We receive emotional strength from those who have gone before us.

We receive physical strength from the experiences

of those who have gone before us.

• How long has the tribe been in OK?• Where is the Tribe headed?• How many states has the Tribe been to?• How long were we there?• What roles did women and men play?• Can we have a segment on artists and their paintings, such as,

Hal Sherman, Doug Hall, and Alex Davis?• Other:• More activities for kids• Try to involve the Ceremonial Chief

Winter GatheringJanuary 11, 2014

Lola Hampton Purvis, MLIS, CLISANA Research Manager

Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma,

Cultural Preservation Department

“A Search for Eastern Shawnee History”

• The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma is losing its historical knowledge, which has led to a loss of cultural identity among our tribal community.

• A primary issue is that we have a shortage of historical documents, making it difficult to share that rich and vibrant knowledge with our people.

• Our ancestors stories of resilience, resistance, and survival remain archived in various places across the United States.

• Part of my job as ANA Research Manager is to travel to these places to recover these stories.

• .

“A Search for Eastern Shawnee History”

OBJECTIVES: The listener will identify the purpose of the ANA grant.

The learner will meet team members and partners.

The listener will learn tidbits of Eastern Shawnee history.

The listener will be introduced to some technology terms that impact the outcomes of the activities of the grant.

The listener will be able to identify what they want to learn as a result from the grant activities.

• Chief Glenna Wallace, Executive Director• Audrey Gardner, Project Director• Robin Dushane, Department Director• Michael Lowery, Grant Coordinator• Lola Hampton Purvis, ANA Research Manager• Karlee Gibson, Grant Administrative Assistant• Research Technicians:

• Heather Devine• Leslie Miller

Tribal MemberDr. Robert Miller Law Professor at Arizona State University

Stephen Warren Professor of History Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois

Absentee ShawneeShawnee Tribe of OklahomaSeneca-Cayuga Tribe of OklahomaMiami Tribe of OklahomaOklahoma Historical Society

Ohio Historical SocietyESTO Print Shop Indigo Sky Casino National Museum of the

American Indian Ohio State University Silverhorn Designs

Partners

• If we fail in passing our history to our people, then we fail our ancestors and lose their stories rich in strife, struggle and triumph.

• Eastern Shawnee people survived – that resilience in the face of adversity is a central characteristic of being Shawnee.

What will I be doing?

Recovering oral histories, language recordings, and written sources relating to our people that will enable us to reconnect our people to their heritage.

• Flag of Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma

Significance of the Eastern Shawnee Tribal SealROUND SHAPEThe world or universe

SPEAR & FEATHERSForever joined for mutual protection of the United States of America

FOUR FEATHERSThe four winds & four corners of the earth

PANTHERStrength, courage and prowess in battle

SWANGrace and dignity

• It is said that the our tribal communities' population fell to 75 members in the last decade of the 19th century.

• Sometime during the 1890s there were no longer enough people to fill the positions it took to carry on ceremonials.

• The Eastern Shawnee Tribe is the only Shawnee Band in Oklahoma that does not hold ceremonials.

Eastern Shawnee Tribal membership is based on continuous lineal descent. Currently = 3,096 members

1977 = 1,049 members1964 = 813 members

1939 = 139 members when our constitution was written

1913 = 123 members1870 = 63 members

• Forced Removal:• Sept. 19, 1832 • 258 members of the Lewistown Band (known as the Mixed

Seneca/Shawnee Band) were led out of Ohio by the U.S. Military.• 220 members arrived in Indian Territory thus ending their three

month journey.• 1919 – Congress extended American citizenship to all Indian Veterans of WWI

• 1924 – The Indian Citizenship Act extended U.S. citizenship and voting rights to American Indians

Original areas of occupation

• Government to Government relations began long ago when the federal government signed treaties with Indian tribes.

• Treaties are the founding documents that incorporate sovereignty with most tribes today.

• Treaties recognized tribes as independent groups of people.

Longhouse Village

Sharing is a part of Indian life, and it gives Security to a life that has seldom been easy.

Leif Selstad

Early homes of the Shawnee were known as wigiwas.

Historically these structures were built by women.

Blackhoof

Cornstalk Tecumseh1768-1813

Tenskwatawa

Chief Blackfish (no picture available)

Bluejacket

• Historically there were Five Divisions of Shawnees

• Pekowi Tribal Ritual• Kispoko War• HathawekelaPolitics• Mekoche Medicine and Health• Chillicothe Leadership

Clans of the Shawnee (1859)

Rabbit Raccoon SnakeTurtle Turkey DeerBear Wolf HorseOwl Loon Great LynxTurkey Buzzard

Colonel Lewis

Picture courtesy of Ohio Historical Society

Lewis led the group of Shawnee out of Ohio that became the Eastern Shawnee Tribe.

Secondary source

Original

Tertiary source

OCR: Optical Character Recognition

Archive

Digitization

Digital

Digitization - The process of converting data to digital format for processing by a computer.

Digital archives (this is what our team will be doing)

Archival materials that have been converted to machine-readable format, usually for the sake of preservation or to make them more accessible to users.

Digital archive = Ohio Memory from OHS

A system designed for locating, storing, and providing access to digital materials over the long term.

• Primary source• In scholarship, a document or record containing firsthand information or original data on a topic, used in preparing a derivative work. (one history book; 1 children's storybook; a Cultural Preservation Plan)

• Bandwidth• The maximum carrying capacity of a line in an electronic communications network

Manuscripts

Periodical articles reporting original research or thought

Diaries Memoirs Letters Journals Photographs

Drawings

Posters

Film footage

Sheet music, songs, interviews Government documents Public records

Eyewitness accounts Newspaper clippings, etc.

Primary sources include original:

• Benefits expected of the grant: • Tribal citizen increases

• Awareness of project• Knowledge of Eastern Shawnee history• In connection to the past• In tribal self-esteem and cultural identityTribe

Increases research skills of staff and participating tribal members

Strengthens and increases partnerships

Sah-lah-no-key = “Till we meet again” in Shawnee

??“This presentation made possible by the Administration of Native Americans.”