MARK
FINCHUM , Cherokee from Jefferson City, TN, was founder of the
East Tennessee Indian League which sponsored the first powwows in
Knoxville. In 1991 he received the Sequoyah Award from the League for
"Promoting American Indian Heritage through Educational and Cultural
Activities."
He is also a past member of the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs.
Mark is a board member and past president of
the Tennessee Council for the Social Studies and a past member of the
board of directors of the National Council
for the Social Studies. He has had articles on American Indian
culture published by NCSS and by the Tennessee Association of Middle
Schools.
With 20 years of teaching experience on the
middle school and high school levels, Mark now teaches geography at
Jefferson County High School in Dandridge.
He has a Bachelor's Degree in communications and a Masters Degree in
Curriculum and Instruction. He is currently working on a
Doctorate in Social Studies Education.
Mark has received a middle school teacher of
the year and a distinguished classroom teacher award from Jefferson
County. He has also received an "Outstanding Social Studies
Teacher" award from TCSS and an "American History Teacher of the Year"
award from the Tennessee Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.
Mark will be involved in working with all the committees of the powwow.
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SHERRY FINCHUM is Cherokee from Jefferson
City, TN. She has previously
served as the Kids Day Chair for the East TN Indian League Powwow for
several years. She was elected as the Member of the Year in
1997. She is formerly a kindergarten teacher and now serves the
Jefferson County School System as the Director of Curriculum and
Accountability.
A graduate of Carson Newman
College, Sherry majored in Home
Economics and with an emphasis in child
care she also earned her kindergarten teaching certificate. She
received her elementary certification from ETSU. In 2002 she
earned her Master's in Educational Administration from the University
of Tennessee, Knoxville. During this past summer, she earned her
Pre-K endorsement from Tennessee Wesleyan College.
She has 3 adult children. Brent
and Eric have both graduated from college and are gainfully employed,
and Katie just completed her first
year at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
With over 22 years of educational experience,
Sherry will be helping with the demonstrators and the educational
presentations. She is serving as the Webmaster. for Indian Creek
Productions and for the Powwow. |
DANIEL
W.
STANDLEY is married with 3 daughters and 5+ grandchildren. His Cherokee
Name is Kanadi (English translation - The Lucky One). His
education is a BA in Business, Bliss College - Columbus, OH and a MA in
Personnel Management, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI
Dan is Vice President for Human
Resources, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge,
TN.
Previously he held a similar position with Baptist Health System East
Tennessee in Knoxville, and prior to that was Vice President Human
Resource, East Liverpool City Hospital,
East Liverpool, OH.
Dan has served for a number of years as a
board member and treasurer of the East Tennessee Indian League.
He is also a board member of the East Tennessee Mental Health
Association. He has previously served and been involved with Girl
Scouts of the USA, various Human Resources
Associations and has served numerous churches. He was previously
a board
member with the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of
America organization and well as a previous committee member with
Tri-State Federal Credit Union and served as
as the chairperson of United Way, East Liverpool, OH.
Reflections:
Born in North Eastern Ohio. Grandfather was Cherokee Indian from
East Tennessee. Father appreciated Native American family roots
and as a child he taught me the value of keeping the Indian spirit
alive in my life. As an adult, in 1987 the Great Spirit lead me
to the land of my ancestors and I now reside close to the area where my
grandfather once walked. Shortly after my professional career
brought me to East Tennessee, I became active in the East Tennessee
Indian League - first as a member, and a short time
later as a board member and officer. I have many fond memories of
the many powwows that I have participated in over the years but my most
memorable and humbling experience was when my Cherokee name, Kanadi
(The Lucky One) was bestowed on me. Other great powwow memories
include meeting many other fellow Native Americans from Cherokee, NC,
and those from numerous other
tribes from across the USA, and learning more about the differences in
Native American cultures. One of my biggest other powwow thrills
was the privilege I had to attend The Gathering of Nations Powwow in
Albuquerque, NM. I have also been involved in the planning for
and participated in the program of the Oak Ridge Native American
Celebration in Oak Ridge, TN. |
ROBERT "RED HAWK"
ELDRIDGE is
a Sappony Indian from North Carolina and has lived in East Tennessee
for the
past 28 years. He is a graphic artist for the
Knoxville News Sentinel’s-Home Market Magazine with 27 years
experience in
the publishing field.
Robert is active at the
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, school classrooms and Scout functions where
he
lectures and presents programs on the Cherokee Indians, the History of
Tennessee from a Cherokee Perspective and the Cultural Differences of
Native
Americans Throughout North America. He reenacts the early 1800s
Cherokee around
the time of Sequoyah. Robert is also an enthusiastic storyteller at
Native
Powwows and gatherings.
Robert graduated from Hunter
Huss High School in Gastonia, North Carolina were he studied drama. He
attended
Brevard College, in Brevard North Carolina where he received an
Associate in
Fine Arts degree in 1978. He decided to complete his education and
received a
Bachelor's degree in Organizational Management from Tusculum College in
2001 and
a Masters in Adult Education from Tusculum in 2003.
He is now working on his
doctorate from East Tennessee State
University in Educational Leadership and policy analysis.
Robert and his high
school sweetheart, Lynne,
reunited several years ago and have been married just over 3 years.
Robert and
Lynne have 5 children between them. He has a son 18 and twin 16-year
old
daughters. She has 2 grown sons, one married, working and living in
Knoxville
Tennessee with the first granddaughter and the other who just graduated
from
Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
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NIKKI CRISP is Eastern Band Cherokee and a champion
powwow dancer. She has danced for over 20 years, traveling all
over the southeastern United States and touring Europe, dancing and
educating the public about Indian life.
Some of the places Nikki has danced include
the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Powwow in Minnesota, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and a Celtic village
in Switzerland. She is a third generation dancer. Her Sioux
grandfather was a traditional dancer from Rosebud, South Dakota.
All of her uncles were fancy dancers from Cherokee, NC. Her
grandmother was known as a great cook of Indian tacos, a skill she
taught Nikki's mother, who carried on the tradition for many years.
In addition to her dancing skills, Nikki has a
talent for beadwork, doing some for her son's and daughter's dance
regalia.
Nikki is also an accomplished hair stylist
with over 20 years of experience.
Nikki will be leading the arena committee for
the powwow.
Reflections:
My son was two years old when he went to his first powwow as a grass
dancer (Knoxville) and it was at that same powwow that I danced
buckskin. I was pregnant with Kele during one of the Knoxville
powwows.
I'm looking forward to this powwow because it will
be so much fun and
for the experience of being involved in the actual organizing of a
powwow. |
ANTHONY CRISP, Nikki's husband, has supported his
wife and children in their
dancing for many years, traveling to many powwows and shows around the
southeast.
He is also a talented artist in doing
beadwork and quillwork. Much of the regalia worn in the family
has been made by Anthony.
Anthony currently works in logistics for the
Target Corporation.
Reflections:
At the first powwow in Knoxville I got to see my parents watch Nikki
dance for the first time. My aunt danced with Nikki during the
special dance for honoring mothers. It gave us an opportunity to
have family come in from Cherokee for a cookout after the powwow.
Seeing Johnathan dance at his first powwow. Watching Kele dance
there. Watching Shennell and Jatanna, our
nieces, dance in Knoxville is a very fond
memory. Both of them were crowned princess in Knoxville.
Why?
I'm excited about the opportunity to be involved "behind the scenes" in
organizing an educational and very fun powwow in Knoxville. This
is my home.
UT Rules! |
MARGIE DETRING has a matrilineal Cherokee and
Iroquois heritage from family in
the Shenandoah to Hiwassee River Valleys She has owned a business
presenting Native American arts, crafts, music and movies since 1994.
During the past 9 years, Margi, has been active as a vendor in powwows
in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. For several
years prior to that, she attended events in Montana, Arizona, and New
Mexico. She has been awarded a best booth at MTSU and FIHA (Fort
Pierce, FL).
Margie is a retired teacher and her booth always
emphasizes teaching along with presentation of Indian goods for
sale. She is a graduate of University of Missouri, Columbia, with
a BS in Education, an MA in American History, and a MS in progress in
Earth Sciences at Northern Arizona University. The Navajo Tribal
Council awarded her a Navajo Nation Award for her dedication in
teaching at the High School in Chinle, Arizona. Margie taught at the
University of New Mexico and New Mexico State, and in the Eldershostel
Program for NMSU. She has two children and two grandchildren,
soon to
be three. Margie's husband, Reed, is now Superintendent of Big
South
Fork National River and Recreation Area in Kentucky and Tennessee.
and has given the family enriching and beautiful locations
to live and explore.
Margie started her business to allow her to travel
back to New Mexico and Arizona on buying trips, but also to visit
artists and friends whom she missed so much. She named the shop
in remembrance of the road where so many of the artists, crafts
people, and her memories lived; on that old road between the 500
year old Acoma Pueblo and Zuni Pueblo to its west. The Tewa name for
the road translates into English as "The Ancient Way." Margie
is the Vendor Coordinator for the committee. |
REED DETRING was born in Bonne Terre, Missouri on
06/24/50. He grew
up on a farm in Southeast Missouri and attended Farmington High School,
graduating in 1968. He earned a BA and MA in History from the
University of
Missouri in 1972 and 73 respectively. He has worked for the National
Park
Service for 31 years in various positions and locations in the Western
United
States, Florida and Tennessee.
He is currently living in Fentress
County Tennessee surrounded
by a hard wood forest, helping his wife, Margie, with her Ancientway
Trader Native
jewelry and craft business.
He and Margie have been married for
33
years and have two
children, a daughter Erika, who lives in Berea Kentucky and a son John,
who
currently lives in Fort Collins Colorado. He is the proud grandpapa of
three grandchildren Brennan 6, Kylie 2 and Eli just born in January
2008.
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SHIRLEY OSWALT is Cherokee from the Snow Bird
community of Robbinsville, North Carolina. She is an expert with
clay and makes traditional
Cherokee pottery. She is also a fluent native speaker of the
Cherokee language and teaches many classes on the Qualla Boundary and
beyond.
Along with her husband Mack, she travels to many educational and
cultural events to sell crafts, demonstrate pottery making, and teach
the Cherokee language. |
INA
SWANSON is certainly no stranger to the Powwow circuit. Ina was
has served as the chairperson of vending for the East Tennessee
Indian League Powwow for over 10 years. Her expertise in
accounting has always contributed in the budgeting process for
successful Powwow events.
Ina will be serving as our accountant and will
be handling the audit of the books. |
KERI SUTTON
BROOKS is a Cherokee descendant from West Tennessee who
began dancing Southern Cloth in 1997. In
West Tennessee, she spoke on several occasions to various
school groups on
Native Americans, including a visit to UT Martin.
She and her husband, Bear Brooks, started a
craft business named The Bear and Turtle Handcrafts.
She does jewelry and he makes primitive style bows and
other
weapons. They met at
the
2000 Knoxville Pow Wow. Also, Keri
works as a healthcare receptionist and organizes Estate Sales
occasionally. She and
her husband
are animal lovers so they have three cats and three dogs, which treat
as though they are their children
Reflections:
Pow Wows are a great enjoyment and it is very important to
continue education regarding Native America.
I have wonderful memories of past pow wows.
I can remember on a couple of occasions where a mother
would ask
me if I could watch over their little girl that was going out in Grand
Entry
for the first time. It was such a
pleasure to watch these sweet little ones. Also,
at the first committee meeting that I attended with this
group I recognized most of the attendees. These
are people that I had met somewhere a long the way over the
last 10 years, but never had opportunity to get to know them. It’s nice that our paths have met once
again. I am very happy to be a part of
this great group of people.
Keri is helping with concessions and the silent auction.
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Spirit of Nations 
