SCAT ANNUAL POW-WOW COMING IN AUGUST
Shawnee County Allied Tribes will be holding its 18th Annual Traditional Pow-Wow at Lake Shawnee during
August 29-31. The site will be Reynolds Lodge which is located on the east side of Lake Shawnee. It will
include singing and dancing, food booths and many arts and crafts vendors.
The event will officially begin with Education Day which will be held on Friday morning, August 29, in front
of Reynolds Lodge. During this time we will have a large group of children from area schools coming to learn
about Native American Indian culture and traditions. There will be about 30 presenters who will talk to the
children about Native foods, clothing, beadwork, stories, music and life-style.
Native singing and dancing will begin with gourd dancing on Friday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and then
the Grand Entry will be at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday the following schedule will be followed:
* 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. – Gourd Dancing
• 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. – Grand Entry and Social Dancing
• 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. – Gourd Dancing
• 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. – Grand Entry and Social Dancing
On Sunday morning there will be a church service at the Pow-Wow Grounds at 9:00 a.m.
The food vendors and arts and crafts dealers will generally be open from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Friday and
from noon to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
All persons 12 years of age and older will need to purchase a Pow-Wow button to enter the grounds. Buttons
purchased in advance are $6.00 each and will be $8.00 at the gate. These buttons will be good for all three
days of the Pow-Wow. Advance buttons may be purchased after August 1 at the following locations:
• Dillon Stores in Topeka, Lawrence and Manhattan
• Wolfe’s Camera and Computer Store in Topeka
• Mike’s IGA in the Oakland area of Topeka
• Topeka City Employee Credit Union
This year our Pow-Wow is dedicated to the memory of Dewey Jessepe who passed away recently. He was
Potawatomi/Kickapoo and was very active in local pow-wows. He was a good friend of SCAT and well-respected
for his involvement in our activities.
POW-WOW PLANNING MEETINGS
We will begin our Pow-Wow planning meetings on Sunday evening, July 27, at the Highland Park United Methodist
Church (S.E. 29th & Michigan) at 6:00 p.m. All interested persons are invited to be involved. Those who
come are asked to bring snacks to share. Subsequent meetings will be August 3, 10, 17, & 24th.
The post Pow-Wow feast will be held on Monday evening, September 8, at the Education Building at the Gage
Park Zoo in Topeka at 6:30 p.m. It will be a pot-luck carry-in meal with everyone bringing food to share
with each other. It will give us the opportunity to share in fellowship and to do some reflecting on how the
Pow-Wow worked.
NORTHERN CHEROKEE NEWS
The Awi Akta District of the Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory will next meet on Sunday
afternoon, September 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Holton at 1:00 p.m. The meeting will
include a carry-in meal, a business session, and a culture presentation. Any interested persons are invited
to attend. The meetings are generally finished around 4:00 p.m.
SULLIVAN CHAPEL TO HAVE TACO SALE
The Sullivan Chapel Indian Methodist Church will have a Taco Sale on Sunday, July 13, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Tacos may be eaten on site or purchased and taken home. The church also has their food pantry open for local
residents on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Saturdays in July. They are located at 1937 N.E. Madison in North Topeka.
SCAT MONTHLY MEETINGS
Shawnee County Allied Tribes holds its regular meetings on the second Monday evening of each month at the
Highland Park United Church from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The board meets at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting
following at 7:30 p.m. The upcoming meetings will be on July 14 and August 11. All persons who are
interested in our activities are invited to attend.
HASKELL ART MARKET TO BE IN SEPTEMBER
The annual Haskell University Art Market will be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 13 & 14. Each year
it includes a host of Native artists and crafts persons who both show their wares and demonstrate how they
are created.
NEW NATIVE AMERICAN COINS COMING
A U.S. Mint advisory committee has recommended a new $1 American Indian coin design that officials hope will
soon complement the flip side of the famous Sacagawea coin. The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, which
is responsible for advising the secretary of the treasury on themes and designs pertaining to U.S. coinage,
reviewed 15 design candidates June 18 and selected a creation portraying a female American Indian figure
planting seeds in a cornfield.
Another popular design, which came in second place, featured three female Indians surrounded by squash, corn
and beans. It represented the traditional Native “Three Sisters” system of planting the crops, which tend to
supplement each other when grown in the same location. In consultation with the National Museum of the
American Indian and other Native groups, the Mint decided to focus on Indian agriculture achievements for the
first year of its Native American $1 coin program, which will officially launch in 2009.
Like the Presidential $1 coins, the Native American $1 coins are expected to keep their golden color and
distinctive edge, and feature edge-lettering of the year, mint mark, “E Pluribus Unum” and “In God We Trust.
Whatever reverse design is chosen for 2009, it will not be permanent. It will change each year to celebrate
important contribution of Indian tribes or individual Native people, but will continue to contain the
inscriptions “$1” and “United States of America.”
(reprinted from Indian Country Today, Wednesday, June 25, 2008)
FORMER HASKELL STUDENT ELECTED TO NATIONAL OFFICE
A University of Kansas student has been elected president of the National Native American Law Students
Association. Burton Warrington, a second-year student from Keshena, Wis., will serve during the 2008-09
term.
Warrington is perfectly suited for the role, said Stacy Leeds, professor of law and director of KU’s Tribal
Law and Government Center. “He has been an outstanding student leader since his undergraduate days at
Haskell (Indian Nations University),” Leeds said. “His peers, on a national level, have recognized his
leadership qualities, and they have made an excellent choice. Burton is already engaged and highly visible
in the field of Indian law, having received tribal governmental appointments as a law student.”
Warrington (Menominee, Prairie Band Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk) was elected to the post by the association’s
membership at the organization’s annual board meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. He is currently wrapping up a
term as president of the KU chapter of the group. In addition to his law course-work, Warrington co-teaches
a course at Haskell and serves on the athletic commission for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
(reprinted from Native American Times, May 2, 2008)
UNITED METHODIST CHURCH SUPPORTS SAND CREEK RESEARCH CENTER
Support for the United Methodist Church to contribute $50,000 to the development of a research and learning
center at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site was expressed April 28 in action by General
Conference 2008. The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site is a memorial to more than 160 Native
Americans – mostly women and children – who were massacred in 1864 by troops led by a Methodist lay preacher,
Col. John Chivington. The historic site, 160 miles southeast of Denver, opened to the public in June 2007.
In 1996, the United Methodist General Conference expressed regret for the Sand Creek massacre and issued an
apology for the “actions of a prominent Methodist.” The United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns will work with the United States National Park Service to develop the Sand Creek
Massacre National Historic Site Research and Learning Center.
“We really need to show that we’re in support of healing the generations (of Cheyenne people) that have come
out of that story. This is a good thing that the church is doing to fund this,” said the Rev. Alvin Deer,
former executive director of the Native American International Caucus. Josh Davies, a lay delegate from the
Rocky Mountain Conference, said, “I urge members to please do our part to wipe this smear off our history.”
(reprinted from Native American Times, May 16, 2008
“LONGEST WALK” ENDORSES KICKAPOO WATER RIGHTS STRUGGLE
On Tuesday, April 29, more than 45 participants of the Longest Walk 2 gathered at the State Capitol with
members of the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, Sierra Club, and Wetlands Preservation Organization, in efforts to
support the Governor’s veto of the Holcomb Coal Plant expansion and urge her to stand in solidarity with the
Kickapoo as they struggle for their water rights.
“We cannot survive without water. The Kickapoo tribe is economically disadvantaged and is extremely limited
in financial resources to fight for water rights in the federal courts. If the Kickapoo tribe loses our
argument for water in the court system, we will cease to exist as a viable sovereign Indian Tribe in the next
decade.” stated Steve Cadue, Tribal Chairman of the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas.
(reprinted from Native American Times, May 9, 2008)
JIM McKINNEY SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The Jim McKinney Scholarship Fund will be open for applications until August 15. Interested persons may
contact Agnes McKinney, Bobbie Anderson or Mike Ballard.
RITA YOUNGBIRD PASSES AWAY
SCAT mourns the passing of Rita A. Ock-naw Youngibrd, on Friday, April 2008. She was born September 26,
1953 in Scott City, Kansas, the daughter of Walter and Augustine Cooper. She worked for the State of Kansas
with social services, retiring in 2006. Her two daughters, Ashley and Jessica, are well known in the area
and have been involved in pow-wows for a number of years. She was often at our SCAT Pow-Wow with an Indian
Taco and Fry Bread food booth. We will miss her and will feel her absence in the years to come.
SCAT NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY
Our SCAT newsletter is published six times a year (every other month). If you have information or news
stories that you would like to submit for the newsletter, we would be pleased to have them. You may contact
Hildred Vilander, Agnes McKinney, or Don Anderson.
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