Berbon K. Hamilton has been selected as the next Pawhuska Drumkeeper.
Hamilton, 16, is a junior at Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation. He is the son of Berbon R. Hamilton and Angela Hammer.
He and his family will be responsible for hosting the Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka and taking care of the district’s members, along with many more cultural responsibilities.
Hamilton was given the drum on Sunday of this year’s Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka from George Stabler, Jr., and his family, as is custom. Stabler, Jr., was Drumkeeper for five years.
Hamilton and his family will “pay for the drum” at next year’s Pawhuska In-Lon-Schka dances.
He has one brother Noah and one sister Kiana and is the grandson of Otto and the late Sandra Murphy Hamilton. The great-grandson of Otto, Sr., and Josephine Pryor Hamilton and Berbon and Gertrude Elam Murphy. Great-great-grandson of Bill Pryor, Amos Hamilton and Dora Strikeaxe, along with Foster Strikeaxe and Chief Strikeaxe.
He is also the great-nephew of the late Harriet Hamilton Shadlow.
Past Pawhuska Drumkeepers include:
1883-1924: Ben Mashunkashey
1925-1927: Charles Lookout
1928-1929: Clarence Gray
1930-1932: Louis Brave
1933-1934: Ed Lookout
1935-1940: Don Big Elk
1941-1945: Leo Miles
1946-1950: Morris Lookout
1951-1953: Andrew “Buddy” Gray
1954-1955: Louis Stabler
1956-1958: Ervin DeRoin
1959-1962: Willie Hamilton
1963-1966: Eddy Red Eagle Jr.
1967-1969: R.E. Yarbrough
1970-1972: Louis Cunningham
1973-1976: John Henry Mashunkashey
1977-1979: Jess Burris
1980-1984: Sammy Lookout
1985-1988: Vann Bighorse
1989-1991: George Stabler
1992-1997: Matthew Littleton
1998-2002: Eli Red Eagle
2003-2006: Cameron Rumsey
2007-2010: Bruce Cass
2011-2015: George Stabler, Jr.
2015: Berbon K. Hamilton
By
Osage News
Original Publish Date: 2015-06-30 00:00:00