In October 1926, thousands of American Indians arrived in Lawrence for the dedication of the new football stadium at Haskell Indian Nations University.

But this event was more than just a simple dedication ceremony. It was a four-day extravaganza featuring an Indian village, a powwow and other Indian performances. It also was a chance for what was then called Haskell Indian Institute to show off its school.

The stadium dedication and the events and circumstances surrounding it are the subjects of an article in the new issue of Kansas History, a quarterly magazine published by the Kansas State Historical Society. The article is called “All Indian Trails Lead to Lawrence, Kansas, Oct. 27-30, 1926.” It was written by Kim Warren, assistant professor of history at Kansas University.

The article was born from a larger, book-length project comparing American Indian and black education and citizenship in Kansas during the late 1800s and early 1900s, Warren said.

The book also looks at how they define themselves as Americans. The stadium dedication and powwow provide a specific historical moment when American Indians and whites had multiple and sometimes competing perceptions about how to define Indian identities, Warren said. The event caused much excitement among both whites and Indians, she said.

“The article shows that the white press tried to stereotype Native American visitors as primitive, but, in fact, they showed that they were quite modern and financially invested in building the stadium and arch as monuments for World War I veterans and a symbol of Native American pride,” Warren said.

Kansas History can be purchased at The Raven Bookstore, 8 E. Seventh St., but it is not otherwise sold at newsstands and stores. The complete article can be found on the historical society’s Web site at www.kshs.org/publicat/history/new.htm.