Reuben A. Snake - Repatriation Foundation

Reuben A. Snake, Jr., Winnebago
(1939 – 1993)

Reuben A. Snake, Winnebago, was a Founding Trustee and Spiritual Advisor of the American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation, and a good friend. He served on the Board of over fifteen national Native American organizations and was an active leader in shaping national and international American Indian and Alaska Native cultural affairs.

Reuben’s absence continues to be felt in many Indian communities and in the hearts of individuals.

“Reculturalization of Sacred Objects,” Akwe:kon, A Journal of Indigenous Issues, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Fall 1993, pp. 14-15.

The repatriation of sacred objects was a particular concern of Reuben Snake, Jr. He discussed this with Elizabeth Sackler, President of the American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation in 1993.

Your Humble Serpent: The Wisdom of Reuben Snake, 1996

This film highlights Reuben Snake’s influential ideas about the differences between Western rational, “linear” thought and the intuitive, “cyclical” thought of Native peoples. It also focuses on Reuben’s leadership of the Native American Church and his participation in the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and thelegalizationof the ceremonial use of peyote by American Indians.

Kifaru Productions, Producer: Gary Rhine. Co-written and narrated by Hayna Brown.