Group therapy offers Freedom from Smoking
By Paige Willett, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
While rates have decreased by approximately two-thirds in the last 50 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2019 that 34.2 million Americans smoke cigarettes. Its prevalence among American Indians/Alaska Natives remains high at 1.5 times the national average, or 26 percent of all Native Americans.
“Back in 2001-02, Oklahoma tried to get the tribes more involved, and so they created a coalition, the Native American Tobacco Coalition, and I was one of the ones who was part of that original group representing (Citizen Potawatomi Nation),” said CPN Behavioral Health Therapist Ray Tainpeah.
Caseworker’s path lined with desire for investigation, love of families
By Paige Willett, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when programs across the country like Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s FireLodge Children & Family Services bring awareness to child abuse and neglect and advocate for happy and healthy childhoods for all. CPN Indian Child Welfare Department caseworker Whitney Coots helps children of neglect and abuse improve their situation every day.
She sought a different career path while in college, but life events and interests opened doors for her to utilize her skills in an unexpected way. Coots graduated in 2015 from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond with a double major in forensic science and criminal justice and joined FireLodge’s workforce in 2019.
CPN Language Department receives $200K grant
By Paige Willett, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
The United States Department of Interior’s Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development awarded $3 million as part of its Living Languages Grant Program. Eighteen tribes across the country received funding, including approximately $200,000 to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, which will extend its language learning resources.
“We got the top amount awarded, which is pretty exciting,” said CPN Language Department Director Justin Neely. “So, it’ll help fund the department as a whole, and it’ll help fund staff to create these books. … We have a pretty talented crew right now of folks, which I’m really pleased by.”
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By Paige Willett
Citizen Potawatomi Nation Public Information Department
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and bringing the issues that often remain in the dark into the light provides the opportunity to stop cycles of harm. Citizen Potawatomi Nation House of Hope Prevention Specialist Kayla Woody believes education is the best tool.
“We as a society have normalized it,” she said. “We have got to get the information out there to our communities. We’ve got to get it out there to our parents, to our teens, our teachers, youth pastors and community leaders so they can start showing our children what healthy relationships look like.”