PLP PROGAM EXPERIENCE!~ pt.1
This is hard to go about talking about. There's just soooooo much that happened that i still can't find the words and thoughts to explain them. It was only just the BEST life experience i've ever had. I met so many great people and made friendships i'll never forget. (i have facebook to thank for being able to keep in touch) For the technical side of the program i guess i can post my essay that i wrote and turned in, just so that you can get the basic idea, because i can't think of much to say now. Afterwards, i will go into some specific details.
Potawatomi Leadership Program
Ever since I knew that I was a part of this tribe, my interest in it has grown more as the years go by. My brother, Cody, participated in the Potawatomi Leadership Program five years ago in the summer of 2005. When he came home, he could not stop talking about all the things he experienced here. I remember him showing me papers people had given him and all the language packets. I would sit there and go through the language papers, trying to teach myself the language with little help from my brother. Cody was impressed with the program and admitted that it prepared him for college. He was featured in our city’s newspaper about his internship here. Everyone in our family was fascinated about his time at the tribe. I would hear him tell friends and family stories of things that happened and what the PLPs did together. My dad’s side of the family (the Potawatomi side) all decided to get together and go to a Family Reunion Festival. It was a neat experience to have the family together at a festival, immersing ourselves into our culture. It was unfortunate that my brother was unable to come with us; otherwise our experience could have had a better insight because of him knowing people working with the tribe. My interest in the tribe, more specifically the program, multiplied after the family trip here. Since my brother participated the summer before his senior year, I had to wait all through high school for my time to apply. In high school, I made my heritage more apparent to people and everyone knew that I was Native American and proud. When I became old enough to apply, there wasn’t a question as to whether I wanted to apply or not. I have to admit, I was leery about the experience and the people I would meet. Thoughts about not fitting in or being unable to make friends went through my mind frequently. Even though my brother told me about this program, I still had no idea exactly what I would be doing during my time here.
Right from the start I knew this would be an interesting experience. Once everyone was together, we got along quite well. We were laughing together and having a good time on the first day. The first week we worked in the heritage center moving things about to set up for the Family Reunion Festival that weekend. All of us worked efficiently and the jobs were finished faster than expected. People were impressed with how well we worked and how quickly we finished. Our efficiency left us with extra time on our hands, so we used that time to get to know each other better and discuss different topics. Sometimes those conversations lead to us laughing and having pointless little arguments that were all in good fun. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we went and ate lunch with elders of the tribe at Title VI. We all seemed to enjoy this greatly. All the elders are nice to be around and some even had us laughing. I looked forward to each time we went. Throughout the festival, we gave tours of the museum and the cabin, and sold family history DVDs. At the festival grounds during lunch break, I ran into someone I had met at Title VI. He was excited to see me, which made me happy. The festival turned out to be a satisfying, spiritual experience. As mentioned before, I had been to a festival a few years before. This time it was different. I was actually participating in the event that I had watched from the stands a few years before. The Grand Entry was unlike anything I had experienced. We were dressed up and danced in with other dancers and important people, and even though our regalia were just a nice shirt and skirt that matched a shawl, I still felt like I was just as important as anyone in that dancing circle. Hearing the drum and singers, it was just like we had gone back in time.
After the festival, we started to go to departments of the tribe and meet with different people. On Monday, June 28 we attended the Legislative Meeting. This meeting was significantly more interesting than I had thought it would be. I had heard from various people that the tribe had its own government and officials. The Legislative Meeting opened my eyes to this fact. Never would I have thought of myself attending a meeting such as that and being interested. I found myself taking notes on each resolution or grant they discussed. Even though it was a modern government meeting, when they agreed to something by saying “konege”, it gave the meeting a specific Potawatomi feel. Also, I had no idea that the tribe even had its own Constitution. The tribe is actually its own nation, of which I am proud to be a part of.
The rest of the week after the Legislative Meeting, we met with more people on Tuesday. Then Wednesday through Friday we attended the Youth IDA camp at the Gordon Cooper Tech Center. They helped us with budgeting, saving, and spending. It reminded me of my senior economics class, with talking about checking/ savings accounts, bonds, and other financial topics. We went out and shopped twice with set budgets and ideas of what we should buy.
Basically, most of our days were spent meeting with different department directors. Except for July 13-15, in which we attended the Native American Youth Leadership Conference at Connors State College. This was one of my favorite experiences to happen during this internship. Not only were we able to spend time with youth of or associated with our tribe, but we met youth from other Native tribes in the surrounding area. While there, we learned how to make dream catchers, attended helpful classes dealing with important topics, and played fun games. One night, the Seminole nation gave a presentation on their tradition of stomp dancing. Participating in the dance was another time I felt in touch with the Native American culture. Overall, the camp was a positive experience for me. I made friendships with people I never would have known if we had not attended the camp together. Now, I know more people of Shawnee; which makes it feel considerably more like home.
Some of the departments that we met with were police, economic planning, tribal attorney, accounting, Health Aid Foundation, Firelake Family Services, WIC, environmental health, and many more. Along with meeting people, we also toured places such as Firelake Discount Foods, the health clinic, tribal court, the Grand Casino and the smaller casino/ bingo hall. Meeting all these people and having them spill out loads of information to us one after another was a bit overwhelming, I have to admit. However, being overwhelmed has proven to be a good thing. I had absolutely no idea how well the tribe was doing. Even though there are so many departments already, there’s always room to expand and that is exactly what is happening. On a chance meeting with Chairman Barrett, we heard many more ideas he has for the tribe that he wants to put into action. Chairman Barrett is an inspiring, generous man. I wish we could have talked with him more to get to know him better. Everyone working for the tribe says that they would not want to work anywhere else, especially not any other tribe. So Chairman Barrett and Vice- Chairman Capps must be doing something right. Also, every worker has a great attitude about their job no matter what it may be. This, I found out in orientation, is due to the Fish! Philosophy that most employees take part in provided by the Job Pride department. It has four basic principles that can be practiced in any job; Play, Make Their Day, Be There, and Choose Your Attitude. I believe that these should be practiced in every job. It would make customer-employee interaction significantly more pleasant.
There is a good deal of information for me to discuss about the tribe, all that is planned, departments, enterprises, and experiences I had while here. Unfortunately, there is not enough time and space for me to discuss to my heart’s content. My experience here is far surpassed my expectations. I am glad to have applied and even more happy to have been accepted for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Hopefully all these great memories will stay with me for a long time. Now that I know plans of expansion for the tribe, I am excited to see those plans be put to action quite soon. In the future, my wish for the tribe is for it to be a well-known tribe nationally and internationally. Most people nowadays have never heard of the Potawatomi. We are the first tribe to have a legislative government and bank of its own. It is only a matter of time before the tribe becomes well known for their many enterprises and accomplishments. To put it briefly, I am exceptionally proud to be a member of the Potawatomi.