Staff

Rev. Wil Brown

Title: Interim Director for the Center for American Indians

We are also pleased to have Rev. Wil Brown serving as Special Adviser to the President of Bacone College and working with us in the Center for Church Relations. The Rev. Brown is widely known among American Baptists as he served as the National Director of Native American Ministries for the American Baptist Churches, USA for 11 years. Rev. Brown now serves as the Pastor at First American Baptist Church in Hobart, OK while assisting Bacone. Rev. Brown serves on the American Indian Advisory Council to the President and is also a member of the Board of the Central Region of the American Baptist Churches, USA. In addition to these varied duties, Rev. Brown is the Moderator of the Oklahoma Indiana American Baptist Association, a gathering of American Indian Churches in the Southwestern area of Oklahoma. Wil and his family have been associated with Bacone College for many years as members of his family attended here in its earlier days. His broad experience with Native churches from coast to coast and his commitment to Bacone make him a very valuable part of the Bacone College team.

Rev. Kathy Longhat

Title: Director of Students of Promise & AICC

Graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in Native American Studies; M.Div. from Claremont School of Theology. Served in ministry formerly with the United Methodist Conference of California and Oklahoma; and a current pastoral member of the American Baptist Churches, Central Region. Formerly pastored at Rainy Mtn. Kiowa Baptist Church and Interim Pastor @ Watonga Indian Baptist Church. Single mother blessed with four wonderful sons and seven grandchildren. Resides in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Asa Lewis

Title: Director of AILWC

Asa D. Lewis serves as the Director for the American Indian Learning Work Community here at Bacone College through the Center for American Indians. She is an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe and is from Tahlequah, OK. Ms. Lewis earned her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Northeastern State University and is currently working on her Master's of Science degree in Higher Education Leadership at Northeastern State University. Her experience working in higher education with Native American college students has become a priority and a passion in her life. "Something that I tell my students and that I truly believe in is that there's nothing more dangerous than an educated Native...knowledge is power." Asa is dedicated to empowering leadership through community service and education. She currently serves as the Southern Regional Advisor for Alpha Pi Omega, Inc. which is the oldest and historically first Native American social Greek letter organization in the United States, and serves on the Oklahoma Native American Students in Higher Education (ONASHE) advisor's committee. Asa is the oldest of four children in her family, a first generation college student, an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan, and is an Aunt to 7 nieces and 1 nephew.

Roseanna Hayes Spinks

Title: Manager of the KIVA and the Ataloa Lodge Museum Gift Shop

Roseanna Hayes Spinks came to Bacone College as a student for the 1958-59 school year. She is of the Wintun tribe of northern California. Roseanna began her employment with Bacone College in 1961 as a part-time employee in the cafeteria and progressed to full-time secretary in Public Relations in 1965. When the office changed to Development, she became the Records Clerk in charge of the data entry of all gifts, writing acknowledgments, and reporting to the Director of Development and to the President. As a representative of Bacone College, Roseanna traveled to conventions, setting up booths and speaking at various meetings throughout the country. Currently, she is Manager of the KIVA, which houses the Center for American Indians at Bacone College, and manages the Gift Shop in the Ataloa Lodge Museum. A highlight of her career has been giving tours of the campus and sharing her knowledge of the history of Bacone with alumni and visitors from around the world.

John Timothy II

Title: Cultural Interpreter of the Ataloa Lodge Museum

John is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Before joining Bacone College in 2000, John served full-time as Staff Artist and Cultural Resources Officer for the Five Civilized Tribes Museum from 1994-2000. In 1998 John received sponsorship to attend the Oklahoma Arts Institute Masters Apprenticeship Program. In 1999, John was selected to be one of fifteen tribal members in the United States, Alaska and Hawaii to participate in study workshops on "American Indian Museum Leadership" held at the Smithsonian Institute, The U.S. National Archives, The U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Board and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York City. That same year John was honored by the Chickasaw foundation for contributions to the American Indian Community and Cultural Preservation. In July of 2000, the Muscogee Nation requested he assist with the “Etowah Mound Repatriations Project” in Cartersville, Georgia.
John strives to create an authentic and welcoming environment for guests of the Ataloa Lodge Museum and continues preferring education over entertainment for cultural awareness and outreach programs.

Connie Falleaf

Title: Executive Administrative Assistant and Assistant Director, AISP

Connie is the great-granddaughter of Charlie Elk Hair, Lenape [Delaware], granddaughter of Sally Elk Hair Fall Leaf, Turtle Clan, and John Fall Leaf, and daughter of Richard Falleaf. She has studied at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, the University of Oklahoma, Norman campus, the University of Arizona, Tucson, and Oklahoma City University. Connie holds a Local Pastor license through the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church. She has volunteered more than two hundred hours at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (Vertebrate Paleontology Lab) and to American Indian inmates detained in the women's division of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Former Coordinator of the Bartlesville Community Center's “Indian Summer Festival”, Connie's personal interests are contemporary American Indian art, French Impressionist art, American Indian history and literature, travel, smooth jazz, interior decorating and landscape design.

CAI