(NCIA Director Judi gaiashkibos delivered sage collected by Roger Welsch on the Pawnee homelands that was used in the smudging ceremony)

Charmaine Shawana plans to get up early Wednesday and drive nearly 12 hours west to bring her ancestors home.

It’s been more than a century since two of her tribe’s ancestors were taken from their graves in Michigan, and it’s time to bring them home, said the Saginaw Chippewa tribal council member.

“Our ancestors were disrupted in their sleep,” she said. “We need to put them back, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

A small delegation will visit Lincoln Wednesday and Thursday to retrieve the remains of the ancestors that have been housed for decades in the University of Nebraska State Museum.

A 1990 law requires all federal agencies and federally funded institutions to return human remains and funerary objects to tribes through a process known as repatriation, and while most federal agencies and federally funded universities today are willing to participate, it hasn’t always been that way.

A memorial stone on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus stands as testimony to a nearly three-year effort by tribal leaders to get the university to return remains to them. Many of the remains had been incinerated and spread on East Campus, and UNL leaders decided to erect a monument nearby.

Priscilla Grew, director of the NU State Museum, said she began working with a coalition of seven Michigan tribes in 2008 to return human remains and 27 funerary objects housed in the museum.

The tribes designated representatives of the Saginaw Chippewa to receive the remains and objects on their behalf.

“I’ve enjoyed working with the coalition up there,” Grew said. “Now they’ve been able to bring this to a conclusion.”

UNL has returned the remains of 1,849 individuals to tribes since 1998, she said.

The latest repatriation effort has roots in 1883, when a man named M.L. Eaton removed the remains of two Native people from graves near Midland, Mich. That same year, he took 27 funerary objects from different Native graves. The State Museum took possession of the remains and funerary objects in 1894.

According to a Feb. 17, 1894, obituary in the Fairbury Gazette, Martin L. Eaton was a Fairbury doctor and former mayor who had served as the Jefferson County coroner and an adjutant for the second regiment of the Nebraska National Guard. He died Feb. 12, 1894, of pneumonia at the age of 36.

Shawana said it was common practice for non-Native researchers to exhume the bodies and funerary objects at the time, often to study physical attributes including cranial capacity and femur length.

The late 19th century was an especially difficult time for the Saginaw Chippewa people as they struggled to adapt to the loss of hunting land and the decimation of their culture and language due to forced assimilation by the federal government, she said.

“We survived that,” she said. “Where we are today is really quite remarkable.”

The tribe has prospered partly due to a successful gaming enterprise and largely due to the determined efforts of tribal members to preserve their language and culture, Shawana said.

Saginaw Chippewa tribal members plan to host a brief ceremony at the State Museum Thursday morning, she said.

Once home, they plan to host a feast for their ancestors and then bury their remains in a cemetery the tribe has designated specifically for repatriated ancestors, she said.

“It’s an honor to work with our relatives, bring them home, feast them, put them back in the ground where they belong,” Shawana said. “Hopefully, they’ll never be disturbed again.”

By the Omaha World Herald.  Click here for original story.

The lines in Laura Galligo Brewer's face run deep, reflecting a century of living — much of it hard.

All the loss, starting with her mother, who died when Laura was just a child. Then, when Laura was a young mother, her husband and one of their children perished. She was barely 30, with five other mouths to feed.

And all the separation. She went to a boarding school when she was 8. Years later, she sent her own children there after she was widowed, so she could work.

There was the crushing poverty. And of course the second-class treatment: the hiding of her native Lakota language at school, the lowering of herself to prospective landlords in Omaha as she asked, “Do you rent to Indians?”

Yet look more closely at Laura Galligo Brewer's face. These deep outlines around her mouth, in her cheeks, above her eyes, are the imprints of laughter. Of near-constant smiling.

Hers isn't the face of suffering. For all the hardship she has endured, time and experience have carved joy.

“One time a woman told me, 'Don't think about the bad things that happened to you,' ” Laura says. “'Remember the good things.'”

And she has. Of her entry into this world on the banks of the White River in South Dakota, where her parents had gone fishing. Of learning the Lakota language. Her parents spoke Lakota when they wanted to have a private conservation in front of their children, who were raised speaking English in the 1920s.

Of riding around Pine Ridge on horseback; there were no cars on the reservation in those days. Of traveling with her grandparents by horse and wagon to Chadron, Neb., where they sold crafts and camped.

Of how the matron at the Oglala Community School at Pine Ridge praised her for her bed-making skills. Of how hard work, pluck and her father's buy-in to the controversial boarding school eased the pain of separation from her family.

Other kids cried. But not Laura. She was eager to learn.

And she did learn, at Indian schools in Pine Ridge, Oklahoma and Kansas, where she bounced, staying with relatives, getting jobs as a domestic in people's homes in Kansas City.

“I never did run away like some of the girls used to,” she said. “I wasn't afraid.”

She peeled potatoes, she cooked, she helped. And then as an older teenager, she returned to Pine Ridge, where such jobs were nonexistent. Who could afford paying a girl to help?

Laura Galligo still managed to find jobs here and there, finally landing at the reservation hospital, where she was a “Blue Girl,” which gave her invaluable nurse's aide training. She went to college for a while at Chadron State and then met Freddy Brewer, who had grown up on a farm on the outskirts of Pine Ridge.

They had met at a dance. Freddy served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era work-relief program, and became part-owner of a gas station.

They had a Catholic wedding. And then the babies came. Five sons: Tommy, Richard, Everett, Willard and Fred, whom everyone called “Budger.” The youngest was a daughter, Elena. They lived in Pine Ridge.

Then in 1943, her husband and son Richard, who was maybe 7, went fishing. And a hat fell into the spillway. And Richard went after it. And Fred went after Richard. They both drowned.

Everything changed.

Laura needed work. There was none at Pine Ridge.

With her older children at Indian boarding school, she took her two youngest kids wherever she could find jobs. This meant ranches in Montana and Wyoming. Then to a job caring for a priest's sister in Chicago.

They returned to Pine Ridge, but in the summer of 1954, Laura would leave that reservation forever.

She and Elena, who was by then 11, landed in Omaha, broke. The Salvation Army housed them until they could find their own apartment. Budger later joined them and graduated from the old Tech High. Elena graduated from the old Notre Dame Academy.

Laura got work as a nurse's aide at the old St. Joseph Hospital. A friend there got her a job at a hospital on the Winnebago Reservation north of Omaha. She worked as a licensed practical nurse for 13 years before retiring in 1976.

Then she cared for ailing relatives in Idaho and New Mexico.

Laura saw her older children on sporadic visits home to Pine Ridge whenever she could get there. Her children understood why she had left, and the family remained close despite the separation, granddaughter Teri Dameron said.

Later, Laura would see her grandchildren during extensive travels that took her throughout the United States and to Europe. A highlight was Italy. She often traveled with Elena, who lives in Omaha.

Elena's daughter, Teri Dameron, is devoted to her grandmother, visiting her daily at the Douglas County Health Center, where Laura has lived for four years.

Teri grew up in Omaha and runs a business here called Traditional Eagle Solutions, writing grants and serving as a consultant to Indian tribes.

Over the weekend, Teri organized a 100th birthday party for her grandmother that drew so many relatives from so many states that she needed to rent the firefighters union hall to fit everyone.

Teri knows her grandmother's stories and wants to keep them alive for generations like Taliyah's. Taliyah is Teri's 3-year-old granddaughter, a bouncy, long-haired girl who runs around the hospital delighting residents, especially her Unci.

“Unci” — pronounced OON-chee — is Lakota for grandmother. It's what Laura's family calls her. They had to as the brood grew from five children to 25 grandchildren to 75 great-grandchildren to 30 great-greats like Taliyah.

With so many grandmas, the clan needed a term for matriarch Laura. Unci it is.

Unci taught her granddaughters how to braid hair. She made their Indian dresses. She emphasized generosity, respect, the importance of family.

And now, in her twilight years, she is teaching something else.

Unci, Teri asks her, what are some of your lessons for us?

Laura thought about it.

“Help each other,” she said. “Remember the good.”

Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln

WHEN: Friday, Apr. 5, 2013, through Apr. 21, 2013

WHERE: Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., Hewit Place

Here is an article published in the Lincoln Journal Star about Senator Chambers speech to the leadership students:

It was Civics 101, Sen. Ernie Chambers-style, on Tuesday for a group of young Natives who aspire to become leaders.

Chambers, widely regarded as the dean of the Legislature after 38 years as a state senator, touched on a variety of subjects during a half-hour private meeting at the Capitol.

Among them were his exposure to racism as a child, how to communicate with and treat other people,  how to treat themselves and, most importantly, what it means to be black or Native American in a nation where most of the power is held by whites.

“This land was yours. It was taken from you -- just like freedom was taken from my people,” Chambers told about 20 students participating in the Sovereign Native Youth Leadership Field Trip.

Scott Shafer, with the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, said the field trip was part of an ongoing program designed to help Native students develop leadership skills by having experiences with people in government. In addition to Chambers, the group met with the Legislature’s Tribal Relations Committee and 1st District Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.

“We want to get them thinking about themselves and their future and how can they go back to their community to be better leaders of change,” Shafer said in an interview.

Mathew Wingett of Winnebago said he thought Chambers' talk was good because the senator pointed out things that happen every day and “we don’t notice them.”

“I liked it a lot. I learned a lot, mostly about racial issues and government in real life,” said Ashley Hamilton of South Sioux City.

Maria Tello of Lincoln said she learned about the importance of not giving up when people put you down.

Chambers challenged the students to listen to what they were told by teachers and adults and to develop the ability to discern lies from truth.

“All of you are young enough to be my grandchildren,  and that’s the way I will treat you,” Chambers said. “I don’t lie to my children and grandchildren, and I will not lie to you.”

The Omaha senator told the students they should question the purpose of tribal names and those that are given them by others, saying they sometimes can make you feel less of a person.

“I don’t know if a Cherokee calls himself a Cherokee in his native language,” Chambers said. “How do we know? Whatever we are taught when we are young, we think they are telling us the truth.”

Borrowing a line from the Popeye cartoons, Chambers said: “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” He encouraged the students to adopt the saying and live by it.

Not everyone who is an adult or holds a position is worthy or deserving of respect, Chambers told the students.

He also talked about the importance of learning life's lessons, adding that he taught his own children how to survive -- and fight when necessary.

“Life is hard by the yard, but it’s a cinch by the inch,” Chambers said. “The worst enemy you can have is a fearful mind, because it magnifies everything that is negative.”

Click here to see the full article.

Crete, the Doane College Board of Trustees has recently added two new members. Judi gaiashkibos and Dr. Thomas F. Tonniges will both contribute their expertise and leadership skills to the board of trustees.

Judi gaiashkibos has always strived to use her voice for a purpose. She is a member of the Ponca tribe, and grew up in Norfolk. Because she is Native American, gaiashkibos endured discrimination and hardships growing up. Since then, she has worked hard to make sure that her voice, and the voice of other Native Americans, are heard.

Appointed in 1995, gaiashkibos was named the executive director of Nebraska Commission of Indian Affairs (NCIA). In 2012, she was the recipient of the Sower Award in the Humanities, nominated by former Sower Award recipients Chuck Trimble and Don Pederson.

Trimble sang gaiashkibos's praises saying that gaiashkibos had transformed the Indian affairs commission "from an office-bound little bureaucracy to a dynamic organization advocating and maintaining positive State-Tribal relations, and reaching out to promote interracial harmony and good community relations."

Already a member of the Doane community, gaiashkibos received her bachelor's degree in human relations and master's degree in management with a leadership emphasis from the college.

Gaiashkibos has also served as past president of the Governor's Interstate Indian Council, and currently she serves on several nonprofit and state advisory boards.

In 2009, gaiashkibos was awarded the Gate Keeper Award in recognition of her "opening new doorways in the spirit of unity, equality and understanding."

Not only does she work with Native organizations, but also non-Native organizations and has worked on projects throughout the nation. Specifically, she has contributed to various areas of Indian history, culture, law and protocols.

She has two children, Katie and Jacque, as well as her first grandchild.

Dr. Thomas F. Tonniges has over 25 years experience working in the medical field, as well as special ties to the Doane community. Tonniges is a nationally renowned lecturer on community pediatric programs and has served on Doane's Board of Trustees for 13 years previously, from 1991-2006.

During his time in the medical field, Tonniges has led the Department of Community Pediatrics for the American Academy of Pediatrics in Elk Grove Village, Ill. Locally, he developed a pediatrics and adolescent private practice in Hastings for 18 years.

In terms of higher education, everything began at Doane for Tonniges. He received his bachelor of science degree from Doane College and went on to receive his doctor of medicine from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha. Later he would go on to become an adjunct professor at Kearney State College and Hastings College, as well as clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).

Not only is Tonniges dedicated to the medical community, but he has also found ways to give back to the community using his talents. In July 2012 Tonniges was named medical director of Arbor Health Plan, a mission-driven medicaid-managed care plan that serves Nebraska's rural population. He also serves as the American Academy of Pediatrics director of international and interprofessional activities.

Tonniges serves as a member of the Executive Committee of Live Well Omaha Kids. The committee was designed to bring together a combination of leaders to address childhood obesity in the community.

He is also a national board member for Family Voices, an organization dedicated to achieving family-centered care for children and youth with special healthcare needs and/or disabilities.

Tonniges has also excelled in the eyes of those he has helped, shown by his high satisfaction rating on Vitals.com, a patient-rated site that examines client experiences.

Tonniges is married to wife Jane Tonniges, and has three children.

Click here to read more.

His "Talent & Innovation Initiative" is aimed at enhancing Nebraska's economic momentum, which includes four proposals to:

• Create the Nebraska Internship Program to increase the number of college and university students interning with Nebraska businesses.
  
  
• Create the Business Innovation Act to provide competitive grants for private sector research at Nebraska institutions, technical assistance in new product development and testing, and help expand small business and entrepreneur outreach efforts. 
  
  
• Create the Site & Building Development Fund to increase the number of industrial and commercial sites available and ready for business development.
  
  
• Create an Angel Investment Tax Credit to incent investment in high-tech and other startup enterprises in Nebraska. 

Read more about the address here.

Pictured above (left to right) from the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs in attendance at the State of the State address: Jennifer Bear Eagle, Chairwoman, Khloe Keeler, University of Nebraska School of Journalism Graduate Student/NCIA Intern, and Judi gaiashkibos, Executive Director.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY.

Application deadline is February 8, 2013.