American Indian tribes keep history alive in Arkansas

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — Quapaw. Caddo, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Chippewa - these tribes and many more are represented by people in Arkansas.

At least once a month, these individuals come together as part of the Indian Inter-Tribal Association of Arkansas.

Formerly based in Maumelle, and drawing members from throughout the River Valley and Ozark region, the group enjoys regular meetings, as well as performing at churches and other community events in the River Valley area and around the state.

Rom Walthem is the “lead singer” during these performances. That means he plays the drum. But ...

“We refer to the people sitting around the drum as the drum,” he said. “The word drum does not refer just to the cowhide.”

There is a lot to learn about American Indian culture, Walthem said, and he has been studying his heritage his whole life.

“It started when I was so young. It’s just a part of me,” Walthem said.

Part of the club’s mission is to promote education and help others better understand their heritage.

“We can learn a lot from our past,” member John Webb said.

Webb is affiliated with the Arapaho tribe but enjoys socializing with American Indians from many different tribes through the club.

“We work with the Boy Scouts and with several different organizations,” he said.

Webb said he sees a lot of participation and enjoyment at the organization’s performances.

“We have dances they can participate in, and we try to answer questions and give them an idea about who the Native Americans were in Arkansas.”

Webb said he is often approached by people after a performance who know they are part American Indian but are not sure of their own personal history.

“We direct them to other sources and other areas, where they can look up their relatives and contact other affiliations,” Webb said.

Webb’s interest in his heritage came from his grandmother.

“She worked with several tribes out in New Mexico, and I got involved with the White Mountain Apache when I was 6 years old,” Webb said.

He is now affiliated with the Arapaho.

“It’s hard to trace because of several blanks in my heritage,” Webb said.

And many American Indians have similar problems.

“The sad thing that I have seen over the years is that a lot of people have lost touch withtheir ancestral history, so they lose a part of their culture as being Americans, and especially Native Americans,” Webb said.

In order to prevent losing heritage and identity, Webb said, education is important.

“We need to understand how people lived and how people did things,” he said. “We have a lot of wonderful people in our organization that are in great areas of our community. They are as diverse as all Americans are.”

For more information, visit www.inark.org.

- czilk@ arkansasonline.com