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Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
Department of Environmental Protection
13 S. 69A
Miami, OK 74354
918-541-1902
The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma Department of Environmental Protection was established in October of 2001 through the request of funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) General Assistance Program. The Ottawa people have realized for many a year the significance of the relationship between man and the environment. The sustenance of both is dependant upon the purity of this relationship. The MISSION of this department is to preserve this sacred relationship between man and nature through the environmental principles of PROTECT, PRESERVE, and RESTORE.
- This department intends to provide a safe, clean, and healthy living standard for all peoples by protecting the natural resources that have been afforded to us. This will be accomplished through assessment and monitoring activities of our air, water, and soil by utilizing the newest available technologies and sound scientific method of data gathering and analysis. These activities will educate us on the current environmental conditions, alert us to new pollution dangers, and allow us to prevent further degradation.
- The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma recognizes that protecting our environment is a necessity as it is essential to preserving our cultural heritage. The traditions of the Ottawa people including those of hunting and gathering, are in danger of becoming obsolete if our natural resources are or become environmentally impaired. We are committed to being respectful and responsible stewards of the land and teaching this same stewardship to others. We teach our children traditional dances and their purposes so that those traditions will live on beyond our generation. Because children learn by example we must also teach them a traditional way of life through the respect of and giving back to mother earth. It is for their futures and generations to come that these efforts are of such importance.
- The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma is held by the responsibility of its general council as well as its own values to seek and obtain, by any methods reasonable, the means to restore any impaired natural resources. This will be accomplished by a matter of priority, placing human health and cultural significance above any other.
The Department of Environmental Protection for the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma currently maintains three full time employees, Director of Programs, Rosanna Sheppard, Cheryl Stafford, Environmental Assistant, and Water Quality Technician, Lori Payne. The department is funded through EPA under the General Assistance Program and a Clean Water Act 106 Water quality-monitoring project. We have recently applied for funding
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