Dr. Dennis Wiedman Visits Tribe

Dr. Dennis Wiedman, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Florida International University, once again visited the Delaware Tribe on July 17 and 18. He is in Oklahoma doing research on the difficulty Indian people had in being able to continue the use of their sacrament in the Native American Church.

Dennis first came to Oklahoma in his late teens in the late 1960s. His first trips were financed by selling beads and other supplies to Indian people and in turn buying Indian-made goods to take back to Florida. One of the main people Dennis worked with was tribal elder Nora Dean of Dewey, Oklahoma. He was also given a great honor by being taken as a son by tribal member Charlton “Steve” Wilson, and he later served as a pallbearer at Steve’s funeral.

Over the years from studying Native American Church practices and working closely with Nora he began to notice the disastrous effects of diabetes on the native population. He then began his study into diabetes and the Indian people, receiving his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma for his work on Indian diabetes. He continues to research and write articles on Native American health.

During his visit to Delaware tribal headquarters he met with Chief Paula Pechonick with whom he discussed his past work with tribal elders.

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• Dr. Dennis Wiedman with Chief Paula Pechonick.

Dennis also met with Tribal Archivist Anita Mathis, and contributed a number of his articles to the tribal library, and with Tribal IT Director Greg Brown to discuss distance-learning class procedures.

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• Meeting with Tribal Archivist Anita Mathis.

During his visit he was able to connect with Housing Inspector Walter Dye, an old friend, to discuss people they both knew who were Native American church participants. He also chatted with Bonnie Thaxton, Mary Watters, and Jan Brown.

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• Jim Rementer and Dennis Wiedman at Nora Dean’s home in 1970.

Dennis commented on how glad he was at the warm reception he received by present tribal leaders and compared it to the warm reception he had from the previous generations during his years of study here in Oklahoma. We hope to see him back here soon.

–Contributed by Jim Rementer