Otoe-Missouria News Archive

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.

by Wesley Mahan

An Oklahoma couple will be honored as the National Indian Education Association Parents of the Year. Brent and Kennetha Greenwood of Edmond were nominated for the award after winning the Oklahoma version last November. “We won the Parents of the Year at the state level and we were nominated by Sydna Yellowfish, who is the head of Edmond Indian Education. She nominated us for helping out with her Indian education program. We get together handgames for them and do workshops, since both my husband and I are artist,” said Kennetha…

Kennetha is a member of the Otoe Missouria Tribe and Brent is of Ponca and Chickasaw heritage. They have two children and will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in October to accept their award.

» Read the complete article on NativeTimes.com.

The National Indian Education Association will be honoring eight Native individuals and one school who have had a large impact on the world of education during their 40th annual convention to be held in Milwaukee, Wisc., Oct. 22-25. Since 1977, the membership association has honored Native leaders who have changed and improved the lives of their schoolchildren and affected dialog concerning Native education issues, both locally and nationally…

Elaine Peters, Menominee Indian Tribe, and Joseph Medicine Crow, Crow Nation, will be honored as Elder of the Year. Brent (Ponca/Chickasaw) and Kennetha Greenwood (Otoe Missouria) will be honored as Parents of the Year, Dr. Cornel Pewewardy, Comanche Nation, is the Teacher of the Year and Denise M. Juneau (Mandan/Hidatsa Tribe) is the Educator of the Year.

» Read the complete article on Indian Country Today.

by Kevin Cole

The Lewis and Clark center in Nebraska City will hold its annual salute to America’s best-known trailblazers this weekend, but now visitors will have to pay to hear about their heroics. On June 15, the National Park Service transferred administration of the five-year-old center to a local foundation. Under the Park Service, donations were accepted but admission was not charged. On June 30, the center began charging: $5.50 for adults, $4.50 for senior citizens and college students, and $3.50 for children ages 6 to 18. Children 5 and under are admitted free. An admission charge was needed to operate the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitors Center at 102 S. 67th Road, said Executive Director Erv Friesen…

Truman Black, an Otoe Tribe member living in Red Rock, Oklahoma, will talk about the expedition’s impact on Native Americans. Black will talk about the Otoe’s historic first meetings with expedition members.

Read the complete article in the Omaha World-Herald.

The Otoe-Missouria Tribe will be dedicating the War Mothers Memorial on Monday and encourages the public to attend the ceremony and a meal afterward. Special guests will be Otoe-Missouria veterans and veterans of other tribes. The Memorial honors those tribal veterans who have fought in every American war, including the Civil War.

Funds for the memorial were raised over several years by the Otoe-Missouria War Mothers, a chartered chapter of the National Organization of War Mothers. The tribal chapter was chartered on Sept. 13, 1943, and was the first Native American War Mothers chapter in the United States.

Chapter member Lorena DeRoin, now in her 90s, was one of first Otoe-Missouria War Mothers and in 1999 was the first Native American to be elected president of the national organization. Greta Adams, who is now the chapter president, was at one time the president of the American War Mothers State of Oklahoma Chapter.

Monday’s program will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the memorial, located immediately south of the tribal cemetery. Immediately following the War Mothers program, tribal council members — representing the tribe — will dedicate the memorial.

Afterward, a meal will be served in the tribe’s Cultural Building. Everyone is welcome. Those attending are requested to bring your own chairs and dishes.

» Originally published in the Ponca City News.

Southern Plains Indian Museum, Anadarko, Oklahoma

Lester Harragarra is an enrolled member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and a descendent of the Kiowa Tribe. Lester’s father is the late Kenneth Harragarra, a World War II veteran and a former Otoe-Missouria Tribal Chairman. Lester’s Otoe-Missouria grandparents are Moses and Mary Harragarra. His grandfather was one of the last hereditary Chiefs of the Otoe-Missouria and his grandmother initiated the first all American Indian War Mothers Chapter in the United States in 1943.

» Read the complete article on the Indian Arts and Crafts Board website.

by Jami Custer

To honor the 30 year anniversary of the first “Longest Walk,” a new group of walkers is traversing the continent. Along the way they will assist communities by doing community service and listening to Indian people’s needs and concerns. The walkers began on February 11 in San Francisco, California, on Alcatraz Island and they will finish in Washington, D.C. The first walk began in 1978 when bill HR 9054 was going to be brought to Congress.

“They were going to abolish some Native American rights like mineral and fishing rights and abolish all treaties that existed at that time. A group of Natives got together with some elders and they wanted to find a peaceful solution to this,” said Southern Route Coordinator Larry BringingGood, who is Cheyenne, Arapaho and Otoe-Missouria. “They made the suggestion that they walk across America and let them know what is going to happen and how this is going to affect us in all people and all nations across this nation.”

» Read the complete article on the CherokeePhoenix.org website.