Completing the Circle Event for Native American Children in Foster Care

​Completing the Circle is an annual event aiming to provide success and stability by raising cultural awareness for Native American children in foster care.

The event will focus on the heritage of various tribal nations with the help of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS), tribal nations and other community partners. The hope is to raise awareness that these children are part of a bigger culture, resilience and legacy of their tribal nations.

Completing the Circle will take place on May 21, 2016 at the Chickasaw Cultural Center. The Chickasaw Cultural Center is located at 867 Charles Cooper Memorial Rd in Sulphur, Oklahoma.

Opening ceremony will begin at 10 am with a traditional blessing, drums and a presentation by Native Princesses representing tribes across Oklahoma.  Deputy Assistant of Native American Affairs State of Oklahoma, Brian Hendrix, will also be speaking during this time.  This event is free and open to DHS foster families or tribes that have a Native child, who is in foster care, placed in their home.

During the event, the children can learn through hands-on demonstrations and activities. Some popular activities include basket weaving, corn husk dolls, ribbon work and beading.  The Chickasaw Cultural Center will also have demonstrations throughout the day which include stickball, chunkey and a stomp dance, which all Completing the Circle participants are invited to join. 

All guests can experience the Chikasha Inchokka' (“Chickasaw House”) Traditional Village, which features cultural demonstrators illustrating 18th-century Chickasaw life and interactive exhibits in the Chikasha Poya Exhibit Center.

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