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Native Indian Lore
John Joseph Mathews


I will not go into the great accomplishments made by John Joseph Mathews for these are already recorded: http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A48

OsagesRather this account is about the day, November 17, 2009, when we went to Pawhuska in the Osage to celebrate the Literary Landmark Dedication for author, writer and Tribal Councilman, Naturalist, Historian, and Scholar, Mathews, pictured below.
 
    My continuing to document my father's history in my last writing attempt had rather come to a stand still.  From all the constant distraction my zeal was really diminished. I didn't feel I had writer's block but maybe this is what it was.  At any rate my desire to work just wasn't there.
 
    My sister-cousin, as we of the Ponca speak of our loved ones, my sister called and informed me that Carter Revard will be speaking at the event.
 
    "It will be fun for you to meet him,"  she told me.
 
    I had just finished one of his books and enjoyed it so much,  so I was up for the trip.
 
    What a great surprise I had. Dr. Carter Revard, Osage and with Ponca relatives was a tall gentleman who had impeccable manners.  His speech reminded me of the actor in Braveheart who portrayed that King called Long Shanks. Of course, Dr. Revards education at Oxford had to be responsible for this.  His doctorate he received from Yale. I hope you will read about this most outstanding gentleman:
    All in all it was a great day with first of all lunch from Bad Brads (love his Bar B Q) for which Dr. Revard so graciously treated us.  Then we were on to the old Constantine Theater to the actual presenting of the plaque to Virginia Mathews, John Joseph Mathews daughter. Her age and having to walk to the front on her walker made an impression on me.  She chatted happily with Rhonda and me, for a time,  as easily as if we were old friends.
 
    The third leg of our visit was to the Osage museum where Kathryn Red Corn is the director.
 
Osages  There I was able to meet Michael Wallis's wife, Suzane Fitzgerald Wallis.  She and Michael have authored 15 books together.  She was so pleasant and easy to talk with, too.
    Of course, the spread the Osages presented on two large round tables was simply elegant and fantastic with strawberries as big as apples, huge grapes, delicious roll ups and chocolate covered squares, to name some of the delicious tid-bits.
 
    To make a long story short, after seeing the dedication and will of these people to work toward their goals for writing and leaving literature of value, I came home with a renewed spark for working on my manuscript. To date I am down to page 150 on rewrites, correction and editing.  I'm not even any place near or in this class of great scholars, but it was fun, for one day, to rub shoulders with the giants. 
 
    Oh yes, I did join FOLIO,  Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma, simply because I liked this years president, Gerry Hendon.  In her opening introduction she said,
 
   "The letters behind my name are, "MD, & DD, of the Ivy.  She went on to say, "This stand for, "Mares eat oats, and does eat oats and little lambs eat Ivy."
 
    I couldn't help but laugh even though some were simply raising their eyebrows.

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