These are open to all members. Fri. July 28^th 2006 the annual meeting for voting members will be held at 6:00PM. All voting members and current board members should attend. At this meeting we will be nominating and voting in new board members and new voting members. If you have been a member for at least a year and think you want to become more involved in what Keepers has going on you must attend this meeting and request voting status. You will be given the opportunity to tell us a little about yourself and why you want to become a voting member. The following board positions will be up for re-election this year President, Secretary, and Liaison for Tribal affairs. The current position are filled by Bud Johnston – President, Barb Winter & Nicole Erickson – Secretary, John – Pappan Liaison for Tribal Affairs.

Please take some time to think about whom you want to see in these positions and send us your nominations before the meeting if possible. And if you are interested in running for a position please contact us to have your name on the placed on the agenda. Remember new board members will need to be available on a monthly basis for meetings in Pipestone, be willing to help with planning annual events, and be available in the summer to help make our annual events a success.

On Sunday July 30^th 2006 at 6:00PM we will be having our general meeting to discuss were we would like to see the organization go in the coming year. This meeting is open to everyone including new members and prospective ones.

Sweat lodges will be open all weekend for anyone wanting to run a lodge. Please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in having a lodge any weekend of our events this summer. Keepers will find at least one Spiritual Person to run a lodge Saturday Night July 29^th starting about dark. If you or anyone you know plan to attend the lodge please bring tobacco and a honorium for that person. Keepers members are needed to help pay travel expenses to spiritual leaders to show our appreciation as a group. Remember Sunday July 30^th 10:00am everyone who wants to participate should plan to gather at the Three Maidens for prayers before walking the quarry line to Thank the Creator for the gift of the stone people.

We have hired Michael Jacobs a Cherokee music artist to come perform all three weekends of our summer events. He does contemporary American Indian music on Guitar, American Indian flute music, and drum music. You won’t want to miss his performances. I talked to Leon Carney about playing some music or otherwise entertaining us and I am still hoping to have a few other members show off their talents. We hope to have Pascal doing his hoop dance, which he learned while touring Germany and Switzerland this last winter. We will be having a mini pow wow again this year and everyone is welcome to join in. If you have people with regalia please bring and participate. We need drummers and singers if you are one or know one we need you too.

Anyone interested in doing a workshop or just a craft circle. You can either teach or just share with each other your talents. We need people who want to work with the kids as well as the adults. Anything from painting, drawing, dream catchers, leather bags, beadwork, quillwork, wrapping feathers, decorating pipe stems, carving, artifacts, stringing beads, making paper, weaving, the tipi, reading stories, collecting herbs, early American history, specific tribal histories, tanning hides, rattles, bows, arrows, shields, parflesh, pottery, herbal uses, corn husk dolls, games,

We could use any the following donations for the gathering this year. Sturdy paper plates, napkins, lunch meat, sliced cheese, juice, bottled water, bread, fruit, sandwich toppings, wild rice, potatoes, carrots, onions, canned red beans, canned kidney beans, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, flour, sour cream, butter, buffalo, cookies, bars, or cake.

Some of this will be used to feed volunteers and people putting on workshops or entertaining the rest will just reduce our cost of running our food booth and make more money to pay for expenses at the gathering. Please let us know if you can bring any of these items and when you will arrive.

Of course we can always use some of your time during the gathering or cash donations.

To all those who were involved in the teachings workshop put on by Adam Fortunate Eagle a few years ago we can make copies of the footage at Harold’s Photos at a cost of 25.00 each VHS or 35.00 each DVD. The workshop is on 4 tapes with a total of hours being almost 8. Unfortunately you know that the workshop lasted two days and was more than 8 hours so some of it is not on the tape. I know that the cost of duplicating the tapes are high but all those who talked about getting them copied cheaper just never came through. If you can spare it it would be nice to be able to give Adam a little something from each of you who were there if that hasn’t already been done. Adam has requested a copy of these videotapes maybe someone would like to pay for a set for Adam.

A few members are welcome to stay in the lodges put up in front of the keepers. We can use the eyes and ears to keep the area safe. As some of you know last year Sunday night someone set fire to the new 22 foot tipi set up next to the deck. Keepers recently purchased a new tipi to replace it at a cost of over 1500.00 dollars.

After camping at the Big Bend of the Missouri River, the Omaha’s and Ponca’s separately returned, the Omaha’s towards the east where they eventually "came down the other side of the mouth of the Platte River." The Ponca’s lived at the Pipestone Quarries for "quite a while", and then moved to the vicinity of Ponca City, Nebraska, in search of more plentiful game.

The Omaha’s and Ponca’s traveled together, but as separate tribes. They came to the Pipestone Quarries, where the Sioux blocked their further westward progress. They lived in separate villages at the Pipestone Quarries for a time, then the Omaha’s "went back to where they first came from in Iowa" and the Ponca’s moved to near present-day Omaha, Nebraska.

After emerging from the ground near the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Mandan’s traveled northward along the Mississippi to a point northeast of the Pipestone Quarries. From there they traveled southwestward until they reached the Pipestone Quarries. Where they stopped to camp and raise corn… While camped along the small streams in the vicinity of the Pipestone Quarries," some of the Awigaxa, one of the several Mandan bands, moved northwards to Devils Lake and eventually to Missouri, leaving the other Mandan’s "still living and in the villages southeastward of the Pipestone Quarries." Hunter from these later people rediscovered the Missouri River the rest of the Mandan’s moved westward to the mouth of the Heart River.

When the Cheyenne’s lived in the lake country of Western Minnesota, a war party set out toward the Missouri River. Along the way, they spotted a red bull buffalo, which they killed. On inspecting the bull’s body, they realized the red color came from the dust and mud which covered the animal. They followed the bull’s trail and came to a "wonderful place where there were rocks, and all the rocks were bright red. And that was how the Cheyenne’s first discovered the famous Red Pipestone Quarries."

Stems, being an easily decomposed organic material, do not last long when exposed to the elements. Therefore, although a good number of pipe bowls have been found there are few examples of original stems. The stems that have survived were made from both wood and reeds. The reeds were not sturdy and wood has to be replaced often but was easier and quicker to make than wood stems. The wooden stems were made by to completely different methods. Wood with pithy centers could be bored out by the use of a small grub found in the gull of the golden rod or after European contact a wire could be used. The first method requires waiting as long as a year for the worm to make its way through. The second method in comparison takes only a matter of minutes. Woods like willow, sumac, and ash would have been used with these methods. Stems could also be made by splitting a sapling and removing the soft core; or cut a groove with a flint tool and glue the two halves back together using hoof glue. These stems were commonly wrapped with sinew, rawhide or even leather to hold the pieces together while the glue dried and was often left as part of the decoration. Later stems would be further decorated with fur, porcupine quills, feathers or other items important to the individual. Stems are usually carved either round or flat in cross section but are sometimes carved into a spiral shape. One interesting but less common style of stem is commonly called either a puzzle or mystery stem. It is a flat stem with piercing of different shapes and sizes that penetrate the stem. It appears that the stem would not work because the channel for the smoke could not avoid the shapes. Only the maker and the Creator know the path that the smoke takes through the stem.

Due to the spiritual nature of the pipe, the decoration was and is unique to each pipe stem. This pipe may have been made for, by traded for or received as a gift. But the decoration was what made it special to that person. Hunting, battle experiences, clans, totems, dreams or visions could influence the blend of colors and decorative materials. A few pipes had hole drilled into them allowing for limited decoration. Otherwise these decorations most often adorned the stem. Were porcupine quills were available it was common to wrap the stem with plaited quills in personally significant designs and colors. Eagle feather or those of other birds might also be used as decoration attached in various ways to the stem

Author Unknown

Keepers invited Adam Fortunate Eagle to come the Gathering July 28, 29 and 30^th. We wish to honor him for his years of service. Adam faxed us back the following letter.

Bud

My wife Bobbie suffered a heart attack on March 19. Thanks to modern medical technology and five stints implanted in the main arteries of her heart she is now on the road to recovery.

As a result we can only plan the summer months week by week. We would like to go back to Red Lake to bury my brother Alton with full military honors at the Tribal Cemetery. He is also a Pipe maker.

As for the honors Keepers may wish to bestow upon me, I am flattered by that proposal and would love to be there. We can only hope we can be strong enough and well enough to make the trip, only time will tell.

Adam

We Keepers will plan this and hope things work out please contact Bud or Rona at Keepers if you would like to be part of this honorable event to thank Adam for all he has done for us. If he is not able to make it we will adjust plans as necessary.

More History

The first historical mention of the Dakota is in the Jesuit Relation for 1640 when they were probably in the eastern part of the territory indicated above. Rev. A. L. Riggs, for many years a missionary among them, claims that their traditions pointed to the northeast as the place of their origin and that they once lived about the Lake of the Woods. There are, however, strong grounds for believing that they pushed their way up into the present Minnesota from the southeast, though there is no doubt that the Chippewa forced them back in later times from some of the most easternmost lands they occupied and their expulsion from Mille Lacs is an historical event. It is thought that few Dakota crossed the Missouri before 1750, yet it is claimed that some of them reached the Black Hills by 1765. In 1862 the Eastern Dakota under Little Crow rose upon the Whites and in the war which followed, 700 settlers and 100 soldiers were killed, while the hostile bands lost all of the rest of their lands in Minnesota and were forced to move to Dakota and Nebraska. On the discovery of gold in the Black Hills the rush of miners to that region became the occasion for a war with the Western Dakota rendered famous by the cutting off of General Custer and five companies of cavalry on the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876. An incipient rising at Wounded Knee Creek, resulting from the spread of the Ghost Dance religion, was the last scene of the struggles between the Dakota and the Whites, and the tribe is now allotted lands in severalty, principally in South Dakota, but in part in North Dakota and Nebraska.

Kiowa. The Kiowa lived in and about the Black Hills for a time; before they were succeeded by the Sutaio and Cheyenne.

Arapaho. According to tradition, the Arapaho at one time lived in the neighborhood of the Black Hills and warriors of the tribe often traversed the western parts of this State. (See Wyoming.)

Arikara. The Arikara lived at various points on the Missouri River in South Dakota during their migration northward after separating from the Skidi Pawnee. (See North Dakota.)

Cheyenne. From a Dakota term applied to them meaning "people of alien speech," literally, "red talkers." Also called:

Connections. Cheyenne was one of the three most aberrant languages of the Algonquian linguistic family, and was shared by no other tribe except the Sutaio, whose speech differed only in minor points.

Location. This tribe moved frequently; in South Dakota they were associated with the Cheyenne River and the Black Hills. (See also Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.)

Wóopotsi't, Totoimana (on Tongue River), Black Lodges (near Lame Deer), Ree Band, Yellow Wolf Band, Half-breed Band.

History. Before 1700 the Cheyenne lived in what is now the State of Minnesota. There are very definite traditions of a time when they were on Minnesota River, from which region the Cheyenne who visited La Salle's fort in Illinois in 1680 probably came. A little later they seem to have moved to the neighborhood of Lake Traverse and still later part of them occupied a stockaded town on the Cheyenne River of North Dakota near the present Lisbon, N. Dak. Some years before 1799, perhaps in the decade 1780 to 1790, this town was surprised by Chippewa Indians and destroyed while most of the men were off hunting. The Cheyenne who escaped first settled along the Missouri where other bands of Cheyenne seem to have preceded them. There were a number of villages belonging to the tribe along the Missouri near the point where the boundary line between North and South Dakota crosses it until just before the time of Lewis and Clark, or, as Grinnell (1923) believes, for a number of years after the date of their expedition (1804-1806). However, they accustomed themselves more and more to a nomadic life and moved on toward the Black Hills whither they had been preceded by a cognate tribe known as the Sutaio. It is very probable that the Cheyenne had met the Sutaio east of the Missouri. At first the attitude of the two people toward each other is said to have been hostile, but presently they became friendly and finally united. On leaving the Missouri, the Cheyenne seem to have given up raising corn and making pottery. During the early part of the nineteenth century they moved to the headwaters of the Platte. When Bent's Fort was built on the upper Arkansas in 1832 a large part decided to establish themselves near it but the rest continued to rove about the headwaters of the North Platte and the Yellowstone. This separation in the tribe was made permanent by the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851, the two sections being known respectively as Southern Cheyenne and Northern Cheyenne. In the meantime they had met and formed an alliance with the Arapaho, though there is no memory of the date or the circumstances.

They were at war with the Kiowa from the time of their settlement on the upper Arkansas until 1840, but afterward acted with them against other tribes and the Whites. In 1849 they suffered severely in the cholera epidemic, and later between 1860 and 1878, in wars with the Whites. The southern division took a leading part in the general outbreak of 1874-75, and the Northern Cheyenne joined the hostile Dakota in 1876 and shared in the Custer massacre. Finally, the Northern Cheyenne were assigned a reservation in Montana. The Southern Cheyenne were similarly assigned to a reservation in the present Oklahoma in 1867 but could not be induced to remain upon it until after the general surrender of 1875. In 1901--02 the lands of the Southern Cheyenne were allotted in severalty.

Population. Mooney (1928) places the number of Cheyenne and Sutaio at 3,500 in 1780. In 1904 the number of Southern Cheyenne was given as 1,903, and the Northern Cheyenne as 1,409, a total of 3,312. The census of 1910 returned 3,055, of whom 1,522 were in Oklahoma and 1,346 in Montana, but the United States Indian Office Report of 1923 gives 3,248, composed of 1,831 Southern Cheyenne, and 1,417 Northern Cheyenne. The census of 1930 returned 2,695, the Northern Cheyenne being slightly more numerous then the Southern division. In 1937 there were 1,561 Northern Cheyenne and 2,836 Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho together.

Connection in which they have become noted. This Cheyenne tribe
was one of the most famous of the Plains, and was conspicuous on account of the frequent wars which it waged against other tribes, as well as against the Whites. It is also noted on account of its romantic history, having originally been a corn-raising tribe in southern Minnesota and later having become thoroughly adjusted to Plains life. The

Connections. The Dakota belonged to the Siouan linguistic family, their closest relations being the Hidatsa.

Location. The earliest known home of this tribe was on and near the Mississippi in southern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin, and neighboring parts of Iowa. In 1825, after they had spread somewhat farther west, Long (1791) gives their boundaries thus: They were bounded by a curved line extending east of north from Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, so as to include all the eastern tributaries of the Mississippi, to the first branch of Chippewa River; thence by a line running west of north to Spirit Lake; thence westwardly to Crow Wing River, Minn., and up that stream to its head; thence westwardly to Red River and down that stream to Pembina; thence southwestwardly to the eastern bank of the Missouri near the Mandan villages; thence down the Missouri to a point probably not far from Soldiers River; thence east of north to Prairie du Chien. At a later time they occupied less territory toward the east but extended much farther westward between the Yellowstone and Platte Rivers.

Mention of the Dakota is in the Jesuit Relation for 1640 when they were probably in the eastern part of the territory indicated above. Rev. A. L. Riggs, for many years a missionary among them, claims that their traditions pointed to the northeast as the place of their origin and that they once lived about the Lake of the Woods. There are, however, strong grounds for believing that they pushed their way up into the present Minnesota from the southeast, though there is no doubt that the Chippewa forced them back in later times from some of the most easternmost lands they occupied and their expulsion from Mille Lacs is an historical event. It is thought that few Dakota crossed the Missouri before 1750, yet it is claimed that some of them reached the Black Hills by 1765. In 1862 the Eastern Dakota under Little Crow rose upon the Whites and in the war which followed 700 settlers and 100 soldiers were killed, while the hostile bands lost all of the rest of their lands in Minnesota and were forced to move to Dakota and Nebraska. On the discovery of gold in the Black Hills the rush of miners to that region became the occasion for a war with the Western Dakota rendered famous by the cutting off of General Custer and five companies of cavalry on the Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876. An incipient rising at Wounded Knee Creek, resulting from the spread of the Ghost Dance religion, was the last

Mandan. According to tradition, this tribe reached the Missouri River near the mouth of White River, and settled at several places along the former within the borders of this State before passing out of it into North Dakota. (See North Dakota.)

Omaha. After having been driven from the region of the Pipestone Quarry in Minnesota, the Omaha settled on the Missouri in the territory of South Dakota and later moved downstream under pressure from the Dakota to their later seats in Nebraska. (See Nebraska.)

Ponca This tribe was with the Omaha when it left the region of the Pipestone Quarry, but separated from it on the Missouri and went into the Black Hills for a time, after which it retired to the Missouri and settled in the present Nebraska. (See Nebraska.)

Basketball (ca. 1000 B.C.) Is a team sport in which a rubber ball is thrown through a hoop. Most people believe that it was invented about 100 years ago. It was actually played by American Indians about 3000 years ago. The Olmec from southern Mexico and Central America about 1700 B.C. to 400 B.C.

Latex trees grew in this area. Due to there being latex producing trees they developed the ability to make rubber balls. Courts have been found in the center of ceremonial areas of the Olmec and in later times the Maya and the Aztec. The remains of 600 basketball courts have been found in Mexico alone. These pre-Colombian hoops were mounted vertically instead of horizontally. 200 Hohokam ball courts have been found in the Arizona area. Both solid and hollow ball forms have been found in and near the courts. As the game spread it became more of a ritual than a recreational past time. The exact preparation and playing of the game is not exactly known but some glyphs and small statues give us some idea.

Courts were usually 20 to 30 feet wide and 40 to 50 feet long. They were surrounded by 8.5 foot white washed walls, which was where the hoops were mounted. A line on the ground divided the court in two. The amount of seating that was discovered indicates that the game drew big crowds. Much padding was worn because the courts and equipment at the time was very rough.

A man named James Naismith, a non-Indian teacher of bible studies at the YMCA in Springfield, Mass. Reinvented basketball in the U.S.

Membership Dues

Membership dues are due Sept 1 each year. Members not current on dues cannot get discounts when shopping at the Keepers store. Members receive a 10% discount on all items in the store. Some items like seed beads, files, and stone receive 20% OR more discount over regular price. We also send members a cool ID card each time they pay dues. Members not current on dues may be cut from our mailing list for newsletters. We would love to keep sending newsletters but it is just too costly. You can pay your dues by volunteering or by donating items if you can not afford your dues. If you volunteer or donate something to pay your dues you must ask that we apply it to your dues and fill out a renew form. Or we might forget to make you a card and update your file. Dues currently are $25.00 yearly US, $55.00 yearly international, $250.00 Life Time US, and $550.00 Life Time international.

When you send in or drop off dues please make sure to give us your full name, address, email, and phone so we can check our records for accuracy and make changes if necessary. Also if you will be paying when you come for the gathering please take the time to fill out a renewal form when you pay. Sometimes the person working in the gift shop doesn’t get the information to the person doing the memberships. The form stands out and helps us keep records straight.

This gathering is being put together by Cedric Red Feather he is Mandan. He has stopped in to talk with Bud Johnston 3 times and has invited him to be a presenter. He left us some interesting information about the Mandan People and we will share a little each newsletter with you.

Nueta – In the Mandan language, Nueta means "We the People," and this is what the Mandan’s call themselves. Catlin erroneously referred to the Mandan’s as "People of the Pheasant," but the pheasant was from china. The Mandan’s never referred to themselves that way.

Waxikena – Mandan clan name meaning "Turtle Priest." This clan came into being when the people asked Lone Man to which clan he belonged, and he replied, " My clan is the Waxikena, which means "Turtle Priest." Lone Man said, "My clan goes through the father’s side. In the Nuptadi Band of Mandan’s, When the oldest son reaches adulthood, he has a choice, since that is his birthright. The youngest son, however, does not have a choice: he will become a Waxihena." Lone Man told the people, "As long as you have Waxikena’s, you will be a nation." So contrary to the myth that the Mandan’s are becoming extinct, they are still a Nation. The Waxikena’s became know as " The Bad News People" because of their prophetic ability. Sometimes the news they brought was bad, and sometimes, it was good. That’s how they became known as the Bad News People. Historians have erroneously referred to the Waxinkena as the "oldest clan," but in fact, it is the most recent of all the clans: All the other clans were already in existence when the Waxikena came into being.