The Shawnee Tribe’s 2024 General Council & Election Weekend included a hawikeepicika kiskotaawe (“ribbon-cutting”) and open house for the new Emma “Mock” Donaldson saawanwaatoweewika (“language house”), a community dinner and stomp dance, as well as the annual meeting of the Shawnee Tribal Council and Business Council election. Citizens had the opportunity to meet tribal service programs & administrative staff, collect raffle prizes, and hear reports on the past twelve months of happenings of the tribe.
The absentee voting process began in April and closed on Thursday, September 19. Early in-person voting took place on Friday, September 20 from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and the polls were open on election day from 8:00 to 11:00 AM. Citizens who voted in person received a “niila nikitateniwe (I Voted)” sticker.
Business Council Election results were announced during the tribal council meeting by Election Committee Chairperson, Cindy Witherspoon. The results were uncontested. They are posted at the Shawnee governmental buildings for thirty days and will be permanently filed in the Shawnee Tribal Court Clerk’s office. A copy of the Certified Consolidated Election Return has been mailed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
A special thank you goes out to the Election Committee for their hard work, and to our cooks who provided a delicious meal on Friday evening before the Stomp Dance, Bowlin’s BBQ for catering lunch after the tribal council meeting on Saturday, and our tribal staff for all their work setting up and breaking down the event venues. —niyaawe!
Over two days in late August, the tribe and the OU School of Dance produced the Five Moons Dance Festival, a remarkable celebration of Shawnee heritage and the timeless legacy of five Oklahoma Indian ballerinas—Yvonne Chouteau (Shawnee), Rosella Hightower (Choctaw), Moscelyne Larkin (Eastern Shawnee & Peoria), and Osage sisters Marjorie and Maria Tallchief. Named after […]
The Shawnee Tribe’s Behavioral & Mental Health Department is hosting Community Support Groups twice a month. Meetings will go through mid-December. For more information, please contact Linda Rothe, MS, LPC at 918-542-2441 Ext. 150 or email lrothe@shawnee-tribe.com.
On Monday, September 23, 2024, following the 2024 General Council Weekend, the Shawnee Tribe Cultural Center in Miami, OK, reopened to the public after an extended closure due to COVID-19 precautions and the need to use the center for office space. With the Emma “Mock” Donaldson Saawanwaatoweewika now open as the permanent home of the […]
Update (10/2/24): Special Livestream Event On Tuesday, October 8, join the Sid Meier’s Civilization team at 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT for a Tecumseh livestream featuring special guests from the Shawnee Tribe. The Shawnee Tribe is set to be featured in the upcoming release of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, a popular video game series that enables […]
We’ve moved things around a bit on the Shawnee Tribal Courts webpage now that Shawnee Tribe District Court case information is available in the On Demand Court Records database at ODCR.com. To search the open records, click the ‘Search Case Records’ button on the Courts page. In the search query at ODCR, select ‘Shawnee Tribe District Court’ from the list of options […]
Welcome to ta’saawanwaatoweeyakwe, the new blog series dedicated to the Shawnee Language Immersion Program’s happenings and language preservation work. Now that we are most of the way through the first year of our Master-Apprentice program, we wanted to share some of our work. Each week we focus on a new concept, and we had a lot […]
Messages from the Chiefs: Summer 2024 — Chief Barnes discusses highlights from tribal programs, including Higher Education Awards and the Indian Child Welfare Office. Chief Baldridge emphasizes the importance of diplomacy and inter-governmental work.
Contributors: Coral Avery, Princella RedCorn One of the most important crops grown in Shawnee villages before removal westward was lokhaana taami (flour corn). This corn variety, rich in vitamins and minerals, was used to make flour, which was instrumental in providing food for saawanooki (Shawnee people) through the winter months. It was also significant in […]