Chief Washakie Foundation
About the Chief
Washakie Foundation
The Chief Washakie Foundation was organized and incorporated in
2004 to:
- Help provide access to higher education for students and
educators with significant ties to Wyoming’s Wind River
Indian Reservation.
- Enhance the educational experience of all students and educators
by helping preserve, document, and disseminate the history,
arts and cultural traditions of those Native Americans with
whom the Wind River tribes, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern
Arapaho, were, and remain, connected.
- Advocate for Indian education regionally and nationally.
Mission Statement
The Foundation’s Mission is: To further the vision of the
great Shoshone leader Chief Washakie to insure excellence in Native
American education.
Background of the Foundation - The Chief Washakie Sculpture Committee
The Foundation was originally organized as the Chief Washakie
Sculpture Committee, appointed by Wyoming’s Governor Jim
Gerringer to place a statue of the great Shoshone leader, Chief
Washakie, in Statuary Hall in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building
in Washington, D.C. At the time the group was organized, in 1999,
Wyoming was one of four states that still had only one statue,
that of suffragist Esther Hobart Morris, to represent it. As each
state is entitled to have two of its most famous leaders in Statuary
Hall, Wyoming was proud to select Washakie to represent the people
of Wyoming.
The Sculpture Committee was charged with selecting a Wyoming
artist to create the statue and raise the funds necessary to place
it in our nation’s capitol. Between the fall of 1999 and
the fall of 2000, the Committee raised over $600,000 for this
state wide effort. The Washakie monument, sculpted by Dave McGary,
born in Cody, was pace in the Rotunda of the Capitol on September
7, 2000. Second and third statues were placed outside of Fort
Washakie and in the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Cheyenne
shortly thereafter.
The Chief Washakie Sculpture Committee consisted of: Dr. Sharon
Kahin, Chair; John Coe, Secretary; Sherri Gerringer, Honorary
Member; and committee members Rep. Eli Bebout, Pat Bergie, Dr.
Sarah Boehme, Senator Cale Case, Zedora Enos, Senator Mark Harris,
Rep. Ray Harrison, Alan Hirschfield, Senator Bob Peck, Rep. Frank
A Philp, Ivan Posey, May Reynolds, Rep. Harry B. Tipton, James
Trosper and John Washakie.
The Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment at the University
of Wyoming
In addition to selecting the artist and raising funds to cast
the three monuments of Chief Washakie, the Sculpture Committee
also raised $200,000, which was matched dollar for dollar by the
state, to establish and endow a scholarship fund at the University
of Wyoming in Washakie’s honor. The present board of the
Chief Washakie Foundation continues to provide scholarship aid,
as well as support work that helps preserve the culture, history
and heritage of the Shoshone people and the Wind River Reservation.
Board Member Information
James Trosper, Chair and Executive Director
James currently is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Wyoming and served as the Director of Indian Child Welfare for the Northern Arapaho Tribe for 14 years. He is also on the Award Committee of the Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment at the University of Wyoming and the Grand Teton National Park Foundation Board. In the past he has served on a number of boards including The Chief Washakie Sculpture Committee, the Board of Directors of the Wind River Youth Council, Fremont County Historic Preservation Commission and Wyoming Indian Affairs Council. He is also the great-great grandson of Chief Washakie.
Mark O. Harris, Co-Chair
Mark is currently on the Award Committee of the Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment at the University of Wyoming, Treasurer of the Board of Directors for Wyoming Senior Citizens Incorporated, and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Harry Jackson Museum. He served 14 years in the Wyoming Legislature, two terms in the House of Representatives and two and a half terms in the Senate. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Albuquerque.
Robert Peck, Treasurer
Robert is an honor graduate of the University of Wyoming in journalism. He is a newspaper publisher in Riverton, Wyoming. He presently serves in the Wyoming Senate where he chairs the Revenue Committee and Tribal Relations Committee. He served 15 years on the Central Wyoming College Board of Trustees.
Cale Case
Dr Case is an economist. He has served in the Wyoming House of Representatives and is currently in the Wyoming Senate. His senate district includes the Wind River Indian Reservation. He is a past president of Rotary Community Foundation of Lander.
Zedora Enos
Zedora is the great granddaughter of Chief Washakie. She is on the Award Committee of the Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment at the University of Wyoming. She was the owner and operator of Wind River Optical for 18 years. She has been very active in the Wind River Reservation community and currently serves on the Red Feather Eagle Vocational Rehabilitation Advisory Board.
May Raynolds
May is the Manager of the Table Mountain Ranch and President of the Lander Valley Farm Bureau. She also serves as the Treasurer of the Red Desert Audubon Society and is a member of the Board of the Liberty Hall Foundation. May also serves on the Award Committee of the Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment of the University of Wyoming.
Kent W. Spence
Kent is the immediate past president of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association. He also served as the Vice President and Treasurer of that organization. In addition to practicing law in both state and federal court, Kent is on the teaching staff of the Trial Lawyer College. He is presently on the board of directors of LAW (Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming) a non-profit law firm and the board of the Curran-Sealy Foundation.
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