks out, and we always used hand sanitizer because the last thing we wanted was for the virus to be in our home,” said Grisham’s wife, Kendall Grisham, 39.

That month, several residents died. In May, 30 were killed. In June, another 33.

The toll climbed all summer.

“It was a devastating blow to our people,” said Cyrus Ben, the tribal chief, who also had the virus.

Through last month, Neshoba County, where most of the tribe’s residents live, had the highest death rate per capita in Mississippi

from the coronavirus, according to data tracked by The New York Times. And despite making up 18% of the county’s residents, tribal members have accounted for more than half the county’s virus cases and about 64% of the deaths.

“We aren’t just losing family members or an aunt or uncle; we are losing parts of our culture,” said Mary Harrison, interim health director for the Choctaw Health Center. “We’ve lost dressmakers; we’ve lost artists, elders who are very fluid in our language — so when you think about an individual we’ve lost, these are important people in our community.”

The Choctaw are the state’s only federally recognized tribe. Members are scattered across 35,000 rural acres in eight communities and have been among the hardest hit in the state, like many other tribal nations across the United States.

The Navajo Nation, the country’s largest reservation, has recorded at least 560 deaths, a tally larger than the coronavirus-related deaths in 13 states and a death rate higher than every state.

While communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the virus, it appears to be especially deadly in some tribal nations, where poverty, multigenerational housing and

underlying health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease have been contributing factors.

In Arizona, Native Americans account for 11% of the virus-related deaths despite making up 5% of the population. And in Wyoming, Native Americans have accounted for nearly 30% of the coronavirus deaths.

Across tribal nations, the pandemic has forced the closures of casinos, schools and, in some cases, the roads leading to reservations, upending daily lives and bringing economic devastation to many. In eastern Mississippi, the Choctaw tribe is among the largest employers. It owns a popular resort with two casinos that employs about 2,400 people, about half of whom are tribal members.

The casino-resort complex, which was among the first in Indian Country to offer sports betting, closed in March because of the pandemic. It has only now begun to slowly reopen.

Long before the coronavirus, the Indian Health Service, the government program that provides health care to the 2.2 million members of the nation’s tribal communities, was plagued by shortages of funding and supplies, a lack of doctors and nurses, too few hospital beds, and aging facilities.

Now the pandemic has exposed those weaknesses

as never before, contributing to the disproportionally high infection and death rates among Native Americans and fueling new anger about what critics say have been decades of neglect from Congress and successive administrations in Washington.

Hospitals waited months for protective equipment, some of which ended up being expired, and had far too few beds and ventilators to handle the flood of COVID-19 patients. The agency failed to tailor health guidance to the reality of life on impoverished reservations and did little to collect comprehensive data on hospitalizations, death rates and testing to help tribes spot outbreaks and respond.

In June, as the deaths began piling up across Choctaw communities, the tribal chair asked the Indian Health Service’s critical response team to assist the Choctaw Health Center.

The critical care response team, composed of one physician, two critical care nurses and a respiratory therapist arrived at the Choctaw Health Center in mid-June and stayed for more than three weeks.

Since the start of the pandemic, the 20-bed hospital on the reservation has lost at least four staff members to the virus.

Hospital officials said they believed that the first coronavirus case involving a

Choctaw citizen was in midMarch, when a member contracted it while at work away from the reservation.

From there, the cases began to snowball.

Access to testing, ever-evolving guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on dealing with the virus, and shortages of workers and supplies were early obstacles the tribal health care workers had to overcome. At that time, the mortality was high.

“With the initial surge, people were frightened.

They didn’t know what to expect,” said Dr. Kerry Scott, interim chief medical officer at the Choctaw Health Center. “There were a high amount of our patients who were presenting with severe symptoms, so the mortality rate was a little bit higher than what we were expecting.”

Among those deaths were Nyron and Veronica Thomas. Their son, Bryce Thomas, had to bury his parents a few weeks before graduating from high school.

“Bryce Thomas should be celebrating his recent graduation from Neshoba Central High School with his parents,” a family friend wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money for the teenager. “Instead he is having to bury both of his parents due to the coronavirus.”

In July, Ben, the Choctaw tribal chief, issued an exec-

utive order mandating that everyone 2 years and older wear a mask. That same month, the Neshoba County Fair and the Choctaw Indian Fair, both of which are big tourist attractions, were canceled.

After more than 60 Choctaw deaths in the early months of the summer, the numbers appeared to stabilize. One tribal member died in August and another in September.

So far this month, though, two members have died after contracting the virus, leaving residents rattled and bracing for a second wave.

Among those is Mitzi Reed, 45, who works as the tribe’s wildlife and parks director and lost her grandmother and uncle to the coronavirus this summer.

“It was not being able to see them that really took its toll,” Reed said. “Because my mom is up there in age, we didn’t attend the funerals.”

In a culture in which mourning is communal, with a tradition of wakes that on average last two days, not being able to properly grieve those who have died has deeply affected tribal citizen, Ben said.

“You say your goodbyes,” he said, “but it’s a wound that is never truly allowed to heal.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times by Mark Walker.