Deadline for Mvskoke Nation Youth Services Awards extended
Nominations being accepted until Sept. 18
OKMULGEE, Oklahoma — The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Mvskoke Nation Youth Services are seeking nominations for their fifth annual Mvskoke Youth Awards to be held Sept. 30.
MNYS has extended the deadline to Sept. 18.
MNYS Director Nancy Mason said these awards were created to recognize individuals both youth and adults who have contributed to MNYS and their respective communities.
“We will have five categories for the nominees,” Mason said. “The categories are ‘Promote Civic Duty,’ ‘Encourage Wellness,’ ‘Provide Resources,’ ‘Foster Advocacy’ and ‘Create Support.’”
The youth category will be for the ages 12-24 and the adult category will be 25 and up.
“They need to be Muscogee (Creek) citizens who have impacted the lives of Mvskoke youth,” Mason said.
She said they notify the nominees that someone was thinking about and nominated them for the award. It lets them know that they are doing the work and being recognized.
“It is important to be recognized for the work that they do,” Mason said. “We know they are not out there doing the work for the recognition but we know they are doing the work because that is who they are and what they do.”
The event will be at 4:00 p.m. on Sept. 30 on Facebook Live: @MvskokeYouth.
Second Chief Del BeaverPrincipal Chief David W. Hill
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We want to take this opportunity to provide updates on our activities and progress in the Executive Office. Our schedule has been full over the last two weeks. There were many meetings and events that addressed areas of need and interest for our Nation and citizens.
The MCN leadership team attended the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Executive Council Winter Session and the National Johnson O’Malley Association Conference in Washington, DC from February 8-14. The MCN team also visited Capitol Hill to meet with the Oklahoma Congressional delegation, which included Congressman Kevin Hern, Congresswoman Kendra Horn, Senator James Lankford and also visited the U.S. Supreme Court.
While in Washington, I also provided testimony for the House Committee on Appropriations- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies for American Indian and Alaska Natives. My testimony addressed issues such the Violence Against Women’s Reauthorization Act, Department of the Interior funds to support police and patrol activities; the Welfare Assistance Program addressing natural disasters, high energy costs, and loss of employment; the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA); funding for Tribal Historic Preservation; Indian Health Service Tribal Budget Formulation Work Group; and the Indian General Assistance Program (IGAP) which addresses improving the environment and cleaning up areas that lead to unintentional injuries and disease transmission.
We continue to interview applicants for the Cabinet positions for the administration. We received many applications and are reviewing candidate qualifications for consideration. This process will continue for several weeks.
There were many other activities and events such as the Higher Education SOAR event (Student Outreach and Resource Day) held at River Spirit Casino Resort, the 2020 Oklahoma Tribal Legislative meeting in Oklahoma City, MCN Middle School Challenge Bowl and Five Tribes Leadership weekly teleconference.
We continue to collaborate with Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist and her staff on the Indian education program reorganization. We will be involved in consultation sessions to monitor, collaborate and consult on ways to assist and improve our Native American student’s opportunities to succeed while providing support to our Native educators.
We want to take this opportunity to provide updates on our progress in the Executive Office. Our schedule has been full with events and activities over the last two weeks. There were many meetings that addressed areas of need and interest for our Nation and citizens.
We met with Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist and her staff on the Indian education program. We will continue to monitor, collaborate and consult on ways to assist and improve our Native American student’s opportunities to succeed and provide support to our Native educators.
The MCN Investment Committee met with five financial institutions to review the Nation’s portfolio, review financial reports, assess investment performance and develop an investment statement standard. Each institution presented information on performance and investment opportunities for the Nation.
A meeting was held with Cultural Preservation, Cultural Archives and the Mvskoke Language Programs to discuss future goals and projected growth. Plans are being developed to blend initiatives and projects to address our language and cultural interests in the most collaborative, effective and efficient way.
We met with the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce on interests related to the Tulsa Future’s Regional Economic Development Partnership. We also attended the Tribal Leaders meeting in Tulsa to discuss issues that affect the Oklahoma tribes and participated in the Five Tribes Leaders conference call. It is in the best interest of our respective Nations to stand together in a united effort to protect our sovereignty and respective business interests. We also attended Governor Stitt’s State of the State address in Oklahoma City.
Internal program meetings were held to address the veteran’s cemetery, MCN Master Plan, summer football camps, MCN Festival entertainment and Information Technology. We met with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) on future projects and Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s office to discuss our needs and interests and engage support from his office.
We will be attending the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Executive Council Winter Session and the National Johnson O’Malley Association (NJOMA) Conference in Washington, DC next week. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is the largest sponsor of the NJOMA and led the effort to pass the JOM Modernization Act. On December 31, 2018, President Donald Trump signed S. 943, the Johnson-O’Malley Supplemental Indian Education Program Modernization Act into Public Law No: 115-404. While in Washington, I will also be providing testimony for the House Committee on Appropriations- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies for American Indian and Alaska Natives.
