Accomplishments

Our History

Midwest SOARRING Foundation, was formed in 1996 as an organization that would provide education about American Indian Cultures and environmental concerns. In 1999 the Foundation took on the responsibilities of facilitating repatriation and protection of sacred sites, previously the responsibilities of Midwest SOARRING. Education, being of utmost importance to us, allows us to promote a better understanding of Indigenous cultures and the respect for our Mother Earth. As this understanding grows so does our Community.

We invite you to join Midwest SOARRING Foundation and become part of our extended family. Listed below are a few of the highlights of our work together.

What We Have Done

Facilitates Native American ceremonies that include talking circles, solstice and equinox celebrations, interfaith prayer gatherings, and other ceremonies.
Consults and provides ceremony for land acknowledgements to libraries, schools, museums and other groups and organizations acknowledging that Native American people lived on this land prior to European settlement.
Sponsors the Annual Harvest Pow Wow first started in Mokena, Illinois. This pow wow was held in Naperville since 2005 and then moved in 2022 to the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton. For a number of years SOARRING also hosted the Honor The Eagle Pow Wow held each May at Starved Rock or Matthiessen State Park in Utica, Illinois. Thousands of people attend these intertribal celebrations which feature pow wow dancers in full native American regalia, Native American drum groups, Native arts and craft vendors, a live birds of prey exhibit, Native flute players, and more.
Handles repatriation issues as they arise.
Handed out over 250 medals of valor medallions to veterans at our yearly pow wow.
Awarded over forty scholarships to deserving applicants.
Consulted with Cook County Forest Preserve on Portage site text and signage for public education.
Coordinates Earth Day events and spring clean-ups.
Co-sponsored The Homecoming of the Kickapoo Nation Pow Wow at the Grand Village, Le Roy, Illinois, in 1998, to welcome the Kickapoo Nation back to Illinois for the first time since 1832.
Worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to reintroduce native plants such as sage, sweetgrass and tobacco in several areas in Illinois, including our garden and Native Plant Program located first in Westchester and currently in Lockport at the Heritage Village in Illinois.
Sponsors lectures and programs on the history and traditions of the Indigenous cultures, including the pre-Columbian, early historic and current eras.
Sponsored the Save the Bison program in September 1999, and purchased the first bison of a planned band of 25, as a symbol of the people's survival and endurance, and to encourage re-population in Illinois and across the country.
Co-sponsored the first place award-winning Garden of the Great Spirit exhibit held at Chicago's Annual Flower and Garden Show in March 2000. The exhibit featured a re-created Ojibwe village scene amongst all native plants and a simulated river.
Organized annual group canoe and camping trips to enjoy the beauty of Mother Earth.
Acted as consultants to the Brookfield Zoo in planning their Rhythm and Roots Festival, which for three consecutive years had featured the Native American culture. In 2001, we made history, as it was the zoo's first time ever, featuring the Native Culture in any of their events. Continues to be a consultant over the years on cultural related issues at the Zoo.
Has worked side-by-side with the Westchester Historical Society and the Save the Prairie Society in Westchester Illinois; and more recently the Glen Ellyn Historical Society, the Village of Glen Ellyn, and the Dupage County Forest Preserve to rehabilitate and fund the restoration of the historic McKee House as a Native American Cuitural Center on the grounds of Churchill Woods in Glen Ellyn.
Worked in part to stop Senate Bill 1680, known as “Quick-take”, a bill which gave the Government power to take property without any recourse. The bill listed 52 pages of property sites planned for “Quick-take”.
Participated in the opening ceremonies of the Abraham Lincoln National Veterans Cemetery.
Joined the Ill. Audubon Society's Save Plum Island Group in 2002 to put a stop to development on Plum Island, located adjacent to Starved Rock State Park. Not only is this island a wintering habitat to the American Bald Eagle and habitat to other species as well, but it's also a Burial Ground of our Native American Ancestors. In 2003, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn joined in the struggle. In March of 2004, the struggle was won by a grant given to the Ill. Audubon Society to designate the Island as an eagle sanctuary.
Interviewed in the summer of 2003, Joseph Standing Bear was featured by the Wilbert Funeral Home magazine in an article titled "Preserving Peaceful Spirit Trails." The article educated funeral home directors on Native American ways of dealing with death.
Provided instruction to the Naperville YMCA Indian guides to amend their thirty year old curriculum to include proper respect for Native culture.
Assists with the Buffalo Field Campaign in Yellowstone to help the bison herd.
Distributed resources such as hats, coats, games, mittens, and Christmas presents to St. LaBre in Montana, St. Joseph's Idnian School in South Dakota, and Mary Ellen Baker's Wellness Center in Wisconsin. For many years donated propane to the Pine Ridge Orphanage in South Dakota.
Provides opportunities to experience Native American cultural activities built upon your event needs.
Continued the struggle to keep drilling out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The meaning of the caribou to the Gwich'in people, parallels that of the bison to the Plains People.