SHAWNEE COUNTY ALLIED TRIBES HAS ANNUAL MEETING
Shawnee County Allied Tribes held their annual business meeting on Monday, April 14. It began with a
carry-in meal that was graciously provided by those who were attending. Following the meal, Hildred Vilander
called the meeting to order and led the group through the regular items of business. These items included
the previous minutes, the treasurer’s report, a pow-wow report, and various announcements. There was also
an informative report on the activities of our junior princess during the last six months.
The primary item of new business was the election of our board members for the next year. The slate of
nominees was presented by Agnes McKinney and they were elected by a unanimous vote. Those elected were:
Hildred Vilander, Mike Ballard, Chris Wagner, Roger Lewis, Cindy Martin, Agnes McKinney, Verleta Myers, Jason
Smith, Amanda Weber, D.J. Schirmer, Mickey Martinez, and Don Anderson. Mike Coker was elected to be a
liaison member to the board. These persons will serve until the next annual meeting in April of 2009.
Following the election of these board members, they met in executive session to elect their officers for the
next year. These officers will be: President – Hildred Vilander, Vice-President – Agnes McKinney, Treasurer
– Mike Ballard, Secretary – Don Anderson. Chris Wagner will be the new board representative to the Shawnee
County Drug and Alcohol Council.
SHAWNEE COUNTY ALLIED TRIBES MEETS MONTHLY
S.C.A.T. has its meetings on the second Monday evening of each month at the Highland Park United Methodist
Church (located at 29th & Michigan in southeast Topeka). The board meets at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by the
general meeting at 7:30 p.m. The gatherings are generally finished by about 8:30 p.m. All interested
persons are invited to attend these meetings and to become involved in S.C.A.T. activities. Upcoming
meetings will be May 12 and June 9.
JIM MCKINNEY LISTED ON MUSEUM HONOR WALL
We are pleased to note that the next phase of the Honor Wall project has been completed at the National
Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. This means that the name of James McKinney now appears on
the wall along with that of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. The inscriptions are as follows:
JAMES MCKINNEY
NANIMNUKSHKUK
(Level 4/Panel 19/Line 17)
and
PRAIRIE BAND POTAWATOMI
NATION
(Level 4/Panel 19/Line 17)
Darlene Young & Agnes McKinney
S.C.A.T. LOGO IS CLEANED UP
Over the years the S.C.A.T. logo has been used regularly on various documents and publicity items. It had
gotten to the point that it was not altogether clear and attractive.
Now, thanks to Chris Wagner and Travis Komacheet, the logo has been cleaned up and made more distinct. We
appreciate their time and effort in this matter.
LONGEST WALK COMING THROUGH KANSAS
The Longest Walkers, who started their march on the west coast, are coming through Kansas on their way to
Washington, DC. They are due to arrive at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence on April 29.
Haskell has scheduled a “Teach-In” at the
Auditorium on Wednesday, April 30, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. During that meeting the Wetlands Preservation
Organization will give a presentation about the Haskell Wetlands and the Longest Walkers will talk about
their experiences.
AWI AKTA NEWS
The Awi Akta District of the Northern Cherokee of the Old Louisiana Territory will have their next monthly
meeting 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.
RECENT BOOKS THAT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN
The following are some recent books that concern the spiritual understanding and practices of Native American
Peoples.
1. “God Is Red” by Vine Deloria, Jr. This book has the sub-title of “A Native View of Religion” and has
long been considered a classic in its field. Deloria, who died this past year, was named by Time Magazine as
one of the greatest religious thinkers of the 20thcentury. He was a leading Native American scholar, whose
research, writings, and teaching have encompassed history, law, religious studies, and political science. He
was a vigorous proponent of Native American issues throughout his life and was a spokesman for Native rights.
“God Is Red” discusses many of the religious concepts that have been a vital part of the lives of Native
Peoples upon this continent. Deloria shows how their world-view is more healthy and hopeful for the
future than has been understood by the dominant culture. His discussion also deals with the contrast
between Native spirituality and the Christian religion and shows how Native spirituality has much to
contribute to this society’s well-being.
2, “Where the Lightening Strikes” by Peter Nabokov. This book has the sub-title of “The Lives of American
Indian Sacred Places” and is now out in paper-back form. It looks at those places that have sacred meaning
and importance to many of the Tribal Nations across the United States. Such places help define the identity
of these peoples and give them an understanding of their role upon the earth.
Nabokov seeks to show how the bonds between Native peoples and the earth have shaped their customs and
traditions and culture. He describes how these bonds affect the spiritual practices of these various
tribes in ways that are still relevant today.
3. “The Land Looks After Us” by Joel W. Martin. In this book Martin looks at how Native religious practices
and customs have been affected and assaulted by the dominant culture for almost 500 years. He describes the
struggle of Native peoples to maintain their spiritual heritage and to keep it alive from generation to
generation. It is a struggle that has been legal, political, religious and social in its scope.
In the last half of the 20th century many of these battles have been fought in courts, both state and
federal, in order to protect a variety of rituals, practices and ceremonies. Martin seeks to show where
it is that Native peoples have won victories and where there is much yet to do.
All three of these books are now in paper-back editions and may be found in local book stores in the Topeka
area.
STANDING BEAR ACTIVITIES
The Standing Bear Inter-Tribal Brotherhood meets each week on Wednesday evenings at the Highland Park United
Methodist Church (located at 29th & Michigan) at 7:00 p.m. for business matters, drumming and singing.
Interested persons are invited to attend.
SULLIVAN CHAPEL TO HAVE TACO SALE
The Sullivan Chapel Indian United Methodist Church (located at 1937 N.W. Madison) will have an Indian Taco
Sale on Friday, May 2, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. The food may be eaten on site or taken out.
NATIVE COMPANY LAUNCHES WIND ENERGY PROJECT
Just as a collective of tribes is pushing for federal legislation in favor of tribal-led wind energy
projects, a Native company is posed to launch an unprecedented effort to help tribes to become principal
owners of turbines. The Seattle-based company, Native Green Energy, will debut its first endeavor in April in
Maine, where it has been working with the Passamaquoddy tribe to install two 100-kilowatt turbines that would
power 50 homes on a private grid and allow the tribe to sell back additional energy to private utilities.
“We’re setting out to make a difference in Indian country,” said company co-founder Litefoot, a Cherokee
musician, actor and entrepreneur. “We have responsibility from the Creator to take care of this earth and so
we are harnessing these things the Creator has provided to sustain our communities.”
Energy experts say the Dakota winds in the northern Great Plains alone could meet the nation’s entire
electrical needs with wind power. But the lack of a federal tax credit has been thwarting a tribal-led green
energy future. The Senate and House are currently considering extensions of the renewable energy tax credit,
which expires this December. A companion bill in the Senate would allow tribes to be principal owners of
renewable energy projects and would provide their non-Native partners with a full tax credit.
And because of a preference clause for tribal-owned energy companies in the federal energy bill, tribes could
someday soon become major suppliers of green power to the federal government, the largest consumer of energy
in the world.
(Reprinted from Indian Country Today, April 16, 2008)
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 (revdona@yahoo.com)
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