INDIANAPOLIS (March 13, 2007) - Governor Mitch Daniels today honored community leader and philanthropist Jane Blaffer Owen, with the 2007 Sachem, the state's highest honor. Mrs. Owen received the Sachem before a State House audience that included her friends and family from the town of New Harmony and other leaders from southwestern Indiana.

The Sachem is given to one person per year in recognition of a lifetime of excellence and virtue that has brought credit and honor to Indiana. College basketball coaching legend John Wooden and the Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame and world statesman, are the inaugural recipients of the Sachem created by Governor Daniels.

"Jane Owen is a gift beyond description," said Daniels. "She has lived a truly unique life of virtue and goodness that has blessed Indiana in so many ways."

Mrs. Owen, 91, is most well-known for her devotion to the restoration of the town of New Harmony as a cultural and spiritual focal point. Her late husband, Kenneth Dale Owen, a descendant of one of New Harmony's founders, first took Mrs. Owen to the town on their honeymoon in 1941. Since then, she has utilized her financial resources and worldwide contacts to blend the historic elements of New Harmony's past into a timeless and diverse center for artistic expression and interfaith dialogue.

"Jane's character and contributions define the pinnacle of Hoosier ideals and leadership. She personifies the insatiable striving for a better world for all humanity," said Dr. Donald E. Pitzer, professor of history and director of the Center for Communal Studies at the University of Southern Indiana.

In 1958, Mrs. Owen created The Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation to preserve and promote the historical and educational attributes of New Harmony. In the nearly 50 years since its creation, the foundation has funded numerous works of art and architecture in New Harmony that have attracted scholars and artists from around the world, including the Cathedral Labyrinth and Sacred Garden. For her support of art education in New Harmony and southwest Indiana, Mrs. Owen received the Governor's Arts Award in 1977. The award recognizes individuals whose significant contributions to the arts have produced a profoundly positive impact upon the arts and the state of Indiana.

Mrs. Owen is also a strong advocate of building interfaith relations and commissioned the international Roofless Church by famed architect Philip Johnson, to encourage individuals from all religions to contribute to a more united and peaceful world. One of her early mentors was theologian Paul Tillich, a pioneer in building interfaith relations. In the aftermath of World War II, Mrs. Owen's support of Japanese religious leaders helped build bridges of mutual understanding and respect between the United States and East Asia. More recently, she has focused her efforts on building positive relations between the United States and the Muslim world by hosting several international Muslim delegations at New Harmony.

To this day, Mrs. Owen remains a tireless supporter of New Harmony and continues to fund community projects to further the artistic and spiritual environment in southwestern Indiana.

Sachem (Say-chum) background:
In 1970, Governor Edgar D. Whitcomb introduced the "Confederacy of the Sachem," a group of business, industry, publishing, banking and legal leaders, who served as state hosts, welcoming visitors to Indiana and promoting the state's culture and economy. The organization's name came from the Algonquin term applied to village leaders, implying wisdom, judgment and grace.

At the time, Sachems constituted an honor greater than being named a Sagamore of the Wabash. Bylaws outlined that Sachems were to nominate and recommend Sagamore appointments to the governor. The Sagamore of the Wabash dates to the term of Indiana Governor Ralph Gates in 1945 and has been the state's highest honor bestowed by the governor.

Following Whitcomb's term, the Sachem project was not pursued, and the organization dissolved in 1989. Whitcomb visited Daniels in 2005 to acquaint him with the concept and to give him custody of remaining Sachem funds.

Each Sachem honoree receives a specially-designed sculpture that captures the Native American heritage of the Sachem. All Sachem recipients will be selected by Indiana's governor.

Photos from the event will be available here later today: http://www.in.gov/gov/photo/index.html

Audio from the event is available here: http://www.in.gov/gov/media/maa/2007/031307.html

Text of Dr. Pitzer's remarks is available here: http://www.in.gov/gov/pdfs/0690_001.pdf

For additional background information on Jane Blaffer Owen, contact our office. A digital photo of the Sachem sculpture may be found at: http://www.in.gov/gov/images/sachem.jpg

Media contact: Jane Jankowski, Office of the Governor, 317/232-1622, jjankowski@gov.in.gov
Media contact: Brad Rateike, Office of the Governor, 317/232-1800, brateike@gov.in.gov

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