Author: Alex J.

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Council is seeking interested tribal members eager to make a difference within our tribal government. If you are interested, please find more information here.

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana is here to help our Tribal Citizens for relief of eviction related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  The Housing Department is currently assisting all members who are experiencing difficult situations related to rental payments, utility payments, and past due notices due to the COVID-19 Pandemic if they meet the program guidelines for family composition and 80% of the median family income.

We are here to help you and your family stay in your home by providing safe, healthy, and sanitary conditions, and preventing over-crowdedness.

If you or someone in your family meet these criteria regardless of your geographic location, please contact us at 318-240-6446.  Requests for applications can be sent via email, fax, USPS mail or can be picked up at the Housing Department located at 135 Yuroni Trail in Marksville.

The Tribal Council and I are excited to unveil a new feature on our Tribal website, the Citizen’s Portal. The portal will only be accessible to Tribal members and will create a way for you to stay informed on the Tribe. 

The goal of the Citizen’s Portal is to make it easier for all of our tribal members to stay involved in Tribal matters with the hope of building a tribe of many. In this portal you can expect to find important and confidential items like council meeting minutes and information on funds, programs and resources only available to you, our citizens. 

In addition, this portal will house other resources, including entrepreneurial opportunities and educational information. You’ll also begin to see more video updates from me and the Tribal Council on the latest developments for the Tribe and our progress. 

My hope is that this Citizen’s Portal increases our transparency and communication. Below you will find the steps to create your account. Please follow all of these steps and reach out to our Membership Director, Leslie Bonnette, if you have additional questions. 

Sincerely,
Chairman Marshall Pierite

Registration will require: 

• Your tribal roll number, an active e-mail address and a password of your choice.

Please note – The Citizens Portal contains financial and other sensitive information that should not be shared with non-tribal citizens. The Citizens Portal is intended for tribal citizens only and a tribal roll number will be required to create a login. For this reason, spouses, parents and guardians who are not tribal citizens will not be permitted to access the portal. 

Directions on setting up your account:

To access your account from the Tunica-Biloxi website’s home page:

• Go to TunicaBiloxi.org and click “Log In” at the top right, under the “Log In Here” title. 
• Select “Click Here to Request Access to the Citizen’s Portal“
• To create your account, you will be asked to enter:
  • Your Tribal roll number – this will allow the Tribe to confirm your membership
  • An active e-mail address
  • A password of your choosing
• You will need to agree to the Privacy Policy, which, in short, states that you agree, and are under legal obligation, not share any of the information in this portal with anyone outside of the Tribe or to release your login information to anyone outside of the Tribe. 
• The Citizens Portal contains financial and other sensitive information that should not be shared with non-Tribal members. The Citizens Portal is intended for Tribal Members only, spouses, parents and guardians will not be permitted to access the Portal. 
• Once you have signed up, please allow the Tribe 24-48 hours to verify your account. 

If you have any questions or need assistance getting access to the portal, please contact our Membership Director, Leslie Bonnette at LBonnette@tunica.org. 

Marksville, LA (October 5, 2021) –Paragon Casino Resort is proud to announce a partnership with Betfred Sports, bringing sports betting to the top rated gaming destination in Central Louisiana – with betting now open to the public. Betfred Sports, a sports betting operator currently available in select U.S. states, is expanding to Louisiana with its latest location through the addition of a Las Vegas-style sportsbook at The Draft Room at Paragon Casino Resort – the first of its kind in the market. Paragon and Betfred invite sports and gaming enthusiasts to come place their first bets starting at 3 p.m. CST tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 6.

“Our partnership with Betfred Sports marks a new chapter for Paragon – which has always been a source of pride for Marksville and the people of Louisiana,” General Manager of Paragon Casino Resort, Marshall Sampson, Sr., said. “With this new partnership, I hope visitors from across the region will have the chance to experience it for themselves. Together, we are offering a first-class sports betting platform and venue that will make Paragon Casino Resort the place to bet and watch games in Louisiana.”

Mark Stebbings, Betfred Group Chief Operating Officer, stated “Louisiana is an exciting opportunity for Betfred Sports to continue its expansion in the U.S. after successful launches in Iowa, Colorado and Pennsylvania. We look forward to utilizing our 50 years of bookmaking experience with our fantastic partner, Paragon Casino Resort, to bring the best sports betting experience to bettors in the state.”

Betfred Sports will operate a traditional sportsbook in The Draft Room – Paragon’s newest amenity – comprised of traditional theater seating, a custom video wall, betting counters and kiosks. The Draft Room’s restaurant and bar offers fan favorite foods, cold draught beers, and multiple seating options sure to please any sports fan including 112 TVs surrounded by table and bar seating, plus three VIP fan caves for private gatherings. With this many options, sports fans won’t miss a minute of the action.

Louisiana is the home of almost 5 million people, 2 major league teams, and plenty of sports fans ready to get in on the action. The Draft Room offers full-service betting, so both locals and out-of-state travelers can wager on their favorite teams from across the country.

“As a native Louisianan and Chairman of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, I am thrilled to help usher in sports betting to our state,” said Chairman Marshall Pierite. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe owns Paragon Casino Resort. “This partnership with Betfred Sports promises continued success for Paragon as we continue our mission to provide a first-class gaming destination and vacation experience to our neighbors and guests coming to Central Louisiana.”

Paragon Casino Resort is inviting sports fans from both Louisiana and across the region to visit Marksville, LA and place their bets at the world-class facility. Paragon Casino Resort offers a 64,000-square-foot gaming floor, 1,000 Las Vegas-style slot machines and 500 hotel rooms for out of town guests.  When fans come to place their bets, they have the opportunity to visit all of Paragon Casino Resort’s other incredible amenities including an award-winning golf course, day spa, shopping plaza and the area’s only cinema.

The City of Grapevine, Texas, dedicated a Peace Circle statue garden on Saturday, September 18 honoring the Chiefs of ten American Indian nations who signed the Treaty of Bird’s Fort with Texas President Sam Houston in 1843.

“Peace Circle” is an interpretation of a moment in time of a meeting of Republic of Texas President Sam
Houston and 10 American Indian chiefs/ captains on the Grape Vine Prairie in 1843. The work of public
art features 11 bronze statues standing 1.25 percent larger than life size, representing Republic of Texas
President Sam Houston and American Indian chiefs/ captains from the Delaware, Chickasaw, Waco,
Tawakoni, Keechi, Caddo, Anadarko, Ioni, Biloxi and Cherokee Nations.

Sam Houston and the tribal leaders met in a spirit of friendship, peace, hope and trust in an effort to
establish a place – a line that would not be crossed – where the tribes could live in peace. The Peace
Circle meeting later led to the signing of the Treaty of Bird’s Fort on September 29, 1843. This treaty
defined Indian Nations and European settlement boundaries and was one of the few Indian treaties ratified by the Republic of Texas Senate.

Watch the video of the statue reveal here.

Marksville, LA. – (Sept. 9, 2021) –The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana’s Tribal Council recently made two donations to Avoyelles Parish that will continue to benefit the local community. The first being Paragon Casino Resort’s contribution of $527,000 to the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury through their quarterly disbursement and the second is a donation of 200 backpacks to the Avoyelles Parish School Board.

“The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe is proud to continue to work with our Avoyelles Parish community through our mutually-beneficial partnership,” said Tunica-Biloxi Chairman Marshall Pierite. “The Tribe is delighted to continue to improve the community and these donations to the Avoyelles Parish School Board and other local groups will certainly help better the lives of Tribal citizens and all members of the community.”

The Tribe was able to make the financial contribution to Avoyelles Parish due to the success of Paragon Casino Resort, which is owned by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe. Since Paragon Casino Resort opened its doors 26 years ago, the Tribe has been able to provide financial support to local entities through quarterly distributions. The Police Jury will disperse these funds to local law enforcement, the Avoyelles Parish School Board, and local municipalities.

“We are grateful for our relationship with the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe,” said Police Jury President Kirby Roy. “When the Tribe succeeds, we all succeed thanks to the impact that they have on the surrounding community. We look forward to this continued partnership and the shared benefit it brings.”

To support the community as the new school year begins, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe also donated 200 backpacks to the Avoyelles Parish Public School Board for local children in need. The backpacks will help to ensure that local students have what they need to succeed during this upcoming school year.

“Going back to school can be challenging for kids, especially when they do not have the supplies and resources that their classmates have,” said Thelma Pratter, Interim Avoyelles Parish School Board Superintendent. “We are so grateful for the Tribe for recognizing this and making an effort to set our local students up for success.” 

Following the latest developments with Tropical Storm Ida, we wanted to share several updates with you on accommodations and resources that are available to you. As mentioned previously, we encourage those in its path to reach out with any needs.
 
Impacts from the storm are expected starting on Saturday, August 28. We continue to watch the track and the storm’s progress. We hope that you and your families are taking all of the necessary precautions to prepare.

PARAGON ROOM BLOCK FOR TRIBAL CITIZENS

For your safety, we have reserved a block of rooms at Paragon Casino Resort, free of charge for Tribal citizens who live in the path of the storm. Rooms will be available from Sunday, August 29 to Tuesday, August 31. 

If you and your family are in need of a safe place to stay during the storms, we have included instructions below on our process for reserving a room. These rooms will be assigned on a first come first served basis and Tribal citizens will be asked for their Tribal role number when booking. If your group is larger than four people, you will be allowed to book a second room. Please note, these rooms are intended for Tribal citizens only.

n addition to making shelter arrangements, we encourage all of our Tribal citizens to follow advisories from state and local officials as well as the National Weather Service and make the necessary preparations to shelter in place including stocking up on food, water and supplies. For recommended hurricane preparations, click here. 
Please also check-in on any Tribal elders or family members that might need assistance with these preparations.

We also advise that our Tribal citizens continue to take precautions to protect your health amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latest information on COVID-19, visit the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) website and the CDC website.

Additionally, we are here for those who will be impacted by these weather events. If you or your family are in need, we ask that you fill out this form to apply for assistance through our Catastrophic Relief Fund.

We are in this together and will get through these difficult times. As we continue our response to Tropical Storm Ida and any other severe weather events through the remainder of the year, we encourage all of you to reach out to the Tribal Council with any needs you might have. Your health and safety is our top priority.

APPLY ONLINE:
To apply for a room in the Tunica-Biloxi evacuation block at Paragon Casino Resort, we ask that you fill out the form linked below. This will help us to better prepare for your visit and accommodate those in need in an efficient way. As a reminder, these rooms are for Tunica-Biloxi citizens only. 

Apply for a room at Paragon.

APPLY OVER THE PHONE:
Tunica-Biloxi citizens are also welcome to call to request a room at Paragon. Please have your tribal role numbers prepared. 

To request a room, please call the Tribe’s Social Service Department at 318-240-6444 or 318-240-6455.

We are pleased to introduce Dr. Dana Mays to the Tunica-Biloxi community. Dr. Mays stepped into the role of Chief Medical Officer on February 1, 2021 and has already made a huge impact on Tribal citizens and employees. 

Dr. Mays, along with Dr. Webb, and all of our healthcare employees, have done an excellent job of keeping our community safe and healthy through the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’d like to personally thank all of our Tunica-Biloxi healthcare workers for keeping our community healthy and safe always, but especially during this pandemic. We are grateful for you all every day, and are excited to add Dr. Mays to this first-class team.” – Chairman Marshall Pierite

“My new work with the Tribe is both exciting and in line with what I’ve always practiced – allowing my patients to have better primary care that supports the whole body: physically, mentally, spiritually, and any other needs they may have,” Dr. Mays commented. “This is a wonderful opportunity and I look forward to continuing to offer top notch medical care to those friends and neighbors throughout my community.”

In her most recent role, Dr. Mays provided contracted physician services to the central Louisiana community through her practice, Yapha MD, offering personalized, high-quality, accessible care from a kind and loving family physician. Dr. Mays will continue to operate her clinic in Pineville, LA in addition to her work with the Tribe

The Tunica-Biloxi health department strives to provide quality and professional healthcare to all of our members and their families on a personal level. The care provided by Dr. Mays and her team is critical in both preventing and addressing any medical concerns Tribal citizens may have and to promote a healthy lifestyle and general overall wellness.  

To make an appointment with a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Health Center, please call (318) 240-6435. 

We are excited to announce the addition of three new Academic Counselors to the Education Department! Antonio Brown, stationed in the Chicago branch office, provides support to families in the Illinoi Group, Julie Zahn, stationed at the American Indian Center of Houston, supports families in the Texas group and Leslie Carmouche, stationed in Marksville, supports students (grades K-5) in the Louisiana Group. Please join us in welcoming these teachers to our community.

They will be reaching out to parents and students soon!

Lapuya ‘Akawitiki (Welcome)!!!!