Ms. Halfmoon currently serves as the Shawnee Tribe Executive Director of Cultural and Historic Preservation. She supports the Shawnee Tribe leadership and staff in all cultural programs and efforts including language, historic preservation, and the Shawnee Tribe Cultural Center. She is a citizen of the Caddo Nation and is also Choctaw and Delaware and has over 25 years of experience in cultural preservation, tribal liaison work, consultation practices, cultural resource law and museum leadership. She holds a degree in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma and a certificate in Cultural Heritage Tourism from George Washington University.
From 2007 to 2015, Ms. Halfmoon served as Director of Outreach/Museum Programs for the First Americans Museum (OKC) where she led a statewide tribal outreach effort and served as the exhibitions liaison with Ralph Appelbaum & Associates (NYC). From 2015-2019 she served as the inaugural Director of American Indian Relations for the Ohio History Connection in Columbus, Ohio where she initiated the Tribal Nations Conference and oversaw the development and adoption of the Ohio History Connection’s first American Indian Policy.
In 2019 she returned to Oklahoma to support the Choctaw Nation and lead the way in preparing for the grand opening of the Choctaw Cultural Center; a stunning 100,000-sf facility with immersive exhibitions, a retail store, a café, and daily Choctaw programming. Ms. Halfmoon oversaw the hiring of all staff for the new cultural center as well as facilitating vital components including branding, marketing, facilities maintenance, and construction. The Choctaw Cultural Center opened its doors on July 23, 2021.
Ms. Halfmoon is currently Chair of the American Alliance of Museums’ Indigenous Peoples Museum Network, and she was recently elected to serve as a council member on the American Association for State and Local History.
The 2023 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will be harvested from Monongahela National Forest, which is part of the Shawnee ancestral homeland. The tribe’s THPO is teaming up with National Forest staff to ensure the Capitol Tree includes representation of the Shawnee Tribe. On Friday, September 15 at our General Council dinner & stomp festivities in […]
Early voting by absentee ballot (vote-by-mail) is offered in 2023. All voted ballots must be received by the Election Committee by 5:00 PM (Central) on the Thursday before the election, September 14. Voters may return their ballots by mail or deliver the ballot in person to the Election Committee. Any citizen participating in early or […]
CHIEF BEN BARNES As the celebration of Independence Day fades into the background, this is the time of year that the Business Council begins to look toward the next fiscal year and plan programming for Shawnee families. We generally have two sorts of programs: those that come from federal funding sources and those that are […]
In February of 2023, the Shawnee Tribe Business Council approved a revision to Title 6, The Shawnee Tribe Elections Act. This amendment of…
MORRIS BLUEJACKET HOMETOWN: BLUEJACKET, OK CURRENT CITY: BLUEJACKET, OK OCCUPATION: RETIRED Born in Vinita raised in BlueJacket. Graduate of BlueJacket High School. I am married to Pattie (McLain) BlueJacket for 46 years. We have One son Tab & wife Tiffany, 5 Grandchildren. I have worked in state & county government for the past 34 years, […]
HEIDI BIGKNIFE RANKIN HOMETOWN: DENVER, CO CURRENT CITY: TULSA, OK OCCUPATION: ARTIST Hatito or hello friends and fellow citizens, I am Heidi BigKnife. My Shawnee roots stretch from Vinita, Oklahoma to our tribal lands in Kansas and Ohio. I am an artist and live and work in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Most of my art practice is […]
BEN BARNES (Incumbent) HOMETOWN: MIAMI, OK CURRENT CITY: MIAMI, OK OCCUPATION: CHIEF OF THE SHAWNEE TRIBE For over 25 years, I have served in leadership roles in Indian Country, professionally at director-level positions in Tribal Gaming. Since 2008, it has been a true honor and privilege to work for my own community, working to bring […]
Shawnee Tribe Behavioral and Mental Health invites you to join an upcoming trauma support group centered around the book The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk.