2020 Elders and Presenters
Debra Bolton (Uncompaghre/Diné/Ohkay O’Wingeh)
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Dr. Bolton works as director of intercultural learning and academic success for Kansas State University. Bolton plays a key role in fostering cultural advocacy, civility and intercultural learning to improve success rates for students from historically marginalized populations. A recent recipient of a Research and Exploration grant from National Geographic Society, Bolton focuses on creating pathways to STEM for females. Also, Debra actively posts blogs: Human Ecology: People, Foods, Travel, Culture, and Social Justice, mainly focusing on food as a cultural transmitter. Dr. Bolton keeps an active presentation schedule sharing results of her multi-lingual research in multi-ethnic populations. Current favorite quote: "Indian Nations shall rise, and it shall be a blessing for a sick world".
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JULIA BROWNWOLF (LAKOTA NATION)
Rupert Encinas (tohono o'odam)
Donna Joseph (Lakota Nation)
Curtis Kekahbah (Kanza/Kaw)
Curtis Kekahbah, a member of the Kanza, Kaw Nation, lives in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He is an indigenous spiritual leader at tribal gatherings. He presents at educational conferences nationwide with an emphasis on native beliefs and the sacred aspects of life. His workshops and ceremonies engage participants and orient them to the traditional Native American paradigm of spirit, mind and body. He speaks at colleges around the US on the Kaw Tribe and indigenous topics.
Curtis was employed for many years with the Southern Arizona Veterans Healthcare System in Tucson, Arizona as a Traditional Counselor for the VA hospital. He conducted group and individual counseling for the substance abuse program in mental health as well as in-service training to staff that included cultural sensitivity awareness. He also provided counseling and healing visits within the community for indigenous and local people. Curtis continues to present at the VA hospital’s annual “Gathering of Healers” in Tucson, attended by many indigenous healers from around the country.
Curtis Kekahbah especially loves coming to Kansas, which was named in honor of the Kanza Tribe. He officially opens the annual Flint Hills Wisdom Keepers Gathering, offering smoke and prayers to the ancestors in the Kanza language on his native homeland in the Flint Hills of Council Grove, Kansas.
Curtis was employed for many years with the Southern Arizona Veterans Healthcare System in Tucson, Arizona as a Traditional Counselor for the VA hospital. He conducted group and individual counseling for the substance abuse program in mental health as well as in-service training to staff that included cultural sensitivity awareness. He also provided counseling and healing visits within the community for indigenous and local people. Curtis continues to present at the VA hospital’s annual “Gathering of Healers” in Tucson, attended by many indigenous healers from around the country.
Curtis Kekahbah especially loves coming to Kansas, which was named in honor of the Kanza Tribe. He officially opens the annual Flint Hills Wisdom Keepers Gathering, offering smoke and prayers to the ancestors in the Kanza language on his native homeland in the Flint Hills of Council Grove, Kansas.
Reuben IronHorse-Kent (Iowa)
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Reuben IronHorse-Kent, buffalo clan, is an enrolled member of the Iowa(y) Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska with tribal ties to Otoe and Kickapoo people.
Educated through parochial, public, and government boarding schools, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art and English from Peru State College, Peru, Nebraska. Matriculating twice at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1988 he received an Associate’s Degree of Studio Arts and in 2013 a Master’s Degree of Fine Arts. In 2015 he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the National College Honor Society. Reuben says that curiosity has been a driving force in his development and led him to explore diverse mediums. He started doing beadwork as an adolescent. Reuben is a professional artist with work published in Native American Art by Robin Langley Sommer, Hands in Clay - 3rd Edition college textbook and Creativity is our Tradition, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Reuben works with clay, does beadwork, flute carving, and is interested in stone carving and painting. He produced a CD of his flute music. |
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Della Romero (Ute/Pueblo Nations)
Della Romero, Flies High, (Pueblo/Ute Nations) has participated in the Lakota Way ceremonies as a Sundancer and pipe carrier for more than 30 years. Flint Hills Wisdom Keepers got to know Della through Southern Ute Grandmother Bertha Grove. Della accompanied Gramma Bertha to Wisdom Keepers for several years as her 'helper'. Before her passing in 2009 Grandmother Bertha designated Della to pass on her teachings, especially teachings about the water, the Giver of Life. Della has been an important part of Wisdom Keepers through her service to Grandmother Bertha and since 2011 when she began attending on her own.
Della recently retired after 17 years as a Supervisor of Family Therapy with emphasis on 'Youth at Risk'. She worked with hundreds of families, including many Native families. Today, Flies High is a grandmother and founder of Tiospaye, which means the making of relatives. She is a founder with her two daughters of a transformational and leadership non-profit company, which has been a big learning experience. Della continues to learn, to grow and to teach about our Panchamoma and the Feminine Principle in harmony with the Masculine.
Della recently retired after 17 years as a Supervisor of Family Therapy with emphasis on 'Youth at Risk'. She worked with hundreds of families, including many Native families. Today, Flies High is a grandmother and founder of Tiospaye, which means the making of relatives. She is a founder with her two daughters of a transformational and leadership non-profit company, which has been a big learning experience. Della continues to learn, to grow and to teach about our Panchamoma and the Feminine Principle in harmony with the Masculine.
Council Grove Elders — Since 2002
Mike Bastine (Algonquin)
Debra Bolton (Ute/OhKay O’Wingeh/Diné)
JULIA BROWNWOLF (LAKOTA)
JAY AND TERESA CLAUSE (TUSCARARA
ARNOLD CLIFFORD (DINÉ)
TERRI DELAHANTY (CREE/OJIBW)
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Flies with Bees Woman serves the FHWK Foundation Board of Directors as a consultant on Native issues. She is a presenter, has served as Mistress of Ceremonies, and teaches the Sacred Drum Workshop at the Gathering.
Terri holds her Native heritage in high esteem. She practices her traditions and Native Ceremonies and carries the women’s ways. She received the rights from elders to pour sweat lodge and has poured lodges for the past 20 years. She Sundanced for 11 years. Her Spirit journey is returning knowledge about the Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine that had been lost to the community. She leads workshops on creating personal Sacred Drums and Rattles as well as Spiritual workshops. Terri sits on the Board of Trustees at the Institute of American Indian Studies in Washington Depot, Connecticut. She is on the steering committee for creating a Commission on American Indian Affairs. She is a founding member of Women In the Spirit (WitS) and serves on the board. She facilitates workshops on “Meeting Death" at the Wisdom House Retreat Center. As an ordained minister she enjoys facilitating marriages, baby blessings, and funeral services. Always following her Native Traditions brings a richness of Spirit into her professional life. She has worked in an educational setting since 1991 with a focus on Multicultural Education for all students. Terri served as Secretary on the State Board for Multicultural Education and on the board for the annual New England Conference for Multicultural Education for 8 years. She is certified Level 2 in Braille. She is a Certified Parent Educator, Supervisor Level through the National Parents as Teachers organization. She is Director for Greater Hartford Even Start, a Family Literacy Program, and the Family Engagement Specialist at the University of Hartford Magnet School. |
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Grace Elm (Cree)
Rupert Encinas (Tohono O’odham)
Minisa Crumbo Halsey (Citizen Band Potawatomi/Muscogee Creek)
William Hensley (Alaskan Inupiaq)
Eugene B. Joe (Diné)
Donna Joseph (Lakota)
Curtis Kekahbah (Kanza (Kaw)/Potawatomi)
Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance (Oglala Lakota) --accompanied by her son, Nathan Blindman
Nancy Longwalker (Tsalagi)
Sadie Mann (Mandan)
Alden Naranjo (Southern Ute)
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Alden Naranjo began accompanying his mother, Grandmother Bertha Grove, Southern Ute, to the Wisdom Keepers Gathering in 2002. He came with her every year that she attended, and he began speaking as part of the forum. When Grandmother Bertha passed, Alden continued her generous work of teaching the essence of Southern Ute culture. Alden also continued his mother’s tradition of challenging people by asking difficult questions like, “What are you people doing with what we Native people are telling you?” Or “Do you want to get out of kindergarten? You can’t know what we’re talking about unless you do some ceremonies with us.” Grandmother Bertha and her son Alden became an enduring part of the Wisdom Keepers tradition of making the teachings of elders available to all who want to learn.
Alden is a prominent leader on the Southern Ute Reservation and recently retired after 20 years of service as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Coordinator for the tribe. During his total of 40 years service to the tribe he also worked 16 years as a police officer, spent two years working for the Division of Wildlife and two years as a probation officer. The information in this paragraph is from an article by reporter Sacha Smith in the Southern Ute Drum. Read more about the retirement party here. Alden is revered by his tribe for his devotion to language preservation, to helping to create the Southern Ute Cultural Center, to being a Roadman for the Native American Church, and to mentoring youth regarding the Ute language, traditions and ceremonies. He is a repository of cultural knowledge and wisdom that his tribe will continue to rely upon. Alden and another tribal member provide commentary for the Rocky Mountain PBS film titled “The Wickiup Investigation.” Part of a series of films called The Colorado Experience, this film beautifully illustrates the complex interactions of archaeologists and Southern Ute tribal members as they encounter the very different approaches each group takes toward land and the human interaction with that land. |
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The James & Elana Nells Family (Diné/Arapaho/Cheyenne)
Carman Ramos (Taino)
Della Romero (Puebla/Ute)
Arthur Short Bull (Oglala Lakota)
Daniel Wildcat (Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation)
Sheldon P. Wolfchild (Dakota)
Elders Who Have Passed
Grandmother Bertha Grove, Red Earth Woman (Southern Ute)
Bertha Marie Burch Grove was born to Samuel Burch and Clara Cloud Burch May 27, 1923, in Ignacio, Colorado. She worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Pino Nuche Restaurant and served on various tribal committees. She enjoyed traveling and had toured Korea, Australia and other parts of the world. She was the first Southern Ute Tribal Royalty. She participated in horse racing, Sun Dance, pow-wows and other Native American dance cultures. She was a member of the Native American Church. She raised numerous children in addition to her sons, nieces and nephews.
She was involved in community affairs and also found time to educated the general public about Native American traditions and issues of sovereignty and Native rights.
She was tireless in her work for the welfare of her Southern Ute people and all people, and Mother Earth.
Grandmother Bertha had a dazzling way of expressing what she knew people ought to be doing, how we ought to be treating each other and the world.
She would begin her talk at White Memorial Camp in the morning by greeting the group, “Good Morning. I thank Creator for a good night’s sleep last night. I’m all refreshed, so I thank Creator. I hope you had a good night’s sleep last night so you could get up this morning refreshed and join us.
Then she would launch into her teaching.
Today I’m gonna tell you about the giveaway.
You know that air that you breathe? Take a deep breath. That air that you need and that you breathe all day long, that’s a gift. You can’t make the air. You don’t know how to get it. It’s just there for you all day long, every day. That air is a gift.
Why can’t you learn to give away?
Water. That water that you drink when you’re thirsty. That water that you need every day is there for you. You can’t make it. It’s a gift. You and all the plants and animals need that water to live. And it is there for you every day.
Why can’t you learn to give away?
What about all that food that you eat two, three, maybe more times every day. That food is a gift from the plants and animals, and it all comes from Creator. You can’t make it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, maybe a snack, all gifts.
Why can’t you learn to give away?
So when you see the gifts of air to breathe, water to drink, and all the food you eat so you can live a good life, maybe you can see something that you can do to help someone else out. Give back something to help Creator out. All those gifts showered on you, you can give your neighbor a ride to the grocery or take ‘em a casserole when they’re sick. And do things so that nobody knows who did it. Give back to the degree that you’ve been given all that you need to live a good life. That’s the giveaway.
She was involved in community affairs and also found time to educated the general public about Native American traditions and issues of sovereignty and Native rights.
She was tireless in her work for the welfare of her Southern Ute people and all people, and Mother Earth.
Grandmother Bertha had a dazzling way of expressing what she knew people ought to be doing, how we ought to be treating each other and the world.
She would begin her talk at White Memorial Camp in the morning by greeting the group, “Good Morning. I thank Creator for a good night’s sleep last night. I’m all refreshed, so I thank Creator. I hope you had a good night’s sleep last night so you could get up this morning refreshed and join us.
Then she would launch into her teaching.
Today I’m gonna tell you about the giveaway.
You know that air that you breathe? Take a deep breath. That air that you need and that you breathe all day long, that’s a gift. You can’t make the air. You don’t know how to get it. It’s just there for you all day long, every day. That air is a gift.
Why can’t you learn to give away?
Water. That water that you drink when you’re thirsty. That water that you need every day is there for you. You can’t make it. It’s a gift. You and all the plants and animals need that water to live. And it is there for you every day.
Why can’t you learn to give away?
What about all that food that you eat two, three, maybe more times every day. That food is a gift from the plants and animals, and it all comes from Creator. You can’t make it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, maybe a snack, all gifts.
Why can’t you learn to give away?
So when you see the gifts of air to breathe, water to drink, and all the food you eat so you can live a good life, maybe you can see something that you can do to help someone else out. Give back something to help Creator out. All those gifts showered on you, you can give your neighbor a ride to the grocery or take ‘em a casserole when they’re sick. And do things so that nobody knows who did it. Give back to the degree that you’ve been given all that you need to live a good life. That’s the giveaway.
Bear Heart, Muskogee Creek (Citizen Band Potawatomi)
Wallace "Mad Bear" Anderson (Tuscarora)
Grandfather Ted Williams (Tuscarora)
Grandfather Lloyd Elm "New House" (Onandaga)
Grandmother Sarah Smith (Mohawk)
Jake Swamp (Mohawk)
