Manikiki Nation History for 2006 - 2007

The state of the Manikiki Nation is good. Membership is up with our Nation strength at 241, 137 Little Braves and 104 Big Braves. We have 12 tribes of varying size and we took a major step towards rebuilding a couple of the weaker tribes with a successful recruiting effort. Like last year, we had a large group of outgoing boys so we developed a plan to keep the older boys involved for another year or two by starting a new Trailblazer program with a dedicated tribe within the Manikiki Nation. Pat “Running Bull” Duff stepped up to be chief of this new Trailblazer tribe. We also made more of an effort to coordinate our events with our sister organization, the Iroquois Nation Indian Princesses. We invited them to join in on some of our events including a Summer Family Picnic along with the Memorial Day parade and the Relay for Life community service projects.

We continue to have a strong relationship with the Green YMCA and now have a very nice bulletin board and for most of the year we had a display in their showcase. We also strengthened our relationship with Camp Y-Noah. We built an obstacle course and gaga pit as one of our community service projects. Jim “Iron Back” Cross with the point man for all of these projects and now represents the Manikiki Nation on the YMCA board.

Thanks to the continued success at our adult only reverse raffle fund raiser in we decided to raise our budget to $15,000. We also continued to support the YMCA partners with youth program with a budgeted $1000 towards tickets for their fundraiser. In July we voted to pull an additional $1000 from our reserve fund and donate it to the Camp Y-Noah partners with youth program as well. We still have a large reserve in CD’s which is available if we have a bad fundraising year.

We enjoyed participating in the following monthly Nation events:

September 29^th- 31^st 2006: Fall Campout at Tippecanoe

The 2006-2007 events calendar began with our fall campout at Tippecanoe which is located about an hours drive south past the Dover/New Philadelphia area. Camp Tippecanoe has a nice selection of events available including; horse back riding, boating on a beautiful lake, and fishing. They provided us with meals which were not very good and we were spread out in camp sites which were fairly far apart. The fire ceremony was hosted by outgoing Nation Chief Pat “Running Bull” Duff who passed the big head dress to incoming Nation Chief Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers. The fire ceremony had a high point when Singin’ Moose invited all the little braves to give their Dad a huge and thank him for being involved with Indian Guides. The weather cooperated during the day but shortly after the fire ceremonies conclusion we had major rain storm for most of Saturday evening putting a damper on tribe campfire time. The following 2006-2007 nation officers were installed into leadership:

Nation Chief – Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers, Cherokee

War Chief – Kurt “Big Bear” Leibensperger, Apache

Sachem – Pat “Running Bull” Duff, Mohawk

Medicine Man – John “Sits By Fire” Waller, Apache

Wampum Bearer – Dwayne “Big Bad Wolf” Haines, Navajo

Tally Keeper – Rich “Howling Wolf” Ashley, Arapaho

Web Spinner – Jamie “Big Dog” Wiggins, Cherokee

Story Teller – Tom “Sitting Hawk” Turner, Kickapoo

Saturday September 16^th 2006: Alumni Golf Outing

The annual alumni golf outing at Chenoweth Golf Club continues to be well attended by current members and alumni. The weather cooperated and the event, which features a steak diner and plenty of adult beverages, was well attended. Thanks to Dave Weimer, Jack Williams for sponsoring this event.

Sunday October 15^th 2005: Maize Valley Corn Maize

After taking a year off, the Nation returned to the Maize Valley Farm for some festive fall fun. They have several excellent corn mazes, a great petting zoo, and a very nice hay ride that stops in a pumpkin patch where we can select Halloween pumpkins at a good price. The high point of this event is the pumpkin cannon that shoots a pumpkin hundreds of yards in the air. Very entertaining event sponsored by the Mandan.

Tuesday October 17^th 2006: Longhouse Party at Camp Y-Noah

We continued in a tradition of inviting incoming and outgoing chiefs and council, along with our sons, to a campfire pizza party at Camp Y-Noah.

Saturday & Sunday October 21^st & 22^nd – Community Service Project at Y-Noah

Thirty three father and sons gathered together at Camp Y-Noah and spent the weekend building an obstacle course. Jim “Iron Back” Cross spearheaded the entire project arranging for all the material to be donated and coordinating the time table for the project. The Crow tribe got together later in the fall and build a gaga pit. All Nation members who participated in this community service project were given a special bead at the Father Son banquet.

Saturday November 4^th 2006: Akron University Zips Football Game

The November nation event was our annual Akron University Zips football game. We continued a new tradition of starting this event with a pre-game tailgate party. It was pretty well attended but it conflicted with the Indian Princess Fall campout at Y-Noah so some big braves had to split time between the two events. It was a very exciting win over rival Bowling Green and the weather was excellent considering it was November. The Mingo sponsored the event and did a nice job with food and drink at the tailgate party.

December 2005: Father Son Banquet at Guy’s Party Center

We have been doing our annual Father Son banquet at Guy’s party center for 10+ years. The attendance was outstanding with over 90% of the nation participating. Once again, thanks to a successful fundraiser last year we were able to cover the entire $4000+ cost. We took tribe pictures as part of the food line so it was organized and went quickly. The pictures are posted in the individual tribe section of our website. For the entertainment, we hired Dan Fladung, a real Native American, to tell stories, dance, sing, and show us authentic Indian artifacts. The awards ceremony went very smoothly and we had a lot of folks up on the stage to receive some type of award. Thirty five Little Braves earned perfect attendance medallions. We also started a new Superior Attendance Award which is given to outgoing boys who earned four perfect attendance medallions while in the Manikiki Nation. We presented the five award winning boys with a special authentic Indian arrow with a nice leather strap for hanging on the wall. The Apache Tribe was the Big Medicine winner and they got their custom tee shirt at the Spring Campout. The tribe members of the top three finalists received a special bead. We also had a special bead for all the braves that participated in the Y-Noah service project. Awards were presented to the following:

Superior Attendance Awards – 2006

Gabe “Cool Bear” Mahaney - Mohawk Tribe (1999)

Danny “Flying Eagle” Wallace - Blackhawk Tribe (1999)

Cody “Running Coyote” Phillips - Blackhawk Tribe (1999)

Ryan “Little Bear” Murgatroyd - Apache Tribe (2000)

Mark “Firehawk” Dahlman - Navajo Tribe (2000)

Joe Friday Awards 2006:

Kevin “Running Pike” Adkins - Creek Tribe

Jim “Iron Back” Cross - Mohawk Tribe

Jeff “Raven Claw” Shahan - Kickapoo Tribe

Outstanding Service Award 2006:

Bob “Big Bear” Mahaney - Mohawk Tribe

Randy “Bald Eagle” Wallace - Blackhawk Tribe

Cliff “Growling Bear” Dahlman - Navajo Tribe

Big Medicine Points Award 2006:

Apache Tribe

Tuesday December 19^th 2006: Post Longhouse Christmas Party

It was really nice to include alumni at this year’s Post Longhouse Christmas Party which has been covered by the nation for three years now. A great time was had by close to 30 Manikiki Nation leaders including six nation chiefs. All I will add is “What happens at Legends stays at Legends”.

December Holiday Community Service Project;

All tribe are responsible for doing a service project that helps contribute to our community. All the tribe chiefs wrote up a critique which was published in the Smoke.

Sunday Afternoon 21^st 2007: Akron University Zips Basketball Game

The Blackhawk tribe took us back to the University of Akron to watch the Zips. It was a very exciting win over Buffalo.

Sunday February 10^th 2007: Bowling

We continued a tradition of bowling in February. The Creek sponsored the event and had good food and nice prizes. We kept some of the ideas that were integrated the previous year with the Father / Son bowling the first game together for a competition that is more fun for all ages. We charged a flat $10 per family and covered the rest of the cost of the event as a reward to the Nation Big Braves for a major commitment to buying tickets for the fundraiser the following weekend.

Saturday February 17^th 2006: Reverse Raffle Adult Only Fundraiser.

The annual reverse raffle fundraiser was exceptionally successful breaking all previous records by bringing in over $15,000. We sold 290+ tickets so it was very close to a sellout. We adopted a new policy of requiring each tribe to buy/sell one ticket for each member of their tribe and most tribes fulfilled that obligation. We also sold all side bar tickets at $5 each or x5 for $20. In addition, all forms of Raffle tickets and bingo cards sold well. One big change was a focus on having a lot more silent auction items in the $20 to $40 price range. This got more people involved with the silent auctions. Wampum Bearer Dwayne “Big Bad Wolf” Haines and the Navajo Tribe did an exceptional job keeping track of all transactions. We added a competition this year in which the tribe who brought in the most money averaged per member got to stay in the nice cabins on top the hill at the Camp Y-Noah Spring Campout. The Crow tribe won followed by the Mingo, Navajo, and Comanche. For entertainment, the Singin’ Moose brought his band that includes Kleckner School Principal Judy “Diamond” Elfrink. The band invited many members of the nation to sit in and sing songs selected from the bands song list. Jeff “Last Hawk” Pierce stole the show with a memorable version of the AC/DC song TNT. Pat “Running Bull” Duff took over the job of calling numbers and did an outstanding job. This was our most successful fundraiser ever and it raises the bar for continued success in the future.

Saturday March 24^th 2007: Green YMCA All night party

The Crow tribe sponsored our best YMCA late night party since I joined the nation. We kept all the things that work well in the past and dropped some of the elaborate contests that were too hard to keep organized. There was plenty of food, good movies, fun in the pool and gym. We also had a representative from Tandy Leather selling vest at the event which was perfect timing for the spring campout. Once again we had to leave by 6:00 am because of a church that used the YMCA Gym for their services. That church has now moved into a permanent home and no longer uses the YMCA, so we may be better positioned to get more people to stay overnight next year. (Personal Note from the Moose: I was minutes away for leaving at 2:00 am and ended up playing in a four on four basketball competition until past 3:00 am. I couldn’t walk for days).

Saturday April 21^st 2007: FAScar at the Green YMCA

The Comanche tribe, with the help of the Arapaho, continued their tradition of sponsoring the FAScar competition. This year we moved it to the YMCA which worked out very well. Unfortunately we had a five year low of cars entered so we have decided to make some changes in 2008. We are moving the event to February which will not compete as much with local sporting events and other spring activities. We are also going to do it the same weekend as the Indian Princesses so we can set up the track and they will tear it down.

Saturday April 28^st 2007: YMCA Partners with Youth Fundraiser

For the third year in a row we made a commitment to the Green YMCA’s partners with youth fundraiser. Instead of buying one table with 10 tickets, we bought three tables of 8 for $350 each. Then I DJ’ed the event in exchange for 4 more tickets so we had 28 Members of the Manikiki Nation took over the party. Our relationship with the Green YMCA continues to be very strong in part because of our efforts to support their fundraising events.

May 28^th – 30^th 2007: Spring Campout at Camp Y-Noah

We continued a three year tradition of doing our Spring Campout at Y-Noah. Camp Y-Noah is our home campground so there is no reason not to keep using their facility for many years to come. Overall the weather was good but we had a brief scare with some rain in the late afternoon on Saturday and had to cancel our nation games. It did not effect the fire ceremony. The Trailblazer program got off to an excellent start at this campout. We had a meeting after lunch and the kids got really excited about the program. Then we went to the high wire tower and the older boys got to swing on the 40 foot swing. This year we moved the Fire Ceremony to the main fire rings where we learned a great life lesson and got an encouraging State of the Nation message from Nation Chief Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers.

Monday May 28^th 2007: Memorial Day Parade

We once again marched in the Green Memorial Day parade with the Iroquois nation Indian Princesses. This make-up event was well attended. We decided that this year we would dump the politically correct trend and go back to full dress uniform with feathers, head dresses, vests, and bead necklaces. We got a lot more attention and we won an award for second best showing in the parade. We also handed out lots of flyers and used the opportunity to recruit for the nation.

Friday June 8^th 2007: Akron Aeros Minor League Baseball Game (with fireworks)

The Kickapoo Tribe hosted this Manikiki Nation family event with the Akron Aeros. It looked like we were going to be rained out so we moved the pre-game picnic at Akron Children’s Hospital to a room inside. The rain stopped by game time and we ended up having great weather. Jake Westbrook was making his first rehab appearance and was terrible giving up 6 runs in two innings. The Aeros were never able to get back in the game but the boys had a great time anyway. As usual, the fireworks display after the game was spectacular and well worth waiting through a lost cause of a game. We charged $8.50 per person which included the meal.

Friday Night June 22^nd & 23^rd: ACS Relay For Life

The Manikiki Nation Indian Guides and the Iroquois Nation Indian Princesses continued the tradition of teaming up and participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Green to support and assist those who have been touched by cancer. This is a volunteer community service event which counted as a make-up event and make-up community service event. Participating tribes earned extra Big Medicine points. The event was held at Green High School football stadium. Tasks included setting up and manning our booth, participating in the relay walk, preparing and selling food. We contributed about $400 for food and had many dogs and drink left over which we used at the family picnic the following month. The event consists of 16 hours of relay style walking around the track along with an evening filled with family entertainment dancing, karaoke and games all night long. Many participants set up tents and camped out together. Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers provided the sound system and MC’ed the entertainment. Jim “Iron Back” Cross took over team leadership and organized the event. We will continue to support this cause next year and plan to get even more nation members involved.

Tuesday July 17^th 2007: Budget Meeting

Following the same approach as 2006 we combined the budget meeting with the July Longhouse. Nation Chief Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers’ hosted the meeting at his house. We cooked burgers and brats and had a cooler full of adult beverages. The event was almost rained out but the skies cleared just in time to move outside and have a productive meeting. We spent $150 on food and drink. We had exactly the right amount of food but we ran out of beer early and need more next year.

Sunday July 29^th 2007: Family Picnic at the Akron FOP Lodge.

The Cherokee Tribe sponsored a Family Picnic at the Akron FOP lodge. We invited our sister Indian Princess Iroquois Nation to make this a multi-Nation event. It was a fun filled afternoon of swimming, fishing, games, and lots of good food. The Nation provided burgers, dogs, and brats and we ask each family to bring a covered dish to share. There was a ton of food and we had enough burgers left over to feed the nation again at the fall campout. One of the high points of the picnic was the “clash of the Titans”, a basketball game between Manikiki Nation Chief Scott “Singin; Moose” Summers and Iroquois Nation Chief Bob “Big Bear” Mahaney. There was close to 600 pounds on the court so it turned into a wresting match. The Moose showed superior basketball skills and in the end won bragging for the Manikiki Nation. The family picnic works well as a summer event and the tradition should be continued in the future.

Saturday August 25^th 2007: Great Trail Festival

The Navajo Tribe sponsored our August family event and set up a day in Malvern Ohio at the Great Trail Festival. This festival has a 19th century theme and includes article of interest from that period and a reenactment of a Civil War battle. It was a nice facility and trying new things is good, however when we do these types of events we are not able to get together as a Nation. We tried the Cleveland zoo and the Akron Air show in the past with similar results.

September 2006: Fall Campout at Fitch

For our fall campout we went back to Camp Fitch on Lake Erie in NW PA. Details of the event will be documented in next year’s history,