C. A. Buser
Charles Aubrey Buser 1922 – 2010
In the early morning of Monday, January 11, 2010, the Wyandotte Nation lost a dear friend and historian of our nation, Mr. Charles Aubrey Buser. Although not a Wyandotte by birth, his heart was purely Wyandotte. Aubrey was a valued mentor to the Wyandotte Nation and to hundreds of people across North America. He researched our history and freely shared his life’s work with anyone who had a question that needed an answer. He will be sincerely missed.
In 1997, Aubrey was the Wyandotte Nation’s Pow Wow Honoree. The Pow Wow book of that year gave a wonderful account of his life. He was always a true gentleman in every sense of the word. His love for his family was unshakable. His love for his adopted people was equally as strong. The Wyandotte Nation extends its heartfelt gratitude and its sincere sympathy to his wife, Pat, and to each of his family members. He will forever be on the “Wyandot Path.”
USMC – Guadalcanal 1944
Aubrey Buser was born on May 13, 1922, near New Market, Indiana. His interest in the Wyandots (as he learned to spell the name), came when he was a child of eight or nine years of age. “I read a series of books in which one of the principal characters was a young Wyandot,” Buser said. “In time, I learned that that fictional character was based on the life of Tarhe, the most distinguished member of the tribe during the Ohio years. Until the death of my mother, when I was ten, she encouraged me to learn all that I could about my favorite tribe.” It was during that time that the Wyandots became “his people.”
Buser graduated from high school in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1940. Two years later, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and proudly served his country until 1946. On January 13, 1945, Buser married Patricia Anderson. They have a son, a daughter, and five grandchildren.
In 1949, Buser received his degree from Goshen College. In addition, he took graduate courses at Loyola College in Baltimore, and at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
He was employed with Lockheed Aircraft, Westinghouse Electric, and with the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Through the years, the Busers continued researching tribal history. Their search took them to many states as well as Canada. “During the course of such research, we have found friends in a number of tribes and in the ranks of other researchers,” he said.
Buser worked closely with Chief Leonard Cotter, Mrs. Artie Nesvold and Mrs. Juanita McQuistion in providing information to Mr. Rodney Edwards, Wyandotte attorney, during claims litigation before the Indian Claims Commission. The efforts proved successful, as was the search for copies of the Marius Barbeau recordings made in 1911-12 among Wyandottes and Hurons in the U.S. and Canada.
The Busers retired to Frederick, Maryland, where Aubrey maintained considerable correspondence with World War II veterans, and with matters relating to the history and culture of the Wyandotte/Huron people. “Although time has taken us from many of our oldest and dearest friends, in our hearts we like to think of Wyandotte, Oklahoma, as a second home, and of all the people there as family,” Buser said.
“Mine has been a long and happy life. Looking back, I believe my proudest accomplishment has been the formation of so many deep and enduring friendships,” Buser said. “Among the regrets, and there are a few, is that I am not able to thank my mother and that author of so long ago, for having started me on the Wyandot Path.”
