Choctaw-Irish Bond Lives On
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BISKINIKBISKINIK PRESORT STD CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED P.O. Box 1210 AUTO Durant OK 74702 U.S. POSTAGE PAID CHOCTAW NATION The Offi cial Publication of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma March 2016 Issue Tribal Council holds regular Roads always lead session The Choctaw Nation Tribal Council met in to somewhere across regular session Feb. 13 at Tvshka Homma. Choctaw Nation Committees from the By CHARLES CLARK at the same location. These following departments Choctaw Nation eyes-toward-health also reported: Hugo Head Most programs of the increase the liveability and Start, Choctaw Ranches, Choctaw Nation are avail- appeal of communities. Poteau Recycling Center, able only to members of the Anyone can make a Gaming Commission, Sti- Choctaw Nation, and others request to the Choctaw gler Health Clinic, Fleet for those members within Nation, but the typical ap- Department, Broken Bow the 10 1/2 county service proach is an individual or and Idabel Gaming, and area of southeast Okla- an organization makes an Business Development. homa. But when it comes appeal to a tribal council- The following council man. The request is then bills were unanimously- to roads, and a few more approved: vehicle and movement- considered by the council as • Approve the amend- related construction events, a whole. If approved at that ment to CB-113.96, Photo Provided the Choctaw Nation steps level, the next step is send- regulating political Choctaw Nation employee Shannon Compton recently returned from a trip to Midleton, up to the plate. ing the idea to the Natural activities on the coun- Ireland, where she visited the sculpture Kindred Spirits. Everyone who lives in Resources Department and cil grounds at Tvshka Bethel or Battiest or attends Executive Director Wayne Homma. school at Battiest uses the Wylie. It’s then assigned • Letter of appoint- Bethel cutoff from Broken to Transportation where ment for Bob Rabon Bow. They will now be sav- a staff will research the Choctaw-IrishIn 2015, a statue was commissioned to representsbond “this greatlives moment ofon compas- to complete Marion ing approximately seven total impact and viability Fry’s term on Judicial be built in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland, sion, strength, and unity,” said Pentek. Court of Appeals. to honor the kindness of the Choctaws. The offi cial unveiling is expected to take • Approve a proposal But the story begins in 1831, when the place later this spring. for the Choctaw Na- Choctaw people were forcibly removed Shannon Compton, of the Choctaw Na- tion Eyeglasses, Den- from their ancestral lands in Mississippi. tion, visited the site of the just completed tures/Partials, Hear- A few years later, Choctaws learned of work last year. ing Aids and Durable people starving in Ireland. Only sixteen “I will never forget the honor it was to Medical Equipment years had passed since the Choctaws had see a creation that represents everything FY 2016. faced hunger and death on the fi rst Trail of we work to preserve here at the Choctaw • Application for the Tears and a great empathy was felt when Nation of Oklahoma,” Compton said. “Ma- Transitional Housing, they heard such a similar tale coming from jestic! That’s the one work that I felt as we Assistance Grants across the ocean. Individual Choctaws col- walked up... The monument was so much for Victims of Sexual lected and donated $170 in 1847 to assist bigger than it looked like in the pictures. Assault, Domestic the Irish people. The feathers are absolutely stunning.” Violence, Dating Jump ahead a century and a half. It She noted that the sculpture is located in Photo by Charles Clark Violence, and Stalking took a year for artist Alex Pentek to create a park near a lake. “It was breathtakingly A slip form paver follows trucks dumping concrete in one of Program. Kindred Spirits. With its nine eagle feath- beautiful.” the fi nal steps of resurfacing Nixon Road in February. • Authorize the Chief ers reaching 20 feet into the air, the statue Read Shannon’s complete story online. to place property in miles per trip. of the job. If it is defi ned as McCurtain County instrumental in providing A number of repairs and a need of Choctaw fami- in Trust Status with more jobs, opportunities in even new constructions lies and others within the the United States of education, career train- were requested from a va- service area it is then given America (McCurtain ing, and improvements in riety of sources, both tribal the green light. Bids are County). health, housing, and social members and the public. then taken by companies • Approve to unify the services. These requests make their interested in doing the job. courts of the Choctaw The Choctaw Nation is way to the Choctaw Nation Again research is carried Nation in the Judicial currently involved in 21 in- Transportation program. out, narrowing the choices Department. dustries in 63 locations. In Some jobs were not that until one is selected based For detailed meeting the last year, the Choctaw big, and some not even on its qualifi cations. information on these Nation has opened a large roads. A school parking lot Once work begins, Trans- resolutions and council expansion to its health clin- cost $65,677. portation staff periodically bills, go to http://www. ic in Poteau, broken ground Other jobs turn out to be visit the work site and re- choctawnation.com/gov- on a regional clinic in Du- very big indeed. Two road ports are made on progress. ernment/tribal-council- bills/2016-council-bills. rant, and opened three new constructions ran in excess Something seemingly as Tribal Council meets wellness centers. Other of $2,000,000 each. routine as fi lling potholes at 10 a.m. on the second facilities and businesses In all, 1,414 families were and resurfacing a bumpy Saturday of each month opened in 2015 include two immediately impacted by road is not quite so simple. in the Council Chambers Chili’s franchises, a Travel these 13 miles of improve- First a plan is engineered Plaza, expansion to its ments. with specs determined. at Tvshka Homma. Joni Brooks, president and publisher of The Journal Re- resort in Durant, a com- As the year unfurls, there Then all right-of-way cord, presents Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton with an munity center, two food are already 10 jobs, each in permits must be obtained. Faith◆Family◆Culture ................ 2 award recognizing him as one of Oklahoma’s Most Admired distribution centers, and a diff erent county, at vari- A job may include tearing Iti Fabvssa ................................. 2 CEOs on Feb. 18. a new independent living ous stages of completion. out invasive trees, retrench- Health ........................................ 4 community for its elders. As the concrete solidifi es, ing ditches, moving fences, Notes to the Nation .................... 5 Chief Batton takes home These openings have so does the cost. Work on tearing out and rebuilding Obituaries .................................. 6 added much-needed jobs these 26.12 miles is closing private driveways, and add- Education/People You Know ... 10 Most Admired CEO award to southeastern Oklahoma, out at $26,055,068.54. Af- ing new tin horns (metal Sports ...................................... 11 helping to counter the fected are no less than 156 drainage pipes). during annual event in OKC declining job rate for the families. The 5.11 miles of Nixon The Mission To enhance rural area. For 2016, 11 more proj- Road required construction of the the lives of By LISA REED all members Choctaw Austin Jr. commented. “He Programs are being ects are scheduled to begin of a concrete plant nearby through Choctaw Nation Nation of exhibits great values and implemented to recognize construction: one is a park- to supply the needs of the opportunities Oklahoma Chief Gary Batton was integrity. He enjoys being and develop leadership ing lot for a Head Start/ job. Such things add to the designed among 27 executives with people, and is as likely at several levels, and to daycare facility; the other cost and time of a project. to develop recognized as Oklahoma’s to join in a stickball game provide assistance through 10 encompass road work in According to Transporta- healthy, successful and Most Admired CEOs at The as he is to attend a board reintegration and job-for- seven diff erent counties. tion staff , the work on Voca productive lifestyles. Journal Record’s seventh meeting. the-day programs. Some 530 families are ex- Road is typical of a project. Scan this Digital annual event Feb. 18 at the “Soon after becoming A recent trip to partici- pected to be served by this “The county is taking care Copy code with your smart-phone Embassy Suites Oklahoma Chief, he began travel- pate in a walk that retraced 27.85 miles of road develop- of fi ve miles, then the to go online for City Downtown/Medical ing to visit with tribal steps of his Choctaw ances- ment. Completion dates for Choctaw Nation is doing this issue and archive copies Center. members to listen to their tors who were removed these projects range from two miles,” said a fi eld rep. of the BISKINIK: http://www. “This is an award for the stories, their concerns, and from Mississippi to Indian March to December, with With all that, such jobs are choctawnation.com/news-room/ Choctaw Nation and its celebrate their successes. I Territory left a deep im- most in the latter part of the designed to come in at 120- biskinik-newspaper-archive/ citizens,” Chief Batton said. respect him greatly for his pression on Chief Batton. year. 160 days. “I am receiving this gift friendship, leadership and “It heightened our In addition to county A lot goes into a “simple” because of my family, our dedication,” Assistant Chief awareness of our connec- roads and school parking resurfacing job.