Osage to Hold Several Events in Florissant as Part of STL250th

This year is the 250th celebration of the founding of the City of St. Louis.  As the Osage had stewardship and possession of the land that is now St. Louis, prior to the founding by the French in 1764, the Osage are participating in a number of Osage-related STL250 activities in 2014.  There are 437 Osage tribal members living in Missouri and 66 Osage live in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

The Osage-related events began Feb. 13 and will go through the end of the year. There will also be some Osage-related speakers that will provide lectures at the Missouri History Museum in the summer and fall.  The STL250 events will end with a New Year’s Eve celebration on Dec. 31.

Some of these events will take place in Florissant. The Old St. Ferdinand Shrine will be open for tours and have an Osage blessing in April. Other events include a Rotary Luncheon and round-table discussion at UMSL.

Osage-related events in April 2014:

April 1, Eddy Red Eagle, Jr. to speak at the Florissant, MO, Rotary Luncheon.  The luncheon begins at noon.

April 3, Old St. Ferdinand Shrine open for tours from 9  to noon.   #1 rue St. Francois, Florissant.  Osage boys were schooled near the shrine and we think Osage girls may have been schooled there by the Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart (still researching).  The Shrine has Jesuit and Sisters of Loretto connections.   Some of the Jesuits that were part of the Shrine’s history worked with the Osage in Kansas.  If you wish to purchase memorial bricks to support the work of the Shrine, the Shrine is willing to create an “Osage Walk” on the shrine grounds.  The cost of each brick is $50 and goes to support the upkeep of the buildings and grounds.

You can have names placed on the bricks.  For more information and/or to purchase a brick, please go to: http://www.oldstferdinandshrine.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page. The Shrine was chosen as a STL250 ornamental cake site location because of the historical connections to the Osage.

April 4, Old St. Ferdinand Shrine open for tours from 9 a.m. to noon.   Eddy Red Eagle, Jr. to conduct an Osage blessing at 9 a.m. http://www.oldstferdinandshrine.com/.

April 5, Old St. Ferdinand Shrine open for tours from 9 a.m. to noon   April 26, Roundtable discussion at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).  The roundtable is entitled, Toward the Future of the Metropolis: Remembering the Past in the Present and Beyond will take place from 1:35- 3:45 pm and is part of a two-day conference at the University of Missouri St. Louis.

The roundtable participants include: Jody Sowell (Missouri Historical Museum), Andrew Weil (National Landmarks), Michael McMillan (Pres./CEO, St. Louis Urban League), Nancy Yvilsaker (Pres., Bellefontaine Cemetery Association), Amy Hunter (Dir. of Racial Justice, YWCA), and Christy Finsel (Osage Tribal Member, Asset Building Consultant). Chief Bighorse may attend as well. To register to attend the two-day conference, or to purchase a one-day registration, please go to: http://stlmetromorphosis.com/.

 

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