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Content about Charles Red Corn blog

March 1, 2013
Preserving our story

Preserving Osage history is archeological work that must be done

Last week I spent time fulfilling my duties as a Tribal Cultural Advisor, always a rewarding experience. It is a part of the Native American Graves Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that the Osage Nation administers.     

December 5, 2012
Many things to be thankful for this Holiday season

We are very thankful to The Creator for providing our Osage way of life

It is the day after Thanksgiving and my daughter Moira has made a fire and rigged up a computer in front of her fireplace. It is a place where I can write.  

Through a nearby window I see different colors and shades of autumn, and beyond the leaves I can see the lake. The fire and smoke are from blackjack wood, bringing a familiar scent and feeling to the late November day.  

November 2, 2012
Uncle Wakon's Cornfield

I believe that it was an Osage activity and that made caring for the corn important.

Uncle Wakon Iron had his own idea of what was, and was not, important to him. I am certain that what was important to him was much more complex than I understood it to be. As a child I thought one of those important things was his lawn. Back then there was a gentleman named Cloeman West who kept the lawn perfectly. 

August 31, 2012
Osages Govern

Those changes may very well have given us the potential to meet the challenges of our future, much like our ancient selves

For several centuries Osage People have governed themselves very capably. Our People lived close to nature and the organized system that guided the People was patterned after the Sky, Earth and Water.  That system was also based on other Earth Creatures such as the Bear and the Birds. Today, Osages have a basic idea of what that means, and it is important to us.

June 26, 2012
Beginning Song

A poem by Charles Red Corn

Grayhorse
Hominy
Pawhuska

drum in the center

whip men lead dancers onto the ground
they are seated
an occasional sound of a man’s bell
dancers sit waiting

men singers sit around the drum
women singers form an outer circle
around the seated men
a reverence

then it begins
the full even beat
of the drum
reaching back to who we are

June 22, 2012
The Oath of Office

There are four outgoing members of Congress: Jerri Jean Branstetter, Mark Simms, Anthony Shackelford and Eddy Red Eagle. They served the People well.

It will happen on Wednesday, July Fourth, Inauguration Day, when six honorable Osages will take the Oath of Office as members of the Third Osage Nation Congress. The Osage Constitution that was voted on, and ratified by the Osage People requires it.

We had many good and qualified candidates for Osage Congress this election, and it is appropriate that we thank each of them for debating the issues that our Nation is faced with at this point in our history.                

June 15, 2012
A good day to vote

Much like those ancient Osages, we know it is important to remain together, as one.

As always there was something beautiful about the early morning rain. Then the sun came out. It was a good day.

May 30, 2012
Osage elections: a time to choose new leaders and see old friends

The seventh proposed amendment will limit the number of terms a person may serve as Chief of the Osage Nation to three terms. A situation we have not faced in over a half-century.

In less than a week we will wrap up another election. We, as a People, will choose six among us to help guide our nation’s business and governmental affairs. Those are serious responsibilities, and it is apparent that we as citizens of the Osage Nation are taking those responsibilities seriously.

Already, many have cast absentee ballots and many others have set aside the day of Monday, June 4 to show up and mark their ballots in person. It is also a good day to visit some Election Day hospitality camps and see friends and relatives. 

May 16, 2012
Osage tribal identity

By making good decisions about whom we elect we can make it an even better government

Centuries ago our ancestors knew who they were and what was expected of them. There were groups of extended families that evolved into clans, and the clans made up a tribe.

Clans were there and accepted infants when infants were born. From the beginning of their lives those Old Timers knew who they were. Within their first year of life on this earth the clans gave each person a name with an identity. It was an identity born of Water, and Earth and of Sky.   

March 12, 2012
A Diverse People

A Poem by Charles Red Corn

 A Diverse People

We were of the
Sun and Sky
the Thunder and Stars
the Streams and the Earth

Ancient Osages
People of the Buffalo, the Deer,
Eagle and Hawk
finding Order in diversity of Clans

from that Order the People learned
a way of
a system of
living together

on Earth

January 30, 2012
The Osage Language

In my memory there are Old Men speaking to The People in our unique and ancient language of Osage

My childhood memory retains many images of Old Men and Women, dressed Osage. In my memory there are Old Men speaking to The People in our unique and ancient language of Osage.  I remember how sometimes those Old Men would move their Eagle Fans in order to bring life to a thought they were expressing. There were times when they did not hold a fan. During those times they were simply wearing a blanket, it did not matter, they were something to see and to hear.

December 20, 2011
Christmas, 1896

One year, I forget which year; it was a few nights before Christmas when Uncle Wakon told me about the first Christmas he remembered

Wa Ko’n Ti a’n, also known as Wakon Iron lived his life in the Pawhuska Village that we call Indian Camp. I knew him well and his passion in life was pretty much anything Osage.

Uncle Wakon was the younger brother of my Grandfather Tse Moi’n, who was born in 1886.  Both were the sons of Red Corn.

November 14, 2011
Ho-to’n-moi’n – Roars When He Walks

Other stories are of the many ways he enjoyed nature while simply ignoring his personal wealth and his preference for living outdoors

An Osage named Ho-to’n-moi’n was born during the month of July in 1863. In those days, all newborn Indian infants were given the first day of the month as their birth date for federal records. So, his birthdate is listed as July 1, 1863. 

September 28, 2011
Major General Clarence L. Tinker

It is a good and strong feeling when General Tinker’s song is sung at the Dances

When Tribal Singers begin to softly strike the I lo’n shka Drum to the beat of Major General Clarence Tinker’s song, all who are under the Arbor stand. It is one of several ways that we honor and pay tribute to a fallen Warrior.

June 8, 2011
I-lo’n-shka Zah-ni

Those who are a part of it know

The People gather
I-lo’n-shka  Zah-ni
Those who are a part of it know

Friday Night
Camp fires are embers
Dancers and Friends and Relatives have eaten

Sound of the Bell
Voice of Wah-tsi-pxan
Time to dress

A Dancer holds an Eagle Feather
It is special to him
A gift of long ago

Wah-na’n-zhi greets the Dancers
He guides Dancers to where their People sit
There is Order

May 16, 2011
When we were children in Indian Camp . . .

The arbors were not as large as they are today, still, it took several trips to finish the job of gathering the branches and creating the cover needed for shade for the Dancers

We were children living sometimes out at the farm, and sometimes in the Pawhuska Indian Camp. It was summer time and the kids in Indian Camp would play all day long. Many times we would walk over to the dance ground and play I lon shka.

April 13, 2011
Aunt Mary

Always wearing a traditional cloth skirt and a woman’s shirt and moccasins, she was an interesting and striking figure

What Osage doesn’t have an Aunt Mary? I had several aunts, two of them were actually named Mary. The younger of the two was aunt Mary Gray Pratt, my mother’s eldest sister. Her name was Wy a sha she me tsa he and she was of the Deer Clan. She died of cancer when she was 29. It is true she died before I was born, but to say I did not know her would be inaccurate.  

March 22, 2011
Remembering John Joseph

I remember the day my father introduced me to John Joseph. Dad told him I had read some of his writing. I was surprised such a distinguished man was so open.

John Joseph Mathews dedicated the book, “The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters,” to his great-grandmother A Ci’n Ga, who was an Osage of the Buffalo Clan, and to his wife Elizabeth Palmour.

The Buffalo Clan blood flowing in the veins of John Joseph was not apparent in the tone of his complexion or in the color of his hair. However, Osage was abundantly present in his heart and mind and in his soul.  

January 30, 2011
Comment

There is something good about being Osage

There is something good about being Osage. It is something I seem to have difficulty putting into words while knowing for certain it is real.

When reaching for an understanding of ourselves it is not necessary to compare ourselves with other people. After all, this is not a contest. Rather, for many of us it is simply a personal search to find a meaningfulness in life.