On Saturday, October 14, 2023 we were honored to join with others to stand with members of the Northern Ioway Tribe on the first land owned by the Ioway in Iowa since their removal in the early 1800s.
The seven acre circle is located on high ground at Two Horse Farm in Johnson County near Solon. We are still processing the significance of this important moment and its meaning for the future.
The gathering at Cangleska Wakan included a traditional meal, Ioway site visit, singing and drumming, and a gift exchange.
Larry Gullett with Johnson County Conservation, the Brian and Erin Melloy family, the Duane Scates family and Lance Foster of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebreska, are among those who made this rematriation of land to the Ioway possible. Along with all those who attended, we sincerely welcome our Ioway friends home.
We share our photo gallery of this beautiful day with you below.
Tammy & Kelly Rundle, Fourth Wall Films
Lost Nation: The Ioway
Larry Gullett, Director of Johnson County Conservation guides the Ioway Tribal Members and others from the group to the 7 acres at Two Horse Farm donated to the Ioway people. Many volunteers from Johnson County Conservation organized, arranged, transported and assisted in the momentous celebration.
Northern Ioway Tribal Members are called forward at the ridge of their Iowa land to receive a blessing by Rob Knuth, a Sisseton Lakota.
Gathering attendees John & Kristen Rummelhart welcome the Ioway home.
Gathering attendees welcome the Ioway home with handshakes and hugs.
Ioway Duane Scates (left) and son Nate (center) are joined by others from their drum circle to sing forthe gathering at Cangleska Wakan .
Ioway Brett Ramey speaks to those gathered about the Ioway of the past and of the future.
Following singing by Ioway Nate Scates and the other drummers, the gift exchange began. Ioway Duane Scates (center) presented Larry Gullett with a gift of a Pendleton blanket.
Melinda Scates presented squash, homemade foods, and honey from the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska's Bee Farm to Larry Gullett.
Larry Gullett presented Mark Edwards of BewildRewild with the gift of a Pendleton blanket.
Larry Gullett presented Irma White (Omaha and Winnebago tribes) with a gift and a hug. Irma cooked for two days for the gathering. She prepared delicious Native American fry bread, buffalo soup, and chicken and wild rice soup for the lunch meal.
Larry Gullett presented gifts to Ioway friends Duane & Melinda Scates (right), their son Nate Scates, Rob Knuth (Sisseton Lakota), Ioway land donors Brian & Erin Melloy (center), Cangleska Wakan land donors Dick Schwab and Katherine Burford, Irma White (a member of the Omaha and Winnebago tribes of Nebraska), Ioway Olivia Brien and other representatives of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.
The Rundles with land donors Erin & Brian Melloy and Erin's parents Enid and Pat Cancilla (the original owners of Two Horse Farm).
For more information about the site, click here: https://inhf.org/blog/blog/returning-home/