A tribute to a Citizen Potawatomi Tribal member closed out the 2025 Potawatomi Leadership Program.
Navarre family descendant Darwin Bickford presented the inaugural Connor Baswewe (Echo Maker) Bickford Memorial Scholarship, in memory of his son, Connor, who walked on Nov. 20, 2024. Connor participated in PLP in 2017.
The scholarship recipient was Kaya Kirk (Pappan family), who attends Fresno City College, where she studies studio arts and American Indian studies.
Darwin Bickford told the students he wished he had nine scholarships to award, because each student was deserving of it. He said the family felt selecting one recipient was one of the hardest decisions to make.
“I went over it three times, six times. I would read them; I would read them again. Connor’s mom helped in the selection process as did his widow, Grace,” he said. We did not compare notes, and we sent our final scores to Rachel (Watson). But I didn’t know the winner until I read it that day.”
The application contained a 500-word essay on the clan system and what clans meant to the Potawatomi.
As Darwin Bickford listened to the final PLP presentations, he had a good feeling.
“I wrote in my notes, ‘The future is bright,’ and I believe we’re in good hands,” he said. “I was just blown away, it was just unbelievable, how those young people came up with those ideas.”
Bickford said he was reminded how far CPN has come and what the Tribe may still achieve in the future.
“What is the future of the Tribe tomorrow? I don’t know, but as long as there are young people like that coming through the PLP program, there’s a future and it’s bright,” he said.
Honoring Connor
Darwin Bickford explained why his family chose to remember his son in this way.
“Connor always had a calling to our Tribe. When his earthly life ended, we wanted to come up with a way to honor him. We decided that if we could have a scholarship, we could give it to a PLP member,” Darwin said.
The family worked with the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation to set up the funds and with CPN Legislator Jon Boursaw to arrange the award. Vice-Chairman Linda Capps gave her support and contacted Education Director Rachel Watson and Workforce Director Margaret Zientek. Zientek is the PLP house mother while the students are in Shawnee, Oklahoma, for six weeks.
Darwin visited CPN headquarters last spring to discuss the application process with Watson and Zientek.
“We as a family wanted to continue to honor Connor and his love, affection, passion, everything for the Tribe and what PLP meant to him as he moved forward in life,” Darwin said.
The Bickford family believes that Connor’s Potawatomi name also means that Connor’s memory will continue to echo throughout CPN and the PLP program through the years to come.
“To look at the term ‘walking on,’ it’s the present tense of the spirit. In that same way, Baswewe walks on,” Darwin said.
A strong bond
Connor was immensely proud of his Potawatomi heritage, Darwin said. Attending the PLP program in 2017 only strengthened the bond.
“He had a sense of accomplishment from going through the PLP,” Darwin said. “In his application essay, he wrote that he was ‘deeply interested in investing myself in what the Citizen Potawatomi Nation stands for and has to offer: community, generosity and family.’”
The focus on community resonated with Connor. He wrote that being a Tribal member was an honor and that he admired the Tribe’s focus on “the betterment of those around us and the betterment of ourselves as a people.”
Darwin described his son Connor as “kind, generous and loving. He was a giving spirit, and he just had that way about him that personified Baswewe, the Echo Maker. He was a caring human being. That’s my son.”
The father and son enjoyed attending events together and took every opportunity to celebrate their CPN heritage, even when they attended University of Notre Dame football games together.
As a descendant of Chief Waubonsee, whose daughter married Pierre Navarre, the Bickfords often visited the Cedar Grove Cemetery on the Notre Dame campus, where Pierre is buried. The pair made an annual trip to cheer for the Irish during football season, taking time to visit the Navarre cabin.
Connor also expressed his pride in his Potawatomi roots through his tattoos. The Tribal seal, a crane and a tribute to Mamagosnan and nature in the form of a buffalo were featured. He also added St. Christopher, in a nod to his Catholic faith.
The ribbon shirt Darwin Bickford wore to present the PLP scholarship even has ties to his son. Without planning it, they had picked nearly the same shade of blue.
“I bought it at a district meeting in South Bend, Indiana. It’s blue and yellow. When Connor was working with Margaret to make his ribbon shirt, he asked me, ‘Is your shirt blue?’ Because he picked out his colors and Connor just chose this light blue color. And so that all ties back to what and why our family chose to honor Connor’s memory with the PLP scholarship.”
Remembering Baswewe
Zientek recalled how she received the inspiration for Connor’s Potawatomi name.
“(Connor) asked me to name him and when they ask me, then I observe them, habits they have, actions they make and it hit me. What I saw was something I had never seen in my life. I looked across the pond and saw a crane standing there with its wings tucked behind it. So, I thought about a person walking and they tuck their hands behind their back while they walk. This is what Connor did. He would be listening to the person next to him, tilting his head and then he would tuck his hands behind the small of the back.”
The gesture reminded Zientek of her grandfather, former Tribal Chairman A.B. Pecore. He also had the habit of putting his hands behind his back as he walked and carefully listened.
“I realized that’s it. It’s the crane. So, I visited with (Language Director) Justin Neely about what I saw. Justin shared that one of the other names for a crane is Baswewe or Echo Maker,” Zientek said. “I felt like Connor was going to be a voice in the future. I saw the crane doing the same thing as Connor, and I saw leadership and I saw someone who would be vocal.”
She felt that as Connor matured, he eventually would have had a leadership role.
“I felt he was going to grow into it. I felt like he had the qualities to become a leader and an orator, speaker, somebody to listen to. I felt that he would have things to say that were important,” she said.
Zientek hopes future Baswewe scholarship recipients will keep Connor’s outstanding qualities in mind.
“He loved life, he cared about the people around him, and he recognized the importance of Tribal connectivity and providing a positive impact in leadership,” she said.
Visit the Potawatomi Leadership Program page for more information.