HASKELL UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT RETIRES
Karen Swisher, who has been the president of Haskell Indian Nations University since 1999, retired
from that position as of December 31, 2006. During her term of office Swisher had to deal with
numerous financial difficulties that had to be solved in order for the university to survive.
Fortunately she was successful and the university is now on more stable financial standing. She
has also been given credit for helping advance baccalaureate programs and promoting the Elementary
Teacher Education Program.
Haskell is now involved in a search process that will secure a new president for the university.
The selection committee hopes to have someone named to the position early in this year. For her
future, Swisher intends to reside in Lawrence and to be helpful to the university however she can.
McKINNEY EDUCATION FUND AWARDS FIRST SCHOLARSHIP
Congratulations to Jessica Thompson on receiving the first Jim McKinney Scholarship. This fund was
established in memory of the late Rev. Jim McKinney who was a respected elder within the Prairie
Band Potawatomi Nation and a faithful member of Shawnee County Allied Tribes.
Jessica is a member of the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory and is attending
Highland College in Kansas as a freshman. Jessica has been the Shawnee County Allied Tribes
Princess in 2002-2003 and 2005-2006. She is Cherokee and Osage and has been very involved in her
Native culture for a number of years. Jessica is also a District Tribal Council Member for the Awi
Akta District of the Northern Cherokee Nation and is active in attending Native American culture
events across Kansas.
AWI AKTA NEWS
The Awi Akta District of the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory meets on the
second Sunday afternoon of each month. The upcoming meetings are scheduled as follows:
• February 11 – 1:00 p.m. at the Crestview United Methodist Church in Topeka.
• March 11 -- 1:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Holton.
Any interested persons are invited to attend. The meetings start with a carry-in meal at 1:00 p.m.
and are followed by a business session and a cultural program.
S.C.A.T. MEETINGS
Shawnee County Allied Tribes meets on the second Monday evening of each month at the Highland Park
United Methodist Church (29th & S.E. Michigan) in Topeka. The meetings begin with a board meeting
at 6:30 p.m., followed by a general meeting. Any interested persons are invited to attend. The
upcoming meeting dates are February 12 and March 12.
S.C.A.T. will have its annual meeting on April 9 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will include a carry-in
meal and the election of officers. The nominating committee is made up of Chris Wagner, Agnes
McKinney, and Don Anderson. Any suggestions for board members and officers can be turned into
them.
STANDING BEAR EVENTS
Standing Bear Inter-Tribal Brotherhood will be involved in the following activities.
• Jan. 26 – A program at the Fort Leavenworth elementary school.
• Feb. 7 – A program at the Capital City school in Topeka.
• Feb. 15 – A program at Thornton Place in Topeka.
HASKELL TO HOLD WELCOME BACK POW WOW
Haskell Indian Nations University will have its regular Welcome Back Pow Wow on Saturday, February
3, in the Coffin Complex. The head staff is as follows:
• M.C. – Manny King
• Arena Director – Vincent Townsend
• Head Man Dancer – Travis Brown
• Head Woman Dancer – Tiffany Stuart
• Head Gourd Dancer – Matt Wilson
• Host Northern Drum – The Agency
• Host Southern Drum – Soldier Creek
For more information please contact Vincent.townsend@haskell.edu, or Rex Cully at
rcully@haskell.edu.
HEALTH CONCERNS
The following persons have recently experienced health issues within themselves or within members
of their families: Christian Kramer, Agnes McKinney, Clyde Kennedy, and Ed Perry. Our prayers and
best wishes go out to them.
BEST WISHES DURING THIS NEW YEAR
The officers of Shawnee County Allied Tribes extends their best wishes for a happy and rewarding
new year during 2007 to all of our members and friends. May this be a good year for us and for all
of our families and loved ones.
POLAR BEARS ARE NOW A THREATENED SPECIES
United States Interior Director, Dirk Kempthorne has indicated that polar bears should be
officially listed as a threatened species by the federal government. This “endangered species”
category is reserved for those species that are more likely to become extinct in the future. Such
a decision by the government would require all federal agencies to ensure that anything they
authorize that might effect the polar bear population will not jeopardize their survival or their
environment.
Environmentalists hope that this decision to invoke the Endangered Species Act could eventually
lead to the government cutting back on its emissions standards for carbon dioxide and other
“heat-trapping” green house gases that are warming the earth’s atmosphere. At this time Greenland
and Norway have the most polar bears, but almost 5,000 mainly live in Alaska. Unfortunately the
numbers of polar bears world-wide has been dropping in the last decade and it is feared that their
numbers will decline rapidly if something is not done soon.
AARP MAGAZINE HONORS BLACKFEET WOMAN
The AARP Magazine recently named an American Indian advocate Elouise Cobell of Browning, Montana,
as one of 10 people who make the world a better place. Cobell, who is 61 years of age, is a member
of the Blackfeet Tribe and the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the federal
government concerning billions of dollars in lost or missing royalty money. The awards are given
each year to 10 people who have improved the world through their innovative thinking, passion, and
perseverance.
Cobell is an accountant and former treasurer for the Blackfeet Tribe. She helped found the Native
American National Bank, the country’s first tribally owned national bank. Her lawsuit aims to
reclaim $100 billion that was earned from oil, timber, and mining activities on lands that were
being held in trust for American Indians. This trust relationship had been in existence since the
19th century and had been managed by the Interior Department of the federal government.
CHEROKEE FILM WINS HONOR
“Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy,” the award-winning film by Rich-Heape Films of Dallas, was
recently named “Best Documentary Feature” at the 31st Annual American Indian Film Institute
Festival in San Francisco. The film chronicles the forced removal of the Cherokees from their
southeastern U.S. homeland to Indian Territory, which is now the state of Oklahoma. During the
forced march in severe winter conditions, an estimated 4,000 of the 16,000 Cherokees died. The
survivors of the march called it the “trail where they cried.”
The film was endorsed by the Cherokee Nation (in Oklahoma) and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
of North Carolina (which includes descendants of the few Cherokees that avoided the forced
removal). It is presented in the Cherokee language with English subtitles by Cherokee actor Wes
Studi and narration by actor James Earl Jones who is of blended Cherokee and African heritage.
“We are extremely grateful with the awards,” Heape said. “But it’s equally gratifying that so
many people have attended the screenings and we are informing people about a tragedy that is
neglected in U.S. history books.”
YOU CAN HELP WITH THE NEWSLETTER
We would like to invite our readers to help us with the newsletter that comes out every other
month. If you happen to read or hear or learn of something that you think would be of interest to
those who receive this newsletter, please let us know by e-mail (revdona@yahoo.com) or by phone or
by regular mail. There are many things happening in this area (or beyond) that are of interest to
Indian peoples, and we would like to be able to share that information with each other. So, keep
in touch with us and we will keep providing a newsletter that people enjoy reading.
Those who are currently working on the newsletter are:
• Hildred Vilander
• Agnes McKinney
• Don Anderson
We will be glad to hear from you.
SHAWNEE COUNTY ALLIED TRIBES
P.O. Box 750284
Topeka, Kansas 66675-0284
President: Hildred Vilander
Secretary: Don Anderson
Treasurer: Mike Ballard
Editors: Hildred Vilander
Don Anderson