District 9, September 2024

Halito, from District 9.

I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful summer, and I’m looking forward to the fall. We had an unbelievable District 9 Princess Pageant at our Cultural Center in May. We would like to thank all the staff who put on a wonderful event for all our young ladies and the support they all received from our District. Our 2024-2025 princesses, Senior Miss Kalin Beller, Junior Miss Daryan Eubanks, and
Little Miss Ava Davenport, will represent our District very well.

We have several construction projects underway and starting in the coming months. Durant multi-family apartments will become available this fall. Sixty Independent Elder Units, 25 LEAP homes, and 10 affordable rental units in Bennington are currently under construction. Also, this fall we will be having a groundbreaking for our new Community Center. This has been a great need for our District, as we are serving close to 500 meals weekly and our service needs have grown. This new building will have enough seating for over 400 Tribal members!!!

It was a privilege to honor Jerry Tomlinson as District 9 veteran of the month and First Language Speaker Dora Wickson at our Tribal council meeting in June. We appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made throughout the years to protect our Great Nation and preserve our language. Congratulations to Mary Lee Williams and Roger Scott for being selected as District 9 outstanding elders for 2024-2025 as well.

I would like to encourage everyone to live each day enjoying moments with family and friends. The next time you are sitting at a restaurant or at the dinner table, put your phones away and have a conversation with everyone. We get so wrapped up with social media on our phones that we forget what’s most important: our Faith, Family, and Culture. Start living life in Himonasi (this moment).