CPN Tribal member and employee Nicole Sanchez received a surprise leading up to the holidays as she was named Citizen of the Year by the Tecumseh (Oklahoma) Chamber of Commerce.
Tribal member Reagan Berry was selected to attend the first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s College Basketball Academy in 2023. As she completes her senior year of high school, Berry has her eyes set on playoffs and on her collegiate career at Oklahoma Christian University.
At only age 10, Tribal member Shaela Halte has become a standout in the sport of archery, placing 50th against older, more experienced competitors in the 2023 4-H archery state tournament in Colorado.
Since she was three years old, Tribal member Marlee Affentranger and her parents have known without a doubt that not dancing is simply not an option for the young artist. Affentranger’s passion led her to found the first-ever pom squad at Bethel (Oklahoma) High School.
Dr. Rosemary Schrepfer, 101, is among the oldest living CPN elders. “Doc,” as she is lovingly known in her family, blazed a trail for women hoping to enter medicine. When she graduated from the University of Kansas’s medical school, she became the first woman to complete the obstetrician-gynecologist program.
Lafromboise father and son duo Steve and Koby Lawson made the trek to the top of California’s Mount Whitney (the highest point in the contiguous United States) in 2021. Two years later, they teamed up again to tackle Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, known as Colorado’s deadliest 14’er (a mountain with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet).
Author and artist Minisa Crumbo Halsey recently published Going to CPN Family Reunion, a book created for young readers. Crumbo Halsey collaborated with the CPN Language Department to publish the book.
CPN Tribal members Kristen Arambula Hernandez and Lauren Kelly collaborated to create an experience of art, culture and spirituality at a Norman, Oklahoma, Art Walk in September 2023.
In the heart of Norman, Oklahoma, lies Sunset Ranch, a sprawling equine boarding facility that serves as a testament to dreams coming true for CPN tribal member and Peltier/Vieux family descendant Jessica King.
Peltier family descendant John Henson said it was a calling from God and a love of serving his fellow man that spurred him to pursue religious ministry.
The Shreveport, Louisiana, resident has completed a year-and-a-half long process to become an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church.