1. Vitae/Bio
David K. Hackett
101 Burgess Lane
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830-7833
865.483.0058 <woktela@comcast.net>
David Hackett was born midcentury in Indiana of lineages from the Southeast U.S. and Ohio Valley. He
is truly of a melting pot heritage including Yuchi Indian. In his youth he spent Summers with his Yuchi
grandmother who introduced him to the rich oral traditions. David grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
amid ancient Yuchi sites, and the Atomic Age. He graduated from Oak Ridge High School and attended
Purdue University. He received his Bachelors of Science in Materials Science and Metallurgical
Engineering from the University of Tennessee, and a Masters of Education from Lincoln Memorial
University. He also has a nontraditional Doctorate in Shamanism, a professional engineering license, and
a teaching certificate. He has built a broad knowledge in the sciences and used it to fashion a broad
interdisciplinary skills base in his work experience.
He began his career researching strip mine reclamation
techniques at the University of Tennessee's Energy and
Environment Center, and then served as welding engineer
at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. For most of his
career he has owned and operated a factotum consulting
business principally involved in problem solving, forensic
and failure science and education. Nonproprietary research
foci include such topics as Mid-Ordovician paleoecology,
photography and lighting extremes, ethics and dissent,
plate tectonics mechanism, ball lighting & mystery lights,
high stakes testing & fairness, energy conservation, critical
thinking skills...as well as Yuchi ethnology and language.
Among his many educational and museum programs are
such programs as I.D. Day, Spaceweek and Women and the
Atom.
More than a decade ago, Mr. Hackett was asked to assist the Yuchi Tribal Organization (YTO) in its
efforts to gain recognition from the United States Government. YTO chairman, Melvin George, ask
David Hackett to be Tribal Historian. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Branch of Acknowledgment and
Research denied the Yuchi recognition, stating they lacked sovereignty. Ironically, the U.S. Park Service
also a division of the Department of Interior was commemorating the Yuchi by dedicating Yuchi Town a
National Historical Monument at the same moment in time. Mr. Hackett has continued to manage the
Yuchi Archive and to research the Yuchi's role in Southeastern culture.
The mysterious Yuchi people have largely been neglected socially, politically and academically by the
dominant culture. While some founding work was done in Yuchi ethnology, little effort has been
expended on preserving or studying this threatened culture. The Yuchi, however, remain a key to
understanding the grand pre-Columbian confederacy of the Great Medicine Society (the first United
States in this land) that built the mound culture. By using oral traditions as a springboard from which to
correlate historical records, language, ethnology and archaeological evidence, Mr. Hackett is building a
coherent picture of this lost culture, resurrected from the remaining fragments. Working at the leading
edge of history is much the same as unraveling how a system has failed -- you have bits and pieces of the
puzzle that must be fit back together to create a picture of what happened.
www.yuchi.org
Picture: David Hackett smokes the Sacred pipe at the
dedication ceremonies for the Yuchi State Wetlands at
Smith Bend in Tennessee.

2. Curriculum Vitae
David K. Hackett, PE (Woktela)
101 Burgess Lane
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830-7833
(865) 483-0058
<woktela@comcast.net>
Professional Engineer & Educator
Summary of Education:
Diploma, Oak Ridge High School, 1967
Baccalaureate Science, Materials Science & Metallurgical Engineering ,1980, University of Tennessee
Masters of Education, Curriculum and Instruction, 2005, Lincoln Memorial University
Doctor of Shamanism (nonacademic), Yudjiha S'akasonene, 1990
Summary of Experience:
Mining Engineer Tech, Technical Advisor to the Director, University of Tennessee Environment Center
Welding Engineer, Union Carbide Nuclear Corporation
Owner/Professional Engineer, Aztech Research Services
Researcher/Educator, Education and Outreach, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Director, Pellissippi Science Enrichment Programs, Inc.
Independent Scholar, Yuchi Tribal Archive
Summary of Skills & Qualifications:
Professional Engineer, Tennessee License # 16639, 1984
Teaching Certificate, Tennessee, Secondary Science, Highly Qualified in Physics, Chemistry and Earth Science 2005
Craftsman, Foothills Craft Guild, AmerInd Folk Crafts, 1975
Appointed a Yuchi Tribal Historian by Melvin George, 1994
Research into Yuchi Language Etymology (partial fluency), 2001
Pertinent Publications under the pen name, Woktela (a full list upon request):
Tales from the Red Earth -- online at GEnie Computer Network (Cat 13, Top 14 & 3), Native American Spirituality BullEtin Board 1990
Mankind is Dropped and Shattered -- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 1, p33, Winter 1992
Who Speaks for the Indian? -- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 1, p35, Winter 1992
Thoughts on Creation -- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 1, p60, Winter 1992
Creator & Grandmother Spider Create the Web of Life -- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 1, p61, Winter 1992
The Crack in the World -- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 2, p100, Spring 1992
How the Coyote Learned to See Things from All Sides -- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 2, p110, Spring 1992
Of Lost Roots and Forgotten Tribes --- Four Directions, Vol 1 # 3, pp172-3, Spring 1992
Who Were the Mysterious Yuchi of Tennessee and the Southeast/ Of Lost Roots and Forgotten Tribes -- www.yuchi.org, 1997
Elements of the Yuchean Cultural Footprint -- Yuchi Archive Publication, 2006
Seven Sacred Herbs of the Yuchi -- Yuchi Archive Publication, 2006
A Brief Yuchi Language Primer -- Yuchi Archive Publication & www.yuchi,org, 2007
Yuchean Sphere of Influence (Map) -- Yuchi Archive Publication, 2009

3. Dedication of the Yuchi Wildlife Refuge
Yuchi Stomp Dance at Chattahochee Grounds in Georgia
Chief Timpoochee
Smithsonian Contact MapGeorge Clan Matriarchs
The Yuchi People