Lost Nation: The Ioway

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Receives Historic Preservation Program Certification

The Leary Site on the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska reservation is a National Historic Landmark.

Slidell, LA--The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska has achieved certification from the National Park Service for their Tribal historic preservation programs. The Iowa Tribe of Kansa and Nebraska Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPOs) is certified to assume duties under the National Historic Preservation Act, including the surveying, protection, and preservation of important historic, archeological, and cultural sites; nomination of properties to the National Register of Historic Places; and the review of federal projects. The THPO designation, which also allows tribes to qualify for historic preservation grants, is granted by the National Park Service.

The THPO designation is an important milestone in the preservation of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska culture. In addition, this designation can seek to assist the other tribes located nearby as the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska has the only THPO designation in the state. Alan Kelley of the Iowa Tribe of Kansa and Nebraska will serve as the interim Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. Mr. Kelley is currently serving as the IT Director of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska and previously served as Vice-Chairman. During his tenure as Vice-Chairman, Mr. Kelley served on various committees relevant to the cultural and historic preservation of the Iowa Tribe. These committees include, Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Regional Tribal Operations Committee (RTOC) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC).

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Executive Committee will serve as the advisory review board for the THPO until a full-time Officer is hired. Once a full-time Tribal Historic Preservation Officer is hired he will, along with the Executive Committee, designate an Advisory Board specifically for the Tribal Historic Preservation Office. The Advisory Board for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska will include Tribal members that are knowledgeable in tribal traditions and culture.

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska requested technical assistance to seek the establishment of a Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Under a memorandum of understanding, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska contracted with Morning Star Consulting, a Native American owned grant consulting firm, to facilitate the application process.

Contact the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska for more information about the Tribe's historic preservation efforts.

Production Continues on "Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3" Sequel Film Project

Promotional art for Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3.

The unforgettable story of the Ioway people continues where the award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway left off in two new one-hour documentary films by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. The documentaries will be released in the fall of 2012.

When the Ioway are forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands to a reservation in Northeast Kansas, Ioway leader White Cloud (The Younger) believes his people must relocate to survive.  But intermarriage, broken treaties, and the end of communal living leads to a split in 1878 and the establishment of a second Ioway tribe in Oklahoma.  Both tribes endure hardship and challenges to their traditions and culture to achieve successful land claims and self-determination in the 1970s.  Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3 brings the Ioway story full circle.

The Rundles went into production on the sequel project in March 2010 and filming will be completed in the Spring of 2012. Ioway 2&3 was shot in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Additional filming will take place in Montana and Wisconsin.  The film will feature stories told by Ioway Tribal Elders and Tribal Members, as well as other Native Americans, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists.

The documentary project has been awarded grants by Humanities Iowa, The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, The Kansas Humanities Council, The Nebraska Humanities Council, The Oklahoma Humanities Council, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area and The Wisconsin Humanities Council.

Lost Nation: The Ioway 2&3 is slated for theatrical release during National Native American Heritage Month in 2012.  A national DVD release (with an alternative soundtrack in the Ioway "Baxoje" language) is planned for 2013, with Midwestern-PBS broadcasts to follow.

Art: Notchimine by Charles Bird King, Thomas L. McKenney & James Hall. Used by permission, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia.