|
Quaker Missions
Rev. John G. Pratt was for some time in charge of
the Shawnee Mission, but was later sent to the Delawares, locating in what
is now Wyandotte County. In 1839 the Rev. Francis Barker was appointed to
the Shawnee Mission, where he labored until 1855, when the mission was
discontinued.
The Quaker Mission to the Shawnees
was established in 1834. The buildings were erected on section seven (7),
township twelve (12), range twenty-four (24) one-half mile east and
one-fourth mile south of the present town of Merriam, in Johnson County.
Rev. Joab Spencer gives this location as the northeast quarter of section
six (6). Substantial buildings were erected, which are still standing and
in use. The main building was 30 by 60 feet and three stories in height.
It was put up in the time between 1837 and 1840. An orchard was planted,
some trees of which are supposed to remain to this day. Rev. Henry Harvey,
historian of the Shawnees, was in charge of this mission.
In 1854, the Shawnees ceded their
Kansas River reservation to the United States. In return they were
granted a diminished reserve of two hundred thousand acres of the same
reservation between the State-line and a line parallel thereto thirty
miles to the westward. This line fell four miles east of Lawrence. This
smaller reservation included 24,138.31 acres to be allotted to the
Absentee Shawnees on their return to it for their home. Many did not
return. Their land was sold under acts of Congress, of April 7, 1869, and
March 3, 1879. By the terms of the treaty the Shawnees were permitted to
take their lands in severalty—two hundred acres to each individual. Any
band could have this proportion set off in a body for use of its members
in common. Under these provisions the tribe gradually disposed of the
diminished reserve. By 1870 most of the Shawnees had gone to the Indian
Territory. There they merged themselves with the Cherokees. The Black-Bob
band took their lands in common, as did another small band. The border
troubles before and during the Civil
War made it impossible for these Shawnees to remain on their land, and
they went to the Indian Territory. Squatters took possession of the
vacated lands. For a quarter of a century there was no settlement of the
matter. Speculators and grafters flourished at the expense of the Indians.
The matter was a standing scandal, settled finally by Congress and the
Courts, and greatly to the disadvantage of the Black-Bob Shawnee. So it
has ever been with the Indians within the bounds of the United States.9
The Shawnees are one of the most interesting tribes of
North American Indians. Their language is perhaps the finest and most
pleasing to the ear of all Indian languages. The tribe is separated into
five divisions or phratries. These had certain
positions in the council house, and are as follows:
1. Chilahcahtha, or Chillicothe
2. Kispokotha, or Kispogogi
3. Spitotha, or Mequachake
4. Bicowetha, or Piqua
5. Assiwikale, or Hathawekela
There are thirteen clans or gentes in the
tribe, as follows:
1. Wolf, or M'-wa-wä´
2. Loon, or Ma-gwä´
3. Bear, or M'-kwä´
4. Buzzard, or We-wä´-see
5. Panther, or M'-se´-pa
6. Owl, or M'-ath-wa´
7. Turkey, or Pa-la-wä´
8. Deer, or Psake-the´
9. Raccoon, or Sha-pä-ta´
10. Turtle, or Na-ma-thä´
11. Snake, or Ma-na-to´
12. Horse, Pe-se-wä´
13. Rabbit, or Pa-täke-e-ne-the´
Footnote
9 For a full statement of the extinction of the title to
the Black Bob lands see Kansas Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, pp. 93,
94, 95. Article by Anna Heloise Abel.
Previous | Index |
Next
Indians of KansasFree
Genealogy |
Indian
Genealogy |
Indians of
Kansas
|
|
