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Post by Gary on Jun 15, 2008 9:30:55 GMT -5
I'm doing some research on the Keepers of the Sacred Arrows. Any information or sources would be appreciated.
I am of course familiar with the usual accounts (Powell, Stands In Timber, Grinnell, Schukies, Moore, Dorsey etc). Anything a bit more esoteric would be welcome.
I am also trying to construct a chronology of the Arrow Keepers. Once more, any information on this point would be really helpful. In particular, I am aware that William Red Hat Juniour became the Arrow Keeper in 1993. Is he still the Keeper? If not, who succeeded him?
Gary
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north
New Member
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Post by north on Jun 16, 2008 18:56:26 GMT -5
Gary, have you read The Cheyenne Arrow Ceremony by Harold N. Ottaway? It was printed in book form in 1969 by Wichita State University, based on his 1968 Master's thesis. I believe that it was excerpted in a 1968 Oklahoma Historical magazine, which I think that you can access on-line.
North
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Post by Gary on Jun 17, 2008 12:38:14 GMT -5
Hi North
Thanks for the tip. I hadn't heard of that book. I will try to track it down (no luck so far). I'll try the Chronicles of Oklahoma.
Gary
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Post by Gary on Jun 17, 2008 12:44:08 GMT -5
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north
New Member
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Post by north on Jun 18, 2008 22:39:03 GMT -5
Thanks for the link, Gary, that's the same author, but was reprinted from Plains Anthropologist. Harold Ottaway's article, The Cheyenne Arrow Ceremony was in Oklahoma Anthropological Society Bulletin 19:1, 1968. His MA was published by Wichita State University in 1969; I found a copy on addall.com used book site for well over $100. There's UMI Dissertation Service of Ann Arbor, they're worth checking for a reprint of his MA. Good luck with your project, it's a fascinating subject.
North
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Post by Dietmar on Jun 23, 2008 14:47:42 GMT -5
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Post by Gary on Jun 24, 2008 11:40:38 GMT -5
Hi Dietmar,
Thanks for the link. I had not seen it. I have been trying to find the dissertation on UMI, but with no luck so far.
Gary
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Post by Gary on Jun 24, 2008 11:49:02 GMT -5
It looks like Sibylle Schlesier has turned the dissertation into a book. I found this on the internet:
Title: William Wayne Red Hat, Jr. : Cheyenne Keeper of the Arrows Author: William Wayne Red Hat Jr., Sibylle M. Schlesier (Editor) Format: Hardcover Publish Date: November 2008 ISBN-10: 0806139595 ISBN-13: 9780806139593 List Price: $21.95 Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Press
Gary
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Post by Dietmar on Jun 24, 2008 14:27:22 GMT -5
Gary,
if you complete your chronology of Arrow Keepers please let us know.
Thanks
Dietmar
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Post by Dietmar on Sept 8, 2008 16:20:31 GMT -5
Gary, now they have more detailed information about the book at the Oklahoma Press site: www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=978-0-8061-3959-3William Wayne Red Hat, Jr. Cheyenne Keeper of the Arrows By William Wayne Red Hat, Jr.; Edited by Sibylle M. Schlesier
A tribal leader preserves Cheyenne history, beliefs, and culture
As Keeper of the Arrows, William Wayne Red Hat, Jr., is charged with protecting one of the most sacred possessions of the Cheyenne people and serves his tribe as a revered cultural authority. The Arrow Keeper also oversees and maintains the tribe’s spiritual connection to the land.
Sibylle Schlesier—whose father, anthropologist Karl Schlesier, was a close associate of Red Hat’s family—recorded and transcribed this memoir of Bill Red Hat’s life. Through his words, we meet an intelligent, humble man who cares deeply about the perpetuation of his people’s cultural identity and the preservation of their beliefs. His descriptions of ceremonies and traditions will serve as a guide to help keep them alive for posterity. Red Hat conveys an oral tradition that preserves stories and memories of his people as well as accounts of historical events passed down within his family.
William Wayne Red Hat, Jr., served two tours in Vietnam as a member of the Marine Corps, earning a Purple Heart and numerous other awards and medals. After working for various aircraft companies in Wichita, Kansas, Red Hat aided his grandfather Edward Red Hat in his duties as Keeper of the Arrows. In 1993, Red Hat himself became Arrow Keeper. He now lives with his wife, Nellie, and their extended family near Longdale, Oklahoma. Sibylle M. Schlesier holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of New Mexico and has taught German and English at UNM and Native American Literature at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute. Currently she teaches German at Albuquerque Academy, a private secondary school. She has written articles for several Austrian and German publications.
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Post by Gary on Sept 11, 2008 11:27:01 GMT -5
Thanks Dietmar. I'm looking forward to this.
Gary
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Post by TOWHOMITMAYCONCERN on Dec 10, 2008 16:46:10 GMT -5
Hello reasearcher, I would be very glad to read your works when you are done. I am currently reading the book on William the current Keeper of our Sacred Bundle. I know him and have conversed with him a lot. If i can be of any assistance, please dont hesitate to call or email me. thanks.
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Post by Gary on Dec 10, 2008 16:58:46 GMT -5
Hi TOWMOM IT MAY CONCERN
I would be interested to contact you. Can you provide an e-mail address?
I am also reading William's book at the moment. Have you read the book on his grandfather, Edward Red Hat?
Gary
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Post by wolfgang911 on May 12, 2009 17:10:02 GMT -5
gary if you're not too busy preapinr your trip are you getting any further with your article and can you tell me how those sacred arrows ended up in not so sacred oklahoma?
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Post by Gary on May 13, 2009 16:41:56 GMT -5
Hi Wolfgang
My article is coming along in fits and starts. It is far from finished.
As to how the Arrows ended up in Oklahoma, it really started with the division of the cheyennes into Northern and Southern groups in or about the 1830s. Although the tribe remained unified, two groups developed, one of which remained in the north, ranging around the Black Hills/Powder River areas, whilst the southern group was in the area of what is now Colorado/Kansas/Oklahoma. This was not a clear cut division and there was (and still is) a lot of interaction between the two groups.
The Arrow Keeper throughout most of the 1830s was White Thunder, grandfather of George Bent. His Aorta band was part of the southern group.
The role of Arrow Keeper does not seem to have been hereditary, although there have been family links between many of the keepers. As a result, the keepers have generally been members of the southern bands. The most prominent was perhaps Stone Forehead (also a leader of the Aorta band) who was the Arrow Keeper from about 1849 until his death in 1876.
The Southern Cheyenne were eventually restricted to a reservation in Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. And that, very briefly, is why the Arrow Keeper is in Oklahoma.
There was a two year period in the 1950s during which the Arrows were kept among the Northern Cheyennes, and Stone Forehead took them north in the 1870s. Otherwise, as far as I can tell, they have been in the south for most of the last 180 years.
Gary
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