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Thirteen students at Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kansas, began a two-month journey May 13 to Washington DC. They call it The Trail of Broken Promises Walk. Their goal is to save the Wakarusa Wetlands, Lawrence’s only remaining indigenous wetland prairie, from becoming the South Lawrence Trafficway. The Kansas Department of Transportation plans to construct a freeway through the acres of wetland behind Haskell campus. The wetlands have been used for ceremony, prayer, and education since Haskell’s founding as a boarding school in 1884. Millicent Pepion, a junior at Haskell University and citizen of Navajo and Blackfeet Nations, is a chief coordinator of the Trail of Broken Promises, a primarily on-foot trek through 50 towns across the eastern United States to bring national support towards preventing destruction of the wetlands. Her email is On their route to the Capitol, the Trail of Broken Promises will address the difficulty of preserving sacred places within Indian Country. The students will carry a piece of draft legislation with them and call on Congress to enact it. The draft bill, which has been approved by the National Congress of American Indians, would amend the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, “to provide a right of action for protection of Native American Sacred Places,” such as the Wakarusa Wetlands. The students encourage anyone concerned about upholding cultural rights and treaties to join the Trail of Broken Promises. “Fighting to save the Wakarusa Wetlands extends beyond our campus,” Pepion said. “Our journey recognizes all Native Americans and all sacred places left vulnerable to developers’ agendas.” The Trail of Broken Promises will arrive in Washington, DC, on July 9. It will be documented digitally, on film, and in writing, to be made available to the public. The progress of the walkers day by day can be found on Facebook and Twitter. The students have been raising funds to help with the trip. Donations are accepted during the walk. Any person or group who wants to help host the Trail of Broken Promises Walk when they come to your area is urged to contact Millie Pepion at 480-258-2930. This is her cell phone so she can be reached during the walk and evenings. Anyone is welcome to come and walk with them. Many of the towns and historical societies along the route are planning to meet with them. The Trail of Broken Promises Walk will follow the Trail of Death across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana before heading east to D.C. On June 7, they plan to come north from Lafayette to visit the Chief Menominee monument at Twin Lakes near Plymouth. Chief Menominee was a Potawatomi chief who was forced to go, with his band of 859, from Indiana to Kansas in 1838. There were 42 deaths along the way, hence the name Trail of Death. Father Benjamin Petit accompanied them and died on his way back to Indiana. The Potawatomi lived at the mission, now known as St. Philippine Duchesne Memorial Park, in rural Linn County, Kansas, for the next 10 years. After a new treaty in 1861 made them citizens, most of them moved to Oklahoma, where the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has its headquarters today.  Report from Brunswick, Missouri: The Haskell Walkers left this morning. What a joy to have them in Brunswick. Can’t remember all their names but have their signatures on a thank you card they signed. They camped from Wed to Sat here in the Brunswick City Park. They spent last evening at the river access and had dinner with the Mo River cleanup crew which did a big cleanup this morning. Some of the Walkers helped them yesterday and this morning early. They also helped mulch trees at the park and visited the nursing home. We truly were impressed with all of them. Millie’s Uncle Stanley Perry and Julie the singer with the guitar came to our house yesterday for a bit to get sage and make bundles to dry for use on the rest of their journey. Millie said she is really looking forward to meeting you all! :) Mary and Don Riddle Shirley Willard, Rochester, Indiana, of the Potawatomi Trail of Death Association helped with the planning of the Trail of Broken Promises Walk. Willard is the treasurer of the PTDA and publishes the newsletter. Newsletters, history and photos of over 80 historical markers on the Trail of Death can be viewed at www.potawatomi-tda.org. George Godfrey, Athens, Illinois, PTDA president, was a teacher at Haskell in the 1990s. He will host the group when they arrive at Springfield. He is the emcee at the Indian dances at the Trail of Courage each September at the Fulton County Historical Society. You can also follow them on their journey digitally by visiting these websites: Facebook Page--- www.facebook.com/ToBP2012 & www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Trail-Of-Broken-Promises/300284686671395 Myspace Page---- www.myspace.com/ToBP2012 Youtube Page----- www.youtube.com/user/ToBP2012 Twitter Page------- https://twitter.com/#!/ToBP2012 Blogger Page------ http://tobp2012.blogspot.com Tumblr Page------ http://tobp2012.tumblr.com & our blog www.tumblr.com/blog/tobp2012 Weebly Website-- http://tobp2012.weebly.com
 On May 13 thirteen students, an elder and a dog named Willie left Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, Kansas, on a walk to Washington, D. C., to ask the government to stop destroying wetlands and native sacred places. The elder is the uncle of Millie Pepion, a junior at Haskell who organized the walk. She submitted her plans to Clinton Global Initiatives (CGI), Chicago, and when it was accepted, she met former President Bill Clinton and talked to him on April 30. CGI endorses people who try to effect change in their community in a positive way. He has American and African initiatives and Millie is requesting that he make a Native American Indian initiative. She will present this request to him in person June 8. The group will enter Indiana June 4. Williamsport and Attica’s Potawatomi Festival is planning to host a meal for them and provide free camping at Ouibache Park. June 5 will bring them to West Lafayette, where they will join Purdue’s Native American Cultural Center for dinner and a movie. On June 6 the group will be led by Bill and Shirley Willard to retrace the Trail of Death from Lafayette to Rochester. There will be a carry-in supper at the Fulton County Museum at 6 p.m. The public is welcome; bring two covered dishes and table service. Bill will grill buffalo burgers outside. The students will set up their tents and camp the night at the Trail of Courage. On June 7 after breakfast at the Fulton County Museum, they will go to Marshall County. The Willards will show them the historical markers and sites known to be the home places of the Potawatomi. At 4 p.m. there will be a public ceremony at Chief Menominee monument, hosted by Mike Woolfington of Marshall County Tourism. George Schricker will recite Menominee’s speech and sing a song he wrote, Menominee. Then they will eat a picnic at Centennial Park, Plymouth. That night the Trail of Broken Promises walkers will drive to Chicago so they can meet President Clinton early in the morning of June 8. They will spend two nights at the American Indian Center in Chicago. June 9-10 they will attend the Great Lakes Native American Cultural Center’s pow wow at Portland, Indiana. On June 11 they will head east to Ohio. Their first night June 11 will be at Greenville where they will be hosted by the Bicentennial Committee for the Treaty of Greenville. If you are interested in meeting and talking to the students who have taken two months of their young lives to do this long walk, you are welcome to come to any of these activities. You can get a different view from talking to the elder, Millie’s uncle, and pet the dog too. Ah, the energy of youth and a dedicated elder! Bill and I spent two days with the students from Haskell Indian Nations University and Kansas University. We were inspired, fell in love with them, and got exhausted. On June 6 we met them at Battle Ground where they did a blessing ceremony at the Trail of Death historical marker in front of the Battle Field Museum. Stanly Perry, St Michaels, Arizona, is a Navajo and is teaching his niece Millie Pepion the traditional ceremonies. Millie is a junior at Haskell and organized the Trail of Broken Promises Walk from Kansas to Washington, D. C. Several students had gone home so the number at this time was eight students. The elder, Uncle Stanley, age 46, and the dog Willie were still there, providing support and affection. They all petted Willie and I noticed one boy kissed Willie on the head, making me realize once again that a dog can be man’s best friend. As we learned more about them, we came to understand what American Indian young people face: loneliness in boarding school, thoughts and attempts at suicide, service in the military and other activities which helped them get their lives together. Their dedication to preserving the wetlands and native sacred places was strong. Stanley was quiet with eyes that looked into your soul. He was kind and took pains to explain things to me, like the smudging with smoke and ashes. The ashes came from the seashell that they used to burn sage and tobacco as part of the ceremony they performed at each Trail of Death historical marker for campsites of the emigrating Potawatomi on the forced removal in 1838. Millie told of feeling the spirits of the little Potawatomi children and babies who died on the Trail of Death and did not know which way to go because they had never been to Kansas and their families were no longer in Indiana. She said their spirits were traveling with them on this Walk, returning to their homeland to find peace. She poured water around each Trail of Death marker for the thirsty spirits. We led the group to Prophet’s Rock, a mountain high hill that carries the legend of The Prophet standing at its top and directing the fighting during the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. Then we drove by Burnett’s trading post, a log cabin that is the oldest house in Indiana, having been built in 1790 by William Burnett, a white trader who married a Potawatomi. Their son, Abraham Burnett, took part in the Battle of Tippecanoe. A. Burnett and other relatives held reservations in Tippecanoe County until well after the Trail of Death forced removal in 1838. We followed the Trail of Death through Pittsburg, where we stopped for a drink from the flowing well on the main corner. The next Trail of Death historical marker was at Pleasant Run (run meaning creek) where Millie and others did a ceremony and sang. Tre (means three because his real name is Leonard Lowery III) played his drum. He is Choctaw and wore a Choctaw hat with a big feather. We then followed Towpath Road to the marker at Chief Winamac’s Old Village, where they did another ceremony and sang. They blend their voices so beautifully and sing in pow wow language, like that used by singing drums at pow wows. Following the Wabash River, this part of the Trail of Death is a lovely winding route with huge trees on both sides. The next stop was the marker at Logansport’s hospital. The Pharos Tribune tried to catch up with us but misunderstood. They thought we were all walking but we were in cars. No way could Bill and I walk that distance. When you get to be 80 and 75, things usually slow down a bit and it has for us. We stopped by the Mud Creek marker on Indiana 25 six miles south of Rochester, where they did another ceremony as it was the site of the first death on the Trail of Death. This marker, a huge boulder, was placed by Rochester Boy Scout 285 in 1976, the Eagle Scout project of our son Allen Willard. In fact, that is how Bill and I got involved with the Trail of Death and have continued all these years. We headed to the Fulton County Museum and helped get the supper ready. Bill grilled buffalo burgers. Melinda Clinger, Jean Cloud, Marsha Glassburn, Dolores Grizzell, Ann Allen and others brought covered dishes. It was a great meal. Stanley fixed a spirit plate containing a small sample of each food which is usually set outdoors for the spirits to consume. Afterward, the students told their names and home town and what they had experienced on the Trail. Tre told about the 600 acres Wakarusa Wetlands at Haskell that are being threatened by the State of Kansas because it plans to build the South Lawrence Trafficway there. Kansas has allocated $192 million to build this eight to ten lane highway right on top of it. Haskell was founded as a boarding school in 1884. Parents and other tribal leaders often camped in the wetlands to visit their children, and elders used the Wakarusa Wetlands as an outdoor classroom to pass on traditional knowledge and their lessons on healing. Wetlands are also important environmentally and supposed to be protected by law. They asked each person present to sign their petition to save the wetlands and preserve native sacred places. Several of the students camped in tents at the Trail of Courage overnight by the Tippecanoe River. Geneva Center had cleaned it up and left a Portapot for them but no canoes. One of the students, Michael Ofor, had left his clothes at Lafayette so went back to get them, accompanied by Uncle Stanley, to help him find the right roads. Millie went to McDonalds to use Wi-Fi as she worked on her computer to answer messages and to put the finishing touches on her proposal to Clinton Global Initiatives. The next day June 7 Bill and I and the eight students and Uncle Stanley all gathered at the museum for breakfast: biscuits and sausage gravy. The students said they had that for breakfast several times when treated to breakfast by the local groups on the Trail of Death but this was the best. Melinda and crew are super good cooks. At 10 we gathered at the Father Petit - Trail of Death memorial in front of the museum and all held hands for a prayer. Then we headed out as a caravan again, the first stop being Chippeway on the Tippecanoe River and Michigan Road (now Old 31). Stanley and Millie did the smudge and blessing with sage and tobacco. The group sang. We could not take them to see the Trail of Death monument in front of the Rochester courthouse because the Round Barn Festival had closed the streets. We drove north to Plymouth and could not turn west at the sign pointing toward Chief Menominee Monument because of highway construction. So we took the next road and came in at Menominee’s chapel and then south to the statue of Chief Menominee. This tall imposing statue is breath taking the first time you see it and the students were very impressed. They did a special ceremony, smudging all of us, and singing. At the end Millie gave me her seashell which was used as a smudge pot as they blessed each Trail of Death marker. She said, “The first time I tried to kill myself was 10 years ago on my 16th birthday. My mother beat me up so bad and I wanted to die. I went to live with my aunt and she taught me to pray traditionally and gave me this seashell.” I was in tears as she gave me this precious gift. She said that she could not carry the spirits of those who died on the Trail of Death any longer, that it was giving her nightmares, and that they are home now and she leaves them with us. We all drove to a nearby gas station for restrooms and refreshments. At 4 we again gathered at Chief Menominee statue for a public ceremony. Mike Woolfington of Marshall County Tourism welcomed the group. There were fewer than a dozen of the public who came. Valerie Berkshire, Kewanna, was there so I asked her to give people Trail of Courage badges and FCHS brochures. I told history of Menominee. George Schricker, Plymouth, recited Menominee’s speech and sang the song “Menominee.” Tre played his drum and the students all sang. Julie Trechak told about the Trail of Broken Promises and what they hoped to accomplish. The students each talked. Jackson Shaad told about walking in Missouri and a flock of birds circled above him and his fellow walker, then came back & circled over them again. Mary Iorio introduced her dog Willie. Mike Ofor said he felt Menominee’s spirit come into the statue - he heard it thunder. (I suddenly realized I had felt it too but did not hear it thunder). Stanley told of his being so lonely as a child in boarding school and his grandfather told him that the earth is his mother and is always with him. The sky is his father and is always with him so Stanley was not so lonely anymore. I tried to tell them how sad I am that the Potawatomi were forcibly removed and about those who died on the trail. I choked up and cried. Bill and George both came to hug me. Bill and I gave each person there a necklace that I had made. I said I flunked beadwork three times so these necklaces were not woven but strung together and I made them for our naming ceremony. I told how Don Perrot had a dream and was told to give us names, Kwenago (Yesterday Woman) and Wabnosa (He Rises Early) for Bill. As I put the necklace around the students’ necks I told each “Bless you. I am your grandmother now.” We all shook hands and moved around a circle to shake each hand. It was the most moving ceremony we have ever had at the Chief Menominee monument. As we were leaving and getting in our cars, a deer came running across the road and north behind Menominee statue. We drove to Centennial Park where Mike Woolfington had reserved a pavilion called Fryman’s for us to eat supper. He brought food from Ponderosa: fried chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, cookies, tea and lemonade. Stanly made a spirit plate. Bill & I sat at the same picnic table with Millie, Tre and Uncle Stanley. Millie gave me a beaded necklace, bracelet and ear rings she made. Stanley gave me a bundle of sage. Stanley was anxious to head off to Chicago but Bill told him he would be in rush hour traffic and might as well take his time eating. I asked what time they would be coming to our house tomorrow night and Stanley said he wanted to stay at the American Indian Center in Chicago because he has a friend there. So they took a vote and decided to stay in Chicago. I said they can come and visit us any time. We will be there and welcome them with love. Mike gave them bottles of tea, cups and cookies to take with them. They all got in their cars and lined up, waiting for the last car. Then they waved & were gone, driving north to Chicago. We drove home as the sun was setting, filled with wonderful memories of the Haskell students, Uncle Stanley and Willie the dog. I tried to keep up with the students on the Trail of Broken Promises Walk via Internet. When on the Trail of Death, many newspapers and a couple of TV stations interviewed them. When they left Indiana, They stayed at Susan Gray’s farm at Greenville, Ohio. But after that I could not find any news stories. I called Millie and Julie and wrote what they told me. In Chicago on June 7 they met former President Clinton and his daughter Chelsea and the United Nations ambassador. They presented their request and were assured that there will a Clinton Global Initiative at Haskell Indian Nations University next year. Both Clinton and Chelsea touched the staff with eagle feathers and touched the Indian blanket the group will present to President Obama. Two went home, one for a funeral. The other one, Jackson Shaad, rejoined the group a week later. At Chicago a new person named Josie joined them for a week. Tyler Delaney flew in from Haskell to walk with them for a week. On June 9-10 they visited the Great Lakes Native American pow wow at Portland, Indiana, enjoying the dancing and food. A blanket dance brought in $300 for gasoline for the group. An older couple gave them two eagle feathers which they added to the staff from the Wetlands. Learning that Ball State does not have a Native American Center anymore, they headed east. On June 11 they went to Greenville, Ohio, and stayed at Susan Gray’s farm three nights, doing laundry, sleeping in beds, the luxuries of modern life for weary bones. Susan is a member of the Bicentennial Committee for the Treaty of Greenville. They walked to Brooksville on June 14. They stayed at the Native American Center at Columbus. Then they visited Serpent Mounds. At that point they decided to reroute their trip. They split into two groups and one went to a pow wow at Cleveland. A man named White Wolf invited them to stay at his place so one group went to Cincinnati. Next they went to Zanesville and on to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on June 22, where I talked to Julie Trechak on the phone. They found that Carlisle Indian School is now a military base. So more rerouting. As they travel, they ask people to sign the petition for the legislation they are taking to Congress. Running short of gas money and getting very tired, they decided to cut the trip a little shorter than originally planned. They plan to reach Washington D.C. June 27, visit the National Museum of the American Indian, and hopefully meet with President Obama. By June 29 they will disband and head for home. “Fighting to save the Wakarusa Wetlands extends beyond our campus,” said Millie Pepion, a citizen of the Blackfeet and Navajo nations and a chief coordinator of the Trail of Broken Promises Walk. “Our journey recognizes all Native Americans and all sacred places left vulnerable to developers’ agendas.” Millie and seven other Haskell Indian Nations University students and her uncle Stanley Perry visited Fulton County on their trek as they followed the Potawatomi Trail of Death from Kansas to Indiana. I reported on their walk in the Rochester Sentinel June 2, 4 and 25-26-27. I tried to keep up with the students on the Trail of Broken Promises Walk via Internet by putting Haskell wetlands in the Google Alert. When on the Trail of Death, many newspapers and a couple of TV stations interviewed them. This is because the Trail of Death is a well-marked regional historic trail with its own web site www.potawatomi-tda.org. In Chicago on June 7 they met former President Clinton and his daughter Chelsea and the United Nations ambassador. They presented their request and were assured that there will a Clinton Global Initiative at Haskell Indian Nations University next year. Both Clinton and Chelsea touched the staff with eagle feathers and touched the Indian blanket the group wanted to present to President Obama. On June 9-10 they visited the Great Lakes Native American pow wow at Portland, Indiana, enjoying the dancing and food. A blanket dance brought in $300 for gasoline for the group. An older couple gave them two eagle feathers which they added to the staff from the Wetlands. Learning that Ball State does not have a Native American Center anymore, they headed east. On June 11 they went to Greenville, Ohio, and stayed at Susan Gray’s farm three nights, doing laundry, sleeping in beds, the luxuries of modern life for weary bones. Gray is a member of the Bicentennial Committee for the Treaty of Greenville. They walked to Brooksville on June 14. They stayed at the Native American Center at Columbus. Then they visited Serpent Mounds. At that point they decided to reroute their trip. They split into two groups and one went to a pow wow at Cleveland. A man named White Wolf invited them to stay at his place so one group went to Cincinnati. Next they went to Zanesville and on to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on June 22, where Julie Trechak talked to me on the phone. They found that Carlisle Indian School is now a military base. So more rerouting. As they traveled, they asked people to sign the petition for the legislation they are taking to Congress. Running short of gas money, they decided to cut the trip a little shorter than originally planned. They reached Washington D.C. June 27 and walked from Arlington cemetery to the Capitol. By June 29 most of the students headed home. Only Millie, her uncle Stanley and Leonard Lowery III stayed in D.C. where they are contacting officials and asking them to save the Wakarusa Wetlands at Haskell. She presented the draft bill to Kansas congressmen’s staff, telling in detail how important it is in many ways to save the wetlands: Indian burials, sacred site to Native Americans, clean water aided by wetlands, historic value, and more. They talked to the Committee on Indian Affairs, National Congress of American Indians, and U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forestry. But they did not get to see President Obama. In D.C. they are staying with Rose White, who works with the National Congress of American Indians. They have been hanging out at the National Museum of American Indians for free parking, a place to relax and eat snacks, visit with other tribes, etc. “They have been real nice to us,” Millie said in a phone conversation I had with her July 12. She hopes to head for home to Lawrence, Kansas on July 15. On July 10 the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a new highway can be built on the wetlands at Lawrence, Kansas. A panel of three judges unanimously ruled that government environmental studies were adequate to allow major highway construction through the wetlands area. This was a blow to the group of students from Haskell Indian Nations University who walked from Kansas to Washington, D.C. to save the wetlands. They called it the Trail of Broken Promises Walk. They began their walk May 13 and ended it June 27 when they reached D.C. They followed the Potawatomi Trail of Death from Kansas to Indiana, and visited Fulton and Marshall counties June 6-7. Dan Wildcat, Yuchi/Muskogee, faculty advisor to the students’ Wetlands Preservation Organization, said the verdict was like “adding insult to injury” when the court ignored Native voices about the history and importance of the wetlands. Haskell was a boarding school during a period when “our very identity was threatened and children there used the wetlands as a place to speak their language, sing their songs, and offer prayers in the days when they received corporal punishment to do so.” Is this the end of the road? No, said Millie Pepion, organizer of the Trail of Broken Promises Walk. When asked if she plans to tie herself to a tree, Millie said, “No, we will continue to negotiate in a peaceful manner that does not expose our persons to injury.” She and people backing the saving of the wetlands have three ideas. 1. Get the wetlands included in the Haskell Historic District which includes the campus. 2. File another lawsuit. 3. Get the National Parks Service to declare it a park or a conservancy. One other way is for the public to ask President Obama to issue a proclamation to save the Wakarusa Wetlands by making it a park or nature conservancy. If you want to help Millie and the other students who spent nearly two months walking the Trail of Broken Promises from Kansas to Washington, please send a hand-written postcard to President Obama, The White House, Washington DC 20500. Hand-written postcards are individually scored and read, but typed letters and emails not always. You will be joining your voice with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, which is one of 152 tribal nations represented at Haskell and several environmental organizations including the Sierra Club, the Jayhawk Audubon Society, and Ecojustice. |
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