Otoe-Missouria News Archive

by Brandy McDonnell

Despite the oppressive heat, hundreds of spectators crowded outside the Cox Convention Center to watch the 24th annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival open with its annual parade. Viewers clapped, cheered and bobbed to the patriotic music as the National Guard band made its first Red Earth parade appearance. The festival’s first grand entry Friday ended with veterans among the dancers and from the audience taking the Cox arena floor to accompany the three color guards in a special victory dance.

“I’m glad they’ve done that this year. … I think it’s the greatest thing they could do,” said Darrell Moore, a Pawnee native who now lives in Dallas. “If it wasn’t for the veterans, they wouldn’t be able to have this.” The Army veteran, who is of Pawnee and Otoe-Missouria descent, wears a red, white and blue ribbon on his black and green regalia when he competes in the golden age men division of the Southern Straight Dance.

» Read the complete article on NewsOK.com.

by James S. Tyree

Tracey Moore is a member of the Osage, Otoe-Missouria, Pawnee and Sac & Fox tribes who aims to help keep their disappearing languages alive by learning, speaking and teaching them. She learned how recently during the Breath of Life workshop at the University of Oklahoma’s Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

The May 24-28 program taught participants how to conduct linguistic research on tribal languages, starting with archival materials at the museum. The program is designed for people from tribes that lack fluent speakers of their language who want to help preserve the language for future generations. Moore was eager to return home to Fairfax, where she would study even further and share that knowledge with her students in the Osage Nation’s Language Program. “It’s just inspiring; I can’t wait to go back and dig in,” she said. “With the linguistics part, I will have the ability to learn all my languages.”

» Read the complete article on NewsOK.com.

by Leeann Root

The Central New York offices of Indian Country Today are typically rather quiet. But the sound of drums April 8 sparked the worker’s attention. A multicultural group of about 20 began a 700-mile “Walk for a Nuclear Free Future” March 7 in Salamanca, New York, to call attention to the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which is scheduled for May 3, 2010.

According to an event announcement the treaty’s objective is “to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.”

Larry Bringing Good, a Cheyenne Arapahoe and Otoe-Missouria from Troy, New York, said the walk began at the West Valley Nuclear Waste Site in Salamanca, “where erosion is going to cause nuclear waste to leak into the Great Lakes and contaminate the water.” He said waste “they say is lower hazard” has been stored there for years.

» Read the complete article on Indian Country Today.

by Will Chavez

Robert Murray is a traditional dancer and has been headman dancer for two of the tribes he belongs to – Otoe-Missouri and Iowa. He is also half Ponca, and is proud of all three tribes and celebrates and shares the culture of each one. He hoop dances and performs the Eagle dance, and at 51 years old, still “fancy dances every once in a while.” This dance is usually reserved for younger powwow dancers.

He first danced in a powwow arena when he was 19 months old at a Ponca powwow. He said he has danced every year since then except for a total of three years, when he stopped dancing to observe deaths in his family. “I’ve been in that arena for a long time,” he said. He also has been singing with the powwow drum group Yellowhammer for nearly 17 years. The group travels to powwows throughout the country, he said. He also finds time to sing with the Zotigh drum group.

» Read the complete article on NativeTimes.com.

Leon O. Dailey of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, celebrated his 80th birthday on Sunday, January 17. He was feted with a family dinner on Saturday evening and a church reception on Sunday.

Dailey was born on the Otoe-Missouria Indian Reservation near Red Rock, Oklahoma, one of seven children of the late Dewey and Susie Caleb Dailey. Leon is from the first generation of his family to be born with the surname Dailey. His grandfather, So-Jay-Inga, took the name Charles Dailey as an adult and passed the surname onto his son. Dailey is a descendant of Ah-Hah-Che-Ke-Saw-Ke, one of the Missouria chiefs who signed the tribe’s Treaty of 1854.

Dailey attended the Pawnee Indian boarding school and completed high school at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. After graduation he helped on the family farm and worked briefly as a plasterer in Stillwater and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Army during the Korean War. After completing basic training at Fort Stewart, Georgia, he was transferred to Indiantown Gap Military Reservation to join the 5th Infantry Division, anti-aircraft artillery. It was during his stay there that Dailey met Caroline Reese of Palmyra. The two were married the following year. The couple has resided in Lebanon County ever since and will celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary in April.

Dailey has worked primarily in construction. For many years he was employed with Granger General Contractor and later with Buchmoyer Contractor. He retired from Hauck Manufacturing in Cleona.

As a charter member of the Jonestown Bible Church, Dailey has sung in the choir and taught Sunday school for more than five decades. At various times he has served on the Elder Board and as a Deacon of the church. He has been active in many church programs over the years, such as conducting music and worship services at local nursing homes.

Leon and Caroline are parents of five children. They also have seven grandchildren. Leon Dailey and his children are enrolled members of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma.

» Originally published in the Lebanon Daily News.

by Lorraine Jessepe

Jessica Moore’s passion for art, mathematics and culture has taken her across the world. Moore (Osage/Otoe-Missouria/Sac and Fox/Pawnee) is a 24-year-old Oklahoma State University student in her final year of the landscape architecture program.

“I have been fortunate to travel abroad to a number of countries, which created a new passion for me – a love for other cultures and other societies of this world,” said Moore, a 2009 National Center for American Indian Enterprise 40 Under 40 honoree. So far, her studies have taken her to France, Italy, Thailand, Japan and Peru.

As a young girl, Moore always wanted to be a doctor, but her interest in art and math eventually led her to architecture. Later, an interest in environmentalism led her to change her field to landscape architecture. “I actually didn’t know what landscape architecture was until my sophomore year at OSU.” It’s a multidisciplinary field involving the planning and design of natural and built environments. “My design philosophy as a landscape architect is to make space animate, special and memorable in a way that invokes the emotions that the owner wishes to express or feels,” Moore said.

» Read the complete article on Indian Country Today.

Thirteen of the nation’s most well known Native artists will be in Norman December 5-6 to sign copies of an art calendar showcasing their work. Now in its sixteenth year, this event never fails to bring in fans from across Oklahoma and the surrounding states. “The draw this group of artists has is outstanding. Customers begin purchasing the calendars in June of each year to ensure they have theirs for this event,” Leslie Zinbi said.

Several authors will also be at the gallery this weekend with their latest books, including Murv Jacob from Tahlequah and Deborah Duvall from Tulsa.  Jabob and Duvall write and illustrate books about Cherokee myths and legends featuring all animals and are generally done for children.  Both tour and lecture across the nation.

This year’s calendar artists [include]… David Kaskaske, Otoe-Missouria, Master Artist…

» Read the complete article on NativeTimes.com.

by Craig E. Davis, AARP of Oklahoma

American Indians from across Oklahoma gathered for AARP Oklahoma’s first Indian Elder Honors November 17th in Oklahoma City. Fifty American Indian Elder Honorees were recognized from more than 30 tribes at the event which featured the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers and was attended by several hundred people.

Among the honorees were authors, poets, educators, chiefs and governors; elders who have kept their cultures alive by saving traditional dance and language; and those who have fought for federal recognition of their tribes and nations and veterans – including the last surviving Native American from the Bataan Death March. AARP National President-Elect Lee Hammond was on hand to deliver the keynote address and help present medallions along with AARP Oklahoma Volunteer State President Marjorie Lyons and State Director Nancy Coffer…

Lorena DeRoin, Otoe-Missouria – at age 94 still comes to work nearly every day at her job at the Otoe-Missouria Senior Citizens Center where she has worked for 29 years. Mrs. DeRoin was the first Native American woman to serve as the president of the National Chapter of American War Mothers and today serves in the Otoe-Missouria Chapter of the American War Mothers as their Chaplain.

» Read the complete article on NativeTimes.com.

» reprint from the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Newsletter: Fall 2009

When fifteen-year-old Summer Moore was a little girl, she used to dream of being a powwow princess. “Just seeing the other princesses when I was little made me want to be princess,” Moore says.  This year her little girl dream came true when she was crowned Otoe-Missouria Princess at the tribal encampment in July. While she may have dreamed of being a princess, the Frontier sophomore and cloth dancer says that it was her love of dancing that led her to her new role. “Last year I really watched the princesses and stuff and really started dancing at every powwow,” Moore says. “And then I got nominated.”

In August she attended the American Indian Expo in Anadarko, OK, where she was kept very busy with interviews, speeches and of course, dancing. “It was fun,” Moore says. “We did a lot of activities. You never really got time off. You were so busy the whole time.” Moore says that she met many other princesses and made many new friends while at the Expo. One of her favorite activities was a little intimidating, but exciting.

“I liked the fashion show that we did,” Moore says. “We wore our traditional dress. It was crazy because we had to walk all the way around the room. We had to stop and then turn like a real fashion show — in front of all these people!” When you are a tribal princess, traveling is part of the job. Moore is the daughter of Bradley and Bunny Moore who, along with her aunt and director Julia Tah, take turns traveling with her from powwow to powwow. In early September, Moore traveled to Lakeside, California, with her aunt for the Barona Powwow. She was a guest princess and competed in the cloth dance competition. “My great-grandma, she was the one that helped make that powwow,” Moore says. “I went up there and I got first in the contest.”

Although her reign as Otoe-Missouria Princess is only for one year, Moore says she thinks that dancing will be something she does for many more years. “I’ve been dancing since I was three,” Moore says. “I like dancing. It’s just something that I’ve always liked to do. It helps to get stuff off my mind, and I have fun when I do it.”

Moore’s Otoe-Missouria name translates into English as “Little Flower Swaying in Wind,” which seems apt for a young woman so comfortable with her time in the arena. Her next big powwow is the Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque.

John Butler has been named as the head singer for this year’s annual Standing Bear Powwow. John is the son of Mary (Littlewalker) Butler and the late Fredrick Butler. He is Otoe, Kaw, and Ponca. John graduated from Oologah High School in 1994, and is planning to graduate next year with a degree in Computer Science.

John began dancing at a young age and is an accomplished straight dancer. He also started the Yellow Spotted Horse drum group in 1993. The group was comprised of many young men and women from the Otoe, Ponca, Pawnee, Osage, and Kaw tribes. He also works with the Native American Student Association at Rogers State University in Claremore.

Other members of this year’s head staff are: Anthony KillsCrow and Oliver LittleCook — Masters of Ceremonies, Willie Beard — Head Man Dancer, Jenny Rush-Buffalohead — Head Lady Dancer, John Star Bighorse and K.C. Bills — Arena Directors, Roy Childs — Water Carrier, Red Rock Creek Gourd Dancers — Host Gourd Dancers, Pawnee Indian Veterans — Color Guard, and Jewell Inez Horinek — Outgoing Princess.

The powwow starts on Friday and continues through Saturday with grand entries at 7 each evening. The event, which is held at Standing Bear Park, is free, open to the public and funded in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council.

» Originally published in the Ponca City News.