Eva Marie Carney was born in New Jersey and is a descendant of Josette Vieux Juneau. Her Potawatomi name is Ojindiskwe, meaning “Bluebird Woman.” She has served as the legislator for District 2 since June 2008, She took office as the first elected representative for the area that comprises the 13 mid-Atlantic and Southern states and the District of Columbia. …
August 16, 2007, the BIA’s unnecessary oversight of our Tribal government was rejected by voters and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation overwhelmingly ratified a new constitution. It expanded the legislative body to include representatives from throughout the United States; clearly defined the separation of governmental powers among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government; and removed, wherever possible, the United …
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Family Reunion Festival is an annual celebration of native culture for the Citizen Potawatomi people. The Festival takes place during the last Saturday of June for tribal members and their guests. Tribal elections are held during the Festival and voting occurs on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the tribal courtroom (in the Citizen …
The Gathering of Potawatomi Nations is hosted each summer by one of the nine tribes of Potawatomi, providing an opportunity for members of all tribes to come together and celebrate their Potawatomi heritage. It includes a language conference, cultural workshops, youth events, crafting classes, sporting events, and language classes. Gathering begins with the lighting of the fire that burns for …
The first Tribal Seal was created in the 1970s by Secretary/Treasurer Beverly Hughes. It was a black circle with “Great Seal of the Citizen Band of Potawatomi Indians of Oklahoma” inside the edge and featured a crossed Cherokee-style pipe and tomahawk over a fire with three logs. When the Tribe changed its name in 1996 to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, …
In 2013, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn joined Citizen Potawatomi Nation Chairman John “Rocky” Barrett to formally approve Tribal leasing regulations meant to spur investment and commercial development on the Nation’s trust lands in central Oklahoma. The regulations gave CPN the authority to decide how it wants to do business …
Having endured the boarding school years, where children were taken far from their families and placed in schools designed to strip them of their culture, the continuation of Native child adoption by non-Indian families proved one of the direst issues facing tribal communities by the 1970’s. For generations, Indian families lost their children to federal agents, who, at their discretion, …
The Indian Gaming & Regulatory Act was a law passed by Congress attempting to mitigate the growing frustration states had with their inability to tax and regulate sovereign Indian nations’ gaming operations. Beginning in the 1960’s and 1970’s, tribal communities across the United States began operating bingo houses to raise money for their communities. As states also attempted to channel …
In the years following the disastrous policy of Termination, the United States federal government began shifting its energies towards investing in tribal autonomy as a way of managing Indian affairs. Beginning formally with a 1961 Commission on the Rights, Liberties, and Responsibilities of the American Indian concluding that top-down initiatives lacking cooperation with tribal community members are destined for failure, …
The Iroquois Confederacy or the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), was made up of five tribes, Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and the Seneca originating from New York. In 1722, the Tuscarora tribe, who originated from North Carolina, joined the Confederacy. The nations of the confederacy saw themselves as the important parts that hold up the one united longhouse. They were …