This month 20 years ago, Citizen Potawatomi Nation welcomed the first group of students to participate in the Potawatomi Leadership Program. Brittany Destree Dek was 17 years old in 2003 and participated in the PLP between her junior and senior years of high school. The Bertrand family descendant reflects on her experience as one of the first students to benefit from the program.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Department of Education selected Sarah Dunigan as the second recipient of the Michael John Kennedy Scholarship. She attends the University of Oklahoma in Norman and takes pride in three generations of relatives who served in the military throughout the 20th century.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center hosted a blanket healing exercise for education professionals in the area. The purpose of the NIEA training is to foster truth, understanding, respect and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
The 2022 Potawatomi Leadership Program class traveled from across the country to the Citizen Potawatomi Nation this summer to live on property owned by the Tribe for six weeks and learn about CPN, its culture, government and services. This year’s class consists of 10 members — meet them now!
In the fall of 2021, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Department of Education announced the launch of a new leadership program open to any Tribal member over the age of 18 residing anywhere in the United States. Through virtual sessions held once a week, the 29 members of the inaugural class learned about the government, culture and economic development of the Tribe and participated in talking circles with other CPN members to foster community and belonging.
Youth programs during summer 2021 provided an opportunity for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation to purchase and place trail cameras across its jurisdiction. The images help connect students to Mother Nature and open dialogue around conservation and land stewardship. The Nation now extends access to trail camera images through potawatomiheritage.com.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation awarded the first Michael John Kennedy Scholarship to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse junior Jozie Arenz in fall 2021. Open to college juniors and seniors, the scholarship welcomes children and grandchildren of veterans to apply.
Tribal member enjoys a rewarding career in forestry, with help from the CPN Department of Education and the BIA Pathways Program.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Department of Education began composing lesson plans about Potawatomi history in 2021. The first one tells the story of the Potawatomi Trail of Death.
2021 brought productivity and uplifting news from CPN. Big developments ranged from new ways for Tribal members to connect digitally to an impactful agreement between local governments to improve the community’s future.