It has been a busy summer in the Chickasaw Nation. I am posting a few pictures of some of the events that I attended. Hope you like what you see!
In May, I had the opportunity to take some newly graduate nurses from East Central University on a medical missions trip to Belize. One of the students, Ms. Tara Fall, is Chickasaw. I have included a couple of pictures from this trip. In the future I will write a feature story on the trip. Tara is from the Tishomingo area and recently passed her boards for nursing, the NCLEX exam, and is now a Registered Nurse working at the Chickasaw Nation Health Center. Congratulations Tara!
In addition, I attended one of the ribbon cutting ceremonies for the opening of the new BIA, CDIB, Tribal
l Registration building. I love these ribbon cutting events. As a tribe, we have experienced this quite enough to be experts. Along with Governor Anoatubby and Lt. Governor Keel, we all get a special pair of scissors to cut the red crimson ribbon that blocks the opening of the new facility. I hope that you will have a chance to visit this building when you come to Ada. It is on Lonnie Abbott Blvd near the Chickasaw Trading Post and Chickasaw Enterprises.
The next set of pictures is of a Chickasaw Community Council meeting that I attended in New Castle, Oklahoma. I was delighted to meet Ms. Chincy Ross, and hope that you will enjoy looking at the picture of this beautiful Chickasaw elder. I have read in history books that Chickasaw women were known for their beauty. I’m sure you will agree with me when I say Ms. Ross proves that statement to be true. From her picture, I think that you can also tell she loves to have fun. It reminds me of the scripture in Proverbs that says, “a merry heart does good like a medicine.” Chincy is definitely good medicine.
You can tell by one of the pictures that the Newcastle Community Council meets in a facility that is used for training. This community council is very active. If you live in the area, you should attend. You can contact Ms. Sharon Nelson at sharon.nelson1@chickasaw.net for dates and times of any community council meeting.
As indicated in an earlier blog, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) came to Ada in June and brought a team down to help showcase the subject of science and math to Chickasaw and 
other area youth. Nearly 100 youth attended this one day workshop demonstrating some of the services offered by the National Library of Medicine.
As you can see from the pictures, students had the opportunity for hands on activity. A computer lab was also set up for the students that introduced them to the NLM web site. You too can visit the same resources at www.nlm.nih.gov or www.pubmed.nih.gov.
In early August I attended a Chickasaw Gathering in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My son Wyas went with me, and I’d say we had an absolutely marvelous time. My mother was born in Pueblo Colorado and lived in Walsenbug Colorado as a young child. So I am always excited to visit the area, and also excited to visit with Chickasaws wherever I go. I have included several pictures in the Smilebox that covered this event. One picture was of the Cravat clan. They were all taking a family photo when I asked for the opportunity to include them in my blog. You will enjoy seeing the pictures from this event. We were also blessed to have Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate visit the Gathering as well.
As always, I am hoping to hear from you. You can respond to my blog by simply signing on. I look forward to your comments a well as suggestions for future blogs. You can view pictures in the Smilebox titled “Summer 2008 in Pictures.” Thanks for taking a look
