Category: News

Tribal citizens,

Over the weekend, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Council released a survey in order to gain insight in how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our citizens. The purpose of the survey is to help the Tribe to develop future programming to assist our citizens in the best possible way. Due to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, we have authorized a COVID-19 relief assistance payment to each adult citizen by June 30, 2020.

Rest assured that by submitting your information through this survey, it will remain completely confidential. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana has hired a third-party, HIPAA-certified consulting firm, Yona Consulting Services, as a way to safeguard our citizen’s personal information. Yona will confidentially review the data that you provide through this survey and send the Tribal Council and Tribal Administrator a comprehensive report. We will then review this report and determine how we can best assist our tribal citizens with their respective needs.

Additionally, The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana will not share your data with any entity other than a government agency that requests the use of this data for reporting and demographic purposes. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana respects the privacy of its citizens and strictly adheres to HIPAA, and all other federal data privacy laws.

This COVID-19 relief payment with be made through the Tribe’s Health and Housing Assistance Program (“HHA”) which provides Tunica-Biloxi citizens with financial support to meet their basic living needs, such as safe and habitable housing, assistance with meals and home care, and assistance with medical expenses and non-prescription medications.

We care deeply for the health and well-being of our citizens and encourage each and every one of you to respond to this survey so we can better support you during this difficult time. We hope that by utilizing the information that you provide that we can continue to offer and expand meaningful support for Tribal citizens.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to myself and the rest of your Tunica-Biloxi Tribal Council. To access and fill out the survey, please click here.

Sincerely,

Chairman Marshall Pierite

CHATS WITH CHAIRMAN: COVID-19 RESPONSE EFFORTS

Site will run from June 29 – July 2

As a way to ensure that their Tribal citizens and members of the Marksville community have proper testing resources, the Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana is partnering with the Louisiana National Guard and The Louisiana Department of Health (LADH) to host a free, public COVID-19 testing site.

“We’re so grateful to the National Guard and Department of Health for making this testing site possible,” said Tunica-Biloxi Chairman Marshall Pierite. “Early detection and treatment of this virus is so important which is why we’re doing everything we can to make these resources more accessible to our local community.”

The site will run on Monday, June 29 – Thursday, July 2 from 8 – 11 a.m. It will be located on Earl J. Barbry Sr. Blvd in Marksville between Highway 1 and Slim Lemoine Rd. There will be signage around the testing area to direct visitors on where to go.

The site will provide free testing to the general public, Tribal Government employees, Paragon employees, Tribal citizens and their children.

This is just one of several ways that the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe and their partners have worked to protect Tribal citizens throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Native Americans, like other minority groups and those in lower-income communities, are among those most impacted by this virus. For this reason, Native American tribes have a responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of their citizens. For more information on Tunica-Biloxi’s COVID-19 response, click here.

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana is shipping healthy meals to their most vulnerable in Louisiana, Texas, Illinois and across nation

MARSKVILLE, LA – (April 16, 2020) – Today, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and its members are proud to announce that tribal elders across the county will be receiving packages of healthy meals which will sustain them for the next 4-5 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The shipments are designed to assure the Tribe’s elders remain safe and fed no matter where they are located. As the elder population is one of the most vulnerable to the virus, the Tribal Council felt it was important to facilitate an easy meal distribution to its citizens living away from the Tribe’s reservation, many of them without access to federal services or in areas under curfew which restrict their access to grocery stores nearby. 

“We must continue to do all that we can to support our elders and keep them healthy and safe,” said Tunica-Biloxi Vice Chairman Marshall Ray Sampson, Sr. “As a Tribe, we honor our elders in all that we do. They are our forbearers who have paved the way for our continued success as a people. I am grateful to the Tribal Council for working together with key staff members to make this feeding effort so effective so quickly.”

The 200+ meals are being sent out via FedEx as one-time shipments of 16 pre-packaged meals to all tribal elders in tribal areas in Marksville, LA; Chicago, IL; and Houston, TX. Additionally, some meals were also shipped to elder tribal members living as far as California, Michigan and Idaho as well as some additional areas throughout the nation. 

The meals, which have been prepared fresh and frozen, are friendly to those with diabetes and other health considerations. Each includes a starch, vegetable and a protein. Several meal options include Creole Blackened Chicken, Meatloaf, Chicken Piccata, BBQ Turkey Burgers, Farmhouse Pork Tenderloin, Bean Chili and breakfast options as well. 

“Many of our elders have been unable to leave their homes on the reservation and across the country. We must do everything we can to ensure that we are caring for those in need, no matter where they currently reside,” said Council Member Jeremy Zahn, who introduced the program due to the nationwide impact of COVID-19. “We are committed to continuing this program, and the Tribe urges each of our members to contact us for assistance as we weather this pandemic.”

The measure to fund the meal distribution was passed with a unanimous vote of approval from the Tribal Council on April 2. The Tribal Council is continuing to work with Nikki McDonald, Director of the American Indian Center of Houston, and Tunica-Biloxi families throughout the country to assess continuing needs for its members. 

“This is an important effort to keep our treasured Tribal elders safe and healthy,” said McDonald. “We are grateful and proud that we could get this program coordinated so quickly. It will have a huge impact in bettering the lives of our members in this trying time.” 

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About the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana: 

The Tunica-Biloxi people first appeared in the Mississippi Valley. In the late 1700s, they settled near Marksville, where they were skilled traders and entrepreneurs. Today, the Tribe has more than 1,200 members throughout the United States, primarily in Louisiana, Texas and Illinois. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe received federal recognition in 1981 for its reservation within the boundaries of Louisiana. The tribe owns and operates the Paragon Casino Resort, the largest employer in Central Louisiana. Through its compact, negotiated by the late Tribal Chairman Earl J. Barbry Sr. and the State of Louisiana, the Tribe has assisted local governments in the area with its quarterly distribution of funds, totaling more than $40 million over two decades. For more information about the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, visit www.tunica.org and “like” us on Facebook. 

The Tunica-Biloxi Language & Culture Revitalization Program (LCRP) will host its sixth Annual Stickball Clinic & Exhibition, for children ages 11-16, as a way of preserving the ancient sport of Stickball. The event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Chief Joseph A. Pierite Pow Wow Grounds on the Tunica-Biloxi Reservation in Marksville.

Visiting players from the Alabama-Coushatta Stickball team of Livingston, TX will lead a clinic on basic skills, rules and safety of the game. Afterwards, the Alabama-Coushatta team will play an exhibition game and then support workshop participants in scrimmage games. Participants will be grouped by size for the scrimmage games.

Participation in the workshop is open to the public for a $10 fee. Tunica-Biloxi tribal children may register free of charge. Participants must pre-register by Monday, Feb. 3. The public is also welcome to view the exhibition free of charge.

Following the event, LCRP will host a cookout for participants. Space is limited. Parent(s) must accompany children to the clinic.

To view the event on Facebook, visit – https://www.facebook.com/events/494725191163004/. Please contact Jessica Barbry at jabarbry@tunica.org or (318) 240-6469 to register.

Background

Native American stickball is considered to be one of the oldest team sports in North America. Stickball and lacrosse are similar to one another, the game of lacrosse being a tradition belonging to tribes of the Northern United States and Canada; stickball, on the other hand, continues in Oklahoma and parts of Southeastern U.S., where the game originated. Although the first recorded writing on the topic of stickball was not until the mid-17th century, there is evidence that the game had been developed and played hundreds of years before that.

Stickball was especially popular among Southeastern Indian tribes, including the Tunica-Biloxi. Stickball was played by tribal members regularly through the mid-20^th century and gradually disappeared. Choctaw communities in Mississippi, Coushatta in Louisiana and the Alabama-Coushatta of Texas still have active stickball programs. Players and coaches from the Alabama-Coushatta community will lead a stickball clinic and exhibition on the Tunica-Biloxi reservation.

More than just a game, stickball builds body and spirit through exercise when played by all age groups—children, youth and adults. Many games have roots in ancestral tests of strength and sport that reinforced group cooperation and sharpened survival skills in often hostile environments. For warriors, the games helped maintain their readiness and combat skills between times of war. The gradual shift to a more sedentary lifestyle has highlighted the need to reawaken interest in physical activity, especially among Native youth. Promoting stickball could, once again, become an important part of improving the health and well-being of the Tunica-Biloxi people.

As the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe strives to preserve and revitalize traditional lifeways, it is necessary to provide community educational forums that will perpetuate knowledge and usage of these cultural elements. The Stickball Clinic & Exhibition provides an opportunity to explore traditions that are both unique and shared by neighboring indigenous communities.

Saturday, January 25, 2020
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Tunica-Biloxi Language & Culture in the Classroom

This collaborative workshop is designed for middle to high school Social Studies educators to enhance the teaching of the Tunica community while highlighting this group as part of a series of ancient civilizations currently taught at the K-12 level. This workshop is the first one in the series aimed at increasing and extending the current teaching of ancient civilizations in the Americas. The local focus on Louisiana indigenous people and culture will enable educators to create deeper connections when teaching about indigenous identity across the Americas such as the Maya, the Aztec and the Inca.

This workshop will introduce participants with little or no prior knowledge to ancient Tunica history, art, and language, with special focus on the role of food and native foods of this region. Language Instructors Donna Pierite and Elisabeth Pierite Mora of the Tunica-Biloxi Language & Culture Revitalization Program (LCRP) will share the history of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe beginning in 1541 up to the 1700s when the tribes reached the Avoyelles Prairie. Through story, song and dance they will share the Tunica language and Tunica-Biloxi culture. They will highlight the cultural educational initiatives of LCRP, and provide a list of online resources and samples of pedagogical materials for attendees.

Sponsored by the Middle American Research Institute, S.S. NOLA, and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

For more information, visit: https://stonecenter.tulane.edu/articles/detail/3048/Tunica-Biloxi-Language-Culture-in-the-Classroom.