TAHLEQUAH – In November, the Cherokee Phoenix will honor Cherokee Nation citizens who work to make the world a better place in the areas of business, community, education, health and service, as well as advance the tribe’s culture and language.

After accepting nominations for the newspaper’s fifth annual Seven Feathers Awards, this year’s winners are:

LANGUAGE: NEW JORDAN BAPTIST CHURCH

For language, the Cherokee Phoenix selected the New Jordan Baptist Church congregation for its use of the Cherokee language.

“The pastor and the majority of the small congregation of this church are elder first-language speakers,” the nomination letter states. “The weekly Sunday service is done in mostly Cherokee as well as most of the hymns. This gives people the opportunity to speak their first language with other speakers, which has become a rare opportunity for them.”

The Salina-based church and places like it “are key to maintaining and revitalizing our language,” according to the nominator.

“Although there are opportunities such as online classes and such, I feel that seeing the language spoken in a church and conversational setting from people who learned to speak Cherokee before they even learned English is the key to spark an interest in learning and carrying on the language,” the nomination letter states.

CULTURE: JESSICA (TYNER) MEHTA

The Seven Feathers award for culture goes to Jessica (Tyner) Mehta, a multi-award-winning interdisciplinary author, artist and storyteller from Hillsboro, Oregon.

“Dr. Mehta is a working artist, writer, scholar/researcher and business owner,” the nomination letter states. “She has had several award-winning books published during her career, all of which center on lessening the effects of decolonization and revitalizing Indigenous culture. Her artwork (visual, performance and installation) addresses similar themes.”

One of her recent exhibitions included an installation that explores the history of residential boarding schools. Mehta’s doctoral work focused on the intersection of poetry and eating disorders in Indigenous communities.

“Now, she is looking forward to an artist residency at Soaring Gardens in Pennsylvania in August where she will work on a new, wearable art project,” her nominator said. “She prioritizes collaborating with fellow Native artists, creatives and culture-bearers whenever possible, and this extends to this work which is a collaborative undertaking with her youngest daughter.”

COMMUNITY: BRAD EUBANKS

The Seven Feathers honoree for community is Brad Eubanks, a board member of Help in Crisis and owner of the Tahlequah-based United Wrestling Entertainment professional wrestling company.

Help in Crisis offers support and services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Eubanks, of Hulbert, participates in the organization’s annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser “to publicly show that he will not stand for domestic violence,” his nomination letter states.

“He works for Indian Child Welfare and helps children find foster homes,” his nominator says. “He also owns the UWE wrestling company that hosts monthly events to benefit children/organizations in the community. He is willing to always help others no matter the cost.”

Eubanks, also known as his wrestling persona “Fuel,” held the UWE’s first event in 2009 at the Cherokee Nation’s Talking Leaves Job Corps to help support Sequoyah High School.

SERVICE: HANNAH JIMENEZ

For service, the Seven Feathers recipient is Hannah Jimenez, who according to her nomination letter is “a rising star” at Columbia University in New York City with a mind for community service whether it’s volunteering or tutoring students.

Jimenez is a 2019 graduate of Sequoyah High School.

“Hannah has been extensively involved in her community in Tahlequah – from volunteering at the Cherokee Elder Care facilities before the peak of COVID-19 and tutoring students at the high school to helping facilitate the annual Performing Arts Summer Youth Camp for the past five years with Amanda Ray at Sequoyah High School,” her nomination letter states. “In the past year, Hannah was a part of the Summer Youth Leadership Intern cohort with the Cherokee Nation, and in that was an instructor of storytelling, theatre and performance where she demonstrated to Cherokee youth the importance of storytelling, culture and passing on oral histories.”

Jimenez is a recent recipient of Columbia University’s Leadership Award of “Indelible Mark” for the positive impact she’s had on the Native community on campus.

EDUCATION: REGINA (PHILPOTT) MCLEMORE

The Seven Feathers honoree for education is Regina (Philpott) McLemore, a retired teacher and librarian-turned author from Stilwell who is described as “a quintessential educator” by her nominator.

“She continually obtains knowledge then passes it on,” McLemore’s nomination letter states. “Her life choices – career in public education and involvement in her retirement – show how her love of learning and her love of teaching has made a difference and continues to make a positive impact.”

Over the course of her 33-year career in education, McLemore spent time at Stilwell Junior High, Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah and at Siloam Springs, Arkansas. After retiring, she “became an advocate for lifelong learning by joining organizations which promote volunteerism in educational endeavors,” her nomination letter states.

McLemore volunteers with the Stilwell Public Library Friends Society, Adair County Retired Educators Association, Alpha Delta Kappa and Adair County Historical and Genealogical Association.

HEALTH: DR. CRYSTAL HERNANDEZ

Selected as the Seven Feathers recipient for health is Dr. Crystal Hernandez, “a proud Cherokee citizen and Latina” and psychologist by training who has been a mental health administrator for more than 15 years, according to her nomination letter.

“Currently, she serves the state of Oklahoma as the executive director of the Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health, which is an adult civil psychiatric hospital, the Oklahoma Forensic Center, which is the sole forensic psychiatric hospital for adjudicative competency and insanity, and the Transitions Recovery Center, which is a forensic mental health step-down unit,” her nominator wrote. “Dr. Hernandez is considered a tribal disabilities expert, as well as a researcher, autism mother and ally. She holds independent contracts with several tribal nations to provide guidance and insight to system and program development design.”

Hernandez, from Craig County, Oklahoma, is also the creator and co-host of the Black Feathers podcast, which offers “disabilities conversations for all.”

BUSINESS: KRISTOPHER EASTON

For business, the Seven Feathers winner is Kristopher Easton, a senior program manager of engineering and finance systems for Google. 

Easton, of Buda, Texas, is a founding member of Google American Indian Network, now known as the Google Aboriginal & Indigenous Network.

According to Easton’s award nominator, following the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court’s historic McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, he leveraged work relationships to organize and lead a small project that added the Cherokee Nation and other major tribes in Indian Territory to Google maps. 

The project ultimately made the Cherokee Nation recognizable and searchable on the world’s most-used map, the nomination letter states.

“Kris led a volunteer team back in 2014 to add all federal recognized tribes to the map … but was heartbroken at the time to not be able to include his own nation at the time due to legal ambiguity,” the letter states.

Honorees will be presented their awards during the Cherokee Phoenix Seven Feathers Awards Gala on Nov. 11 at the Chota Center in Tahlequah. Tickets for the gala will be available for purchase at a later date.