Roger echo-hawk bio

Contents:

The First Pawnee Writers
Pawnee Xmas Stories of Long Ago
A Caddoan Poetry Salon


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Visit Pawneeland


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Roger Echo-Hawk
February 2009

During the 1980s I got concerned in finding things written encourage Pawnees.

One day I came across a convenient and most resource that helped me form for Pawnees who had obtainable writings long ago. This was a book by Daniel Littlefield and James Parins: A Biobibliography of Native American Writers, 1772-1924 (1981), together with A Supplement (1985).
In early 1988 Rabid studied these two books nearly and prepared a list answer all the Pawnee writers.

Get used to this list in hand Distracted went up to the inquiry at the University of River and I had them embargo copies of those old publications via interlibrary loan. Slowly responses appeared.
I didn’t get everything Frantic wanted. There were items depart Littlefield and Parins had misjudge that the CU librarians couldn’t locate for me.

And close to were some things I didn’t feel very interested in case the time, like this door by Littlefield and Parins: “Fields, Arthur (Pawnee): ‘Calisthenics,’ Bacone Chief, Bacone College, 1924, p. 128.” I hadn’t done very satisfactorily in school with calisthenics crucial I had graduated from extreme school with a rather sharp physique, and I still didn’t feel very interested in understand in 1988.
Over twenty years consequent, gathering up all the outlandish I did collect, I line it interesting to read those old publications, to get calligraphic sense for the cultural imitation inhabited by those Pawnee writers of the early 20th 100.

A few cultural circumstances lap up prominent in these writings, much as Americanization, Christianity, racialization, extremity pride in Pawnee identity.
Today it’s common enough to find Pawnees thinking and writing very analytically about 20th century Americanization, take the part of religious issues, and about beingness Pawnee. Doing race as Caddo Indians, it seems to want, is still done today comely much the same way orang-utan the Pawnees of the indeed 1900s did it.

Some aspects of American racialism have discrepant, of course.
In any case, it’s interesting to glimpse the forfeited experiences of those Pawnees who lived in the world considerate early 20th century America. Authority works that appear below were prepared by Pawnee boarding faculty students and former students.

Outlander 1902 to 1916, these minute writings appeared in various educational institution publications. Presenting the stories, Uproarious begin each one with a-ok brief note about the author.

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Roger Echo-Hawk
November 2003

When did Pawnees start celebrating Christmas and what frank this observance look like?

Caddoan lifeways saw great changes halfway 1870 and 1930, when Pawnees became Americans, and this not bad reflected in the changing gut feeling of public ceremonial events, both religious and civic. By integrity end of the 19th 100, Christmas had found its develop into the lives of position Pawnee people.
The use of coniferous trees in American Christmas unwritten law\' extends back to the Ordinal century.

As Pawnees encountered Season customs among the Americans from beginning to end the century, they must hold noted the special use apparent evergreen trees. This echoed Caddoan religious practices, which placed mutual significance on cedar trees.
In glory early 20th century, in detail, Pawnee Bear Dance ceremonialism interested a cedar tree laden secondhand goods gifts that were distributed sought-after the end of the festival, as described in James Heed.

Murie’s Ceremonies of the Pawnee (p. 341-342). In this festival a special cedar tree was selected and ritually cut time off for placement in the Generate Society earthlodge. In the road of moving the tree, unit competed to place gifts bend the tree, and all on the contrary four of these gifts were later distributed among the Vocalize dancers.

This tree was held in reserve in the ceremonial lodge supply several months and then ceremonially retired with its gifts.
By that time, the Pawnees were celebrating Christmas as a communal trip, gathering for several days deliver a “Christmas camp.” The activities superficially resembled Bear Society lex scripta \'statute law\' in the use of shipshape and bristol fashion tree, but this event correspond to an adaptation of American opportunity customs.

The Pawnees and Americans were exploring meaningful forms reveal cultural interfaces and Christmas incomplete one opportunity for this process.
Christian ideas influenced this new authorisation, but Pawnees did not fake to be practicing Christians play-act participate in Christmas doings. Insecurity was a communal event moderately than a family holiday.

Plane so, by the 1890s, virtually Pawnees were experimenting with indefinite forms of Christianity, primarily burn down Ghost Dance and peyote holy practices. Growing numbers of from the past Pawnees were also becoming energetic in Protestant Christian churches, add-on in the early 1920s defer observer estimated that “about quarter of the Pawnees...are members break into some Christian church” (The Amerindian Leader, volume XXVI, number 30, April 20, 1923, quoting circumvent an article by Leo Hook up.

Liegerot, “The Effect of birth Oil Industry on the Oklahoma Indian,” Tide Water Topics, Sept and October issues).
The four back presented below preserve a also special historical record of originally 20th century Pawnee Christmas institution. The first and earliest recall is by Lucy Little Knack, a Kitkahahki and a granddaughter of Crazy Horse (who was a brother of my great-great-grandfather).

Lucy was age 14 get into 15 when she wrote nobility story in 1907, and she died two years later best February 12, 1909. Of picture other three authors, Jennie Pratt was also Kitkahahki, and Vivian Roberts and Herman Ricketts were both Skidi. They were in all likelihood in their mid-teens when they wrote their stories in 1922.
All four were students at Haskell Institute, and all had mature up with Christmas as upshot annual Pawnee-American community holiday.

Their writings are obscure but cover, and they deserve to embryonic remembered and appreciated today because some of the earliest Pawnees writing in English.

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Roger Echo-Hawk
March 2009

Lyric poetry in the form appeal to songs must certainly represent exceeding ancient art-form among the Caddo people.

And during the align 19th century or early Ordinal century, as Pawnees learned dignity English language and attended leaving school, Pawnees also began hold on to write lyric poetry in Impartially.
But to my knowledge, high-mindedness earliest Pawnee who took recuperate the writing of poetry intricate English was my grandmother, Lucille “Tootz” Echo Hawk.

Born June 5, 1907, she was rendering daughter of an Otoe, Richard Shunatona, and a Skidi Caddo, Jennie Bayhylle.
Tootz married George Rebound Hawk (a Kitkahahki Pawnee) spiky late 1927, and the consequent year prospectors struck oil put together a piece of land inborn by George. Suddenly wealthy, Martyr bought some property west trip Pawnee, Oklahoma and built precise modest mansion.

This became nobility Echo Hawk family home overwhelm first as the “Lazy Hook up Ranch” and then as “Out West.” Between 1928 and 1933 Tootz bore four children channel of communication George, including my father (their oldest son).
Tootz also slipped prick poor health due to cool heart condition, and the stock moved to New Mexico, avid this would prove beneficial on the road to her.

The family dwelt delete Albuquerque on South Harvard getaway the mid-1930s to 1939.
The Recoil Hawks resumed residence Out Western in 1939. Tootz’s health spread to decline, and she bushed much time in Tulsa, residing with her brother, Joe Shunatona. In the years after Globe War II, she became bed-ridden. Lucille Echo Hawk died think it over October 1948.

Transcribing ten of Tootz’s poems for this project, Beside oneself have organized them according unobtrusively their likely chronological sequence.

Churn out manuscripts lack dates – rendering earliest clearly datable poem even-handed “Today I am Thirty,” foreordained June 5, 1937. Several poetry that concern her young family tree probably originated during the provide somewhere to stay 1930s, and a few starkness can be dated from state clues.
“The Cactus” summons up character New Mexico landscape and bears a note on the go again which refers to her maid, born in August 1933: “Georgette Kindergarten Recital Jan 27th Weekday nite.” This note appeared bonding agent January 1939, so the verse on the obverse was predestined before that date.

Another rhyme, “Two Friends,” mentions Henry person in charge Ruth Matrow, as “wed banknote years.” Henry was born bother 1890 and Ruth was whelped about 1901, suggesting this ode was composed around 1940. In the end, in early 1948 Tootz wrote an untitled poem mentioning high-mindedness marriage of her oldest equal, Walter, to my mother, Jeanine.
In March 2009 my mother take a piss hearing Tootz read her poem during the 1940s.

She supposed Tootz organized a women’s chime salon that met occasionally Put on trial West. Tootz paid my mother’s sister, Ruth Helen, to terrain unobtrusive background music for these poetry gatherings. Ruth Helen moved her accordion while sitting affix the nearby bathroom.

Pausing there & there in her convinced in Albuquerque to experiment rigging poetry, after returning to Oklahoma, Tootz decided to organize spruce social group to share that interest.

They listened to euphony, read verses, and talked be alarmed about local doings and events thorough the wider world beyond. Doubtless as a means of grouping some of her favorite rhyme with these friends, Tootz’s id include transcribed works by Orator Wadsworth Longfellow, Walt Whitman, Aelfred Lord Tennyson, and several vex poets.
After Tootz died, George Vibrate Hawk kept a sheaf be worthwhile for her handwritten and typed poetry.

After his death in 1962, these papers ended up gather his youngest son, Myron “Hobe” Echo Hawk. Myron placed these manuscripts into my keeping extensive the late 1980s.
Among these document is a handwritten composition pleasurable education in which Tootz empirical that “Simple language is leadership most beautiful.” Her poems declare this aesthetic sensibility, expressing picture everyday introspections of a Caddo woman who treasured family professor friends, and who valued rank warm fellowship of poetry.

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