Jennifer Fletcher: A voice for The Coeur d’Alene Tribe

Meet Jennifer Fletcher, a life-long member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and an employee of her Tribe for the better part of the last 20 years. She serves as the editor of the Coeur d’Alene Tribal paper, Council Fires, and three years ago she added public relations director for the Tribe to her duties. She is the daughter of Kae Mae Lowley, of the Seltice family, and the late Jim DeGraffenreid. She has an undergraduate B.A. from the University of Idaho in visual communications and received her M.B.A. from UI in 2018.

Generation:

I think it depends on which site you reference huh? I suppose I fall more into the tail end of the Gen X category (born in 1977). I grew up with a lot of independence, often going with my siblings to an empty home, which qualifies me as a latchkey kid, I suppose. I watched the birth of the internet and I also watched the Challenger explode; I have seen newspapers largely fade and give way to online resources; which made me reminisce about when I began in the industry and had to literally cut and paste my articles and photos to a piece of paper, whereas now I cannot make the paper without a computer. I have spent countless hours in a darkroom developing my own film and prints while also loving the freedom that the digital age provided me in my hobbies and my career. I taped pictures out of Teen Beat Magazine to my walls while making mix tapes from the Rick Dees weekly top 40 and I downloaded dozens of songs from Napster to an MP3 player. I guess Gen X is really a melding of those people who got and appreciate the hands-on experiences of the past while being introduced to and appreciating the way technology has made our lives a little less tedious.

Career and community involvement:

I began working for the Tribe in the Council Fires department when I was a junior in high school. I continued with that off and on throughout college and during breaks. In my early years with the paper I became a member of the Native American Journalists Association and have been mentored by some amazing journalism professionals from all over the country. Once I graduated with my undergrad, I was offered a full-time position with the paper. Four years later, I was named editor of the paper and remain as such today. Halfway through my M.B.A. degree in 2017, I was offered the position as public relations director for the Tribe and today serve in both of those capacities. Earlier this year, I completed the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce Leadership program, an amazing experience where I learned so much about the area and what makes it work. I have also just begun to serve on the Community Leadership Committee for the Innovia Foundation for Region 8 in Idaho.

Parental status:

I have two beautiful and fun young boys of my own — Jaxson is 9 and Jareth is 5 — but, when you add my boyfriend’s (Chuck Pierce) kids to the mix, we end up with four boys (9, 7, 5, 4) and a teenage girl… Needless to say, life is busy.

How have the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and its family members been handling the coronavirus pandemic?

I have been so impressed by our team at the Tribe while handling this pandemic. We got ahead of the situation by closing facilities early and remained diligent about placing health and safety protocols everywhere very early on. Unfortunately, we got our first case as the curve began to fall just a little over two weeks ago, but the way our team — especially those who work for Marimn Health — has remained in place and ready to help has impressed me. These people are working weekends, tracking, tracing, informing. Their performance as employees and the care they have provided the community is truly remarkable to me.

What do you enjoy most about being a spokesperson for your Tribe?

I love the diversity this job has afforded me. I loathe being bored for too long or doing the same thing all the time; with the PR position I hold I am doing something different all of the time. One day I may be writing speeches and news releases or learning about Tribal history as it relates to the present; the next day I will be developing a video for messaging purposes; the day after that I’m out in the field with employees taking photographs and documenting progress on projects. It’s really fun and varied and, to top it off, my co-workers are fun and so supportive. I couldn’t ask for a better career.

What piece(s) of your heritage or traditions do you hold closest to your heart?

The closeness and connection to my immediate and extended family. Growing up, I was surrounded by my cousins, my aunties, my uncles…all their friends. I had this huge pool of people around me literally all the time — laughing loudly, playing games, getting out in nature, just spending time together. My mother’s family is close and as I grew up, moving with my dad from place to place, I realized that the connection I had to the land and the people who lived on it was something special. Not only did many people I encounter not grow up with their cousins draped over every surface of their homes (which blew my mind), but many didn’t know their neighbors either. I learned that the culture in which I grew up was highly connected in ways others didn’t get to experience — that Tribe mentality that drives you to treat everyone like a member of the family — is unique and something that I will treasure forever.

What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

I grew up a bookworm. I was a very shy and insecure kid so I spent most of my childhood inside the pages of other worlds. What’s surprising about that is my genre of choice. From very early on I was drawn to thrillers and horror novels. I never opened a romance novel or one of the classics (even though I can respect them now). I looked for psychological thrillers, serial killers and monsters occasionally — something that would make me feel scared and run from room to room looking for the bad guy who I knew had to be lurking somewhere. I enjoyed freaking myself out with my own imagination inspired by the pages of some weird and disturbing books and the characters who lived in them.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

If I could visit anywhere it would be Switzerland. My father’s family (DeGraffenreid) originated in that area and from what I have learned has a long and distinguished history there. I have so much access and knowledge to my mother’s side of my family that I’d love to balance that with some deeper knowledge of my dad’s family. Plus, the pictures of that area look amazing and I am a sucker for a beautiful landscape.