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A tribe comes home
by
KEVIN ABOUREZK
Condensed by Native Village
 Nebraska:
In the 1870s, the
federal government forced the
Pawnee Nation to leave its homelands along
the Platte River shores. When the left, the
Pawnee people carried seeds from corn that had fed their people for
hundreds of years.
The tribe tried to replant the seeds in their new
Oklahoma homelands.
They failed.
Then, about six years ago, a Pawnee tribal
member sent some of the ancient corn seeds
to a friend in Nebraska to plant near the
Platte River in Kearney.
The seeds grew.
They grew into cornstalks as high as the
tallest Pawnee, and they grew into a
friendship between the Pawnee and their
newfound seed partners. That friendship will
culminate this summer in a Pawnee cultural
exhibition to be held June 20 at the Great
Platte River Road Archway.
"It kind of started with a seed, and the
seed has just grown and grown and grown,"
said Gene Hunt, superintendent of the Fort
Kearny State Historical Park, who helped
plant the seeds.
But the cultural exhibition — much like a
powwow with Native singers and dancers — is
just one way the Pawnee are being welcomed
back to Nebraska.
Two years ago, noted Nebraska author Roger
Welsch gave 60 acres of his land near
Dannebrog to the Pawnee. The tribe plans to
use the land to rebury their ancestral
remains. They also adopted Welsch into
their tribe. He is now their representative on
the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs.
 "He is Pawnee at heart, and he's an honest
man and we trust him with everything we
have," said Francis Morris from the Pawnee Nation of
Oklahoma.
Welsch said he is humbled to serve as
the Pawnees' representative on the
commission.
"I do not and cannot speak for the Pawnee,"
he said. "They do that very well on their
own. … I am glad to do what little I can to
return the enormous gifts they have given
us."
The commission will host its next meeting in
Kearney on June 19, the day before the
Pawnee cultural celebration. The meeting
location enables the Pawnee to directly
participate, which Welsch described as a
"wonderful kindness on the part of
Nebraska's other tribal (representatives) on
the commission."
It's expected that many Pawnee tribal
members will return home for the cultural
exhibition.
The daylong celebration will include
singing, dancing, storytelling and art
exhibits. An exhibit at nearby Fort Kearny
will celebrate the role of Pawnee scouts in
the fort's history, Hunt said.
Deb Echo-Hawk, keeper of the seeds for the
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, said the tribe
has considered changing its name, removing
"of Oklahoma" to reflect its two-state
presence.
She said the cultural exhibition on June 20
will be more than a show.
"We're coming back to our home up there."
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The Pawnee Nation
is composed of four distinct bands: the
Grand, Republican, Tappage and
Wolf bands.
The tribe once lived along the
Platte River in earth lodges, dome-shaped
structures 25 to 60 feet in diameter with
long entrances facing east.
The Pawnee never waged war against the U.S.
government and even served as scouts for the
military, fighting against other tribes.
Smallpox and cholera decimated the tribe in
the early 19th Century, leaving just 600
Pawnee by 1900. The tribe numbers about
3,500 today and lives in north-central
Oklahoma. |
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