MESSAGES FROM THE CHIEFS

 Your Shawnee Tribe has many accomplishments to report in the coming weeks. I know that the many people diligently working for all of our citizens are bursting at the seams, ready to share what we have accomplished this year. We will hear many exciting plans and news when we gather for our annual meeting in September.

This past year has been a banner year for our Higher Education Awards program. We have had a record level of participation from our citizens who are taking advantage of the financial assistance offered by the Tribe. Chief Roy recently reminded me of conversations he and I had many months ago about how it is not just about providing “checks” to pay for education. It’s our job to make sure our people are successful. We are currently developing a plan to measure the effectiveness of educational assistance and other tribal programs. We want to see successful Shawnees in all aspects of society, whether in academic institutions, political agencies or offices, as well as other public and private institutions. 

The Shawnee language team has had another year of incredible achievements—they will soon unveil their new home base and recording studio location just east of Miami. The new recording facility has been made possible largely through a donation from a partner company with which this team has worked for over three years. Their collaboration has been a major undertaking, and once it’s finally released, it will ultimately put Shawnees in front of an audience of thirty-five million people across the globe. I want to repeat that: thirty-five million pairs of eyes and ears will be seeing and hearing about the Shawnee people, our history, culture, and language. Stay tuned for complete details very soon.

The expansion of the Golden Mesa Casino is well underway. Barring any weather issues, I hope by the end of 2025, we will have about twice as many games on the floor and the best hotel in the panhandle. The additional revenues provided by the expansion will continue to feed the carefully measured growth in tribal programs. 

I also want to update our people on some of the legislative efforts in which the tribe is involved. A federal bill to establish a Truth and Healing Commission to investigate federal boarding school policies and document testimonies from survivors is closer to passage than ever before. Contact your congressional delegations and encourage them to ensure the passage of Senate Bill 1723 and House Resolution 7227. The tribe is also having conversations with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority regarding tribal tags on Oklahoma turnpikes, and our lawyers are drafting a compact that serves our Shawnee citizens to send to Governor Stitt. While I am fairly certain that the Oklahoma governor will not like our proposal, I certainly intend to bring it forward with the friends we have built within the Oklahoma Senate and House.

One last item to ensure you are aware of: we are seeing an ever-increasing amount of families contacting us regarding children being taken into custody by state agencies. Oftentimes, the jurisdiction does not know to contact our Indian Child Welfare Office when this occurs. On other occasions, we see deliberate obstruction by parties who would rather ignore federal law than contact the Shawnee Tribe so that we can ensure our kids remain close to their families, whether that be the child’s aunties, uncles, grandparents, or cousins. If you hear of a child in state custody in any state, please let our ICW Director Stephanie Hailey or myself know so that our court can intervene and protect our children from being sent to foster care systems or adopted out-of-state by predatory placement companies.

niyaawe, hiini lehki (Thank you, that’s all),

Chief Ben Barnes

In this month’s report I will try to report on the many issues affecting our tribe today and the steps we as a council have taken to protect and ensure our tribe’s sovereignty today and in the future.

Since my last reporting, Chief Ben Barnes, Treasurer Mark McDowell, Councilor’s Corey Winesburg, Keni Hood and I attended the National Congress of American Indian’s Midyear Conference. After receiving reports from several federal agencies such as the U.S. Treasurer’s Office, we divided, attending and participating in Task Force discussions regarding Economic Development, Indian Child Welfare, U.S. Budget, Tax and Finance, Census, Boarding School Truth and Healing, Missing and Murdered Indian Persons, Farm Bill Updates, Tribal Digital Sovereignty and Food Sovereignty/Nutrition. After discussions, resolutions were proposed for a future vote. Those resolutions that later passed will be lobbied in Congress.

The following week, Chief Ben Barnes, Secretary Carolyn Foster, Councilor’s Diana McLean, Corey Winesburg, Keni Hood and I attended the Oklahoma Sovereignty Symposium in Oklahoma City. This is a conference that allows tribal government officials and citizens to learn issues that have the potential to present problems for tribes from federal, state, local and other tribal officials. Issues in the areas of Government-to-Government Relations, Compacts/Agreements, Business and Education, Criminal Law, Economic Development and Ethics were discussed. During the conference, Chief Barnes was invited to sit on one of the panels.

During my last reporting I had mentioned that Chief Barnes had been elected as Chair of the United Indian Nations of Oklahoma. In June, UINO held its spring conference in Miami, Oklahoma. Chief Barnes chaired the meeting that was attended by Secretary Carolyn Foster, Councilor Diana McLean and I. Outgoing Speaker of the Oklahoma Legislature Charles McCall spoke to the crowd that now includes 30 of Oklahoma’s 38 federally recognized tribes. A representative from the federal government also gave an update on the status of the Farm Bill Reauthorization. Joe Echelle, Executive Director, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority spoke to and answered questions from the crowd. Mr. Echelle promised to continue open discussion with the tribal governments headquarted in Oklahoma.

One might ask, why is diplomacy and inter-governmental work important? I will say that tribes have been held to an unfair standard that continues today. There are 574 federally recognized tribes across the United States today. Although each of those tribes are different in some ways, all are held accountable to the actions of one. I will finish with one example. Several years ago, tribes received monies for consultation on tribal and former tribal lands. Those monies ended when one tribe raised fees to the point that it provided private companies to file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission. In the end, the courts ruled that the companies, while still being required to consult with tribes, were not required to pay unless they chose to. That ruling devastated many tribes across the country, ours included. It was because of that action that we had to suspend our education assistance and part of our school clothing assistance. Used in the complaint was information obtained from copying a livestreamed council meeting. Participating in conferences and working collaboratively with other tribal partners and government agencies allows tribes to better understand complicated issues which will in turn better protect our families.

niyaawe (thank you), 

Roy D. Baldridge
Second Chief