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ONA
Cross-Cultural Forms

 

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The founder of ONAN

is a decolonization scholar, social and cultural historian,

and a practitioner of public history.

 

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Hello and Welcome

 

Since founding ONAN in the late 1990s my commitment to rural and underserved communities remain a core tenet in my work. My mother and grandfather emphasized the importance of advanced education. They specifically stressed education for women, Indigenous, and rural folks in order to secure a firm-footing, exercise agency, and situate our voice in broader society. It is through their memory that I have had the determination to earned 7 major and minor university degrees.

 

Currently, I am researching and writing a doctoral dissertation that foregrounds historical experiences in Oklahoma Indian Country. My work aims for a decolonized narrative that is grounded in primary and secondary sources in order to amplify silenced voices from the past. This is achievable by reading against the grain and applying Indigenous methodologies. 

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Thank you in advance to all those I am and will work alongside to make this research possible. When the dissertation is complete it will be announce it here. I anticipate the manuscript will be ready for publication by late Spring 2024.

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Respectfully

Janna LM Rogers, PhD (c)

ONAN

ONAN has a multicultural focus

that seeks to appreciate unique differences and similarities. The goal of ONAN is to provide a respectful environment to learn about cultures outside of our own. 

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ONAN hosts intellectual gatherings to share knowledge and deepen understandings of diverse cultures and heritage. ONAN grew from grassroots community outreach during the late 1990s into the early 2000s and was known as the Oklahoma Native American Network. Originally, ONAN was a platform for keeping a promise to engage the diverse histories and experiences of Native American peoples. That promise continues to drive the founder of ONAN today.

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Janna LM Rogers is founder of ONAN and a PhD candidate who is currently conducting research and writing her dissertation. She collaborates with experts, academics, laypersons, institutions, and organizations. She is dedication to interdisciplinary efforts and a shared experience outside of an academic setting to make history approachable and incorporate plural narratives.

 

Janna "Doc" Rogers is a scholar who committed to developing a new facet of her  career when she was 50 years of age. She pursued and became an academically trained historian and researcher. Prior to pursuing a doctorate, she enjoyed a career as a activist, publicist, promoter, writer, and commercial actor. As a journalist, Janna edited and published The Indigenous Voice and covered Oklahoma Indian Country writing for Oklahoma Indian Times (Okit). Doc executive produced the radio call-in program Oklahoma Indian Forum which aired from KAKC (Clear Channel Communications) and she executive produced Inside Native America, the longest-running Indian affairs television program in the United States which aired from KOTV, CBS television network in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

 

 

ONAN Cross-Cultural Forums

(Est. late 1990s as the Oklahoma Native American Network)

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Janna LM Rogers established the Oklahoma Native American Network (ONAN) in memory of her brother, David (1966-1996). During the early years of ONAN she organized and hosted programs that were open to the public. Janna facilitated educational seminars including Inter-Tribal and Intra-Tribal Racism and Its Origins which garnered national and international interest and was attended by Indigenous academics, tribal leaders, politicians, filmmakers, celebrities, and activists.

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The media began calling Janna "Promise Keeper" because of her dedication for upholding her brother's memory through educational gatherings. These gatherings held core principals that developed and continue to drive her research today. Janna maintains that her work must; "speak respectfully but loud enough to be heard and amplify silenced voices of the past." 

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Decades after the passing of Janna's brother she keeps her promise to him. Four days before David passed he said, "Promise me you will use your voice to tell our experiences and stress the diversity of being Indian people." This promise is rooted in Janna's decision to earn an a PhD. Along the way she learned there are career building trends within academia and exercises caution when academics boast of being the experts of Native American topics. 


During the early years of ONAN Janna coined two phrases that are still referenced in her work. "The Barbie-Ken Syndrome" refers the homogenization of cultures to the point that language, culture, heritage, traditions, identity, and collective memory are lost or replaced. "The Oklahoma Trinity" is a phrase that refers to a demographic that traces from pre-statehood history to multi-ethnic Native American-Caucasian-African American individuals and families whose ideology and lifeways have been shaped by histories of chattel slavery, forced removals, and Protestantism. 

 

 

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