logoSpirit of Nations
Powwow Committee

mark
Mark Finchum
sherry
Sherry Finchum
dan 
Dan Standley
 
bob



nikki
Nikki Crisp
crispfamily
Anthony Crisp and Family
margie 
Margie Detring

reed
Reed Detring
shirley


ina
keri
Keri Brooks and her husband Bear





Biographies
 
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.
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.
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. 


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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