On Sunday, July 15 at 2:00 pm, at City Hall, 106 North 12th, the Collinsville Library proudly presents Native Bartlesvillian Judy Howard’s Oklahoma Pioneer Cookbook Program. It includes vintage kitchen textiles and History of Aprons, 300 amusing yet useable and tantalizing recipes from 1905 with a glimpse into the lives of those courageous pioneer women who left family, friends and the comforts of first homes to homestead a hostile and barren landscape. Also showing at the Library is Smithsonian’s “America by Food” Exhibit.

Judy will display 100 of the Food for Body and Soul Touring Quilts, vintage kitchen textiles and sign her five charity quilt books, including her newly released Oklahoma Pioneer 1905 Cookbook—Food for Body and Soul. These 22” quilts are crisscrossing the U.S. for four years with all sales from the Cookbooks, 22” quilts and 150 antique quilts on www.BuckboardAntiqueQuilts.com going to Dividing Bread in Collinsville on Sunday. For a sneak preview of the quilts and stories, see www.HeavenlyPatchwork.com.

Judy invites all children and adults to enter their 22” food related quilts to receive a free 1905 Cookbook with each entry and chance to win $2500 in prizes and 33 big rosette ribbons. Bring your friends and family Sunday, July 15th at 2:00 pm and let’s celebrate Oklahoma pioneer cooking and quilts.

CONTACT: Susan Babbitt, 1-918-630-8832 or Judy Howard 405-751-3885

I hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying their summer. It is once again time for another Collinsville Health & Wellness meeting. We will be meeting on July 19th, 4pm at Collinsville City Hall. I have attached a flyer for you to post or use as an invitation for someone to join us. The (1st) annual Collinsville Moonlight 5K & Fun Run was a “HUGE” success, and we want to build on that excitement and create awareness for our cause. Everyone is welcome to present or share. Please pass along. You are ALL awesome!

Hope to see you next week!

Ronnie Neal
Public Health Educator
Cherokee Nation
Healthy Nation
Cell: 918-407-3867
Office: 918-342-6819
Fax: 918-342-2682
ronnie-neal@cherokee.org

A delegation from the Cherokee National Youth Choir will perform Cherokee hymnals in Tribal dress. Bring your aspiring singers to learn more about how to audition for the choir.

All Tribal services and programs have been invited to set-up booths.

The non-profit, The Cherokee PINS (Patriotism, Identity, Nationality and Sovereignty) Project: Education for Sovereignty, which is protecting the much loved Cherokee Nation History Course, will be present. Learn more at cherokeepins.org.

The meeting is hosted by District 5 Councilmembers Buel Anglen, Cara Cowan Watts and Lee Keener and At Large Councilmembers Jack Baker and Julia Coates. Join us to fellowship with other local Cherokees. Door prizes including a Cherokee Nation Pendleton Seal blanket will be raffled

. Light refreshments provided and sponsored by Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB).

RCCA has a building on Tribal trust property in Tiawah where they meet monthly for business meetings and cultural activities. RCCA often has language and history classes as well as arts and crafts classes and an annual youth cultural camp for area youth. Learn more at rogerscountycherokees.org and Facebook.

VCO has a property and building in Collinsville where they meet monthly for business meetings and cultural activities. VCO often has language and Cherokee basket weaving classes. VCO will host the Annual Tulsa County Cherokee Hog Fry on Saturday, October 27, 2012. Learn more at victorycherokee.org and Facebook.

TCCO meets monthly for business meetings and cultural activities in the Catoosa area. TCCO serves both the Catoosa area Cherokees and the At Large Tulsa Cherokees. Learn more on Facebook at ‘Tulsa Cherokee Community Organization (TCCO).’

If you have questions, issues or concerns about the Cherokee Nation government, please email me at cara@caracowan.com or write me at P.O. Box 2922, Claremore, OK 74018. For daily news and event notices, ask to be added to my District 5 email listserv. You can, also, find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. Buel Anglen is at buelanglen@sbcglobal.net and Lee Keener is lee-keener@cherokee.org.

To contact the Tribe, call (918) 453-5000. The operator will connect you with the appropriate department. Tribal programs and services are administered by the Chief’s staff at the Tribal Complex. Tribal hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Save a trip to Tahlequah by using the Tribes Internet tools at www.cherokee.org. Almost all applications are available online to print from home.

July 9, 2012
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Applications for Cherokee Nation’s new Elders in Need Program, a financial assistance initiative for citizens 65 and over, have been extended until Friday, Aug. 3. Walk-in applications will be accepted at any of the six Cherokee Nation Family Assistance sites through that date.

The Elders in Need Program will offer assistance in the form of a utility payment to low-income Cherokees who meet eligibility criteria. The program hopes to offset the financial burdens that many tribal elders face while living on inadequate fixed incomes.

“This program will help us give a hand up to our neediest elders without jeopardizing their eligibility for other programs,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker said. “I firmly believe we are all one family and one thing families do is look out for each other. This is one way we can do that for our elders.”

The program, which is financed through Cherokee Nation’s general fund, aims to provide assistance to approximately 1,250 elders. Applicants must be 65 or older and a registered citizen of the Cherokee Nation who lives within the tribe’s jurisdictional boundaries. Participants must also have a household utility in their name or their spouse’s name, and their household income cannot exceed 150 percent of the national poverty level. For example, a household of two cannot have income greater than $1,891 per month. Please contact Cherokee Nation Family Assistance for other income requirements.

Eligible tribal citizens that are currently receiving services from Cherokee Nation’s Family Assistance Program will receive an application in the mail beginning in June. Elders that don’t have an active account on file can utilize the tribe’s walk-in process at any of the tribe’s six Family Assistance offices.

After an initial review, a letter of notification will be sent to participants informing them of their eligibility and payment information. A $200 payment per household will be mailed directly to the participant’s utility vendor with a maximum of two payments a year.

For more information about Cherokee Nation’s Elders in Need Program contact Crystal Thomas, Human Services assistant manager, at 918-453-5627 or crystal-thomas@cherokee.org.