Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
A community app that brings members, news, and resources together.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi is a federally recognized Tribal government with more than 1,700 enrolled Tribal Members. Its main offices are on the Pine Creek Indian Reservation near Athens, Michigan, with additional offices in Grand Rapids. During the Potawatomi Removal, a group of Tribal Members escaped and returned to their homelands in Michigan, and after decades of research and documentation the Tribe was federally recognized on December 19, 1995.
Today NHBP provides benefits, programs and services through a wide range of departments, from Health and Human Services, Housing and Culture to Environmental, Tribal Police and Tribal Court. Membership Services runs hundreds of events, programs and activities for Tribal Members each year, and new job postings, with hiring preference for Tribal Members, go up regularly.
That volume of information has to reach Members who live on the Reservation, in Grand Rapids and well beyond. The Communications Department already produces the Turtle Press monthly magazine, the public website, the Member website, social media and an instant alert system. The NHBP app, powered by Communikit, gives Members one place on their phone to find the calendar, department news, job postings and forms, without needing to know which channel a notice went out on.
An app that feels like Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi
Members search for NHBP and find their own app. The Tribe’s colours run through every screen, and the welcome screen is set over eagle feathers and regalia. Events, news and job postings are written about the Tribe, for the Tribe, with Potawatomi names and places used as Members know them.
Our team drafts 15 or more posts a month from Tribal sources: department updates, calendar events, job postings and stories from the community. NHBP reviews and approves every post before it publishes, so nothing reaches Members without a Tribal decision behind it. Staff decide who can post, which groups receive what, and when a notice goes out as a critical alert.
A feed that stays active between Council meetings
Communications time at a Tribal government is shared across a monthly magazine, two websites, social media and alerts. Posting support means the app is not one more task on that list. Stories such as the Kowabdanawa I Mbish paddling journey reach Members in the app alongside the events and job postings they open it for, so the feed stays worth checking even in a quiet week.
