Tag: Delaware Tribe

In September 1839, a group of Cherokees convened in Tahlequah to frame a new constitution. Today, two Cherokee tribes exist in Tahlequah: the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

As it stands today, the UKB asserts it is a “successor in interest” to the historical Cherokee Nation. Meanwhile, the Cherokee Nation – also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma – claims it remains the tribe for which the 1839 Constitution was created, and has repeatedly insisted the UKB’s claim to be a successor in interest is false.

“My argument is they changed their name from Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to Cherokee Nation as a cosmetic ruse so people would think they are the same entity,” said David Cornsilk, a dual-enrolled member of both tribes, genealogist and historian. Cornsilk, a former journalist, believes the tribe known as the Cherokee Nation today is not the same as the one from 1839.

In 1975, Principal Chief Ross Swimmer led an effort to create a new constitution, for which the title read “the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.” Then, the tribe drafted a new constitution in 1999 and ratified it in 2003, leaving the “of Oklahoma” portion out.

Chad Smith, who served as principal chief at the time, said the name has always been “Cherokee Nation,” though.

“There wasn’t an Oklahoma when Cherokees came to Indian Territory,” Smith said. “So when the federal acts for allotment occurred, it was always the ‘Cherokee Nation’. It was in 1975 that Ross Swimmer … led the effort to update the constitution. If you look at the text of the constitution, it never changes the name. The only place the name is [changed] is in the printer’s title.”

In 1970, Congress passed the Five Tribes Principal Chiefs Act, allowing citizens and descendants of the Five Tribes to popularly select…

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Terrence George “Terry” Parks, 73, of California, MD passed away on June 4, 2021 at Calvert Health Medical Center. Born November 28, 1947 in San Diego, CA, he was the son of the late Clarence George Parks and Peggy Marie (White) Parks. Terry graduated from Fremont High School, Sunnyvale, CA in 1966 and from San Jose State University, San Jose, CA in 1974. Terry is a member of the Lenape Tribe, also known as the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Bartlesville, OK. His Lenape name is Nishakexen, Two Paths.

In 1966 Terry was recruited and signed with the Mets as a left-handed pitcher. He was a “Bonus Baby”. In 1967 he received a gold watch for being the MVP. In 1968 he was traded to the Oakland A’s where he played until he started having difficulty with his pitching arm due to a previous injury. 1969 was the last year Terry played professional baseball, but he continued with sports. He was a bull dogger in the Rodeo with his horse Shad. Terry owned a boarding stable until 1973 and then became a Finance Manager in the Auto Industry. He returned to Oklahoma in 1983 to help his parents. Terry met Andrea in 1987 and they were wed on March 29, 1988 in Las Vegas, NV. In 1993 Terry had a career change. He began working as the Director of Education for the Osage Nation. In 1997 Terry’s only son, Terrence George Dakota Parks, his pride and joy, was born. In 1998 Terry went to work for the Federal Government as the Division Chief of Self Determination for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He retired from his position on December 31, 2020. For twenty two years Terry fought for the rights of the American Indian. He and his family moved to Calvert…

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Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes grieved for people who died every week from COVID-19.

When families called the tribe to help pay for funerals, Barnes had to turn them down. 

The U.S. Treasury Department counted the tribe’s population as zero instead of 3,100 when it distributed CARES Act relief funding a year ago. Bad data forced Barnes and other tribal leaders across the U.S. to respond to the pandemic with little federal aid.

During the worst point of the pandemic in northeast Oklahoma, Barnes said he learned about new infections every day and two to four deaths a week.

“We had people dying,” Barnes said. “We didn’t have resources or ways to help.”

The dispute remains at the center of a federal lawsuit filed by the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and joined by two other tribes. The Treasury Department announced in April that it would give more CARES Act money to some tribes in light of an appeals court ruling in the case.

Because of that decision, the Shawnee plan to exit the federal case. Other tribal leaders continue to push for equitable aid and an explanation of what went wrong.

More: Navajo Nation surpasses Cherokee to become largest US tribe

Another local tribe shortchanged

Eastern Shawnee Chief Glenna Wallace said she has repeatedly asked for a review of the initial funding formula, which counted her nation’s population as 221 instead of 3,650.

She points to parallels from 1830, when the Eastern Shawnee were forcibly removed from the Ohio Valley to the northeast corner of Oklahoma. The tribe received 58 acres of land, a fraction of what the federal government promised. 

“We’ve never been in a position to be able to financially help our tribal citizens, and it was about the same with COVID,” Wallace said. “It was a repetition.” 

Congress passed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic…

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An aging metal sign erected by the Chester County Historical Society in 1908 stands partially obscured by a tree along a curvy rural road in tiny Newlin Township to commemorate theLenape people buried on the knoll just above.

Carol McCloskey has owned that knoll, now dense with woods, since 1987.

Now planning her estate, she wants to donate the property, preferably to Native Americans, to ensure its preservation. But finding a good steward for the land has been more complicated than she thought. So far she’s found no takers for her half-acre lot, the only officially recognized Native American burial site in Chester County.

“I thought it should go to the rightful owners,” McCloskey said, referring to the Lenape people. Previously, she had no luck trying to donate the land to a federally recognized tribe, and now is restarting the process and willing to expand the pool of potential recipients.

“I want to give it to someone who appreciates it,” she said. “I want the right people to have it.”

The burial site is a leftover wedge sliced out ofthe 170 acres, known as Indian Knoll Farm, McCloskey subdivided into 10-acre lots in 1987. The few motorists humming along Brandywine Drive each day likely don’t even notice the sign or the property as it rises steeply above the road.

McCloskey, who lives in nearby Willistown Township, has a conservation easement that ensures the land can never be developed. Because of that, it is assessed at $500 and the taxes are only a few dollars a year.

“My daughter and I have been trying to donate this for a couple of years,” McCloskey said. “But the Lenape group years ago moved out west. So there’s no one around to talk to or deal with in Pennsylvania. As a burial ground, you can’t do anything with it. It’s overgrown….

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Phil Busey (Courtesy photo)

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Journal Record Legacy Award recognizes lifetime achievement in leadership, honoring a prominent business figure leaving a legacy through his or her work in Oklahoma. The 2021 winner is Phil Busey Sr., and his accomplishment will be celebrated virtually on June 28. The Legacy Award presentation is part of the 12th annual Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs & Financial Stewardship Awards event, where 28 CEOs and two chief financial officers will be acknowledged this year.

Busey is founder, chairman and CEO of Delaware Resource Group in Oklahoma City. After practicing law for more than 25 years, he founded DRG in 2002. Experiencing 8,000% growth since inception, DRG is one of the largest defense contractors in the region, working with companies such as Lockheed, Boeing and the Air Force. DRG employs 850 people in the field and expects to be at 1,000 employees by August 2021.

“We never considered not growing,” Busey said. “We’re still growing, and we don’t have any intent not to do that.”

For Busey, successful business is all about relationships. “We have built our business on relationships. People say, ‘you’re a government contractor, so you just win contracts.’ No, it’s about relationships.”

He credits his diverse career experience, good mentors and a strong team as driving and shaping his business and his leadership philosophy.

“We wouldn’t be where we are if it wasn’t for the people we have, and the people that have helped us,” Busey said. “I love doing what I’m doing, and it took a long time to get to this point.”

DRG’s success story includes the entire Busey family. Sons Philip and Brian are both DRG employees, and wife Cathy has been…

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