Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness
Haskell Indian Nations University —
Lawrence, KS, June 5, 2009
Seasons of Sacrifice, Survival, Change and Celebration
Jeremy and Jeremy, Jr. sing
and drum for the opening ceremony. The history of Haskell Indian Nations University begins at the very start of the boarding school era and runs all the way to the space age. Haskell participated in some of the earliest cultural assimilation practices directed against Indian people but has survived to offer good Indian education today.
Haskell began in 1884 as the United States Indian Industrial Training School. Later it was called Haskell Institute. By 1970 it began offering a junior college curriculum and became Haskell Indian Junior College. By 1993 it evolved still further to become Haskell Indian Nations University. It is one of the few schools in the Tribal College System to offer BA and BS degrees. Today’s student enrollment is about 1000 Native people each semester. The school offers four-year degrees in American Indian Studies and Environmental Science. It hosts the American Indian and Alaska Native Climate Change Working Group whose goal is to take immediate steps to ensure that tribal Peoples will have the expertise within their own communities to make good decisions about environmental issues. Haskell has come a long way without losing touch with Native culture.
Panel discussion at
Haskell,
including Brandy JO There were about 20 people at this intimate gathering. The day began with Grand Entry of the Sacred Hoop behind a veteran’s color guard consisting of Travis Schuler, Steve Zotigh, Ricky Cliff, Antonio S. Gomez and Andy Yellowhair. Hoop carriers were Melissa Franklin, Deb Thompson, David Bohannon and Carol Barr. Ashley Aguilar carried Brandy Jo in. Andy Girty offered the opening prayer, and the opening drum song was done by Jeremy Shield and his four year-old son Jeremy, Jr. Dr. Russell Blackbird welcomed us to Haskell, and Bobbi Rahder, Curator of the Haskell Cultural Center was present as a participant.
Registration The Haskell Cultural Center is a campus facility that has a permanent informational exhibit about Haskell’s early boarding school years. It is called, Honoring our Children Through Seasons of Sacrifice, Survival, Change and Celebration. The exhibit has letters from early boarding school parents and children and numerous photographs and commentary linking the Haskell experience to the over-500 boarding and residential schools in the US and Canada. Ms. Rahder found the opening informational presentation useful. “I was really impressed with Don Coyhis’s opening presentation,” she said. “It connected the boarding school experience with the many problems that Native people have today. I think it is important for people to see that connection. The PowerPoint did a really good job of making it clear.” The Center will have its own web page in the near future.
Sacred Hoop Healing Ceremony at Haskell Our visit was also honored to have present Ms. Patricia Marn, Director of the Haskell Campus Ministries. Ms. Marn is a First Nations person from the Flying Dust Reserve in Saskatchewan. Reached later on, she reflected on the messages of the Journey that she heard during the Haskell visit that day. She said, “The next generation needs to hear this message. There is intergenerational grief among First Nations people and it is carried down. I believe that in order for this next generation to move forward there needs to be the release of forgiveness. I really liked Don Coyhis’s comment,” she recalls. “He said that even if President Obama doesn’t openly apologize, but I believe he will, that what we are doing is not about money, it’s about forgiveness. I believe it’s the timing of God,” she concludes.
Memorial at the Haskell Cemetery A panel discussion was the second informational event of the morning session. Panel members were Andy Girty, Burgess Tapedo, Millie Tapedo and Rosemary Jimboy. If you look at the photo you’ll see that Brandy Jo was also a part of the panel.
After the closing Sacred Hoop ceremony, a few people went over to the Haskell Cemetery to do a memorial at the grave sites. We learned that there are 108 gravestones, some marked and some unmarked. But it is also known that there are many more graves in the cemetery grounds, as well as outside the cemetery, unmarked in any manner.
~ Forgiveness Journey Team
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