Clyde Ellis, associate professor of history, taught a freshman seminar April 18 at the College of William & Mary. The seminar, in William & Mary’s music department, focused on the evolution of contemporary Southern Plains powwow song and dance. Ellis also gave a public lecture sponsored by the college’s Music in American Culture series. His talk was titled “Tipis, Council Fires and Indians Galore: The Early Roots of the Indian Lore Movement in the United States.” The lecture title is also the topic of Ellis’ next book.
On April 1, Ellis gave a plenary address at a conference in Clinton, Okla., sponsored by the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and the Mennonite Church. The conference dealt with how Mennonites and Cheyenne and Arapaho people have forged relationships that foster respect for native traditions and beliefs in the church. Ellis’ address was “The Jesus Road in Indian Country,” and came from the research associated with his second book, “The Jesus Road: Kiowas, Christianity, and Indian Hymns.”