September 2001 newsletter
Phil Konstantin
Greetings,
My trip to Oklahoma was a good one. I had a chance to see some of the
places where my mother and her family grew up. It was fun to know that
many of the people wandering around me were family, even if only very
distant cousins. I did get to finally meet one of my more direct
cousins, Betty Starr Baker. She is the president of the Stilwell Chamber
of Commerce, and a real source of information. The photos I took on the
trip are on a new series of pages. The first page is at:
http://philkon.tripod.com/cherokee1.html
As a part of this visit, I went to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma's
headquarters, the Cherokee Heritage Center, the Trail of Tears theatre,
the Cherokee Holiday parade, and the State of the Cherokee Nation
program. I had a chance to meet Principal Chief Chad Smith. I even saw
Wilma Mankiller, the former Chief. Now is that a name for a female
chief, or what? Tahlequah is really a small country town. It was an
interesting experience to hear people talking and singing in Cherokee.
Even some of the street signs were in Cherokee.
It was almost like going home, but not quite.
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I finally had the chance to talk with my book's publisher recently. His
company has gone through several mergers in the last few months. At one
of the recent meetings for the new organization, they decided to
postpone the release of my book until May or June of 2002. I was
disappointed because of the delay. Ted, my publisher, says this is
actually a positive thing. The new company will have a better public
relations office and sales staff. This could mean more exposure and
publicity for the book. OK, that does sound nice, but I still prefer
sooner than later!
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I also had a chance to add several new links to some sites. For example,
there are quite a few new sites on the OMAHA tribe on the "LINKS TO
SITES WITH INFORMATION ON SPECIFIC INDIAN TRIBES (N-P) - Page 12b" page.
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Featured Link of the Month for September 2001:
http://www.cherokee.org/
The September 2001 "Link of the Month" is the official website for the
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The Cherokee website is an excellent
example of how a tribe has made use of modern technology. The website
contains lots of information for the public and tribal members, as well.
It has an extensive audio section, historical information, free
downloads of the Cherokee language font, and soon, a language
translation section. This is truly a standard for all other tribes. OK,
I will admit I am a bit biased, but after all, I am Cherokee.
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Continuing with my Cherokee theme, this month's treaty is the Treaty of
New Echota of 1835. This is the treaty which required the Cherokee
Nation to move west of the Mississippi River. It also led to an almost
full-fledged civil war among the Cherokees. The circumstances underwhich
it was signed are dubious, at best. While the signers may have honestly
felt they were doing the best thing possible for the Cherokees, the vast
majority of the tribe, and the official tribal leadership, opposed the
treaty. It was repudiated by a petition representing alomst 7/8ths of
the tribe. The US government, who wanted the treaty, ignored the
petition and the illegal manner in which it was signed. The Cherokee
nation tooks its case to the US Supreme Court. The court sided with the
Cherokees, but Presidet Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the court's
decision. This led to the Cherokees forced removal, and the infamous
"Road Where They Cried" or the "Trail of Tears."
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol2/treaties/che0439.htm
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This notice comes from Ruth Torres:
Oct. 12 & 13
Southern CT State University
11th Annual Women's Studies Conference
This year's theme: All Women of Red Nations: Weaving Connections
Early bird registration ends Sept. 8th. Attend one or both days
(different prices).
Featuring Schaghticoke Trudie Richmond on Friday, 10/12 participating
in a panel discussion of "Squaw: Algonkian Linguistics and Colonial
Politics"...with Jessie Little Doe Fermino and Marge Bruchac.
For more information (including conference schedule, featured speakers
and a registration form) please go to the link here (and pass the word!)
http://www.southernct.edu/departments/womensstudies/Weavingconnections.htm
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Here are a few interesting websites I have come across recently.
This one is called: "The Spartans Of The West"
http://www.wickiup.com/wickiup/seton/etswc02.html
Kangi sent it to me. You will have to read it yourself to see how you
feel about it.
This site also came to me through Kangi. His comments were: "Excellent
collection of quotes documenting the genocidal beliefs and actions of
whites against Indians. All the "greats," from Columbus to Limbaugh,
are here."
http://www.theramp.net/kohr4/HEROES.html
This site came from my mother from Sally ["the gr-granddaughter of Tandy
Walker Adair/ He was brother to Joseph Adair (my grandfather)," my
mother notes].
Enoeguski the characters and their real-life counterparts
http://www.teresita.com/html/characters.html
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Most of you know I am a California Highway Patrol officer in my spare
time. Otherwise, I would spend all of my time on the computer. August
was a sad month for us. CHP Officer Stephen Linen was killed by a drunk
driver north of San Diego. This is the second officer to be killed on
the same stretch of highway in ten months. Both involved drunk drivers
returning from a night of partying in Tijuana, Mexico. If you would like
to read more about this tragedy, use the link below.
http://philkon.tripod.com/chp.html
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Here are some randomly picked historical events for the month of
September:
September 1, 1845: Tired of the continuing feud between the "Old
Settlers" and the "New Emigrants" factions of the CHEROKEE Nation, 54
CHEROKEE families will leave the Indian Territory reservation to join
relatives in Texas.
September 2, 1877: Victorio flees the San Carlos Reservation
September 3, 1719: Today, Frenchman Bernard de la Harpe, discovers an
Indian village on the Arkansas River, near Muskogee. La Harpe had
traveled up the Red river, then went overland across Oklahoma. He will
describe the land as fertile, and the people (probably a CADDOAN tribe)
as friendly, and hard working. La Harpe will claim the land for France.
September 4, 1886: Geronimo surrenders to General Nelson Miles at
Skelton Canyon south of Apache Pass.
September 5, 1814: Today will see the start of the two day battle of
Credit Island, near present day Davenport, Iowa. Major Zackary Taylor,
and 334 American soldiers are making their way up the Mississippi River
attacking British positions with considerable success. Today they will
encounter a force of 1000 Indians and British. The allied army will
force Taylor to withdraw to safety in Saint Louis.
September 6, 1839: Today, a conference is held by both the "old
settlers" and the "new emigrant" CHEROKEEs in Tahlequah, Indian
Territory (Oklahoma). John Ross will be elected Principal Chief of the
newly rejoined CHEROKEE Nation. David Vann will be elected Second Chief.
A new constitution will be adopted. The convention will continue until
October 10, 1839. Many "old settlers" wil disavow any actions taken by
this convention. They believe that the old settler government is still
in power.
(NOTE: If you visit my Cherokee photos page from my recent trip, you
will see this date on the Cherokee Flag and seal.)
September 7, 1957: An Act of Congress gives the CHILKAT Indians mineral
rights to their lands near Klukwan. They will be one of only a very
small number of Alaskans with this provision.
September 8, 1865: Today, a grand council of the formerly pro-Union, and
pro-Confederacy Indians is held at Fort Smith, Kansas. The newly
appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Dennis N.Cooley, will chair
the meeting. Most of the Indians are told that they have forfeited their
lands, and annuities by their traitorous support of the south. Each
tribe would have to plead its case for mercy.
September 9, 1891: Two KICKAPOO Chiefs, chosen to accompany Americans to
the Capitol to obtain some money owed to them, are forced, in their
words, to sign an "agreement" by Secretary of the Interior John W.Noble.
This agreement would sell the United States, the KICKAPOO's "surplus
lands" at thirty cents an acre. Many forgeries, and the signatures of
dead Indians, and signatures of fictitious Indians were added to the
agreement. Congress would approve the agreement on March 30, 1893.
September 10, 1782: Today, a force of 40 British Rangers and 250 Indians
will attack the fort built in Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia).
None of the soldiers will be killed on either side. A few Indians will
die in the fighting. Some historians feel that this is be the last
battle of the American Revolutionary war.
September 11, 1858: Col.Miles, with 5 companies of soldiers,and 50
Mexicans, enter the Canyon de Chelly, in north eastern Arizona. The
NAVAJOs have not produced the Fort Defiance murderer of July 12, 1858.
In fact, the NAVAJOs have tried to pass off a killed Mexican prisoner as
the sought for NAVAJO. The soldiers will kill a few NAVAJOs in the
canyon. The soldiers will camp in the canyon that night. The NAVAJOs
launch an ineffectual attack from the canyon walls. A captured NAVAJO
convinces the other NAVAJOs to stop the attack.
September 12, 1878: Lt.H.S.Bishop, with 30 troopers, and a few SHOSHONE
scouts, attack a band of BANNOCK Indians on the Dry Fork of the Snake
River, southwest of Yellowstone Lake, in Wyoming. One Indian is killed,
and 7 are captured during the fighting. The captive say they are from
the Boise Reservation, and had escaped from the fight on September 4,
1878 on Clark's Fork with Col.Miles. While the Army had reported 11
Indians killed, the captives said the correct figure was 28. This will
be the last significant battle of the BANNOCK War. According to an
official government report, 40 whites, and 78 Indians will be killed
during the war.
September 13, 1878: Dull Knife, and his Northern CHEYENNE followers,
have left their reservation in Indian Territory. They are head back to
their old homelands. Today, they will cross the Cimarron River, 150
miles north of Fort Reno, in central Indian Territory, and establish a
camp in some canyons. A group of ARAPAHOs, will talk with Dull Knife,
and tell him the nearby soldiers want them to return to the reservation.
Dull Knife refuses, and the soldiers attack. The Indians have the best
strategic positions, and they will pin down the soldiers. After making
their escape, the CHEYENNEs will be pursued along their entire northward
journey.
September 14, 1777: Spanish Governor Galvez issues an act today, in New
Orleans. He orders the military, and Spanish subjects to "respect the
rights of these Indians in the lands they occupy and to protect them in
the possession thereof."
September 15, 1797: On this date, the SENECA sign a treaty with Robert
Morris, and Jeremiah Wadsworth, on the Genesee River, in Ontario County,
New York, to get a two square mile piece of the TUSCARORA Reservation.
September 16, 1850: Today in a letter to the President of the United
States, Senator John Fremont states that Spanish law gave Indians rights
to their lands. He feels the United States will have to enact some laws
to revoke the Indians' rights. Under the treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo,
the United States agreed to recognize Spanish land titles in the newly
acquired California.
September 17, 1778: The first DELAWARE treaty: DELAWARE Principal Chief
Koquethagechton (White Eyes) is appointed as a Colonel at the treaty
signing today. He will work to see the DELAWARE Nation become the 14th
American State. The treaty will be signed in Pittsburgh, by three
Chiefs: White Eyes, The Pipe, and John Killbuck, & Andrew and Thomas
Lewis.
September 18, 1813: After the "massacre" at Fort Mims, Alabama, by the
"Red Stick" CREEKs, the word of the CREEK uprising spreads. Today in
Nashville, Tennessee, Governor William Blount will call on the State
Legislature to "teach these barbarous sons of the woods their
inferiority." The cry for vengence will ring throughout the area. In a
few weeks, Andrew Jackson will begin his campaign against the CREEK.
September 19, 1737: Today is the start of the walking for the "Walking
Purchase" from the DELAWARE. The walkers would be Solomon Jennings,
Edward Marshall, and James Yates. The "walkers would barely stay below a
run. By the next day at noon, Edward Marshall had covered 65 miles.
Yates, who passed out from the exertion, would die three days later.
Jennings gave up the first day and was sickly for the rest of his life.
Many Indians complained than the "walk" did not live up to the spirit of
the agreement.
September 20, 1822: Red cloud is born today.
September 21, 1904: Chief Joseph (Hinmaton-yalatkit or Hein-mot
too-ya-la-kekt) dies today.
September 22, 1711: The TUSCARORA Indians, under Chief Hencock, join the
COREE, PAMLICO, MACHAPUNGA, and BEAR RIVER Indians in an attack on the
white settlements on the Trent and Pamlico Rivers in North Carolina.
Almost 130 white adults, and half that many children will be killed. The
war will spring from whites settling in Indian lands, and Indian
retaliations. A Swiss promoter, Baron Christoph von Graffenried had
ordered the Indians removed, when he had discovered them on lands he had
obtained from the Crown, at New Bern, in western North Carolina.
September 23, 1875: As the Black Hills conference is reconvened, Red
Cloud is now present. None of the Indians are interested in parting with
their sacred "Paha Sopa", the Black Hills. Before Red Cloud can speak, a
band of 300 of Crazy Horse's warriors rush in on horseback. Crazy
Horse's representative, Little Big Man exclaims he will kill any Chief
who agrees to give away the Black Hills. While the SIOUX police will
move Little Big Man away from the commissioners, the commissioners
realize that most of those present agree that the Black Hills will not
be given away. The commissioners decide to return to Fort Robinson, in
northwestern Nebraska.
September 24, 1858: Qualchan, son of YAKAMA Chief Owhi, rides into
Colonel George Wright's camp today. Qualchan is wanted for what the
settlers consider as murder for his part in the recent fighting.
Qualchan will be taken into custody and hanged later today.
September 25, 1975: First Indian prayer in the United States Senate.
September 26, 1675: Virginia Col.John Washington, and Maryland Major
Thomas Trueman, troops surround the main base of the SUSQUEHANNOCK
Indians. They are there to discover if the Indians are responsible for
attacking colonial settlements. Trueman calls out the SUSQUEHANNOCK for
a conference under a flag of truce. Five Chiefs come out of their
fortified position to talk. They deny being involved in the attacks.
Trueman has them led away and killed. Trueman would get off with a minor
fine from the Maryland Assembly for this act.
September 27, 1827: According to some historians, today marks the end of
the "WINNEBAGO Expedition." After the "Red Bird War", which started on
June 29, 1827, WINNEBAGO Chief Red Bird surrenders today, in response to
the Army's threat to destroy the entire tribe. Red Bird will be found
guilty of murdering several settlers and rivermen; but, he will die in
prison before he is sentenced.
September 28, 1874: Brevet Major General (Col.) Ranald Mackenzie, with
approximately 600 soldiers, leads an attack on the Indians residing in
the Palo Duro Canyon, in the Texas panhandle. Four Indians, and no
soldiers are reported killed. However, much of the Indians provisions
will be destroyed, including as many as 1400 Indian horses killed by the
soldiers. It will be a major psychological blow for the few southern
plains Indians still not living on reservations.
September 29, 1973: The House Interior Committee votes to approve a bill
which would re-establish federal recognition of the MENOMINEEs Indians
today.
September 30, 1809: William Henry Harrison, representing the United
States, and the DELAWARE, MIAMI, POTAWATOMI & EEL RIVER Indians, will
sign a treaty today at Fort Wayne. Three million acres in Indiana and
Illinois will be trades larger annuities, and $5,200 in supplies.
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That's it for this newsletter. I hope you had as nice of a Labor Day
holiday as I did.
Phil
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