November 6-12, 2023

Gashkadino-Giizis (Freezing Over Moon)

The Tribal Council is set to meet on Monday November 6 at Legendary Waters.

The Regular Session is scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM. Community members are encouraged to attend.

Attention hunters! Reminder that Elderly Hunt Day is scheduled for this Tuesday November 7. This event allows hunters to donate harvested deer to be processed and used for our elders. Processing will start Wednesday November 8. Please contact the Red Cliff Wardens with any questions at 715-779-3732.

The registration station is located at the RCPD / Wardens office: 88385 Pike Rd lower level.

Most Tribal Departments and Programs will be closed this Friday November 10 in observance of Veterans Day.

Please join us this Saturday November 11 at Legendary Waters event center for a Veterans Day Celebration as we honor all of our veterans, our Chi Ogichida!

10 AM: Veteran Honor Guard Ceremony at Veteran's Memorial Park

11 AM: Registration at Legendary Waters Resort & Casino

12 PM: Program Begins at Legendary Waters. Opening prayer, speakers, feast, and 50/50 raffles.

Boozhoo Aaniin - Our Weekly Language Table is back beginning this Wednesday November 8! Mark your calendars and join us every Wednesday from 5:30-7:00 PM at the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, located at the Cultural Grounds. Please call THPO with any questions at 715-779-3761.

Join us on Sunday November 19 at Legendary Waters for bingo and a toy drive to help raise money and collect toy donations for our annual Red Cliff Kids Christmas Event!

Please consider bringing toy donations. All toys must be new and unwrapped. These go directly to our community youth and families in need.

Stay tuned for details and dates for the gift giveaway and Santa meet-up.

If you are interested in donating food for the bingo concession, please contact Des, Shania, or Michelle at 715-779-3769 or email desmund.lapointe@redcliff-nsn.gov

Chi-Miigwech to all who joined our GONA (Gathering of Native Americans) event!

On October 17–19, Red Cliff hosted a Gathering of Native Americans (GONA) event. It was a three-day journey in which more than sixty community members, elders, youth, and program staff gathered to address community identified issues. Red Cliff was assisted by three facilitators from the SAMHSA Tribal Training and Technical Assistant Group. Their role was to support our local vision and culture and assist our community in identifying essential elements for community wellness, healing, and future planning.

Over the course of the event, the group focused on the following areas:

• Belonging – Building a sense of team, family, and community.

• Mastery – Gaining mastery and healing from what holds us back.

• Interdependence – Working together interdependently for positive change.

• Generosity – Giving back to self and community.

Each group created a flag to represent belonging.

Each group developed action plans that would support healthier community.

The work was challenging, emotional, and very powerful. It resulted in tangible goals and action plans including reducing overdose/suicide deaths, addressing homelessness, improving communication to the community, food sovereignty, and hosting gatherings to promote belonging. The action plans will be incorporated into the update of the Tribal Action Plan (TAP). The TAP is a strategic plan that supports partnership between community and programs to address issues such as substance abuse. The goal for completion of the TAP is January 2024.

Chi-Miigwech to everyone who participated and to those who worked so hard behind the scenes to provide this healing opportunity to our community!

The Red Cliff Tribe and the Bayfield School District are working to improve attendance for students and families. Every quarter new winners will be chosen based on their high attendance!

Last week, these students were given cash prizes from the school and a choice of a large-scale prize from the Red Cliff Tribe and Education Department. Aho!

Ginanda Gikendaasomin Agindaasoowigamig Red Cliff Library will host a college and career fair on Friday November 17 at Legendary Waters.

This event is open to all! Join us to explore the many college and career options available to you.

Applications are now being accepted for the Elder Home Modification Project. This wonderful initiative will help at-risk elder homeowners remain safely in their homes. The project will make safety improvements to households.

For more information or help with filling out an application, please contact:

Barb Gordon, Red Cliff Community Health Case Manager-715-779-3707 x 2307

Drew Grant, Red Cliff Aging Disability Resource Specialist (ADRS)-715-779-3706

Sarah Tourdot, Red Cliff Elderly Director-715-779-3706

Applications for the Entrepreneur Fund Wisconsin Rural Equity Grant Program remain open through Thursday, November 30, to qualifying businesses in the seven Native nations within the Wisconsin service region. Entrepreneur Fund will be awarding 30-40 grants of up to $10,000 each through 2024.

Designed to assist small businesses in northern Wisconsin, particularly those that are underbanked and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin Rural Equity Grant Program is open to established, diverse owned businesses for a wide range of business uses. The first round of applications remain open to businesses owned by people who are affiliated with the following Native nations:

• Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa 

• Forest County Potawatomi

• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

• Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

• Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

• Sokaogon Chippewa (Mole Lake)

• St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin

Fall Open Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7 each year. This period is also sometimes called the Annual Election Period. During this time, you can make changes to your health insurance coverage, including adding, dropping, or changing your Medicare coverage. Even if you’re happy with your current health and drug coverage, Fall Open Enrollment is the time to review what you have, compare it with other options, and make sure that your current coverage still meets your needs for the coming year.

You can make as many changes as you need to your Medicare coverage during Fall Open Enrollment. The changes you can make include: 

1. Joining a new Medicare Advantage Plan
2. Joining a new Part D prescription drug plan 
3. Switching from Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan 
4. Switching from a Medicare Advantage Plan to Original Medicare (with or without a Part D plan) 

Regardless of how you receive your Medicare coverage, you should consider:  

• Your access to health care providers you want to see 
• Your access to preferred pharmacies 
• Your access to benefits and services you need 
• The total costs for insurance premiums, deductibles, and cost-sharing amounts  

If you have Original Medicare, visit this page or read the 2024 Medicare & You handbook to learn about Medicare’s benefits for the upcoming year. You should review any increases to Original Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance charges.  

If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan or a stand-alone Part D plan, read your plan’s Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) and/or Evidence of Coverage (EOC). Review these notices for any changes in: 

• The plan’s costs 
• The plan’s benefits and coverage rules 
• The plan’s formulary (list of drugs your plan covers) 

Make sure that your drugs will still be covered next year and that your providers and pharmacies are still in the plan’s network. If you are unhappy with any of your plan’s changes, you can enroll in a new plan. If you want assistance reviewing your options, contact your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for individualized counseling.

Even if you are happy with your current Medicare coverage, consider other Medicare health and drug plan options in your area. For example, even if you do not plan to change your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, you should check to see if there’s another plan in your area that will offer you better health and/or drug coverage at a more affordable price. Research shows that people with Medicare prescription drug coverage could lower their costs by shopping among plans each year. There could be another Part D plan in your area that covers the drugs you take with fewer restrictions and/or lower prices.

FoodWIse Nutrition has released its November 2023 newsletter!

FoodWIse is federally funded statewide by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). FoodWIse advances healthy eating habits, active lifestyles and healthy community environments for Wisconsin residents with limited incomes through nutrition education at the individual, community and systems levels.

Click HERE to view the full November 2023 FoodWise newsletter.

The Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority Board is set to meet this Wednesday November 8 at the RCCHA conference room.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:00 PM. RCCHA tenants are invited to attend.

Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority is accepting applications for housing and housing assistance!

RCCHA provides clean, safe, adequate, and affordable housing for qualified families and elders.

Housing options to apply for include low rent, 6-plex, 4-plex, Elderly, Tax Credit, Tax Credit Rehab.

Oski-Ombendaam New Hope Supportive Housing

The Oski-Ombendaam New Hope housing contains efficiency, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units. The goal of New Hope housing is to provide supportive services to those individuals and families while providing clean, safe, adequate, and affordable housing.

You are also able to apply for Home Repair Assistance and Down Payment Assistance.

Click HERE to access an application.

Red Cliff Chippewa Housing Authority tenants have access to a Residential Resource Coordinator. The coordinator will help tenants get connected with various resources.

This service is available to Housing tenants Monday through Friday at New Hope Building A, at 37580 Pageant Road.

Please call 715-779-3744 extension 3514 with any questions.

Click to access the entire Treaty Natural Resources Division Ganawenjigaade newsletter for dagwaagin (fall) 2023.

Click HERE to order online!

The Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council has purchased land in the Town of Cassian within Oneida County to build an Adolescent Recovery and Wellness Center. Above is an image to get an idea of what the youth facility will look like on more than 150 acres of land.

If you’re concerned about the opioids, fentanyl, heroin, and meth flowing into Oneida County and the greater Northwoods, please read the letter below and support construction of this adolescent treatment facility.

Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council CEO Bryan Bainbridge addresses each point within Cassian Town Resolution 2023-01 opposing the proposed Adolescent Recovery and Wellness Center. 

The project plans follow Oneida County zoning ordinances, and we look forward to continuing to work with elected officials and the community to ensure we’re doing our part to build desperately needed treatment capacity in the Northwoods for youth fighting addiction, he says.

"Doing nothing to fight addiction will only continue to diminish the quality of life for all residents of Oneida County—including the Town of Cassian—and the Northwoods," Bryan writes in the letter below. "The associated costs of not approving this youth treatment facility are too great."

The proposed youth recovery and wellness center is a 36-bed residential facility centrally located in Wisconsin to best serve all Member Tribes and urban Indians. It will provide culturally relevant services and responsive residential substance abuse treatment for Native American youth, ages 13-17, who are suffering from Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and any co-occurring mental health conditions. Priority will be given to Native American youth, but the facility would be open to non-Native adolescents as well.

Click here to follow GLITC on Facebook for updates and opportunities to voice support for this project throughout the permitting process.

The Following Letter From GLITC To Cassian Town Board Encourages Support For Youth Recovery Center

Wisconsin Conservation Voices is looking for a Native Vote Director who has a deep commitment to Wisconsin’s tribal communities, enjoys managing staff and developing programs, and believes in the power of voting to create positive change. This is a full-time position and there is geographic flexibility within the state. The full position description can be found HERE.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is seeking two Realty Specialists at their Great Lakes Agency office in Ashland. Application deadline is November 7.

Learn more and apply HERE.

Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission is seeking a full time Comptroller, responsible for supervising and maintaining an adequate fiscal management system and accounting system. Application deadline is November 16.

Learn more and apply HERE.