THE MANIKIKI NATION
SMOKE SIGNALS
December, 2007 yindianguides.org 
Longhouse Notes
Next Longhouse: 7:30 pm, Tuesday,
December 18th @ The Green YMCA for all Chiefs
7:00 pm, for all Council
All Council members and Chiefs are
required to attend Longhouse. Chiefs,
if you cannot attend, please get one of your tribe members to attend and sign
in for you.
Congratulations to - The Navajo Tribe!
For winning the Big Medicine Award for 2007!
Chief’s Action Items Summary
Two Words!
FUND RAISER!!
(Ok, maybe it should be one word!)
The point is:
Please help in making this our most
successful fundraiser ever!!
“Blowin’
Smoke”
Wow! 2007 sure
went by fast! And, since the end of a
year is usually a time to reflect on things, I’d like to say thanks to a few
people who’ve made these past few months memorable, including…
- The Mingo Tribe, for bringing
back the Ghoul Walk…lots of fun for all involved!
- The Arapaho, for putting
together another stellar Father-Son Banquet.
- Everyone who donated---almost
$800 total—to Project St Nicholas, and to get myself and Swimmin’ Moose to
take the Polar Bear Plunge!
- Chiefs and Council, both this
year’s and last year’s, for giving time, effort and energy into keeping
our nation strong and growing.
And, finally, thanks to everyone on the Joe Friday committee,
for voting me into your group this year.
It’s an honor, and thank you!
So, as we move forward into ’08, and another exciting year,
I thank you for your continued support of our nation, and look forward to
seeing everyone at the Kalahari overnighter, FAScar race, Fundraiser, and more
of the fun events we have planned for next year!
Kurt “Big Bear” Leibensperger
Manikiki Nation Chief
Upcoming
Events
January Event – Kalahari Overnighter!
Friday
January 4th through Saturday January 6th.
Room price
is $134.00 for one night and includes four (4) water park passes. Room price for a 2nd night stay is $114.00. No down payment is needed.
Rooms will
be paid for as you arrive at the hotel.
Check in is 3:00 pm on Friday (but you can get in the water park at
noon). Check out is at 11:00 am on
Sunday (but you can stay in the water park until 5pm)
See
the Kalahari Flyer at the end of Smoke.
February Event – FASCAR Race at the Green YMCA!
Registration: Friday, February 15th
from 6:00 pm until 8:30 pm.
Race Date:
Saturday, February 16th
Race Times: Ages 5-7 9:00 am - 10:30 am
8-9 10:30 - 12:00 pm
10-12 12:00 - 1:30 pm
Cars must be registered
Friday evening to be eligible to race Saturday.
FASCAR kits
are available from Tom Knoebel of the Comanche Tribe; have your chief get you one
from Tom at the next longhouse meeting, or call Tom at 330-882-2387. Kits cost $5.00 each. Kits will also be available at the Kalahari
Overnighter.
Better get
started on the project because the race will be here before you know it!!
See the FASCAR rules at
the end of Smoke.
Nation Officer Reports
Nation
Chief: Kurt “Big Bear” Leibensperger 330-699-4734,
330-606-1944 kurtleib@hotmail.com
Tonka Hey! Andrew
and I would like to wish everyone in the Nation a very Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year. I look forward to
seeing current council (and past council) at our annual post Longhouse
Christmas Party at Legends in Tuesday, December 18th. As always, this will be a good time!
And, with fun events coming up like the FASCAR race,
Kalahari overnighter, Pro Football Hall of Fame tour, and campouts at Camp Y
Noah (this spring) and our return to Camp Fitch (this fall), 2008 looks to be
another fun year! Enjoy the holidays
with your sons and your families…and see you in ’08!
War Chief: John
“Sits By Fire” Waller 330-867-5726,
330-256-4430 john.waller@wilsontool.com
Thank you to all of our Tribe Chiefs for helping us update
the Nation Roster over the last month or so. It is a busy time with holidays
and an overload of things to get done, so the effort is well appreciated. If
you have any further changes, deletions or additions, please forward those to
me as they happen so we can keep our roster as accurate and easy to use as
possible.
Well Done, Arapaho and co-sponsor Comanche for another
great Father/Son Banquet again this year. Everything went off smoothly and
timely and the kids loved the animal lady. That’s as quiet as I’ve ever seen
the group. It was great. Also, congratulations to our Joe Friday and
Outstanding Service Awards recipients for the year, they are a very deserving
group.
Finally, the Wallers would like to extend to all Manikiki
braves and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you
all at Kalahari!
Sachem: Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers 330-644-9110,
330-606-6965 scotts@rolandus.com
It has been a pretty active couple
of weeks for the Manikiki Nation. We had a very productive longhouse and
there are some great events coming up this winter. I am really excited
about the Kalahari overnighter on January 4th.
In preparation for our swim overnighter,
the “Sinkin’ Moose” / “Big Polar Bear” / “Cold Rubba Dubba” swim in the Portage
Lakes behind Dano’s bar was something to behold. My son is going to get
it up on you tube this weekend so everyone can watch and laugh with us.
We rose close to $800 for a great cause so it was well worth the two
minutes of torture. I have included the email dialog at the end of the
smoke for your entertainment.
Now onto the Father Son banquet. Thanks go out to the Paul, Rich and the
rest of the Arapaho for once again exceeding expectations sponsoring this
event. The ceremony itself went off smoothly and the entertainment was
very well received by the boys. Great job all the way around.
Congratulations to all the award winners (documented in at the end of the
newsletter). Pat and Gregg were easy selections for Outstanding Service
awards and we have five new deserving members of the Joe Friday Award club.
Finally, I want to thank the Joe Friday committee for giving me a second award.
As I stated at the ceremony, the Joe Friday plaque is front and center on
my ego wall and I know that all my fellow award recipients feel the same way.
I am honored to have such a great group of friends.
Medicine
Man: Jim “Iron back” Cross 330-245-1326, 330-697-9121 jcross009@neo.rr.com
It is about time to upgrade our
display at the YMCA. If anyone has any favorite photos please send them to me
or contact me so we can keep it interesting and fresh.
Roster changes (add/delete) please
let me know as soon as possible.
It is important (especially
for me) to make sure that the roster as well as sign in sheets are
verified and kept up to date...so that ALL the young braves get credit at the
end of the year and throughout.
Any feather or bead shortages to
this point please let me know.
Wampum
Bearer: Dwayne “Big Bad Wolf” Haines 330-699-0972,
330-419-1002 dghaines@babcock.com
Tonka Hey! What a great time at the father son
banquet. It was tough seeing Adam listed as an out going brave.
Indian Guides has been the greatest, even when it rains at those camp
outs. I appreciate the consideration for the Joe Friday award. Good
organizations want to make people participate. I asked Adam the things he
remembered most and he obviously stated the campouts. But he also remembered his first burn from the
fire and catching one of his tribe mates in the neck with a fishing hook.
We both say Thanks for such great memories. We hope to continue this with
Trailblazers.
Tally
Keeper: Jeff “Last Hawk” Pearce 330-714-7892 jeffp@pearceengineering.com
Way to go Manikiki Nation for raising so much money for Project Saint
Nicholas!! And thanks to the Manikiki
Swim Team Captains, Moose and Bear, for taking one for the team!
The Father/Son Banquet was a great time as always, congrats to all the
award winners!! And a special congrats to my son Tucker “Big Hawk” Pearce for
his 4th perfect attendance award in a row and Logan “Slithering
Snake” Knoebel to his 2nd perfect attendance award in a row!!
And finally a really really big thanks to all who helped in the
recruitment drives. The Comanche tribe
has grown by 125% and had 100% participation in the banquet!! The race for Big Medicine Points will surely
be interesting this year!!
Web Spinner: Charles
"Kicking Buffalo" Campbell 330-854-3077,
330-264-5383x237 kickingbuffalo@sbcglobal.net
It was great to see such a great turnout at the Father Son Banquet. I should have pictures from the banquet
posted by the time this edition of “Smoke Signals” is distributed. A note of thanks goes out to Jamie Wiggins
for being the unofficial photographer for the event.
I've also received some more pictures from other members of the nation,
both from the banquet and a couple of past events. Thanks and keep them coming! If you have any pictures or anything else you would like to see on
the website, (or anything you don't like) don't hesitate to let me know.
One last note, if any tribe, chief or council member would like an
e-mail address at the yindianguides.org domain, let me know at kickingbuffalo@sbcglobal.net
or webspinner@yindianguides.org.
Story
Teller: Dan “Big
Rock” Hickman 330-896-7164,
330-472-7010 nhickman3@aol.com
The Man Who Acted as the Sun
Once upon a time there lived a woman some distance up
Bellacoola River. She refused the offer of marriage from the young men of the
tribe, because she desired to marry the Sun. She left her village and went to seek the Sun. Finally she reached his house and married the
Sun. After she had been there one day,
she had a child. He grew very quickly,
and on the second day of his life he was able to walk and to talk. After a short time he said to his mother,
"I should like to see your mother and your father", and he began to
cry, making his mother feel homesick. When
the Sun saw that his wife felt downcast and that his son was longing to see his
grandparents, he said, "You may return to the earth to see your parents. Descend along my eyelashes. His eyelashes were the rays of the Sun, which
he extended down to his wife's home, where they lived with the woman's parents.
The boy was playing with the children of the village, who
were teasing him, saying that he had no father. He began to cry and went to his mother, whom he asked for a bow
and arrows. His mother gave him what he
requested. He went outside and began to
shoot his arrows toward the sky. The
first arrow struck the sky and stuck in it; the second arrow hit the notch of
the first one, thus he continued until a chain was formed, extending from the
sky down to the place where he was standing. Then he ascended the chain. He found the house of the Sun, which he entered. He told his father that the boys had been
teasing him, and he asked him to let him carry the sun. But his father said, 'You cannot do it. I carry many torches. Early in the morning and late in the evening
I burn small torches, but at noon I burn the large ones." The boy insisted on his request. Then his father gave him the torches, warning
him at the same to observe carefully the instructions that he was giving in
regard to their use.
Early the next morning, the young man started on the course
of the sun, carrying the torches. Soon
he grew impatient and lighted all the torches at once. Then it grew very hot. The trees began to burn, and many animals
jumped into the water to save themselves, but the water began to boil. Then his mother covered the people with her
blanket and thus saved them. The
animals hid under stones. The ermine
crept into a hole, which, however, was not quite large enough, so that the tip
of its tail protruded from the entrance. It was scorched, and since that time the tip of the ermine's tail
has been black. The mountain goat hid
in a cave; hence its skin is perfectly white. All the animals that did not hide were scorched and therefore have
black skins, but the skin on the lower side remained lighter. When the Sun saw what was happening, he said
to his son, "Why do you do so? Do
you think it is good that there are no people on the earth?"
The Sun took him and cast him down from the heavens,
saying, "You shall be the mink, and future generations of man shall hunt
you."
"The Story Telling Stone" by Susan Feldman
Tribe Chief Reports
Apache:
John "Fire Stick" Matheos 330-864-6899,
330-418-3300 jmatheos@peoplesservices.com
What Da Hey! Nick and I hope you
and your families have a great holiday and look forward to seeing you all at
the Kalahari Water Park. We had all of
are active members at the banquet and had 100% participation at the community
service project!!!!!! We purchased over
$200 in groceries for needy families.
Congratulations on the Joe Friday award Kurt! Great job guys! Happy
Holidays!!
Arapaho: Paul “Big Foot” Scheatzle 330-832-0304,
330-323-7683 paulscheatzle@hotmail.com
The Arapaho tribe delivered and
spread a load of gravel and cleaned leaves from the front and back yard of a
local man in need for our service project.
He greatly appreciated it.
Thanks to the Comanche tribe for
assisting with the Father-Son Banquet.
It was a great success. I think
the Zoo-Mobile was well received.
Congratulations to Rich Ashley and
all of the Joe Friday award winners.
It was well-deserved. All of
your hard work and dedication is greatly appreciated.
Blackhawk: Todd “Sly Fox” Mellon 330-645-9456 330-819-7762
tmellon@primebusinesssolutions.net
Cherokee:
Sam “Buffalo Hump” Ewing 330-245-1138, 513-907-9860
samewing@sbcglobal.net
For some reason, this holiday
season has been a blur. And I'm not sure why.
As I have gotten older, time has
seemed to accelerate. With each passing year, the seasons fly by with
increasing speed. Recently, I heard a theory on why this time
compression occurs as we age. When we
are young, everything is new. The
stimulation of unique places, faces and experiences makes every day an
exciting adventure. As time
passes, the days become more routine and the environment more
mundane, and thus, with few novel experiences, our brain runs one day into
the next.
This theory often comes to mind
when my little brave jabbers enthusiastically about rocks or bugs or
the sky. And when he talks about last month as if it was sooooo long ago, I
realize that his timeline is moving much slower than mine.
I don't claim to know the secret to
making time slow down. But I bet if I
look at the world through the eyes of my little brave, and observe
things with his child-like fascination; the clock may slow a little.
As we continue through this special
time of year, there will be many familiar scenes. I plan to take a fresh look at all the "ordinary,
unremarkable" events as they unfold. Through the eyes of my
little brave, it will be a whole new year with exciting new toys and
unpredictable journeys. Indeed.
Happy Holidays!
Comanche:
Tom “Fighting Eagle”
Knoebel 330-882-2387 TKnoebel@tribute.com
The Comanche welcome Shawn Knisely and sons Collin and
Dylan to the tribe! The Knisely's are from Coventry, but we won't hold
that against them. We are now up to 4 big and 5 little braves in
the mighty Comanche tribe. Look out Big Medicine points, here we
come!
There are a lot of Nation events
coming up the next few months. And with the stress and bustle of the
holidays, sometimes we fail to remember the blessings that have been given
to our families, our communities and our country. So during
this time of year let's be thankful for all that we have, and let's be sure to
help others that may not be so fortunate.
Birthday wishes for Tucker “Big
Hawk” Pearce on December 6th and me, Tom “Fighting Eagle” Knoebel on
December 9th!
Creek:
Dave “Brave Buckeye” Rownd 330-494-5544, 330-352-4747
drownd@starkmetal.com
Merry Christmas from everyone in
the Creek Tribe! We had a great time at the Father/Son Banquet and our
tribe grew by two more members!! Welcome Ted and Michael Rath and Chris
and Cole Herrick! Both Dads being OSU grads makes Chief very happy!!!
Happy birthday this month to Colin
“Shining Star” Arbuthnot, Dan “Red Hawk” Borne, and Jake “Star Defender” Veney!
We all look forward to a fun time
at Kalahari then a Great Buckeye Victory on January 7th!!
A hearty “OH”….followed
by another hearty “IO” goes out to each and
every member of the Manikiki Nation!!
Crow: Jim “Buffalo Wing” Livers 330-334-8137,
330-807-6781 jlivers@neo.rr.com
Hello Mighty Crow,
I hope everyone had a great time at
the banquet. Congratulations to Carter
“Grey Feather” Hickman on his perfect attendance award.
The Christmas project is scheduled
for Sat. Dec. 15th in the A.M. We will
meet at Menche’s Brothers for breakfast and proceed to pick up gifts for Toys
for Tots.
Happy December Birthday to Carter
“Grey Feather” Hickman, Michael “Little Blue Gill” Mundy and Breven “Yellow
Fox” Miller.
Merry Christmas from the Livers
family
Kickapoo: Paul “Running Deer” Mallue 330-497-9943, 330-209-4366
malluep@firstenergycorp.com
The Kickapoo dads and sons had a
great time at the annual Father/Son banquet.
It was good to see everyone and we enjoyed the camaraderie, food,
awards, and wild entertainment.
Special thanks to Mark and Shawn
Fowler for their winning pumpkin at the November Ghoul Walk. As a result, the Kickapoo Tribe received
Pizza Hut gift cards. We will be
planning a tribe outing in January to enjoy this prize.
Looking forward to seeing all of
our tribe members on Thursday, December 13, as we meet for our annual service
project from 6-8 pm at Mercy Medical Center.
We will once again be making decorations for the patients’ Christmas Day
food trays.
As we enter the New Year, Steve
Maxim will be taking over for me as chief.
Thanks again Steve for volunteering to take a leadership role.
Mandan:
Bill “Snoring Bear” Spaid 330-896-6495,
330-896-6495 wspaid@aol.com
Mingo: Tim “Flying Arrow” Dunigan 330-896-2134,
330-414-2967 tddunigan1356@peoplepc.com
Merry Christmas from the Mighty
Mingo! The Father/Son Banquet was a big hit with our young and old little
braves. We are all excited about the
winter campout at the Kalahari Resort; all of our members will be there. The Mingo thank everyone who voted for our
scare as being the best in the Ghoul Walk. We will enjoy our Pizza Party at
Pizza Hut.
WE CHALLENGE ALL TRIBES TO BEAT US NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Mingo would like to thank Cory
Kanis and Lucas Dunigan for all their help in making our scare the best.
Mohawk: Brian "Fighting
Cardinal” Morris
330-896-1394, 330-933-2372 bdmorris@aol.com
Mighty Mohawk, The banquet was
a good time it was fun getting together with all of you. Thanks
for being there to support our outgoing braves Michael “Little Eagle” Duff
and Sean “Fighting Bear” Morris they will now help to blaze the way for
our Trailblazer program. Good luck
guys! We have our annual Christmas
project Dec 15th At Acme 53 in Ellet, ringing the bell for
the Salvation Army. We do this to
give back something to our communities and their families in need. Thanks for your participation in advance.
Happy Birthday to Greyson Burkdoff and
Michael Mathieu from the Mohawk Tribe!
Navajo: Jeff "Big Rubba Dubba" Reale 330-896-6256, 330-329-5041 ru4reale22@hotmail.com
Had a great time with the Ghoul
Walk-thanx Mingo, you guys really out did yourselves with some of the
scares! Arapaho &
Comanche-fantastic work on the F/S Banquet!
Appreciate the introduction of Project: St. Nicholas Returns, Inc. but
our tribe's biggest thrill was winning the Big Medicine Points! Thanx to Mike Vinciguerra for keeping us all
on the right path last year! Happy
belated B-days in Nov to;
Dylan "Green Eye" Vinciguerra, Craig "Big Running Buffalo"
Jenkins and for December: Matthew "Running Bear" Modena, Don
"Bald Eagle" Modena, Brian "Fast Fox" Roberts and for the
"Reason of the Season" our savior, Jesus Christ.
From The Navajo tribe to yours - We
wish you a very Merriest of Christmas and a blessed New Year.
Peace!
2007 Manikiki Nation
Award Recipients
OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD 2007
The Manikiki Nation has established the Outstanding Service
Award in recognition of those outgoing big braves that have exhibited outstanding
service to their tribe and the nation.
The nominees have outstandingly fulfilled the purpose of the Indian Guide
Program which is to foster the understanding and companionship of father and
son. The nominees exemplify the Pledge which is: "We, Father and Son,
through friendly service to each other, to our family, to our tribe, to our
community, seek a world pleasing to the eye of the Great Spirit."
Each year, the Manikiki Nation presents an Outstanding Service award to one
or more outgoing Big Braves. The Nation Council selects the recipients of the awards.
Congratulations to:
Pat “Running Bull” Duff - Mohawk
