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Kadence Weston, Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, was excited to put down her pencil for the homecoming weekend bison harvest at Haskell Indian Nations University.
Alumni are flocking to campus and Douglas County community members are invited to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the school’s stadium and arch dedication, with a full roster of events Friday that will continue Saturday, Sept. 19.
“Everyone kind of takes a break from school and we just get to reconnect with who we are as the people and as Indigenous people,” Weston said of homecoming weekend.
Weston and her sister, Grace Eagle, Oglala Lakota and Muscogee Creek, are two of seven student workers with the USDA program who worked to coordinate the Friday afternoon bison harvest.
“This is one of our biggest events that we’ll host all year long, and it’s a really great opportunity to bring out Lawrence locals and Haskell community, and a way to bridge a gap and create a strong foundation,” Eagle said.
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This is the third annual harvest since Haskell staff worked in 2024 to revive the event, which is run through the university’s United States Department of Agriculture Extension Program.
Haskell students come from around 150 tribes, and there are 575 federally-recognized tribes in the country.
Rachael Lackey, member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and Haskell’s USDA Extension Program coordinator, said they can’t incorporate each tribe’s harvesting processes into one event. Instead, she aims to work with different tribes each year.
“It’s just really, really cool to watch because we’re planning for a harvest and a cookout, but it always ends up a little bit different each time,” they said.
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This year, folks processed two bison. The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska contributed one animal to USDA Extension for the harvest, while the Osage Nation provided the second from its bison ranch in honor of the university’s centennial celebrations.
As processes change each year, so do end results.
The bison skull from 2025 now sits atop a campus stickball pole that staff, students and alumni rose in April. It was painted by Aiyanna Tanyan, citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and Mvskoke Creek, who graduated that spring.
Lackey said that this year, USDA Extension has tasked the folks with the Haskell Greenhouse with taking care of the head and hide of the bison contributed by the Winnebago Tribe. Lackey said they hope to have Winnebago artists then draw or paint on the processed skull and hide.
Joseph Gray, Cherokee and 2004 Haskell graduate, drove from Kansas City, Missouri to participate in the April stickball pole raising. He sat in a folding chair in the shade on Friday, watching folks break down the animals. He said it was his first time at a bison harvest.
Gray said the event was “a connection that we have with our land and the way we used to live.”
He said Haskell’s memorial arch is special to him as a U.S. Navy veteran. The arch honors the 415 people from Haskell who served in World War I.
In undergrad, Gray also learned about the waves of Indigenous people who enlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.
“It’s also important because we’re learning out here and keeping traditions alive,” he said of the bison harvest. “I think that’s why Haskell means so much to me.”
Jaylon Romine, enrolled Muscogee Creek, also Kiowa and Chickasaw, was Haskell Brave when he graduated in 2024 with a degree in American Indian Studies.
He traveled from Phoenix — where he is in law school at Arizona State University — for homecoming events, including the Friday harvest.
He said buffalo hunting is part of his Kiowa culture, but he was raised largely around his Muscogee Creek culture. As a result, 2024 was his first bison harvest.
“(I’m) really grateful and for the buffalo himself, and Haskell for providing the space,” Romine said.
He reflected on how the United States government confined many Indigenous tribes to reservations and banned traditional practices and ceremonies. Haskell opened Sept. 17, 1884, as a residential boarding school to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children. Haskell gained its first Indigenous superintendent and the institution’s focus shifted to fostering Native culture in 1993.
“This place was established to eradicate our cultures,” Romine said, adding that the harvest represents “overcoming that trauma and oppression through tradition and culture.”
2026-27 Miss Haskell Claralynn Ayze, Navajo from Pinon, Arizona, participated in the harvest and is excited for everything about homecoming weekend.
“Every time I attend events like this, it just lights up my heart, and I get emotional,” she said. “… Having the opportunity to be a part of this, not only as a student, but also as Miss Haskell School, it means a lot to me.”
The USDA Extension Program hired multiple chefs to prepare the bison meat, including Nadine Peaches, Melissa Garrett and Jason Champagne.
Haskell will host a community buffalo feed from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Coffin Sports Complex, 155 Indian Ave.
See this link for a full list of centennial events, including stickball games, powwows, history talks and film screenings, and multi arts and cooking demonstrations.
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at [email protected].
Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.
Carter Gaskins (he/him) has been a photographer for The Lawrence Times since April 2021. He has also been a photographer for 10-plus years in photojournalism and sports.
Check out more of his work at Gaskins-Photography.com. See his work for the Times here.
More coverage — Haskell Indian Nations University:
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Logan Pierson / Lawrence Times
