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September and October 2008
In a referendum election held on
Saturday, September 20, 2008 citizens
of the Seminole Nation voted
on two important issues concerning
tribal sovereignty. With five separate
polling locations, Seminoles
throughout the state had the opportunity
to participate.
Both the Seminole Nation General
Council and Constitution Revision
Committee worked tirelessly to
make the proper amendments and
complete all the necessary procedures
to have the special election
ready in time for the 40th Annual
Seminole Nation Days Celebration.
Thus, tribal members, many
from outside the state of Oklahoma,
visiting the Mekusukey Mission for
the celebration would also have the
opportunity to vote.
Signs were placed throughout
the Mission, encouraging all tribal
members in the crowd of 15,000 that
attended the Nation Days Festival to
participate in the election. [Read More]
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Hundreds of students, educators, prominent community
citizens and patchwork clad tribal members
attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Seminole
Nation Residential Learning Center on Thursday,
September 18, 2008 at Seminole State College.
SSC students and staff members greeted visitors and
offered open house tours of the newly constructed, $8
million state-of-the-art facility, which currently houses
130 students.
Tallahassee Band member Lewis Johnson played
traditional songs on his flute as visitors roamed the
halls of the dormitory, admiring the architecture and
various amenities. [Read More]
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In keeping with the spirit of community at the Seminole Nation Days Festival, Chief Kelly Haney enlisted the help of a few friends to deliver his annual “State of the Nation” address at the Mekusukey Mission Arena on a warm Saturday afternoon. The two main points of emphasis in this year’s message were education and domestic violence.
“I can’t think of one profession
that’s available to us, that we’re not
into,“ Chief Haney said. “We have
attorneys. We have physicians. We
have educators. We have people in
every walk of life, and we ought to
be proud about that.“
He also discussed the domestic
violence problem, particularly
among Native women, and the tribe’s
effort to combat the epidemic. [Read More] |
The Seminole Nation called a special
Information Meeting on Friday,
August 29 to explain some of the
evolving issues within the tribe and
field questions and concerns from
tribal citizens. The meeting was
held at the Lecture Hall inside the
Kelly Haney Center in Seminole.
The main topic of discussion was
the proposed tribal court and coming
election. Both Deborah Harjochee,
SN Court Clerk, and Sandra Harrison,
Attorney General from the
Andrews Davis Law Firm, provided
input on the court system.
Harjochee’s presentation illustrated
that, under current conditions,
the CFR Court is not empowered
under federal law to address the
wide range of legal issues that now
confront the Nation and its members.
[Read More]
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SEMINOLE, Okla. - The Seminole
Nation Education Committee
sponsored the first annual
ACT Prep Workshop led by Chad
Cargill on August 28, 2008 at the
Kelly Haney Center on the campus
of Seminole State College. The
workshop started at 8:45 a.m. and
ended at 11:45 a.m. with approximately
150 students in attendance.
The workshop was set up primarily
for Seminole tribal students
in high school in Seminole County,
but also invited non-tribal students
to attend too. There were about 70
Seminole tribal high school students,
primarily juniors and seniors,
in attendance at this workshop. [Read More]
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A total of seventeen education
tutors attended the Title VII
Workshop held on the campus of
Seminole State College on August
8, 2008. Most of the tutors present
were tribal members.
The workshop was sponsored
by the Seminole Nation Education
Committee for adult tutors who
work with our tribal students in the
public schools in Seminole County.
Shawnee Public Schools was also
represented at this workshop.
The theme of the workshop was
‘Building Academic Vocabulary
and Comprehension’ presented by
Penny Gooch of the State Department
of Education in Oklahoma
City. She gave the tutors valuable
information that can be used in
working with our tribal students in
the various schools. [Read More] |
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The month of October is the kick-off for victim service providers to raise awareness on the growing epidemic known as domestic violence. The definition that explains the meaning of the term domestic violence is as follows: Domestic Violence refers to a pattern of violence and coercive behavior exercised by one adult or teenager over another in an intimate relationship. It is not a "marital conflict," "a lover’s quarrel," "boys just being boys," or "a private family matter."
Facts
• Every 15 seconds a woman is battered.
• 25% of women have been abused at least once in their lifetime.
• Young women between the ages of 14 and 24 are the largest demographic of domestic violence cases.
• Domestic and teen dating violence cross all racial, social, education, economic, and religious lines. [Read More]
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Brett Walker was inducted into the Seminole High School 2008 Hall of Fame on October 4. The induction ceremony was held at the Kelly Haney Center at Seminole State College.
Brett attended Seminole Public Schools for 13 years and graduated in 1990. He was a member of the Student Council for three years and was on the Honor Roll as a senior. Brett was a two year letterman in track and field and lettered four years in weightlifting and football. During his freshman year, he was on the State Champion Weightlifting team. As a member of the weightlifting team, he was the all-classes weightlifting State champion as a freshman and was all-classes weightlifting State runner-up as a sophomore. [Read More]
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The Mvskoke (Seminole/Creek) language is still vital in many homes, churches, ceremonial ground and governmental activities which are conducted regularly throughout the Nations.
Socio-cultural values, unlike the Anglo society, are closely intertwined with religious and spiritual values and, thus, are reflected in the language.
Separation of government, religion and domestic issues is not a concept known to earlier Mvskoke cultures. In fact, leaders of the Tribes looked to their spirituality in guiding their people. Likewise, heads of social systems (clans, bands, towns, families) did (or do) the same. [Read More]
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The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has been awarded a grant from the Administration for Native Americans to support a Language Preservation Program. The goal of the project is to determine the current status of the Seminole language and formulate steps to keep it alive.
The ANA was established in 1974 through the Native American Programs Act. ANA is the only federal agency serving all Native Americans, including 562 federally recognized tribes, American Indian and Alaska Native organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations and Native populations throughout the Pacific basin (including American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). [Read More]
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