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PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS ASSOCIATION (PGA) -  

Professional Golfers Association, is the usual term for a professional association in men's golf.  It is often abbreviated to PGA.  There are several PGAs around the world, including:

SWAN - As we are aware in the United States, the swan is a symbol of peace and tranquility.   What we maybe aren’t aware of, however, is that swans are closely associated with many Native American peoples.  It is actually connected to one of the most sacred mysteries of the Lakota/Dakota religion, in which the swan acts as a messenger of faith.

P. E. O. SISTERHOOD - Women helping women reach for the stars.   P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.  This circle of kindred spirits – bonded by their enthusiasm for women's opportunities – eventually expanded to include women off campus, as well. Today, P.E.O. has grown from that tiny membership of seven to nearly a quarter of a million members in chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa.

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS JAYHAWK -  The University of Kansas is home of the Jayhawk, a mythical bird with a fascinating history.  Its origin is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas settlers.  The term "Jayhawk" was probably coined about 1848.  Accounts of its use appeared from Illinois to Texas.  The name combines two birds--the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter. The message here: Don't turn your back on this bird.

INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF BILL POSTERS AND BILLERS OF AMERICA -  Bill posters pasted up, or "posted," advertising sheets for everything from circuses and political rallies to product advertisements.  This is an excellent example of a trade union burial plot.  The small, simple headstones with identical inscriptions speak of a union membership that was neither highly skilled nor highly paid.   In the days before the widespread use of private life insurance, burial privileges and allowances were an important benefit of union membership.

MOSAIC TEMPLARS OF AMERICA (MTA) -  The Mosaic Templars of America (MTA), an African American fraternal organization offering mutual aid to the black community, was founded in Little Rock Arkansas in 1882 and incorporated in 1883 by two former slaves, John Edward Bush and Chester W. Keatts.  Taking its name from the biblical character of Moses, the organization offered illness, death, and burial insurance to African Americans at a time when white insurers refused to treat black customers equally.

ORDER KNIGHTS OF FRIENDSHIP - The group was founded in Pennsylvania in 1859 and by 1920 numbered 20,000 members.  It is a benevolent, social and patriotic organization based upon the fundamental principles drawn from its motto:  "Charity, Friendship, Companionship and Knowledge".

CHOCTAW NATION TRIBAL SEAL -  Great Seal of the Choctaw Nation.  An unstrung bow, encompassing three arrows and a smoking pipe-hatchet, symbolizes history and tradition of the Choctaw Indians.   This seal was used on all official papers of the Choctaw Nation until 1907, when the Indian and Oklahoma Territories united as the State of Oklahoma.

CHIEF SATANTA DESCENDANTS -  In the 1860s and ’70s, one of the best-known Plains Indians was the Kiowa war Chief Satanta.   In the East, he was seen as the orator of his people, a sort of rustic philosopher who represented them in treaty negotiations, and his observations on Indian-white relations were often repeated in great metropolitan newspapers.

COW SKULL -  The skull connotes death.  It’s long been engraved in our minds that when we see one, we “know” it signifies death.  And death in most cultures doesn’t sound inviting.  But for others, it’s some kind of a new beginning. And the skull it represents also suggests a happening beyond death that’s not always negative. A s for cows, it’s widely known that they are gentle creatures and are patronized in some religions as the sustainer of energy.