In October of 2024, Charlie Huffman joined a Land Justice Workshop over Zoom. She’s a Kanza woman living in Colorado, and before the session ended, she extended an invitation that would change the group’s summer plans: “Come and dance with us at our pow wow next June.”
On June 21st, nine members of the Sisters of Charity Community made the two-hour drive to Council Grove, Kansas. Sisters Rejane Cytacki, Pat Johannsen, Sheila Karpan, Nancy Svetlecic, and Elizabeth Youngs were joined by Associates Ellen and Keith Hustings, and SCL employees Nick Keehler and Kenny Davidson to attend the Kanza Powwow at Allegawaho Park, named after the last Kanza leader before his people were forced to relocate to Oklahoma in the 1800s.
The park itself tells a story of resilience. In 2000, the Kanza Nation purchased this land—the same land that had been taken from them generations earlier. Since the community’s last visit for a ceremony honoring the return of a sacred red rock, the Kanza people have added bathrooms, electricity, and a visitor center.
Before the powwow began, the group met with Pauline Sharp from the Kanza Heritage Society. Following tradition, they offered her tobacco grown on a Catholic Worker farm in Wisconsin. This gesture shows respect and requests guidance in building relationships. Pauline spent an hour and a half explaining the Heritage Society’s work in preserving Kanza culture and challenging the myth that Native Americans disappeared into history.
The pow wow started at 7:30 p.m. with traditional Kanza tribal dances. Drummers and dancers in regalia shared their heritage through movement and song. Then came the intertribal dances, where everyone was invited to join.
The visitors realized how much they still needed to learn about the significance of the dances, the regalia, and the ceremonies. However, being there felt like a step toward learning from people who have practiced sustainable living for thousands of years, long before society began discussing environmental protection.
Charlie Huffman has offered to teach the SCL Community about land-based education. Indigenous communities have knowledge about living in harmony with the earth that goes back generations.
Keehler noted, “Building relationships takes time and happens one conversation, one ceremony, one dance at a time. There’s no strategy manual for authentic friendship. But when communities center the voices of marginalized groups and learn from their wisdom, they move toward a future where everyone can thrive.”
The Kanza people are still here, still teaching, still dancing. And the SCL Community is learning to dance alongside them.
