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.A member of National ReliefCharities, the AIEF is one of the largest grantors of NativeAmerican college scholarships in the country, and providessuch basics as school supplies and backpacks to younger stu-dents.AIEF is such a strong supporter of college-attendingNative Americans that instead of the usual 20 percent retentionrate among Native students, 91 percent of their scholarship-supported students continue their college education ratherthan dropping out.Another tradition has been retained since the 1940s.Sincefirst gathering to celebrate the returning Pawnee veterans ofWorld War II (which was originally sponsored by World War Iveterans), the celebration is now part of Pawnee tradition andhas since become an annual event.The Pawnee IndianThe Modern Pawnee Nation 89Homecoming and Powwow is now a four-day event, heldaround the first weekend in July at the Pawnee Fairgrounds.Here participants enjoy traditional foods, dancing, variouscontests, softball games, and a parade.There is also a five-mileendurance race, named after Hawk Chief, a Pawnee scout whowas the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes.Hefirst set this record in the mid-1870s and it remained unbrokenfor eighty years, until Englishman Roger Bannister ran the milein 3:59.4 in 1954.In many ways the city of Pawnee celebrates its link with thetribe.It is the home of Pawnee Bill s Wild West Show, whichentertains tourists with Native American warriors and dancers.A museum with artifacts of the Old West, as well as endlessparades and celebrations, are all reminders of the connectionthe town has with Pawnee culture.On April 29, 1994, President Bill Clinton held the firstNative American summit since 1822.He pledged to respecttribal governments and improve relations between [his]administration and the Indians. He promised to heal thepain of the nations in various ways, one of which will be toconsult with them on future federal Indian policies.KevinGover, himself a member of the Pawnee Nation and assistantsecretary of the interior during the Clinton Administration,issued the first apology made to Indian nations for the wrongsdone to them, and the failed governmental policies of theUnited States (Gover currently serves as a professor of law atArizona State University another example of a Pawnee mak-ing a significant contribution to Indian affairs).Although manyNative Americans remain skeptical in light of similar overturesin the past, there is hope that at last the descendants of the peo-ple who were here before us will have a greater voice in govern-ing their affairs.Since 1994, there has not been another NativeAmerican summit, and the promises President Clinton maderemain unkept.However, there is a glimmer of hope.In 2004,President George W.Bush signed into law the American Indian90 THE PAWNEEProbate Reform Act, authored by U.S.Senator Ben NighthorseCampbell (Northern Cheyenne) and supported by Secretary ofthe Interior Gale Norton.This new law may finally facilitate theconsolidation of Indian land ownership and is a major step forIndian trust reform.Every civilization has periods of growth and decline.Perhaps after their long night in a valley of despair, the Pawneesare finally in sight of the mountaintop, where they will be closeenough to touch the stars from whence they came.The Pawnees at a GlanceTribe PawneeCulture Area Great PlainsGeography Present-day Kansas and NebraskaLinguistic Family CaddoanCurrent Population (2000) approximately 2,500First European Contact Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, Spanish, 1541Federal Status Recognized; tribal lands in northeastern Oklahoma91CHRONOLOGY>13000 B.C.The great Native American migration from Asia (predomi-nant theory).A.D.1250 Pawnees migrate to the Great Plains from the southwesternpart of this continent.1541 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores the American terri-tories then known as New Spain and meets the Pawnees,who obtain horses from the Spaniards; horses eventuallybecome intrinsic to Plains life.1803 The United States acquires 830,000 square miles of continen-tal territory from Napoleon Bonaparte of France through theLouisiana Purchase.1804 1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with their Corps ofDiscovery, explore the West.1806 American explorer Zebulon Pike and Spanish explorer DonFacundo Malgares travel the West, in what would today betermed as intelligence-gathering missions.c.1817 Man Chief, or Petalesharro, dramatically puts an end to thehuman sacrifice ritual called the Morning Star Ceremony.1818 The first treaty between the U.S.government and the Pawneetribe is signed, allowing settlers to pass through Pawnee triballands (this is quickly abused by settlers).1825 American trapper Jedediah Smith winters with the Pawnees;his tales of inexhaustible supplies of game, timber, and landencourage others to come to Pawnee territory.1831 Pawnees are hit with the first major epidemic of smallpox, adisease carried by settlers and against which they have noimmunity.1840s The Great Emigration of settlers into and through tradi-tional Pawnee territory.1848 Gold discovered in California, which leads to even greatertraffic in Pawnee lands.1849 Cholera kills half of the Pawnee population.92CHRONOLOGY1859 Pawnees ordered to move to a reservation near what is nowGenoa, Nebraska; dispirited, they do so.1860s Transcontinental Railroad constructed.1860 1885 Buffalo herds dwindle to near extinction due to white man sslaughter and competition with settlers herds for grazinglands.1864 Pawnees agree to serve as U.S.Army scouts, first serving inthe Sioux Campaign, then later (1867) protecting railroadworkers from other tribes attacks, especially the Sioux.1873 Longtime enemies of the Pawnees, the Sioux, attack them inwhat is now known as Massacre Canyon, without protectionpromised by the U.S.government from such assaults
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