BISHINIK PRSRT STD P.O. Drawer 1210 U.S. Postage Paid Durant OK 74702 Durant OK RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Permit #187 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE CHOCTAW NATION OF OKLAHOMA Serving 131,045 Choctaws Worldwide www.choctawnation.com May 2002 Issue Choctaw Nation opens WIC Overseas Warehouse Choctaw Chief Gregory E. gram, servicing military mem- Pyle is proud to announce the bers, family members and other official opening of the Choctaw Department of Defense eligible Management/Services Enter- personnel at 46 sites in seven for- prise (CM/SE) WIC Overseas eign countries. Previously, mili- Warehouse and Distribution tary service members, govern- Center. The facility, located at ment civilian employees and 2101 West Arkansas in Durant, family members did not have ac- was crowded with tribal and city cess to the WIC program when officials at a recent ribbon cut- transferred to overseas locations. ting ceremony. The newly re- CM/SE continues to implement modeled warehouse building this important program, with the will house offices and goods that expectation of having over 60 supply WIC sites overseas. sites in operation before the end WIC Overseas (WICO) is of 2002. funded through the federal gov- Matt Novick, Managing Of- ernment and administered ficer of CM/SE, commented on through a contract with CM/SE. the tremendous growth of the WIC, which is an acronym for business since its inception in Women, Infants and Children, is 1997. Records quoted by both a nutrition and education pro- Novick and Assistant Chief Mike gram that serves pregnant and Bailey indicate that although the breast-feeding women and chil- program began with two nurses, dren under five. CM/SE now has over 2,500 em- The WIC Overseas program ployees across the world. mirrors the stateside WIC pro- (See WICO on Page 12) Code Talkers may receive gold medal from Congress Choctaw Code Talkers may soon receive long overdue recogni- recognition to these veterans. the assault on Forest Farm. The enemy’s complete surprise is evi- tion for their efforts in World War I. Legislation has been introduced The Choctaw Nation also had tribal members who used the tribal dence that he could not decipher the messages. to both the House and the Senate in Washington, D.C. that would language to transmit messages in WWII. The native languages were “After the withdrawal of the regiment to Louppy-le-Petit, a num- allow for specially minted gold medals to be presented posthumously an excellent tool to use on behalf of the allied forces in both wars. ber of Indians were detailed for training in transmitting messages to the 18 men who were trained to utilize their native language as a Until the use of the Choctaw language in WWI, the Germans had over the telephone. The instruction was carried on by the Liaison “code” to confuse the enemy during the first world war. decoded all transmitted messages sent by the Allied Forces. Officer, Lieutenant Black. It had been found that the Indian’s vo- Congressman Wes Watkins was the House sponsor of the legisla- In WWI, according to a memo from the commanding officer of the cabulary of military terms was insufficient. The Indian for ‘Big Gun’ tion and Senator Jim Inhofe introduced the bill to the Senate. Both 142nd Infantry Division, Col. A.W. Bloor, “The first use of the Indi- was used to indicate artillery. ‘Little gun shoot fast,’ was substituted men, as representatives of Oklahoma, were proud to put forth legis- ans was made in ordering a delicate withdrawal of two companies of for machine gun, and the battalions were indicated by one, two, and lation that would honor people from their home state who had served the 2nd En. from Chufilly to Chardoney on the night of October 26th. three grains of corn. in the military under such unique circumstances. In addition to the This movement was completed without mishap, although it left the “It was found that the Indian tongues do not permit verbatim trans- Choctaw Code Talkers of WWI, the first of the Comanche Code Talker Third Battalion greatly depleted in previous fighting, without sup- lation, but at the end of the short training period at Louppy-le-Petit, effort, who served in WWII, are included in the legislation giving port. The Indians were used repeatedly on the 27th in preparation for (See CODE TALKERS on Page 13) Council approves plan Choctaw for new Wellness Center Heritage Day During the regular monthly $3,952,462 were approved for are being provided an opportu- meeting on May 11, Choctaw the Choctaw Nation Child Care nity to review and comment on More photos on Page 6 Nation Tribal Councilmembers and Development Fund. community grants. agreed to adopt a plan for con- Councilmembers also autho- Continuing a partnership be- struction of the Gena Stanley rized $580,171 for the 2002 tween the Durant Literacy Coun- Wellness Center south of Durant. Summer Youth Program and cil and the Choctaw Nation of Authorization was given to ap- $744,873 for the 2002 Workforce Oklahoma was approved and ply to the U.S. Department of Investment Act Program. $3,000 in funds from gaming ap- Housing and Urban Develop- A bill was passed okaying sub- proved for funding. The partner- ment for a Community Block mission of an application for a ship assists Choctaw adults and Development Grant in the grant to fund certain eligible In- their families in Bryan County to amount of $750,000 for the con- dian tribes’ Community Devel- become more productive in the struction of the center. Funding opment Block Grant Program ac- workplace, have a stronger fam- for maintenance and operation of tivities and in connection with ily unit and become active mem- the facility was also approved. the application, resolve and bers of the community. Grant funds in the amount of make assurances that residents The Tribal Council approved $640 from gaming funds to spon- sor the Kiamichi Owa-Chito Fes- Chief Greg Pyle named tival Choctaw Princess Pageant. The pageant, to be held Friday, Minority Advocate of Year June 14, is open to all Choctaw CHR Matilda Davis stirs a pot of pork. Chief Gregory E. Pyle has been named the Minority Advocate of girls between the ages of eight the Year by the Oklahoma Small Business Administration. and 18. The Durant Chamber of Commerce nominated Chief Pyle for the The 30th annual Kiamichi honor, and he received an award on May 15th, when state and re- Owa-Chito Festival begins Tribal leaders address Congress gional winners were recognized publicly. Pyle won in both the state Thursday, June 13 and runs and regional category. Regional competitors included people from through Sunday, June 16 at Bea- Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Louisiana. vers Bend. on Arkansas Riverbed issue Chickasaw Governor Bill Anoatubby, Cherokee Chief Chad Smith and Choctaw Chief Gregory E. Pyle spoke before members of the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Wednes- day, April 17, on the issue of the Arkansas Riverbed. The tribal leaders proposed a settlement be made to the Indian Nations from the federal govern- ment. Congressmen Wes Watkins, Brad Carson and Dale Kildee sponsored HR 3534, the legislation that was being dis- cussed. If approved as written, the tribes would share in $41 Tribal leaders traveling to Washington, D.C. to speak million in compensation of loss of tribal resources. before Congress are Chickasaw Governor Bill Over the years, the riverbed Anoatubby, Cherokee Chief Chad Smith and Choc- Tribe opens new community center at Crowder has shifted, creating over 7,500 taw Chief Greg Pyle. The Arkansas Riverbed legisla- acres of dry land. Farmers have tion was sponsored by, standing, Congressmen Wes Councilmembers, Chief Pyle and area dignitaries cut the ribbon to officially mark the moved on this land and sand, Watkins, Brad Carson and Dale Kildee. opening of the tribe’s newest community center. The Senior Citizens/Community Cen- gravel, coal and gas resources ter, located in Crowder, is in District #12, represented by James Frazier. On the day of associated with the river were buys the 7,500 acres of land and The bill also contains a one- the opening, lunch was served to about 150 people, some of whom were visiting from extracted and sold by non-Indi- the minerals, as well as makes time payment of about $8 mil- ans without any compensation to provision for the government to lion for the continued production other district centers. A free lunch will be served weekly at the Crowder Center for the tribes. take steps to clear the title of the of electricity by powerheads lo- Native Americans 55 and older and their spouses. The settlement proposition land for the current occupants. cated in the river. May 2002, BISHINIK, Page 2 Young Choctaw hoop dancers compete for world championship Letters Jace “Peanut” Roberts, left, an eight-year-old Choctaw from Shawnee, Oklahoma recently traveled with his family to Phoenix, Arizona to take part in the World Champion Hoop Family benefits from tribal services Dancing Competition. He placed third in the youth category. Dear Chief Pyle, This is the second year he has participated in the competi- Thank you for the outstanding job you have done for our tribe tion. Last year he placed fourth overall. Jace is in the third during your term. I am pleased with your work on the health clinic grade and an honor student who enjoys all activities includ- and diabetes center. Although I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and do not ing hoop dancing, grass dancing and traveling to powwows. visit the Talihina hospital, my family in Idabel and Wright City ben- His three-year-old sister, Oke-Tw’sha Roberts, was the efit greatly from these services.