At the General Convention of 2022, The Episcopal Church passed a resolution that urges all Episcopalians to observe the second Monday of October every year as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, not Columbus Day. This counsel seems especially important this year as we observe the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. From the beginning, our national leaders envisioned western expansion and European settlement at the expense of the native population. The results were catastrophic for the original inhabitants of the land. Scholars now estimate that at the time of first contact with Europeans, about 10 million people lived in the territory of our current United States. By the beginning of the 1900’s only 300,000 remained alive. As we reflect on the history of our nation, we must remember what happened to the many tribes here prior to the coming of the Europeans or the founding of the United States.
Fortunately, there are a number of nearby historic sites to raise our awareness and to permit us to remember and honor our Native Peoples. In the Kansas City area alone, I recommend at least four. First, our family recently revisited Fort Osage in Sibley, Missouri, just east and a bit north of the metropolitan area. The Osage were a powerful trading empire throughout the Midwest, with strong presence in our state. The restored fort has excellent exhibits about their history and first interactions with European explorers and settlers. One learns how their territory was steadily reduced until, at last, they were confined to a reservation in northwest Oklahoma. The new version of “Little House on the Prairie” on Netflix features this tribe prominently in historically accurate and moving ways.
Second, I highly recommend a visit to the historic Huron cemetery in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. These people, who prefer to be called Wyandotte, had been displaced from their original lands around Lake Huron. In the early twentieth century, urban developers sought to raze the last resting places of many of their principal leaders. Two female Wyandotte lawyers were the first women to successfully argue a case before the US Supreme Court, preserving this sacred ground. It is an excellent place for quiet meditation as one shows respect for the sufferings of all the Native Peoples forced from their homes on numerous “trails of tears.”
Third, touring Shawnee Indian Mission just Southwest of the Country Club Plaza is most informative. It is one of the sites where the US government, with the full, eager cooperation of Christian churches, including our own Episcopal Church, sought to forcibly de-Indianize young Native persons. They were forced to leave their families, wear European clothing, cut their hair, and cease all speaking of their native tongues. Many died as they contracted diseases like smallpox and measles. Corporal punishment was common. As Christians, we bear a special responsibility to keep alive the memory of what is now considered cultural genocide.
Finally, the wonderful Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City has an excellent and extensive collection of contemporary and historic Native American art from all over the United States. The variety of objects tells us so much about the rich diversity of native cultures and sacred worldviews that still bless this land.
We are also very fortunate to live near the State of Oklahoma, “land of the red earth,” the former “Indian Territory.” Since tribal autonomy was restored by federal action in the early 1970’s, 39 sovereign nations now exist there, representing people driven there from every part of our land. These include the Missouria/Otoe Nation. Once bitter enemies, these two banded together for survival. Our state got its name from the Missouria, “those who live in canoes.” Each tribal nation has its own cultural center and museum, and each is worth a visit. And, if possible, attending a powwow or other annual cultural events is a powerful experience. Several key sites are just a short drive from the various parts of our diocese.
I highly recommend starting one’s exploration at the incredible First Nations Museum in Oklahoma City. Beginning with stunning animated depictions of the various creation stories, the beautiful and informative exhibits tell the history of the 39 tribes down to the present day. Native tour guides offer invaluable perspectives. On the second story, a long-term loan from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC has brought home astonishingly crafted works of art sold by desperately poor native artisans at the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century. The museum sought out their living descendants, and videos movingly depict their physical introduction to the works of their ancestors. As they say, they are the answered prayers of the beloved elders who went before.
This summer our family spent several days in the extensive Cherokee Nation, quite near Missouri. One of the so-called “civilized tribes,” thus named because they made significant accommodations to European culture, such as written language and owning slaves, this is the most populous of all Native Peoples in the U.S. Headquartered in Talequah, Oklahoma, in a lovely part of the Ozark range, a number of first-class museums tell the fascinating story of the suffering and resilience of this amazing culture. No historical grasp of the United States is complete without knowing the vital part played by the Cherokee. A lovely welcome center along Interstate 44 provides excellent orientation to the various sites.
I recommend individual or group reading of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’ “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States” (Beacon Press, 2014). As one learns about the constant betrayals, the disregarding time and again of promises made in solemn treaties, the tremendous suffering and annihilation so cruelly and deliberately inflicted on the original inhabitants of our land, it is natural to mourn and lament. None of us can change the past. But we can stubbornly refuse to forget. We can honor and pay homage to our Native neighbors and devote ourselves to a better future for all of God’s precious people. Especially in this time of planetary ecological crisis, we have so much to learn from Native American traditions and spirituality. May we humbly engage in a process of learning and dialogue.
This article was submitted by the Very Rev. Dr. Don H. Compier, member of the Diversity & Reconciliation Committee.
