Mission & Vision
Dedicated to excellence in our journey to build the tribe of the future.
Niipi means water. It raises crops from dust, providing nourishment for human souls. It cuts through ancient rock, wearing away the rough edges of hardened hearts. It moves over the land forming paths to travel, showing us the way to bridge two worlds. The journey is a circle: the past influencing the present, the present providing hope for the future, the future fulfilling the vision of the ancestors of long ago.
Guiding Principles:
- Culture – We will foster and cultivate traditional core values and beliefs. We will promote and preserve history.
- Family – We will show compassion for all people. We will invest in the welfare of the elders, the future of the young ones, and the stability of the family.
- Service – We will recognize the inherent worth of all people by treating them with dignity and honor. We will hold ourselves to a high standard of service. We will require performance, efficiency, and professionalism.
- Accountability – We will be accountable for our actions and attitudes. We will be trustworthy and ethical.
- Leadership –We will challenge each other to be loyal and courageous. We will maintain a positive view of change while holding fast to the traditional values that make us strong and united. We will support personal and professional development of employees.
Living the Vision
- Working as a Team – We recognize that it is only with united resolve and mutual respect that we can challenge and motivate each other to achieve extraordinary goals, inspire excellence and build productive working relationships.
- Investing in the Tribe – We recognize that selflessness and responsible stewardship of resources will better enable us to provide serves and create an environment where we can foster the success of the tribe.
- Representing the Tribe – We recognize the need to focus our daily efforts on building a stronger, sustainable tribe for the people. We will conduct ourselves at all times in a manner which embodies the following: “In memory of all our Ancestors who have walked the path of life before us, may we follow with dignity and honor.”
- Looking to the Future – We recognize that milestones of the past teach us and goals for the future direct our path. With every decision, every action, we will keep the best interests of the tribe at the forefront of our consciousness.
Bridging Two Worlds
Shawnee Chief Tecumseh imparted values and wisdom to his warriors that enabled them to prevail on the battlefield of life. Today, we seek to incorporate the philosophy of self-determination to build a foundation for our culture, businesses and government. We must live and succeed in both the cultural and modern worlds. In the circle of our journey together, we must embrace the past, act in the present, and envision the future. We must communicate with the community and business partners our sincere desire to celebrate traditional core values and incorporate them into our business practices. We will implement programs and offer opportunities that support continued progress toward our guiding principles and living the vision concepts. May we all be renewed by healing waters, the power of Niipi, as we make efforts to demonstrate our dedication to the vision set before us.
To download the Mission click here.
Tribal Administration
Tribal Administration encompasses many of the services offered by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe. Please take a few minutes to review the highlights of 2009 within each of our departments. If you have questions about any of the programs or events mentioned in the report, please contact the related department.
The purpose of the AOA is to provide the Title VI Nutrition Program and the Title VI Family Caregiver Program. The nutrition program’s purpose is to serve the Native America Elders one hot nutritious meal a day, five days a week, Monday thru Friday. The Caregiver provides training and materials to caregivers in hopes of providing excellent care for our Elders.
The AOA program serves meals free to persons sixty years old or older with a valid CDIB Card from a federally recognized Indian Tribe. Spouses of an elder are also eligible to use the programs. The program also serves elders form the area and employees of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe for a suggested donation of $5.00.
A very important part of this program is the Health Screening, Health Promotions and Nutritional education. Every first and third Wednesday we have exercise bingo at 1:00. Great prizes are given when you Bingo and it is a great way to work your muscles. On the first Monday of the month we have Crochet classes. Everyone is welcome to come and join us. We also have Beading classes every Tuesday at 9:00. They have a great time visiting and beading so please come and join the fun. On the third Friday of the month we have music day. This is when anyone who wants to sing comes and we have a great time singing and dancing. Our exercise room has state of the art machines to help keep the elder’s muscles moving. We have anywhere from 20 to 30 people who come to exercise. Our Gift Shop is open and our items are in the Shooting Star and on the web site. So come by and take a look at our items. We now have Pendleton items and several logo items as well as jewelry and many other items.
Our safe room doubles for a conference room and a craft room. We have computers for the elders to use and they truly enjoy them.
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe’s Children and Family Services Department’s mission is to provide culturally sensitive services and build strong relationships with Tribal families and partnering agencies who are serving those families all in an effort to ensure that the rights to Eastern Shawnee families who fall under the purview of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) are being followed to prevent disruption, promote reunification, or to find permanency.
- To advocate for Eastern Shawnee Indian families
- Provide prevention and intervention
- Provide services to support the parent and child relationship and their well-being
- Recruit and maintain foster placements to meet the requirements of ICWA
- Effectively review all of Children and Family Services files
- Provide training to the Children and Family Services regarding Native American culture, ICWA policies and procedures, and trends in working with families.
*The ICW Department recently applied for a “Promoting Safe and Stable Families” grant from the Department of Human Services of Oklahoma. This grant has changed in what services are allowable, but they meet the needs of our clients and our current vision statement. This grant was previously made available to the Tribe; however we did not meet the criteria in 2011 and 2012. I have received an email that the ICW department will be granted the approximate $20,000 for the FY 2012-2013. This will allow the ICW Department to provide more outreach and prevention services in hopes of keeping our children out of foster care.
*A new policy has been implemented for spending within the ICW Department. Previously money was spent as the ICW Specialist believed necessary and now we are closely watching our budget and making sure the money spent ties back to the case goal for the family.
*Looking ahead to FY 2013-We hope to increase our services to Tribal members through parenting classes, teaming up with the Wellness Center to provide monthly Family Nights, increasing cultural awareness, and developing programs to improve the overall health of families.
In conclusion, there are checks and balances in place that the Accounting Department and I feel were necessary. The entire Children and Family Services Department is aware of the budget and respecting the reduced spending. I am very proud of our department and feel we are providing much needed services for Tribal Members.
Accomplishments:
* Led Language Carnival, Winter Gathering and Culture Camp
* Produced skit with Tribal youth and competed in the ‘Spoken Division’ category at the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair at the University of Oklahoma
* Sponsored booths at Children’s Christmas Party, Children’s Pow Wow and Miami NOW
* Submitted the Eastern Shawnee Tribe’s Historic Preservation Plan to the National Parks Service
* Began monthly Gatherings which include a meal and Stomp and Social Dancing
* Initiated weekly Shawnee language class for administrative staff
* Traveled to Ohio with Tribal youth to present dancing exhibitions and view sacred sites
* Received scholarship and attended the “Breath of Life” Seminar for Native Languages at the University of Oklahoma
* Located and mapped unmarked graves at Calamus Pond Cemetery
The Education Department has served two hundred twenty six adult tribal members in college and vocational training. One hundred fifty two tribal members have been served in public schools. These awards include junior/senior benefits, graduation awards (which includes GED’S) and grade incentives for grades six through twelve. The Education Department has strived to process awards in a timely manner and this has been accomplished through the use of MICROIX. The Education Department anticipates adding RiteTrack to our processing system for record keeping purposes.
Environmental Protection and Land Management Department
The EPA General Assistance Program Grant has been in place since 1998 and is part of the US EPA’s Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) Program as well as the Radon and water Quality Grants. This grant is a capacity building grant which has helped the recycle program to grow immensely. Emergency response is another deliverable of this grant for help clean up oil/diesel spills to help keep Eastern Shawnee land clean. The tribe started a ground water monitoring program eight years ago for bacteria and nitrates. The Four Feathers Recycle Center received a new lateral baler and 3-phase electric for the baler to boost productivity. The vertical baler that was being used at Four Feathers was donated to Indigo Sky Casino to bale cardboard generated by the casino. The environmental director wrote a FF A Recycle Grant that was awarded to the Seneca High Agriculture Department. The students will assist with recycling and outreach events for Four Feathers Recycling throughout this coming school year.
Green Team was created to increase support and understanding of the recycling process at Four Feathers Recycling Center. Since the beginning of the year 2011 Four Feathers prevented over 140,000 lbs. of recyclable material from going into the landfills by recycling 40,000 pounds of paper we have helped save 340 trees, 7600 barrels of oil, 60 cubic yards of landfill space, 140,000 gallons of water, and 1200 pounds of air pollution ……. Reduce, Reuse, And Recycle!!! Four Feathers Recycling has also donated our vertical baler to the new Indigo Sky Casino our going GREEN endeavor. We made a Public Service Announcement to inform the general public about recycling in July 2012.
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe received an EPA Air Grant this year for calculating air emissions from roads. The Air Grant is a success because we were trained for deploying and receiving road counters for particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s). A custom data base was set up data logged to calculate these emissions.
The EPA Radon Grant is part of US EPA’s Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) Program. This is the sixth year for Eastern Shawnee Tribe’s Environmental Department to participate in EPA’s Radon Program. The Radon Grant was a success for the most part: We were unable to perform short term testing since October 2011 due to the Las Vegas Lab shut down. We were able to perform continuous monitoring with our RAD7 Monitor and we performed testing of outside radon potentials through working with Kyle Conway, a Seneca Middle School student on his school science project.
Eastern Shawnee Tribe’s Water Quality Monitoring Program has continued to fulfill grant deliverables for the EPA 106 and 319 programs, as well as adding a data exchange grant for water quality data. Both Water Quality staff members have been able to receive additional training and add to their skills and strengths through the year.
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma water utilities stayed on top of the sampling schedule and all samples came back satisfactory, and the water utilities department kept all the systems running satisfactory. The Tribe has recently purchased an additional 265 acres this year. The Land Management program has been working on four trust packages with three placed into trust status, which is 182 acres; and five more trust packages totaling another 377 acres will be submitted before the end of 2012. The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma will then have 1,185 acres in trust altogether.
The Gaming Commission has gone through many changes this year. Steve Daugherty decided to transfer out of the Gaming Commission to the Cultural Preservation Department. While he will always be missed, Jalene Wells now fills the role as Deputy. She brings eight years of gaming experience to the Commission which has been beneficial in making quick but significant decisions to get Indigo Sky on the right track to opening. Jalene has taken Surveillance, Licensing, and Internal Auditing as her daily responsibilities to ensure a smooth flow of information to the Commissioner. An Assistant Deputy Gaming Commissioner, Jerad Swimmer, has been added, who has also been a vital part of progress. Jerad has over seventeen years in gaming and supervises the Gaming Inspectors. While he has taken on the scheduling, supervising, training, and directing of the inspectors, he has also made himself available to the casino management as an advisor. We added an IT Specialist who has worked very close with Surveillance, Casino IT, as well as Tribal IT to ensure key access and the network are up and running at Indigo Sky. We expanded our Gaming Compliance by three inspectors, just in time to get the new gaming floor tested and within MICS regulations. We expanded our licensing department by one agent, Vanna Koepke, in anticipation for the 90% increase in employee and vendor nongaming licensing. The licensing agents also worked with the IT Specialist to print over 700 new badges for key access at Indigo Sky. We revised the Gaming Ordinance to provide more clarity in the roles and responsibilities of the Gaming Commission. The Business Committee and the National Indian Gaming Commission both approved the revisions.
The Gaming Commission’s goals for next year are no less challenging than this year. Our Tribal Regulations have been drafted. This document will ensure protection of assets that fall into nongaming areas of our gaming facilities. We hope to introduce these regulations within the next several months. Our policies and procedures need to be revised since they were originally written in the infant stages of this Commission and we now know the responsibilities of this office better. The Tribal Internal Control Standards will need to be strengthened. As gaming changes, this document must change with it. We hope to provide twenty four hour coverage in our gaming operations which will require more Inspectors. We hope to expand the scope of our audits to ensure proper handling of our nongaming departments. We are planning a fee schedules that will help offset our cost of operating.
The Gaming Commission strives to progress in a way that makes the Tribe feel proud of our accomplishments, and secure in our protection of their well-being.
Grant Writer
The Grants Department works diligently to obtain grant funds that would be of benefit to the tribe and community. My guiding assumption is that the lives of the Eastern Shawnee tribal members and the surrounding community will improve if high-quality grant projects are funded and implemented.
The process of writing a grant is quite lengthy and involves a great deal of research. A typical grant application is about 90% planning and 10% writing. This planning includes the surveys and community meetings that are held from time to time. These activities are vital to successful grant applications and we greatly appreciate your participation.
Past Year’s Funded Projects:
Upcoming Projects:
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Pending Projects (still under review) :
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Specialized Programs
1.Assumed job as Hardship Coordinator, Name Changed to Specialized Programs Coordinator
2. This entailed administering service to Needy Tribal members for the following programs.
- Hardship
- Home Maintenance
- Down-payment Assistance
- HPG
- LIHEAP
3. Organized and handled Tribal leases for Pasture Land, Tribal Rental Houses and Storage units, insuring that payments are made on time, etc.
4. Worked on FEMA Mobile home situation-Went to Selma, AI. to inspect the 15 FEMA Mobiles used homes that we were awarded, insuring that the awarded homes met our expectations. I had transport people move the 15 homes that we were awarded to Seneca. I am involved in the committee which set up guidelines to determine which Tribal members, on a point system, will be awarded the homes. This was accomplished
and we are now in the process of delivering these homes to the well deserved Tribal members.
In support of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma’s principles, values, visiojn, and mission, it is the Human Resource Department’s Mission to support the totar Tribal Administration operation in meeting its goals through its most valuable resource – its PEOPLE. We see our responsibility as liaison between Tribal leaders and employees as a vital yet delicate one. The three members of the Human Resources and Benefits Team work diligently to stay within budget while striving to provide the best services possible to our employees and those applying to become employed with the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. We are striving daily to become the “employer of choice” in the area by providing an environment where creativity and hard work is celebrated, communication is ongoing, and where employees are free from harassment and political bias. We are proud to note some changes and accomplishments for this year:
- We have purchased the Sage Human Resource software module which will allow us to become more efficient in our management of employee information, status changes, etc. This will further separate duties for the Accounting Department, which will help in our audit process.
- We are working to use less paper forms and files in our office. Our Benefits Specialist recently scanned in 400 former employee and benefits files, allowing us to free up our much needed space while still giving us access to vital information.
- Our office absorbed some of the former Chief of Staff duties. While this has made us a much “busier” office, we feel we have been successful in assisting the Chief, the employees and the Tribe in this area.
- We moved the Benefits Specialist office up with our other Tribal Administration Human Resource Offices up on the Highway 10C campus. We are in one central location for the first time in several years, allowing for a more cohesive and communicative department environment.
- We are proud to have two national training conferences coming to Indigo Sky and hosted by our Tribal Administration HR department in January of 2013. This is great exposure for the Tribe and Casino.
Information Technology
The IT department has accomplished a great deal this year. One of the main goals we set out to accomplish is improving IT’s reputation and standing within the organization. We have done this by drastically improving the speed and reliability of our helpdesk and reducing downtime in our network and application availability. Our network downtown improvement comes from adding redundancy into the core of our network as well as adding a backup business class internet connection at each site.
The IT Department has relocated from the Annex building downtown to the east side of the Travel Center on Highway 10. We also have a new Data Center located in these offices with proper wiring, cooling, and backup generator power.
Some of the other completed projects include:
- Getting backups and Site-to-Site replication of crucial data configured and tested.
- Deployment of a Lync Server communications platform internally with future plans to communicate externally.
- Setup a Helpdesk server for the maintenance department.
- Connection of Four Feathers Recycling and the HUD office to our local network using wireless point-to-point links.
- Made an overall increase in network security by reconfiguring infrastructure using best practices for secure operation.
- Wired and setup the new education offices and education classroom in the wellness center.
- Deployed a wireless network for employee usage as well as a guest wireless network.
- All IT members have earned MCITP Microsoft certifications this year.
- Performed upgrade to the phone system downtown and currently working on the dial-in experience.
- Deployment of Sharepoint. A collaboration and information platform for employees.
The goals of this last year was to mainly solidify our infrastructure, helpdesk, and department as a whole. We have certainly accomplished this and more. Having a solid base to stand on will allow us to start making some forward progress in the coming year.
Legal Liaison
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma Legal Department is in its infancy stages, having been founded in May 2012. The purpose of this department is to maintain In-House counsel for day-to -day legal questions and advice. These services are made available to all departments. Within the last few months, this department has been utilized to review and negotiate contracts, assist with the opening and vendor negotiations for the new casino, and research local and national laws impacting our tribal members. We look forward to continuing to serve and advocate for the Tribe today, tomorrow, and well into the future.
The Library Department shall provide Library services to Eastern Shawnee Tribal members, to all other Native American people and the general public. The Library was awarded $7,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library services (IMLS) Basic Grant that provides funds to purchase books, media, shelving and supplies. Remaining budget comes from the General Fund.
Number of Patrons: Eastern Shawnee 171; Cherokee 91; Loyal Shawnee 7; Miami Nation 2; Modoc 3; Ottawa 3; Quapaw 3; Seneca-Cayuga 47; Wyandotte Nation 25; Non-Tribal 611; All tribal members 52; Total patron count is 1,015. Currently we have 16,169 holdings in the library, consisting of works of fiction, philosophy, religion, social sciences, applied science, natural science, art, literature, history, a large collection of juvenile literature, video collection, microfilm collection, etc. Items checked out 2,394; Browsers 446; Computer users 1,458; Books cataloged 378; Videos accessioned 80; New cards 34; Children 908; Children’s craft project 153; Wii 134; Total Patrons 3,445. Attention was given to many patrons that were using the public internet access computers. Help was given to those who were in need of learning how to use the internet; Filling out online job applications; Patrons who were doing family genealogy research, etc.
Recently a sight survey was conducted by Rebecca Elder, Amigos Adjunct Preservation Field Services Officer who visited the George J. Captain Library on June 11, 2012. The site visit included a physical structure survey, a general collection assessment overview, an examination of preservation staffing and activities and interviews with staff on disaster planning, security and preservation management issues. This project was funded by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Several recommendations were made during this visit; we are currently working to implement these.
The library has a fresh new look, thanks to a makeover that was done by the library staff. The library was given a fresh new paint scheme, new shelving was added, new displays were made and room was made for a newly created military exhibit (a work in progress). This exhibit will feature Eastern Shawnee military personnel. We have been working to create a master list of tribal military veterans and active duty soldiers. A summer craft program for library children was conducted by Marilee Squirrel, who was occasionally overwhelmed by the amount of participation. We want to thank Marilee and tribal member Molly Profitt for all of her hard work with the kids and the summer craft program. Molly is the granddaughter of Marilee Squirrel. Great job guys!
We want to sincerely thank all the Eastern Shawnee Tribal members who have donated to the library; And the Miami Nation library for their donation of books, videos and library shelving. These items have greatly enhanced the overall collections at the George J. Captain Library. In the Print Shop it is business as usual. We have been working hard with the casino in preparation of the grand opening of Indigo Sky. We have been doing printing for Outpost Casino, People Bank, Northeast Technology Center, Burrgraf, Quapaw Tribe, ESTOO administrative programs, etc. We are working to create an archive of photographs, and tribally created documents, minutes, resolutions, etc.
We have been working diligently on the military exhibit, researching and collecting information on each soldier. The Print Shop will be creating the written and photograph displays for the exhibit.
During the last year the Eastern Shawnee Tribal Police Department has experienced some personnel changes which caused us to rethink our mission. Our main Mission is to serve with the emphasis on Servitude (Attitude of Serving) and Team Work.
Our long Term Goal for the next year is being known and counted on for our Serving, Warriorism, Assisting, and Team Work. Not only Team work among our department but throughout the Eastern Shawnee Community, Surrounding Communities, Etc …
Our long Term Goal can only be accomplished by setting and maintaining small goals. This would include but not be limited to Implementation of Incorporation. That means Incorporating departments around us, not just police departments but Indian Child Welfare, Community Policing etc …. This also means communicating any and all information to our departments, Chains of Command such as the Chief and Business Committee. We must keep a main stream of open communication between all, which will result in all of us being on the same page.
We need to always remember that the people we serve are not here for us but we are here for them.
Since the Vehicle Registration pro-gram began in 2003, the tribe has sold 911 vehicle tags, 43 motorcycle tags, and 13 veteran tags. From September 2011 to September 2012 the tag department revenue totaled $70 thousand. We’re considering creating a Tax Commission Committee to consider changes in the tag program. If you’re interested in participating, please contact the Vehicle Registration office.
The Social Service department’s biggest goal this year was to process claims within the 30-day allowance and we’re happy to report that our goal was accomplished! The Vital Statistics side of the department has upgraded our photo identification equipment and plan on beginning to include photo ID’s for children in the near future.
Total Tribal Enrollment is 2940!
The Department recorded the following statistics at the end of the third quarter:
- 664 Address Changes
- 8 Deaths
- 48 New Enrollees
- 132 ID Cards Issued
- 58 Photo IDs Issued
The Wellness Center has focused on disease prevention, health promotion activities this fiscal year. We have teamed up with the Community Health Representative program to better serve the community in these areas. The CHR program is responsible for a continuum of services to the population through health education, health screening, case finding, referral, follow-up and provision of support services. Bonita Payton provides medical transportation when needed as well as delivers tribal members medication. Home and phone visits are conducted to check on the well being or tribal members.
The Wellness and CHR programs have several opportunities to aide in the health of tribal and community members. We are continually looking for fun and creative ways to involve the tribal community. This year we have implemented and held many monthly activities. We currently host monthly Health Screens, Healthy Living Dinners, Elder Dances, Paraffin Hand and Feet Waxing, Wii Bowling and Exercise Bingo. We have joined with the Cultural Preservation Department to help host monthly Gatherings.
The Wellness and CHR programs have also incorporated many stand alone activities throughout this fiscal year. Activities include: community and individual gardens, Wellness Week Challenge, Easter Egg Hunt, hosted our first ever 5k in conjunction with Seneca days, National Walk at Lunch Day, Elder Olympics, hosted two employee wellness challenges. We will also be hosting our fifth annual Fun Walk during the powwow. We will add a Memekwee 5K this year to attract individual from all fitness levels.
We will continue the programs we currently host and incorporate new programs to further promote activity and educate tribal and community members. It is our intention to start hosting 3 0n 3 basketball tournaments as well as volley ball tournaments. We plan to host a Trunk or Treat this Halloween. We will host monthly computer classes as well as Fitness Friday’s. The Wellness Center and CHR Departments will continue to search for ways to serve the tribe and community.
