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"Path to glory" : women on Indian missions in Kansas, 1824-1870
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"Path to glory" : women on Indian missions in Kansas, 1824-1870
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Description
Author
Brenn
,
Susan
D
.
Title
"
Path
to
glory
" :
women
on
Indian
missions
in
Kansas
,
1824-1870
Degree Program
History
Subject keywords
women
,
Kansas
Indian
missions
,
Osage
Indians
,
Chief
Clermont
,
Abstract
Women
on the
missions
in
Kansas
during
1824-1870
were
daring
and
courageous
.
Many
of them had to
travel
thousands
of
miles
to
arrive
at the
Kansas
mission
where
they were
unsure
of how the
Indians
would
receive
them and what their
new
life
might
bring
. In their
new
lives
, these
women
filled
many
important
roles
such
as
teachers
,
superintendents
,
surrogate
mothers
to
Indian
children
, and
doctors
when
the
need
arose
.
Often
the
women
who
came
to
Kansas
had
unselfishly
sacrificed
personal
comforts
, as
well
as
left
behind
family
and
friends
, to
brave
the
hardships
of
life
on a
mission
to
try
to
educate
and to
“civilize”
Indians
. In
many
cases
these
women
would also
face
obstacles
and
dangers
such
as
disease
, and
depression
. The
importance
of
women
on the
Indian
missions
in
Kansas
were
often
ignored
because
they
frequently
worked
in the
shadows
of their
husbands
or
other
men
; but
regardless
of the
barriers
that
stood
in their
way
and the
lack
of
recognition
that they
received
, their
contributions
were
often
more
significant
than that of their
male
counterparts
.
Indians
often
resented
missionaries
and their
preaching
of the
white
man’s
religion
and
education
; they were
seen
as
agents
by
which
a
tribe
could
lose
its
culture
,
heritage
and
identity
. But
missionaries
did
not
always
bring
hostility
and
destruction
to the
Indians
they
served
;
rather
,
some
Indians
saw
them as
saviors
who
could
help
improve
tribal
conditions
,
provide
safety
from
other
tribes
, and
help
develop
better
relations
with the
national
government
.
/
In
1819
,
Congress
enacted
the
Civilization
Fund
that
provided
funds
to
help
missionaries
as they
began
their
westward
advance
to
educate
and
civilize
Indians
. The
Presbyterians
were the
first
missionaries
that
came
to
Kansas
to
teach
the
Indians
. In
1824
,
Benton
Pixley
, with his
wife
Lucia
and their
two
children
,
arrived
in
Neosho
County
,
Kansas
; they
established
Mission
Neosho
, the
first
mission
, for the
Osage
Indians
. The
Neosho
missionaries
were
rapidly
beset
by
violence
,
primarily
because
the
Osage
leader
,
Chief
Clermont
,
did
not
like
them. The
chief
would
occasionally
lead
raiding
parties
to
vandalize
the
church
or
cause
havoc
during
church
services
. The
Neosho
missionaries
also
faced
the
issue
of
distance
; the
mission
was
eighty-five
miles
from the
nearest
white
settlement
,
so
they were
often
forced
to
rely
on
wild
game
for
sustenance
until
supplies
could
arrive
.
Regardless
of how
hard
the
Neosho
missionaries
tried
to
educate
and
civilize
the
Indians
, they
could
not
overcome
the
unreceptive
attitude
;
Mission
Neosho
was
forced
to
close
in
1829
without
having
ever
converted
a
single
Indian
.
/
Women
during
1824-1870
figured
prominently
not
only
in
Presbyterian
missions
but in
Methodist
,
Quaker
,
Baptist
,
Mormon
, and
Catholic
missions
in
Kansas
.
Every
religious
group
had their
own
viewpoints
on the
Indians
and
ideas
on how they should be
approached
with
education
and
religion
. For
example
, in
1830
, the
Methodists
at the
Shawnee
Methodist
Mission
in
Wyandotte
County
thought
that the
Shawnee
could
be
equal
to the
white
man
,
especially
if they
spoke
English
. In
contrast
, The
Religious
of the
Sacred
Heart
, a
Catholic
organization
for
nuns
that had
members
in the
Kansas
missionary
field
in
1841
,
felt
that the
Indian’s
tribal
ways
could
not be
ignored
,
so
they
allowed
the
Indians
to
speak
their
native
language
while
learning
other
skills
such
as
embroidery
.
/
Women
often
served
as
teachers
,
superintendents
, and
role
models
for the
Indians
with
whom
they
came
in
contact
.
Many
of the
women
at the
missionaries
taught
basic
courses
such
as
reading
,
writing
,
arithmetic
,
geography
, and
spelling
. But a
few
women
teachers
like
Miriam
H
.
Hough
,
Sarah
T
.
Harvey
,
Hannah
Wells
,
Thirza
Ainett
, and
Zelinda
Hobbs
at the
Friends
Missions
in
Kansas
, a
Quaker
mission
,
taught
the
Indian
girls
how to
knit
,
sew
,
weave
, and
spin
; this was
possible
because
the
Quaker
mission
was
basically
self-sufficient
and
produced
most
of its
own
food
.
/
Missionary
women
had
other
responsibilities
on
Kansas
Indian
Missions
besides
working
as
teachers
and
superintendents
; they
took
care
of their
own
families
, they
became
sort
of
surrogate
“mother”
for
many
of the
Indian
children
, their
house
in
some
cases
was
used
as the
mission
church
, and they
helped
to
nurse
or
take
care
of the
sick
if there was a
need
.
Many
missionary
women
gave
birth
to
children
while
on the
mission
,
which
could
be a
daunting
experience
if there was
no
real
medical
help
available
. For
example
, at the
Mormon
Mills
Missionary
,
Emily
Cutler
Kimball
Pratt
died
from
complications
of
childbirth
.
Many
women
, if they
survived
childbirth
,
could
also
face
the
loss
of a
child
or
children
while
on the
Kansas
missions
regardless
of the
denomination
.
/
Women
on the
missions
had to
face
and
overcome
many
hardships
to
build
a
life
for
themselves
and their
families
. For
examples
, the
Baptist
women
missionaries
faced
discrimination
when
Indians
on the
Delaware
Baptist
Mission
did
not
want
white
women
to
teach
their
sons
.
Women
also
faced
other
hardships
,
such
as
sickness
or
disease
,
depression
,
food
shortages
,
pressures
from
relatives
,
raids
, and
weather
. For
better
or for
worse
,
women
played
an
important
role
when
they
came
to
help
educate
and
civilize
Indians
;
Eleanor
Meeker
was
said
to be as
deeply
devoted
to the
missions
as her
husband
was. The
contributions
of
missionary
women
in
Kansas
are
often
overlooked
, but they were
respected
for their
perseverance
,
commitment
, and
bravery
.
/
Many
of the
women
on the
missions
in
Kansas
encountered
similar
types
of
experiences
and
difficulties
, but
depending
on the
woman’s
denomination
, their
experiences
could
vary
depending
on
location
,
Indian
tribe
they were
working
with, and the
rules
or
guidelines
of their
religion
.
Fortunately
,
women
of
different
denominations
left
primary
documents
that
describe
some
of the
differences
and
variations
that they
encountered
; these
personal
records
are also
representative
of the
obstacles
and
dangers
other
women
may
have had to
overcome
, as
well
as
some
of the
successes
that they
might
have
encountered
while
on the
Kansas
Indian
missions
from
1824-1870
.
Date Original
2003
Publisher
Fort Hays State University
Relation
Digital reproduction of the Fort Hays State University Theses Collection.
Type
Text
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
BrennSusan_2003_web.pdf
Source
LD2652 .T5 H5 B74 2003
Language
eng
Relation-Requires
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Rights
Copyright 2003 Susan D. Brenn
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