S.C.A.T. HOLDS ANNUAL MEETING

Shawnee County Allied Tribes held its 2006 Annual Meeting on April 10.  It began with a carry-in meal 
that featured a wide variety of foods for those who were attending.  
 
Following the meal, S.C.A.T. convened its annual meeting which included the election of  board members 
for the coming year.  Those persons who were elected to serve on the board are: Hildred Vilander, Mike 
Ballard, Agnes McKinney, Verleta Myers, Chris Wagner, Jason Smith, Hildreth Crith, Glenda Stenger, Cindy 
Martin, and Don Anderson.

After their election, the newly-elected board members met together and selected their officers for 2006. 
They are: President – Hildred Vilander, Vice President – Agnes McKenney, Treasurer – Mike Ballard, and 
Secretary – Don Anderson.  These board members and their officers will serve until the annual meeting in 
2007.  
 
Beginning in May, the board’s primary agenda will be discussing and making plans for the S.C.A.T. 
Pow-Wow in September.  All interested persons are invited to attend and to participate in our meetings. 
The regular date of our board meetings is the second Monday evening of each month.  We meet at the 
Highland Park United Church (located at the corner of 29th & Michigan in southeast Topeka – with parking 
in the rear of the building).  The board meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting following 
at 7:30 p.m.  We try to be done by around 8:30 p.m.  
   
CHANGE IN FORMAT HAS BEGUN FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 
 
As most of our readers are aware, we have been publishing our S.C.A.T. newsletter every other month 
during the year.  It has been our custom to mail out paper copies through the mail to those on our 
mailing list.   With this edition of the newsletter we are changing our format and will be publishing it 
on the web site that S.C.A.T. has developed.  The address for this web site is 
shawneecountyalliedtribes.org and it will contain both the information normally published in the 
newsletter and other items of interest to our members and readers.  
 
We are inviting everyone, therefore, to access our web site on a regular basis in order to keep informed 
about S.C.A.T. meetings, programs and activities.  It is our expectation that most persons today have 
and use computers for a wide variety of purposes.  It makes sense, then, for us to move to this new 
format as a way of communicating with our members and with the public at large.  

 NATIVE AMERICAN EXHIBIT AT LIBRARY 
 
The 5th Annual Children’s Art Exhibit is currently being held at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public 
Library in the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery.  It features the art work of Murv Jacob and has the title, 
“Rabbit Goes to Kansas”.

Murv Jacob is a descendant of Kentucky Cherokees and is known for his intricate paintings of Cherokee 
village scenes, Cherokee people and animal dances.  His ample illustrations for a wide variety of books 
has gained him nation-wide recognition and respect.  

During the 1990’s his art career grew to include book and video projects, which now number more than 
seventy.  His publishers include Time Life Books, National Geographic, Harper-Collins, Dial, Parabola, 
Oklahoma University Press and more.  

His exhibit shows his creativity as an artist and illustrator, and it shows the importance of 
story-telling within the Native communities.  The exhibit is scheduled to run through the month of May 
and will close May 26.  

In a related activity, the library will be showing the film, “500 Nations: The Documentary Film” on 
Sunday, May 21, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Marvin Auditorium AB.  Both the film and the Murv Jacob 
exhibition are free to the public.  

STANDING BEAR ACTIVITIES 
 
The Standing Bear Drum Group will be involved in the following activities during the next two months:  
•        Sunday, May 28 – The group will participate in the morning worship at Perry United Methodist Church.
•        Monday, May 29 – The group will participate in the Memorial Day Observance at Topeka Cemetery. 
•        Tuesday, June 6 – The group will assist in a Cherokee Adoption Ceremony at Camp Jayhawk.  
•        Tuesdays, June 14 and 28 – The group will be presenting a program for scouts at Camp Jayhawk.  
•        Saturday, June 24 – The group will be participating in the annual Cherokee Reunion in Hallsville, Missouri.   
 
 PERSONS TO BE REMEMBERED
 
John (Longbow) Yeager, who had drummed with Standing Bear over the past few years, passed away in April. 
Christian Kramer and Mike Ballard were able to participate in his memorial service on April 8.  He was a 
pleasant and gentle man, and we will miss him. 

Louis Jesseppe (Roe Cloud) has passed away. He is well know for his craft work and sales and was usually 
present at most of the area pow wows. He was a Life Time Member of Shawnee County Allied Tribes, and we 
will miss him.  Our condolances to his son, Dewey and his wife.

PERSONS WITH HEALTH CONCERNS
 
Jerry Lewis was recently in Stormont-Vail Hospital where he was recuperating from pneumonia.  We wish 
him good health and a speedy recovery.   
 
Mike Ballard will be having surgery in the month of May.  We wish him well and hope that everything 
turns out to be successful.  
 
Gerald Vilander, the husband of Hildred Vilander, is recovering from recent surgery and is recuperating 
at home.  We wish him a complete recovery.

Ed Perry will be having surgery at KU Med Center on Monday, May 8th.  We wish him well and hope
everything turns out successfully.
 
 NORTHERN CHEROKEE NEWS 
 
The Awi Akta District of the Northern Cherokee of the Old Louisiana Territory will have its monthly 
meeting on Sunday afternoon, May 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Holton from 1:00 to 4:00 
p.m.  It will include a carry-in meal, a business meeting, and a cultural presentation.  Any interested 
persons are invited to attend.  

The annual Cherokee Reunion will be held on Saturday, May 24, at the community park in Hallsville, 
Missouri.  It will feature food, remarks concerning the state of the nation from Chief Beverly Northup, 
a mini-powwow, and good fellowship.  

CEREMONY BREAKS GROUND FOR BURIAL SITE 
 
In what organizers say is the initial step in creating likely the first such location in the country, a 
non-denominational religious group joined some of Oklahoma’s Native American spiritual leaders in 
breaking ground on a burial site for ancestral remains.  The ceremony, held April 1st and attended by 
some 200 people, was “a culmination of years of dreaming and visibly showing the goodwill of many 
neighbors,” said Lawrence Hart, a longtime Cheyenne peace chief.  

The group has launched the “Return to the Earth Project” to bring Native American remains to their 
proper resting place.  Executive director Bud Heckman says that the Native American Graves and 
Repatriation Act  --  the 1990 legislation designed to return  funerary items to their tribes of origin 
--  is “slow and underfunded,” and that 100,000 remains cannot be identified as belonging to a 
federally-recognized tribe.  

“These once-beloved mothers, fathers, friends and children are still waiting to be returned and honored 
with dignity,” Religions for Peace-USA said in a statement.  “The Return to the Earth Project supports 
Native Americans in burying unidentified ancestral remains  currently held in museums, libraries and 
government depositories.”  
                                      (reprinted from Native American Times , April 14, 200)
 
 AMERICAN INDIAN EMBASSY IS PROPOSED 
 
A Minnesota group is reviving the idea of having an American Indian embassy in Washington, D.C.  The 
Shakopee Kdewakanton Sioux Community which owns the Mystic Lake Casino, has put $1 million in a 
challenge grant to buy a building on the Massachusetts Avenue – known as “Embassy Row.”  

The goal is to raise $12 million dollars to buy the building to house the National Congress of American 
Indians – the nation’s oldest American Indian advocacy organization.  Supporters said having an Embassy 
of Tribal Nations in the country’s capital will help recognize the reality of Indian sovereignty.   

American Indian Congress President Joe Garcia, who would be the de-facto “ambassador,” called the 
Minnesota tribe’s gift “a huge step in securing a home in Washington.”  He said for too long, Indian 
concerns have been represented in Washington mainly by the BIA, an agency that falls under the Interior 
Department. 
                                   (reprinted from Native American Times, April 14, 2006)
 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

•        May 8  --  The Shawnee County Allied Tribes will have its monthly meeting at
                       Highland Park United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. 
•        May 12  --  The Haskell End of the Year Pow-Wow will be held at Haskell Indian 
                             Nations University in Lawrence. 
•        May 14  --  The Awi Akta District of the Northern Cherokee will have its monthly 
                             meeting at the First United Methodist Church in Holton at 1:00 p.m. 
•        May 28  --  Standing Bear will participate in the worship service of the Perry 
                         United Methodist Church. 
*	 May 29  --   Standing Bear will participate in the Memorial Day Observance at the 
                          Topeka Cemetery.   
•        June 9 & 10  --  The Potawatomi Pow-Wow will be held at Prairie People’s Park.
•        June 12  --  The Shawnee County Allied Tribes will have its monthly meeting at 
                        Highland Park United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m.
•        June 14 & 28  --  Standing Bear will present a program for the scouts at Camp 
                                  Jayhawk. 
•        June 24  --  The annual reunion of the Northern Cherokee of the Old Louisiana 
                          Territory will be held in Hallsville, Missouri.  
 
 
The Standing Bear Inter-Tribal Brotherhood drums and sings each Wednesday evening at the Highland Park 
United Methodist Church (located at 29th & Michigan) from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.