As you scroll down, you'll find upcoming activities, important notices and information that we hope is helpful to you.

The Youth Center hosted a Movie Night on Friday, July 29th. "Lightyear" was the movie shown, and it was projected outside on the wall of the Youth Center.

"The families that came had a great time. Everyone enjoyed popcorn and snacks during the movie," said Wendy Smith, Youth Center Manager.

"We hope to do this every other Friday. Our next date is set for August 12th, weather permitting."

On July 27th, the Sokaogon Chippewa Community hosted The Northern Training: Tribal & Rural Communities Addressing Gender-Based Violence conference. The event was a collaboration between Brighter Days, American Indians Against Abuse (AIAA) and End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin.  

The conference opened with a welcome by Kerry Fox, Brighter Days Director, and Denise Johnson, AIAA. Songs were sung by Dillon Wagnitz, Eric Amundson and John Skenandore of the Swamp Creek Singers throughout the two day conference. Tina Van Zile gave a powerful and emotional presentation of the fight against the Exxon Mine.

Jeremy Nevilles-Sorell and Greg Grey Cloud with WICA AGLI (To Return a Man) spoke about their mission to reclaim traditional understandings of manhood, tied with responsibility, protection and respect. They are building a movement of engaging men and youth to increase awareness and bring further understanding on historical trauma, childhood sexual abuse and societal messages, that contribute to men perpetrating domestic violence and sexual assault.

A panel was organized by Shira Phelps from the Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center. There were members from the Wisconsin Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and the MMIW Task Force. Attendees discussed specific considerations for human trafficking in Native American communities, missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, developing a collaborative and multi-disciplinary response, supporting victims in their healing journey, and learning about resources to support their anti-trafficking work.

Wednesday evening, Wade Fernandez, a professional musician, songwriter and composer who teaches a mixture of Menominee style and modern blues, rock, country, jazz, soul and folk music, performed.

On Thursday, Anita Barber, with the assistance of her sister Teresa Barber-Buch, shared their knowledge of the Pipe Ceremony. They needed spring water for the Ceremony, which was collected from the stream running through the Hoffman Property on Sand Lake Road. During the Ceremony, people were invited to share their memories of anti-violence leaders who were lost in recent years, including C.J. Doxtater, Lola Smith and Judge Eugene Whitefish from FCPC. There was much laughter and many tears that were shed, but at the end of the ceremony everyone felt very supported.

Thank you to the community members that joined us.

Dear Tribal Members,

As we wrap up the summer months, we want to provide updates on the progress of the implementation of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) planning being undertaken by the Sokaogon Chippewa Community Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The initiatives being implemented through the ARPA process are the result of information collected through surveys, meetings, and interviews with the community. With that information, the Tribal Council has been able to make informed decisions for the Tribe.

ARPA provided $20 billion to be disbursed to all tribes based on the number of members and tribal economies, with no consideration given to whether the tribe was urban or rural. The lowest amount a tribe received was $1 million and the highest was $900 million. Our Tribe received $13.6 million; based on our tribe’s needs, however, these monies do not go far enough.

From the time of disbursal, our tribe has been given 36 months to allocate or return this money. Some tribes have not allocated or spent any money because they cannot agree on how to best use the money. Other tribes spent it all within the first month of receiving the funds. Our Tribal Council has been thoughtful as to the use of your ARPA funds. Our Tribal Council has set aside 20% of the ARPA funding received, to use as seed money to plan for “shovel-ready” projects in an effort to “go after” substantially larger funding. To date, our Tribe is working on plans to get your share of almost $18 billion dollars in competitive grants. This $18 billion in funding includes the following:

Read the full update here.

Your continued input is very important to ensuring your Tribal Council has various community viewpoints. If you have any additional comments, please contact the Interim Director of Human Resources, Kimberlee Soldier, at 715-622-0191.

The Tribe was recently granted 401 certification for our waste water treatment facility National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now conducting their 30 day comment period in which anyone can review and provide comments to John Colletti, U.S. EPA Permits Branch.

View the full Public Notice here.

August is National Breastfeeding Month. The second week of the month is set aside to acknowledge Indigenous Milk Medicine Week. Formerly known as Native Breastfeeding Week, Indigenous Milk Medicine Week was created to share the diversity of Indigenous breast/chestfeeding experiences and to reclaim traditional feeding practices. The transition to the new name took place in 2021.

The new title, Indigenous Milk Medicine Week (IMMW), highlights the nutritional significance and healing properties of Indigenous milk. The name change aligns with efforts to use inclusive language to represent the diversity of individuals providing human milk and emphasizes the importance of Indigenous milk as the first food for all infants.

The 2022 theme for IMMW is Strengthening Our Traditions: From Birth and Beyond. This theme celebrates the bonds of our traditions and the impact that Indigenous milk has on our mind, body, and spirit from birth and beyond. It reminds us that we all play a role in supporting Indigenous milk and that support extends beyond pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period.

The Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin will be hosting a series of educational sessions. Topics include: Lactation Support in the Workplace, Nutrition and Breastfeeding, and Breastfeeding Q & A session. The Coalition will host its 3rd Annual Virtual Latch via social media by sharing stories and images of breast/chestfeeding families and supporters.  Wisconsin Tribes are participating in multiple educational sessions throughout the week and will be hosting local community events at tribal sites across the state.

To learn more about IMMW and find other activities to celebrate, please see the Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin Toolkit or visit the Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin Facebook page.

For additional information, email the Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin.

The Education Department is now done handing out certificates.

The Education Department will be out of the office September 6 through September 16, 2022.

If college students have paperwork that need to be done, please get it in ASAP. No one will be available while they are out of the office.

Thank you.

The Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) introduced the Summer Fill Program that began July 11, 2022.

Eligible customers must receive a referral from their local community action agency. Click here for contact information in your area.

The North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia July 15-23, 2023.

Tryouts for the 2023 team are being held.

NAIG tryouts will be held July 23rd in Black River Falls and July 30th in Keshena. The last tryout has been rescheduled to August 27th in Wittenberg.

There will transportation available to all three tryouts.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email Wayne LaBine or call (715) 478-3830.

For more information, contact Kimberlee A. Soldier, Interim Director, Human Resources, at 715-478-7663.

View the SFI application here.

For information on Sokaogon Finance, Inc. (SFI) positions, please email Gloria Toyebo.

Mole Lake Casino Opportunities:

View the application here.

For more information, please visit the Casino's website or contact Thomas E. Van Zile, Human Resource Manager of the Mole Lake Casino Lodge & Conference Center, at 715-478-7549.

The weekly e-newsletter is sent every Thursday morning, excluding holidays.

If you have something you wish to share, please email your information by Tuesday afternoon.