KU filmmaker’s new series captures stories, traditions of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas filmmaker and scholar has released a new YouTube series capturing stories and traditions of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

Rebekka Schlichting, assistant professor of the practice at the William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, released the series “Baxoje Basics” this past month. Her episode “In Honor of Pete Fee” captured the last interview with the revered elder of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, who died Nov. 3.

Over the summer, Schlichting interviewed and filmed many members of her tribe for a living history that celebrates the tribe’s culture, resilience and history and serves as an archive for future generations.

New episodes of “Baxoje Basics” are released weekly and include videos of elders reflecting on what it was like growing up on the reservation, cultural practices, language and ways of thinking. The series demonstrates how the Iowa continue to live in their identity with pride through entrepreneurial ventures and community initiatives, according to the filmmaker.

Schlichting is a member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Woshka cultural committee, which received a grant through the National Endowment for the Arts to complete this series.

“Capturing my tribe’s history and culture to share with the world is profoundly important to me,” Schlichting said. “It’s creating awareness about our people who are often left out of history books. It’s creating compassion and empathy for our people and the intergenerational trauma we endure. And it’s creating a sense of pride in knowing who we are that will trickle down to future generations and inspire more tribal members to come home in either the physical or cultural sense.”

Learn more about the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, whose headquarters are in Brown County.