District 11, December 2022

Halito Chim Achukma!

Season greetings from District 11! I love this time of the year. Thanksgiving reminds us to be thankful for our family and all of God’s blessings He has given during the year. While at Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We had some great news this fall with the announcement of the Choctaw Health Clinic’s $70 million expansion in McAlester. I, along with our healthcare administration, have been advocating for this much-needed project so we can meet the healthcare needs of our tribal members in D-11. Yakoke to the Council, Chief Batton, Asst. Chief Austin and all the Administration for supporting and allocating funds for the new clinic. The expansion will more than double the size to 98,260 sq ft. and bring 56 full-time employees. This investment will allow our clinic to see 65% more patients while offering new services such as gastroenterology, cardiology, otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat), endocrinology, orthopedics, an Employee Health Clinic and speech therapy.

It’s been exciting to gather in person at meetings and events over the last several months. Once again, it was wonderful to see all the families at the Labor Day festival in September. Our new D-11 Princesses represented us well at the pageant. Congratulations to Little Miss Alexandria McFarland, Jr. Miss Raina Meashintubby and Sr. Miss Tenaya Perkins. The Outstanding Elder banquet is a very special event every year for two elders from each district. Our D-11 recipients were Maudie Stubblfield and Troy Johnson. Our seniors enjoyed their first trip together since the Covid pandemic when they traveled to Tennessee and Kentucky. The Thanksgiving senior meal was held on the Nov. 16, and the community meal was held on the 17 at the community center.

District 11 always supports our young people, and we have some of the best. Yakoke to the YAB kids who worked on our community center garden. They cleaned out the plant containers and put new soil and compost back in. The Choctaw Career Development department held a Career Expo for 1700 students from 36 schools in SE Oklahoma on October 26. The event was held at the SE expo building in McAlester, and it provided our students with so many opportunities to check out for their future education and careers. Trunk or Treat at the center and the Head Start on the 27 and 28 of October was fun, with lots of neat costumes and plenty of candy given away.

Tammy and I would like to wish you and your family a Nittak Hullo Chito Na Yukpa (Merry Christmas) and a Happy New Year! Upcoming events are the Christmas kids’ party on December 8 and the Christmas meal for our seniors on Dec. 14.

I am both humbled and honored to serve all the Okla Achukma (good people) in the Choctaw Nation and District 11. Let’s continue to work together to bring improved opportunities and prosperity for our Chahta people!

Yakoke and God bless.