Native OK 5/17 Weekly Newsletter

Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes testified to the U.S. House Sub-Committee that would set up a Boarding School Committee

Federal investigation identifies over 400 indigenous boarding schools, 50 burial sites in the US

by Molly Young

--The U.S. government compelled generations of Native American children to attend boarding schools where they experienced violence and trauma to achieve its broader goal of acquiring tribal land, a federal report concluded Wednesday after a nearly yearlong investigation.

The schools intentionally cut ties with children’s tribal nations and purposely worked to assimilate students into mainstream culture, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said in the 105-page report. The review focused on 408 federally run boarding schools, with the largest concentration, 76, in Oklahoma.

It is the federal government’s first attempt to provide an in-depth accounting of the harm done by boarding schools, but the full reckoning remains incomplete. Officials acknowledged they are still trying to count how many children attended the schools and how many died while there. They have so far found 53 burial sites on boarding school grounds. They ultimately expect to document thousands or tens of thousands of child deaths linked to the schools.

The boarding schools broke up Native families and eroded the health of tribal citizens and nations for generations, Newland said at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

“The United States initiated this policy of forced assimilation through targeting children,” said Newland, who belongs to the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan. “What I believe that our role here is, in this investigation, is to account for that.”

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What happened at Native American boarding schools?

Newland and his boss, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, described the report as the first step in a sweeping effort to document what happened at boarding schools and to address the intergenerational harm caused by them. The review found school leaders regularly changed Native children’s names, cut their hair, forbid them from practicing any part of their culture and required students to complete military drills.

“This has left lasting scars for all Indigenous people,” Newland said. “There is not a single American Indian, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian in this country whose life hasn’t been affected by these schools. We haven’t begun to explain the scope of this policy era until now.”

The traumatic legacy of Native American boarding schools started to gain more attention last year, when searches of school sites in Canada revealed mass graves where children were buried. U.S. officials launched their investigation in June at the direction of Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and the first Native American to serve in her post overseeing U.S. relations with tribes. During Wednesday’s news conference, she described her department’s work on boarding schools as her legacy.

“I come from ancestors who endured the horrors of the Indian boarding school assimilation policies carried out by the same department that I now lead,” she said, before listing several facts about how many boarding schools the federal government operated in the past. “Now we are uniquely positioned to assist in the effort to recover the dark history of these institutions that have haunted our families for too long.”

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Government campaigns to acquire tribal land and to eradicate Native cultures have direct ties to the high rates of violence, poverty, mental health disorders and substance abuse that tribal communities face today, Haaland said.

Do Native American boarding schools still exist?

Federally backed schools for Native children still exist, including Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, one of four off-reservation boarding schools. But Newland said there is a clear divide between past and present. “The difference is at the core of the schools’ mission, which is to empower Indian kids in their communities, to attempt to revitalize languages and cultural practices and not to forcibly assimilate kids and not to take them from their families without their consent,” he said.

Federal schools aimed to assimilate Native children throughout much of the 1800s and 1900s, until as recently as 1969. Many of the schools had ties to religious groups, which also ran some of their own schools that weren’t paid for by the federal government. The review looked only at federally backed schools and identified them all.

Investigating boarding schools: Full list of schools included in Interior Department report

The report found the schools focused on manual labor and trade skills training, not education. Classroom studies focused on learning English. Students often were punished for speaking their Native languages. A Kansas boarding school purposely housed children from 31 different tribes together in the late 1800s “to disrupt tribal relations and discourage or prevent Indian language use.”

Living conditions were often “grossly inadequate.” At one boarding school on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation, children were forced to share small beds pushed closely together in a row. Federal officials sent children from as far away as Alaska to attend schools in present-day Oklahoma, which was known as Indian Territory until it became a state in 1907.

The review found some of the schools in Oklahoma were segregated and enrolled only Freedmen — African Americans who had been enslaved by one of the Five Tribes before gaining freedom in 1866 — and their children.

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During their investigation, federal staffers uncovered reports of corporal punishment and malnourishment at boarding schools. Investigators also found instances when federal officials spent money on boarding schools that was supposed to compensate tribal nations for land.

The report called for the Department of the Interior to keep investigating both the direct harm and lasting damage of boarding schools. Congress approved $7 million to continue the review. Officials plan to tally all of the federal money spent on boarding schools, in addition to compiling a full list of burial sites and children interred.

Deb Haaland to meet with Native American boarding school survivors

Haaland also plans to launch a listening tour to meet with boarding school survivors throughout the U.S., as part of a goal to create a federal repository of oral histories detailing what people experienced at boarding schools.

“Recognizing the impacts of the federal Indian boarding school system cannot just be a historical reckoning,” she said. “We must also chart a path forward to deal with these legacy issues, to address the intergenerational impact of federal Indian boarding schools, and to promote spiritual and emotional healing in our communities.”

Deborah Parker, who leads the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, said the review should extend beyond the Department of the Interior. Parker, who belongs to the Tulalip Tribes in Washington, advocated for Congress to create a boarding school truth and healing commission, which would have the power to subpoena church records and collect more testimony from boarding school survivors.

“Our children had names,” she said. “Our children had families. Our children had their own languages. Our children had their own regalia, prayers and religion before Indian boarding schools violently took them away.”

A House subcommittee plans to hear testimony on a bill Thursday that would set up the boarding school commission. Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes plans to testify. Barnes and other Shawnee leaders are working to preserve a Kansas boarding school where many Shawnee children were sent and look into what happened there.

Barnes said in a statement that he is grateful for the broader federal investigation into boarding schools and described the report published Wednesday as a major step forward.

“The stories of these children have been hidden for too long,” he said. “It’s time they were heard.”

This is a developing news story and has been updated. Molly Young covers Indigenous affairs for the USA Today Network's Sunbelt Region. Reach her at mollyyoung@gannett.com or 405-347-3534.

Osage Nation progresses toward opening lending institution. Osage News File Photo

Poor credit? Lack of collateral? No problem

Osage Nation progresses toward opening lending institution

Written by

Louise Red Corn

Those with poor or non-existent credit often find themselves in a vicious cycle, struggling to make ends meet and, when in need of a money, ensnared in payday loan traps from which escape is difficult.

The Osage Nation is looking to change that by establishing a Community Development Financial Institution – essentially a bank for those who are not welcomed by traditional banks because they have lousy credit or lack collateral.

The Osage CDFI has been in the works since April 2021, when the Osage Nation Congress passed legislation that authorized its creation. Since then, the Nation has progressed through the first 10 of 28 steps before it opens the bank, 𐓀𐒰𐓒𐒷𐓆𐒼𐒰 𐓂𐓈𐒰 𐓊𐒻, or a “A Place to Borrow Money.”

Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said that he visited the Citizen Potawatomi tribe last year to look at various programs they had, and he was impressed by its CDFI.

“It has been a really good program for them and after a few years of doing it, they have moved on to buying actual banks,” Standing Bear said.

The chief said that loans will be available for Osages nationwide when the CDFI opens – scheduled for next year but dependent on federal approval – but the bank is intended to grow gradually. For instance, low-interest personal, business, and car loans will likely be available to start, but mortgage loans would be introduced later. And given the complexities of foreclosure and the expense of hiring out-of-state lawyers, mortgage loans may be limited to Oklahoma.

The goal of the loans, which would be meted out with financial education, is to build credit for borrowers and, moreover, to put the need to help community above maximizing profits.

The trickle-up approach to lending has met with success at other tribes and in other communities.

Candy Thomas, the Nation’s Director of Self Governance and Strategic Planning, said that the Potawatomi Community Development Foundation is a CDFI that has been in operation for 14 years, has loaned upwards of $40 million for car loans, mortgages and all manner of financial instruments – and has experienced a 2 percent default rate on those loans that traditional banks would deem too risky to make. In the same period, commercial banks had a default rate for all loans that ranged from 5.2 percent down to 1.35 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank.

But consumer loans were defaulted on far more frequently: For instance, more than 4 percent of car loans were past-due in February of this year, according to Deutsche Bank. The delinquencies grew back to pre-pandemic levels due to the fact that Covid relief money was drying up.

Mortgage loans in 2020 spiked to an 8.22 percent delinquency rate, down one point from a peak of 9.3 percent during the mortgage crisis of the late 2000.

Study found need, especially in Oklahoma

A market study for the CDFI that was completed in January shows remarkably different needs – and attitudes – among Osages depending on where they live.

Within Oklahoma, for instance, just 42 percent of Osages surveyed agreed they had access to affordable credit locally, compared to 63 percent of Osages in other states. Similarly, 46 percent of Oklahoma Osages were dissatisfied with the quality and affordability of credit available to them, compared to 23 percent of Osages elsewhere.

The survey also inquired about the respondents’ willingness to attend classes or training to gain financial literacy, whether setting up a business plan, filing taxes, or negotiating financial statements.

The answer: A resounding yes, both in Oklahoma (97 percent) and outside the state (94 percent).

Moving forward

The Nation currently has a $150,000 grant application pending to help set up the CDFI, and the chief expects to appoint five qualified board members in the next few weeks. The Nation is also seeking to partner with another financial institution to start. Potawatomie seemed a natural choice, but that tribe wasn’t interested, Standing Bear said.

Conveniently, the Nation owns the former First National Bank – which it bought in 2015 for about $275,000, and that building or part of it could serve as a future bank when the Osage Congress moves out after it builds a new Congress building.

Wherever it might be located, however, the Place to Borrow Money will serve a simple but worthy purpose, said Thomas: “To be able to provide capital to an underserved community and educate them to build credit ratings so they can manage loans and purchase things like cars and houses.

“It will open doors to those people who have been without credit.”

Former Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation Jefferson Keel, inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame

Online premiere set for 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame ceremony

Last week, four Chickasaw citizens were selected for induction into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame, the highest honor bestowed upon a citizen by the Chickasaw Nation. These four distinguished individuals share a dedication to the Chickasaw people and their communities that is exemplified through their contributions to culture, faith and public service.

“Our inductees earned success pursuing a wide range of personal interests and career paths,” said Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. “However, they all share a sense of purpose, a commitment to excellence and a spirit of perseverance.”

The 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame ceremony premiered last week on HOF.Chickasaw. net and the Chickasaw Nation Facebook page. The ceremony included 2020 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductees, whose in-person ceremony was postponed during the pandemic. Chickasaw citizens Tim Colbert, Lillian Blackwood Fowler, John L. Hilton, Rear Admiral (Ret.) Kevin Meeks and Ron Parker were inducted during a virtual ceremony in 2020.

2022 inductees:

Mary Ruth Barnes (1947-)

Mary Ruth Barnes is a Chickasaw artist, author, photographer, storyteller, philanthropist and historic preservationist. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from North Carolina State University, and received her master’s degree in education from Montana State University.

After graduating college, Barnes taught high school and college English, art and computer science for 14 years. Barnes has won numerous awards for her art and short stories. She is known for her flowing, freestyle, vibrant depictions of outdoor scenes, First Americans and horses. Her specialties are watercolor and acrylic painting.

Barnes’ love for nature is shown in her artwork, which is influenced by her Chickasaw family and experiences with storytelling. Her art reflects the colorful stories her Chickasaw grandfather shared.

Barnes is the 2015 Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year and in 2019 she received the Women in the Arts Recognition Award from the Ada, Oklahoma chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

As director of development for the advancement office at East Central University, Barnes was responsible for all fundraising activities leading to one of the largest donations in the school’s history of more than $8 million. She later joined the American Cancer Society where she helped raise more than $35 million for cancer research through her role as director of planned giving.

For these efforts, she won “Top Performer” and “Top in the Nation” awards. She retired in 2017 after many years of service with the nonprofit.

Barnes is active in her community through the Ada Chamber of Commerce and Ada Rotary. She is the past president of Ada’s Business and Professional Women, where she received the Woman of the Year Award in 2006. Barnes has served on her church board, Rotary board, the executive board of Boy Scouts of America and the Ada Arts Council executive board. She is also active through the Philanthropic Education Organization, Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumni Association and the National Watercolor Society.

Rev. Jonas L. Imotichey (1904-1972)

Rev. Jonas Imotichey, born Feb. 27, 1904, was an original enrollee of the Chickasaw Nation. He attended primary school in Fillmore and later Chilocco Indian School, where he learned English.

Rev. Imotichey and his wife, Josie, were married for 43 years, and they had seven children. He was a hardworking individual with many skills and trades, including farming, woodworking and traditional bow making. Rev. Imotichey also assisted Chickasaw families, who did not have land allotments, by generously donating land so they could apply for federal tribal housing grants. He also routinely assisted his neighbors by providing land for their livestock, farming and storing equipment.

Rev. Imotichey served as a minister at the Sandy Creek Presbyterian Church where he preached sermons in Chickasaw. He was one of the last First Americans to be ordained by what was then known as the Indian Presbytery before they were required to attend seminary, during a time when civil rights issues gripped the United States. Rev. Imotichey was a part of the historic gatherings at Seeley Chapel marking the dawn of a new and progressive era for the Chickasaw Nation. He, along with other Chickasaw ministers and leaders, worked tirelessly to regain the right to self-determination, which later became the Indian Self-Determination Act in 1975.

Rev. Imotichey was selected by Governor Overton James to serve on his advisory council prior to his governorship appointment by President John F. Kennedy. He also represented the Chickasaw people on the Chickasaw Advisory Council from 1960 until his death in 1972, including serving several years as vice chairman. In 1968, Rev. Imotichey was appointed as an original member of the board of commissioners for the Chickasaw Nation Housing Authority. He served as an instrumental leader and voice of the community throughout his life and is distinguished for his dedication to the Chickasaw Nation, its people and their culture.

Jefferson E. Keel (1947-)

Jefferson E. Keel was born July 4, 1947, in Fillmore, Oklahoma. Keel attended Tishomingo High School and at 16 years old joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard. Soon after, he enlisted in the Army serving a total of 22 years, eventually obtaining the rank of captain.

He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, from 1966 to 1968, and again in 1970. Keel’s enlisted service spanned the infantry with the 1st Cavalry Division, 101st Airborne Division and the elite Army Rangers. He would also serve as an instructor at the U.S. Army Ranger’s School in Fort Benning, Georgia.

After his honorable discharge from the Army in 1974, he attended Murray State College. He later attended East Central University (ECU) earning a bachelor’s degree in 1978 and received the Gen. George C. Marshall Award for leadership excellence and academic achievement as ECU’s top military student. While in college at ECU, Keel joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in field artillery when he graduated.

After college, Keel returned to active duty, which took him to several locations including Germany as a nuclear targeting officer and Fort Rucker, Alabama, as fire support and combined arms instructor. While stationed there, he attended Troy State University and earned a Master of Science degree. In 1989, Keel retired from the Army. Among his many military awards, Keel earned two Bronze Stars with Valor, two Purple Hearts, two Meritorious Service Medals and an Air Medal.

He then returned to Oklahoma to serve the Chickasaw people, working in roles that included mental health therapy, community services, social services and policy administration. He would eventually be elected as Lieutenant Governor of the Chickasaw Nation in 1999, serving in this position for 20 years.

During this time, he also served as President of the National Congress of American Indians for six years and made great strides in advancing the needs of the Chickasaw people and of Native and Indigenous peoples around the world. He testified before Congress on several occasions and worked behind the scenes on issues including health care, law enforcement, education, labor, sovereignty and more.

Keel served as chair and has been a member of numerous organizations and committees. He is an East Central University Distinguished Alumnus and has been inducted into the Military Museum Hall of Honor in Ardmore, Oklahoma, for his exemplary military and civilian achievements.

Keel is a previous co-chairman of the advisory committee to the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the Chickasaw Warrior Society.

Keel and his wife Carol have been married for over 45 years and have three children together. They now reside in Durant, where they continue their work with their church, community charity work and travel.

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (1968-)

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate is a classical composer and Chickasaw citizen. He was born in 1968 in Norman, Oklahoma. His middle name, Impichchaachaaha’, meaning “high corncrib,” is his inherited traditional Chickasaw house name.

Tate is acclaimed nationally and internationally for composing, producing, performing and directing American Indian-based classical music projects for orchestra, chorus and chamber ensembles.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Northwestern University and his master’s degrees in piano performance and composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Tate strongly identifies with his Chickasaw culture. Chickasaw music and Chickasaw language are included in his compositions. He states his work is “elemental” and is inspired by his Chickasaw heritage.

His music has been featured in the popular HBO television series “Westworld.” His work has been performed by orchestras across the nation, including the National Symphony Orchestra; San Francisco Symphony and Chorus; Dallas Symphony Orchestra; the Santa Fe Desert Chorale; Canterbury Voices; Colorado Ballet; and Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

Tate is a U.S. Department of State appointed Cultural Ambassador, a Governor appointed Oklahoma Creativity Ambassador and a 2011 Emmy Award winner for his work on “The Science of Composing,” an Oklahoma Educational Television Authority documentary.

Tate is dedicated to the development of First American classical composition. He is the founding composition instructor for the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy and has taught composition to North American Indian high school students in Minneapolis and Toronto, as well as the Hopi, Navajo and Lummi reservations.

To learn more about the 2022 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductees and ceremony, visit HOF.Chickasaw.net.

Shannon James completed the 12-week program to assist her with food business

Meat pie lady graduates Kitchen 66

Shannon James is the “meat pie lady” known for her traditional cooking.

by Morgan Taylor

TVLSE, Oklahoma – The Meat Pie Lady Shannon James (Cherokee) completed the Mother Road Market Kitchen 66 launch program on May 9.

Her pop-up business Rez-Served is one of 10 food businesses that made it through the program that were chosen out of 300 applicants.

The lack of native representation in the food industry is what James believes caught the attention of the program based on her application.

“I feel like this is our time,” James said. “We took the back seat for a long time.”

As the meat pie lady, she is most known for the meat pies she makes and serves by the bundles.

She claims to have made the Indian taco more convenient where one can walk around and eat it, calling it the “skoden taco” along with other dishes containing traditional foods.

She credits the name of her business to an old friend from school that gifted her the name.

James claims her biggest fan base and customer base has been elders and Muscogee people.

As a Cherokee citizen, she said upon moving to the Okmulgee area in February she felt more welcome than ever.

“I’ve never even thought about moving to Okmulgee,” James said. “Its great, I don’t want to leave.”

She claims the Muscogee people have opened their arms to her and her family.

James said she is booked for a couple months for different events including graduations and elder center events.

She has catered for the Reservation Dogs crew and sees future business ventures happening with them for filming days.

“They loved the meat pies,” James said of the Rez Dogs crew.

The business has now become a family affair for James and her four children, allowing them to spend more time together. She claims this quality time together helps her continue her journey in sobriety and even keeps her older sons from taking the wrong path.

As a young girl, James spent lots of time in the kitchen with her grandma.

“I’m glad I was forced to stay in the kitchen,” James said jokingly.

She grew to love cooking and learning these dishes we call traditional.

Even as a single mother working as a dental assistant, James fed her children everything she cooks today.

“Eating out was expensive,” James said.

She started selling meat pies out of the back of her car for extra money and everyone loved them.

Even after receiving a 48-hour eviction notice from her landlords at her last known cooking location in Okmulgee, James and her children continued to push forward with the program and goals they had set.

Currently, with the assistance of Muscogee Nation, the family is staying in hotel.

This does put a slow down to cooking for James, but she says she can take pre-orders until they are able to find a secure location.

Despite the challenges, James and her children feel as thought the possibilities are endless and the opportunities are abundant.

Her current project is fundraising for a food truck through selling t-shirts with a company called V&M Prints.

The best way to stay updated is through social media accounts Rez-Served on Facebook and Instagram.

James can be reached by phone at 918-901-3183.