Set up a traditional tipi with Steve Tamayo!

Sew ribbon skirts with Natasha Snow!

Construct regalia vests with Reeka Griffin!

Followed by lunch prepared by Chef Anthony Warrior!

A first-person program about Mari Sandoz’s life from infancy through the experiences that shaped her into a nationally known author. The speaker portraying her is a cousin of the author and will share personal stories handed down by several generations of the Sandoz family.

Mari Sandoz was driven to become a writer from a young age. She experienced many obstacles along the way, none greater than her father, Jules Sandoz. Jules felt writers were “maggots of society.”

This event is free and open to the public. Coffee and cookies will follow.

Please support Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and the State of Nebraska, who continue to provide funding for programs like this, bringing high-quality arts to Nebraska communities. We thank them for their sponsorship of this program.

Nancy Gillis will do a presentation and lead a discussion on the book, “The Antidote,” by Karen Russell

If you’ve read it, you want to talk about it! Book available at public libraries, Libby, and your local bookseller.

From the author’s website:

“The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a “Prairie Witch,” whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples’ memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate.

Russell’s novel is above all a reckoning with a nation’s forgetting—enacting the settler amnesia and willful omissions passed down from generation to generation, and unearthing not only horrors but shimmering possibilities. The Antidote echoes with urgent warnings for our own climate emergency, challenging readers with a vision of what might have been—and what still could be.”

The Neihardt Center will be open to the general public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Family Day activities are limited to Cultural Connections participants due to ESU2 grant restrictions.

Join us for the 61st Annuual Neihardt Day Celebration!

Featuring State Poet Emeritus Matt Mason, well-known Poet JV Brummels, 2025-26 Youth Poet Laureate Victoria Bogatz, and YOU for an Open Mic!

Bring your blanket and chairs, and a picnic lunch, and join us for an afternoon celebrating poetry. For the Open Mic, bring 2-3 poems to read.

All are welcome! Admission is free. There won’t be food or drinks available this year, so please bring your own!

VICTORIA BOGATZ:

Victoria Bogatz (@victoriabogatzwrites) is an environmental activist,
student journalist, and the 2025-26 Nebraska Youth Poet Laureate. Her
work has been honored by the Nebraska Scholastic Writing Awards, 1455
Books, and the Nebraska Poetry Society, among others. She aims to use
writing as a way to connect people from all backgrounds and initiate
change. When not writing, she enjoys running, petting her dog, and
planning environmental revolutions. Her debut chapbook, This Is Not
the End, will be published on August 7th, 2026.

JV BRUMMELS:

JV Brummels' work has been recognized with a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Elkhorn Prize, and the Mildred Bennett Award for contributions to the state’s literature from the Nebraska Center for the Book, among others. Raised first on a farm and later on a ranch, he was educated at the University of Nebraska and later Syracuse University. In 1984, he began a horseback cattle outfit to raise natural, grass-fed beef, which he still operates. A longtime professor at Wayne State College, he’s also written and published short fiction and a novel. He is Director Emeritus of Wayne State College Press.

Details to come.

Time TBD.

Join us for this incredible, spiritual experience to commemorate the day that Black Elk took Neihardt to the top of Black Elk Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota to share his vision.

Gather at 9 am on May 30 at the Sylvan Lake trailhead outside of Custer, SD for the 4-5 hour hike. Meet in the parking lot of Sylvan Lake at the trailhead by the visitor’s center, gather for a prayer led by Myron Pourier (great-great-grandson of Black Elk and Neihardt Foundation Board member), and set off on a self-paced hike.

No registration required. No fee. All are welcome to participate.

Hike Time: 3-4 hours. Elevation Gain: 1100ft – 2200ft, depending on the route.

Hiking boots, walking sticks, lunch in a backpack, and bottled water are recommended.

For more information, contact the Neihardt Foundation at 402-648-3388 or email neihardt@gpcom.net.

This event is organized by the John G. Neihardt Foundation. The Foundation assumes no liability. Details to come!

More information from Paul Hammel:

Some news prior to the annual hike up Black Elk Peak by fans of the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site

The Great Sioux Nation and the U.S. Forest Service have signed a co-stewardship agreement for the 13,534-acre Black Elk Wilderness in the Black Hills.

Signed on March 19, 2026, at Sylvan Lake Trail, the Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for ongoing Tribal consultation on land management — including recreation, habitat and wildlife work, invasive species mitigation, and protection of cultural sites and access.

“Our most sacred lands are the Black Hills… it is an honor for us to care for these lands at Black Elk Wilderness.”

— Wayne Boyd (Rosebud Sioux Tribe)

Tribal leaders and U.S. Forest Service officials marked the signing with a hike to Black Elk Peak.

The agreement maintains federal management while formally establishing an ongoing partnership with 11 Sioux Nation Tribes in stewardship planning and implementation.

We have not been able to reach the group, nor have they reached out to us. With the date drawing near we decided to cancel the event.

Tickets on sale now! https://buytickets.at/johngneihardtstatehistoricsite/2148075

Various themes will be explored through the connective tissue of poetry.

KEYNOTE: Dr. Larkin Powell, "Ripples Across the Prairie: Intentions, Landscapes, and Time"   historical photographs and ecological research

Dan Holtz, “Nebraska Through Song and Story” interweaves songs, accompanied on guitar and harmonica, with excerpts from works by Willa Cather, John Neihardt, Mari Sandoz and Bess Streeter Aldrich.

Nancy Gillis, "The Poet as Historian: John G. Neihardt and Gerard Manley Hopkins"  

Mark Metcalf, "Poetic Style and Voice in Neihardt's Heroic Poetry," by Dr. Donovan Welch (deceased)

Jan Chism Wright, “The Barada Hills of Nebraska,” poet

EMCEE: Matt Mason

Lunch available $20: vegetable or meat lasagna, garlic bread, lettuce salad, dessert bar, beverage. Home-cooked by Roberta Kai; served next door in the church basement.

Sponsored by Humanities Nebraska, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, and John G. Neihardt Foundation.

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Featuring Jewel Rogers, Nebraska State Poet; Matt Mason, Nebraska State Poet 2019-2024; and Zedeka Poindexter, performance poet and co-executive director of the Nebraska Writers Collective; at the grand opening of the Nebraska Poet Project exhibit by artist Stephanie Meisterling.

At the Neihardt Center through March, the Nebraska Poet Project is a collection of oil paintings by artist Stephanie Meisterling that creates an intersection between visual and literary art. It began as a research project designed to explore the world of contemporary poetry in Nebraska, inspired by an interest in Midwest literature and great writers.

Sponsored by Poetry Forward and the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation.

Free and open to all. A light reception will follow.

This presentation discusses the relationship between Lakota culture and stewardship of the land. Most Native Americans have a deep connection to the natural world. The Lakota spiritual principle of “Mitakuye Oyasin” or “All my Relations” means we are all connected to each other, to all species of animals and plants, and all life – including Mother Earth and Father Sky. The program explores why more understanding of Lakota culture and spiritual beliefs might help us all open ourselves to new thinking about how to become better stewards of our beautiful planet Earth.

Mary M. Hines is the author of “Who Cries for Mother Earth,” and is a writer and poet who has won numerous awards including an Independent Publisher Book Award in Visionary Fiction, a Next Generation Indie Book Award, and a National Telly Award. Hines grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and her ancestry and writing are based on the Lakota ways as were gratefully taught to her by a Medicine Man from the Sicangu Lakota tribe. Her purpose in writing and speaking is to help conservation efforts to save Mother Earth. Previously she’s worked as a copywriter and advertising executive. Hines currently serves on the John G. Neihardt Board of Directors. She has served on the Boards of the American Federation of Advertising, American Women in Radio and TV, and was President of the Board of Directors of ICAN.

The dramatic story of America’s greatest Indian war told from perspective of the Lakotas and the Northern Cheyennes, as they fight for their way of life on the buffalo prairie.

In this deeply affecting account of America’s greatest Indian war, readers are quickly immersed in the world of Lakotas and Northern Cheyennes and their struggle in the 1870s to retain their lives on the buffalo prairie. Those impassioned Northern Indians faced a succession of white invaders—railroaders, borderland surveyors, prospectors, and ultimately the United States Army.

In the best of days they turned back George Crook at the Rosebud and wiped out George Armstrong Custer at the Little Big Horn. But a dozen other clashes followed, and in the end these tradition-minded people could not endure the army’s endless hounding. Some fled to Canada to a luring if momentary exile, but in the end one and all faced starvation, submission, and, for some, death.

Personifying this traditional way of life was Sitting Bull, legendary Hunkpapa Lakota spiritualist. He was supported throughout by Crazy Horse, Spotted Eagle, Big Road, Little Wolf, and a host of other kindred traditional chiefs and headmen who, in turn, rallied thousands of like-minded men, women, and children. And yet, but for momentary glory against Crook and Custer, this was a war that could not be won.

Award-winning author Paul L. Hedren has spent ten years writing this great American epic. Utilizing an array of Lakota and Cheyenne accounts, pictographic renderings, and original interviews, this is the story of a people intent only on adhering to a traditional life on the buffalo prairie. The narrative is broad and inclusive and a welcome addition to the canon of American Indian wars history.

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER. WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE

Our last “Sunday at the Museum” of the year will feature a popular Humanities Nebraska speaker and one of our favorite historians, Nancy Gillis, with The Poet as Historian: John G. Neihardt and Gerard M. Hopkins.  

This presentation provides a look at how a poet writes of an historical event differently than an academic historian by comparing the work of two contemporary poets, the American John G. Neihardt and the English Anglican Priest Gerard M. Hopkins, and how each relates a tragic historical event. Gillis believes "if you want to learn the facts, read the textbooks, but if you want to feel them, read the poets."

Our condolences to the family and friends of Cherrie Beam-Calloway, who passed away on Sept. 11, 2025. Her “Grit ‘N Gumption: Homesteading in Nebraska” was originally scheduled for this date.

Admission is free. A light reception will follow.

The John G. Neihardt Foundation is pleased to announce that this year’s recipient of the Wordsender Award is Nebraska Public Media.

For decades, NPM has been an important beacon of news concerning literary figures and the humanities. Early interviews with Neihardt – best known as the author of the million-seller, “Black Elk Speaks” – by the legendary Ron Hull of NPM led to wider publicity of the author/poet’s work. (Eventually it led TV talk show host Dick Cavett to host Neihardt for a program-long interview that Cavett has said was one of his most memorable.)

Even today, Nebraska Public Media continues to inform and enlighten listeners and viewers with programs like “Friday Live” and “Masterpiece Theater.”

Listener-supported media like NPM is even more important now in today’s world, helping Americans and Nebraskans sort out what’s true and what isn’t. 

The Wordsender Award honors a person or organization who spreads the word about Neihardt’s works or about themes he wrote about – the frontier, Native Americans and mountain men. 

“Wordsender” is how Black Elk described Neihardt, an author who would send his story, accurately, to the wider public. Nebraska Public Media embodies that quality and much more.

The award will be presented on Nov. 9 at the annual “Laureate’s Feast,” this year held at the German-American Society in Omaha. For tickets or information about that event, call the Neihardt State Historic Site at 1-402-648-3388  or access the website, neihardtcenter.org. Dinner and auction. More details to come.

Don Hickey, award-winning author and historian, will present an illustrated account of the life of the great Sioux leader Red Cloud. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.

Crazy Horse: Still Capturing Our Imagination

Crazy Horse died 147 years ago, yet his story continues to stir curiosity and admiration. This September, the Neihardt Foundation welcomes retired undertaker and author Cleve Walstrom, of Maryville, Kansas, for a special presentation on the legendary Lakota leader.

Cleve is the author of Search for the Lost Trail of Crazy Horse, a book born from a family legacy of deep respect for Native stories and history. His fascination with Crazy Horse began with his father, a veterinarian who developed close relationships with Native communities while working in western Nebraska. Listening to oral histories from Lakota elders, the elder Walstrom realized that many of these stories—especially those concerning the burial sites of chiefs—had never been written down. He began keeping detailed notes, which eventually formed the foundation of Cleve’s amateur research.

When his father passed away in 1997, Cleve took up the mission. He traveled across western Nebraska and South Dakota, working closely with Lakota people to document oral histories, genealogy, and cultural practices. His journey has been one of sincere connection, respectful listening, and tireless effort.

Cleve Walstrom is a storyteller with a passion rooted in personal history. He and his father have befriended more Native Americans than most non-Natives ever do. His travels have taken him to remote communities that few outside the region have even heard of.

What sets Cleve apart is not just his knowledge, but his genuine commitment to understanding. He’s earned respect by taking time to listen, observe, and learn—without assumptions or shortcuts.

We meet many historians, but few have ventured so far off the beaten path—or done so with the heart and humility that Cleve Walstrom brings. Don’t miss the chance to hear his stories and insights this September.

SPONSORED BY M.W. “DUB” VOGT, DDS

Free and open to the public

Join the celebration! Free and open to the public! Bring your lawn chairs and/or blankets; picnic tables will be available.

12-3 Vendors Red Road Herbs and Wildwood Acres Goat’s Milk Soap

12-1 Food by Warrior’s Palate Catering (food available for first 75 attendees)

12:30 Presentation by Chef Anthony Warrior

1-2 p.m. Speakers:

Matt Mason, Emcee, NE State Poet 2019-2025

Gubernatorial Proclamation Proclaiming August 3, 2025, John G. Neihardt Day (requested)

Daryl Bohac, Director, Nebraska State Historical Society

Jon Cerny, Neihardt Foundation Board Chair

Coralie Hughes, Granddaughter of John, Daughter of Hilda Neihardt Petri

Jewel Rodgers, Nebraska State Poet

2-3 p.m.: Performance

Gary Fugman, band leader

Ne-BRASS-ka Brass Band Quintet

Free to the public because of these generous sponsors: Humanities Nebraska, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Cuming County Visitors Bureau, John G. Neihardt Foundation.

Meet at Ru-de’s convenience store in Bancroft at 9 am. Shuttle service available to put in at Pender. About a 3-4 hour float down Logan Creek (made famous by a skinny-dipping episode by John Neihardt and his wife, Mona).

Fun, easy float! Bring your own floating device, supplies, etc.

For more info, contact Paul Hammel at hammelpaul4@gmail.com

Join us for this incredible, spiritual experience to commemorate the day that Black Elk took Neihardt to the top of Black Elk Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota to share his vision.

Meet in the parking lot of Sylvan Lake at the trailhead by the visitor’s center, gather for a prayer led by Myron Pourier (great-great-grandson of Black Elk and Neihardt Foundation Board member), and set off on a self-paced hike.

No registration required. No fee. All are welcome to participate.

Hike Time: 3-4 hours. Elevation Gain: 1100ft – 2200ft, depending on the route.

Hiking boots, walking sticks, lunch in a backpack, and bottled water are recommended.

For more information contact the Neihardt Foundation at 402-648-3388 or email neihardt@gpcom.net.

This event is organized by the John G. Neihardt Foundation. The Foundation assumes no liability.

Join us for the last Sunday at the Museum of the season for a reading, conversation, and book signing with Thomas C. Gannon.

Goodreads review: Thomas C. Gannon’s Birding While Indian spans more than fifty years of childhood walks and adult road trips to deliver, via a compendium of birds recorded and revered, the author’s life as a part-Lakota inhabitant of the Great Plains. Great Horned Owl, Sandhill Crane, such species form a kind of rosary, a corrective to the rosaries that evoke Gannon’s traumatic time in an Indian boarding school in South Dakota, his mother’s devastation at racist bullying from coworkers, and the violent erasure colonialism demanded of the people and other animals indigenous to the United States.

Birding has always been Gannon’s escape and solace. He later found similar solace in literature, particularly by Native authors. He draws on both throughout this expansive, hilarious, and humane memoir. An acerbic observer—of birds, the environment, the aftershocks of history, and human nature—Gannon navigates his obsession with the ostensibly objective avocation of birding and his own mixed-blood subjectivity, searching for that elusive Snowy Owl and his own identity. The result is a rich reflection not only on one man’s life but on the transformative power of building a deeper relationship with the natural world.”

Free and open to the public.

Generously sponsored by the Nebraska Indian Community College, with our gratitude.

It’s Free Museum Day in Nebraska! The Neihardt Center can always be enjoyed free of charge, so we’ll celebrate our museum’s favorite things: books and community! We’ll have something for everyone!

Featured events:

12:00 p.m. Tosca Lee, New York Tmes best-selling author. With Marcus Brotherton, author of “The Long March Home,” the 2025 One Book One Nebraska selection.

1:00 p.m. Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools Artwork Opening Reception. Student artwork will be on display at the Neihardt Center through the summer. Light refreshments will be offered at the reception.

Tickets available online at:

https://buytickets.at/johngneihardtstatehistoricsite/1629312

The conference theme this year is inspired by the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Twilight of the Sioux. Published as a combination of the last two chapters (or songs) of John Neihardt's book "A Cycle of the West," the book "Twilight of the Sioux" addresses the tragedy experienced by Plains Indians in the "Song of the Indian Wars" and "Song of the Messiah." The former tells of the period of migration and the last great fight for the bison pastures between the invading white race and the Plains Indians (1854-1890), and the latter addresses the conquered people and the worldly end of their great dream, closing with the battle of Wounded Knee (1890).

The historical events that Neihardt wrote about changed the United States in innumerable and fundamental ways. Using his writing as the framework and centering Native American experts as speakers, this conference will spark discussion by broadening perspectives and considering the long-term impact of how history is framed.  

Topics and Speakers include:

Incorporating and Engaging Native Histories on Public Lands, Broc Anderson, M.A., Director of Historic Sites for the Nebraska State Historical Society

The Act and Impact of Crazy Horse's Death at Ft. Robinson, Sandy Wounded Arrow, M.A., Site Director, Ft. Robinson Nebraska State Historic Site

Lakota Oral Tradition in “Black Elk Speaks,” Delphine Red Shirt, PhD, Stanford University

“The Oregon Trail” and Native Representation on the Plains, Margaret Huettl, PhD, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

NAGPRA - Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Calvin Harlan, Acting Deputy Chief, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska

Moderator: Nancy Gillis

Sponsored by Nebraska State Historical Society, Humanities Nebraska, Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Cuming County Visitors Bureau, John G. Neihardt Foundation

We’re partnering with the Bancroft Public Library to try something new! In March we’re kicking off our first popular fiction book club, featuring “The Berry Pickers” by Amanda Peters. Read the book ahead of time, and then join us for a discussion of this beautifully written, widely praised and awarded book.

“The Berry Pickers” is the story of a Mi’kmaq family that arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer when a tragedy occurs and sets up a mystery that remains unsolved for 50 years. Along the way, themes like the loss of traditional culture and language, the importance of family bonds, grief, guilt, and the lasting effects of generational trauma in First Nations communities are explored.

You can check out copies at the Bancroft Public Library; and copies will be available for purchase or loan at the Neihardt Center. The book is also available at local bookstores ($17.95), libraries, Libby, and Audible.

Free and open to the public.

Generously sponsored by the Nebraska Indian Community College, with our gratitude.

In celebration of sweet Valentine’s Day, the Neihardt Foundation kicks off its Sunday at the Museum program with “All About Chocolate.” Come hungry, because this is a chocolate tasting and history lesson! With instructor Pat King, we will explore the history of chocolate, where it is grown, and how it is produced, and discuss why chocolate is good to eat and good for you. Learn what is bad about chocolate, including child exploitation and the difficulty of addressing child labor. Taste chocolates from several different countries.

Free and open to the public.

Generously sponsored by the Nebraska Indian Community College, with our gratitude.

Tickets available now! Please order by October 31.

https://buytickets.at/johngneihardtstatehistoricsite/1384636

Join us for the John G. Neihardt Foundation's only fundraiser of the year: the 25th Annual Laureate's Feast Gala, honoring Walt and Linda Duda as Word Senders!

Spend the evening enjoying a meal prepared by Native American Chef Anthony Warrior, drinking a selection of fine wines, bidding on enviable auction items, enjoying a short program emceed by Mike Kelly (author and previous Omaha World Herald columnist) - and best of all, supporting the work of the Neihardt Foundation!

Your support helps continue and expand the Foundation's programming, which this year has included the 49th Annual Neihardt Day celebration; monthly “Sunday at Museum” literary programs; the Cultural Connections summer camp for Native American school kids; and a Spring Conference focused on a mysterious monument built by Neihardt in honor of mountain man Hugh Glass, the subject of Neihardt’s “Song of Hugh Glass.” Most of these programs are offered for free.

By purchasing tickets or making a donation, you also help support the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, a vibrant cultural and literary site in Bancroft, Nebraska.

Dress: Business Attire

The John G. Neihardt Foundation is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization. Donations and the cost of tickets are partially or fully tax exempt. Please contact your tax professional.

Thank you to Physician’s Mutual Insurance Company for donating printed materials, including invitations and posters.

Clara Bewick Colby was the adoptive mother or Zintka Laluni, or “Lost Bird,” a baby that survived the Wounded Knee Massacre, and this presentation will focus primarily on that chapter of Colby’s fascinating life. She was also one of the founders of the Beatrice Public Library in the late 1800s, and one of the most active and versatile participants in the women’s suffrage movement in the United States.

Speaker Laureen Riedesel was the Beatrice Public Library director for over 40 years (now retired) and is a popular speaker on many topics related to Nebraska history. 

Free and open to the public. Light reception afterwards.

This event is sponsored by the Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC). Visit https://www.thenicc.edu/. The Neihardt Foundation thanks them for their support.

Spend an afternoon in Poet’s Town!

Food and vendors 12-1; Program begins at 1 p.m.

Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and join us on the beautiful grounds of the Neihardt Center to celebrate Nebraska’s Poet Laureate! Learn more about the Hugh Glass Monument to Courage that now resides at the Neihardt Center, with unique perspectives offered by Neihardt’s Granddaughter Alexis Petri, and History Nebraska Archeologist Jennifer Banks. Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason will be the Master of Ceremonies and share his poems.

Featured speakers include:

• Matt Mason, Master of Ceremonies and Nebraska State Poet

• Alexis Petri, John Neihardt’s great-granddaughter, “A Prequel to the Song of Hugh Glass”

• Jennifer Banks, History Nebraska archeologist, “Digging Deep: How the materials left behind tell us about the past”

This event is free and open to the public.

Funded in part by the Cuming County Visitor’s Bureau