David Pendleton Oakerhater
Encyclopedia
David Pendleton Oakerhater (b. ca. 1847, d. August 31, 1931), also known as O-kuh-ha-tuh and Making Medicine, was a Cheyenne
Indian
warrior and spiritual leader, who became an artist and Episcopal deacon. Imprisoned in 1875 after the Indian Wars at Fort Marion (now Castillo de San Marcos), Florida, Oakerhater became one of the founding figures of modern Native American art. Later he was ordained
as a deacon
in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and worked as a missionary in Oklahoma
. In 1985, the Episcopal Church named him the first Native American Anglican saint
.
(later the U.S. state
of Oklahoma
) to Sleeping Wolf (father), and Wah Nach (mother), Oakerhater was the second of three boys. His childhood name was Noksowist ("Bear Going Straight"), and he was raised as a traditional Cheyenne. His older brother was Little Medicine, and his younger brother was Wolf Tongue.
Oakerhater is believed by some to have been the youngest man to complete the sun dance
ritual (his Cheyenne name, Okuh hatuh, means "sun dancer"). He participated in his first war party (military raid
) at age 14 against the Otoe
and Missouri tribe
s, and became a member of his tribe's "Bowstring Society" (one of five military societies). He later participated in actions against United States federal and state militia
forces. His first engagement with white settlers was at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls
, in which 300 Native American warriors from various tribes, angered by settlers' poaching of buffalo, cattle grazing, and theft of horses, attacked a small trading village used by poachers. The battle, led by Comanche
leader Isa-tai
and Chief Quanah Parker
, triggered United States government response in the form of the Red River War
of 1874-75. Oakerhater may also have participated in the Battle of Washita River
and the Sand Creek massacre
.
Oakerhater married Nomee (translated as "Thunder Woman") in 1872. She died in 1880. They had four children, all of whom died young. Oakerhater also married, had at least one child, and divorced, a second woman, Nanessan ("Taking Off Dress").
In the Red River War of 1874 and 1875, the United States government pacified the last Native American militants in Indian Territory, fighting a series of skirmishes until the militants were exhausted by lack of food and supplies. The warriors, including Oakerhater, surrendered in 1875 at Fort Sill
near what is now Lawton, Oklahoma
. A group of 74 were selected from there and another location, all without trial, for imprisonment in Florida. Oakerhater was in a group chosen for being the eighteen farthest right in a line-up by a US Army
colonel who had been drinking and was running out of time before nightfall. Some among the eighteen had nothing to do with the insurrection.
The army assigned First Lieutenant (later Captain) Richard Henry Pratt
to transport the prisoners to an old Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos
(then known as Fort Marion), near Saint Augustine. Shackled together, they were taken across country on foot, by wagon, train (most had never before seen a train), and steamboat. Many initially thought they would be executed. At least two attempted suicide; one was later shot and killed attempting to escape, and another died of pneumonia.
Captain Pratt believed that Native Americans were deserving of support and respect, and could be assimilated
as full members of society. He thought they needed to abandon their old ways and learn the various practices of America's dominant white culture
to survive: English, work, Christianity, literacy, education, and so on. The practice of forced assimilation, now criticized as cultural genocide
, was considered progressive in its time. Most considered Native Americans to be enemies and murderers who should be killed, imprisoned, or defeated through force. Pratt's superior, General Philip Sheridan
, dismissed Pratt's beliefs as "Indian twaddle".
Conditions at the old fort were initially very poor: prisoners slept on the floor of their cells facing a central open-air courtyard. Several died in the first weeks. Pratt quickly improved conditions, obtaining army uniforms, removing the prisoners' shackles, setting them to work building a new residential shed, and procuring bedding. Later, as trust developed on both sides, Pratt convinced his superiors to allow the Indians to carry nonoperational rifles, perform guard duty, obtain outside employment collecting and selling sea beans and other tourist items, have passes to visit the town on Sundays to attend church, and camp unsupervised on nearby Anastasia Island
.
Pratt, who offered to resign his military post if the experiment failed, appointed Oakerhater First Sergeant of the prisoners, with a duty to organize morning military drills, ensure hygiene and dress code, choose assistants for Captain Pratt, and oversee the prisoners in Pratt's absence. Pratt and his wife also arranged for volunteer teachers who were vacationing in Florida from across the United States to instruct the prisoners in English, carpentry, and other subjects. They allowed the Indians to conduct a mock buffalo hunt.
In return the prisoners educated townspeople and tourists in archery, and made handicrafts and drawings to sell. Aware for their part of the nature of Pratt's experiment, the prisoners took pride in their work and martial discipline, eager to demonstrate that they could master white Americans' cultural and military practices. They took longer to overcome other cultural barriers, such as discomfort with being taught by women. The first summer Pratt arranged for their families to visit them from the Indian Territory. Within two years of arrival at Fort Marion, Oakerhater was proficient in English, and was regularly writing letters to townspeople he had befriended. That year nineteen of the prisoners were released, in exchange for accepting scholarships for education on the East Coast.
One of Pratt's experiments was to provide art supplies and instruction to the prisoners. They drew most of their art in pen in ledger books
. Somewhat abstract in style and depicting nostalgic memories of scenes from daily life, their art evolved from earlier Plains Indian art that had been calendar chronicles of events and expressions of personal accomplishments. Typical subjects were tribal dances, hunts, courting, and events at the fort, as well as self-portraits depicting scenes before their captivity. The Ledger Art
was a popular item for tourists to purchase. Through his art, Oakerhater gained the attention of Mrs. Alice Key Pendleton, to whose daughter he had given one of his drawing books.
Oakerhater was the first, and one of the most prolific, artists in the group. Deceptively naive, Oakerhater's drawings are considered by critics to be sophisticated in composition and subject content. They are very valuable as collector items today. He often signed his works "Making Medicine", a non-literal English translation of his Cheyenne
name, Sun Dancer, which the military had assigned him upon his arrest. Other times he would sign with a glyph
of a dancer in a sun dance lodge to represent himself. The Smithsonian Institution has a collection of the Fort Marion artists online.
, Mary Douglass Burnham, began to make arrangements to sponsor the remaining prisoners, including Oakerhater, to serve as church sextons and continue education. In April 1878 all of the prisoners were released. Burnham arranged funding from Alice Key Pendleton and her husband, a Senator
from Ohio, to bring Oakerhater, as well as his wife Nomee, to St. Paul's Church in Paris Hill, New York
, along with three other prisoners who each had separate sponsors. The church's priest, Reverend J.B. Wicks, took charge of Oakerhater's education on matters of agriculture, Scripture, and current events, and welcomed him as part of his family. Oakerhater, along with his three companions from Fort Marion, became popular among townspeople. They made and sold various items, including handmade bows. Within six months Oakerhater agreed to be baptized
and was confirmed shortly after. He chose the biblical Christian name David
and adopted the last name Pendleton in honor of his sponsors.
Captain Pratt, encouraged by the success of his former prisoners at Paris Hill and a larger group at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute for Negroes (now Hampton University
), lobbied the federal government for funds to open schools for Indian children. Senator Pendleton pushed a bill through Congress
to found the first school in 1879 at the unused Carlisle Barracks in central Pennsylvania
. It was named the Carlisle Indian Industrial School
.
In July, 1880 Nomee died in childbirth. The next year Oakerhater's young son Pawwahnee died. Both were buried in the cemetery in Paris Hill. Oakerhater was ordained an Episcopal deacon in July, 1881.
After Oakerhater was ordained a deacon, Pratt sent him on a trip to Indian Territory and Dakota Territory
to recruit students for Carlisle, where Pratt had been appointed superintendent
. Traveling with Reverend Wicks to the Darlington Agency near what is now El Reno, Oklahoma
, Oakerhater used his connections and influence to encourage local Cheyenne to attend Episcopal religious services. Remaining in the area, he traveled to the Anadarko Agency (near present day Anadarko, Oklahoma
) for Sunday services, spending weekdays visiting and caring for ill members of various tribes.
In 1882 Oakerhater married Nahepo (Smoking Woman), who adopted the English name Susie Pendleton. They had two children, who both died young. Nahepo died in 1890, at age 23.
In 1887 Oakerhater began work at newly built missions in Bridgeport
, and in 1889 at the Whirlwind Mission near Fay
, seventeen miles west of Watonga, Oklahoma
. The mission, built in 1887, was on the Dawes Act
allotment land of Chief Whirlwind, one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge. As at other Indian schools being established in the United States, many of Whirlwind's students suffered from poverty and related diseases. Many suffered from trachoma
and conjunctivitis
.
Their parents, whose lives had been disrupted by colonialism, warfare, forcible relocation, and the breaking up of tribal lands for allotment, were exploited by local non-Indians who wanted to profit from their newly assigned land grants. Uprooted, the families would often camp out near the schools to be with their children and provide a safer environment. Oakerhater's school and mission were under pressure both from locals, who saw the mission as a threat to their attempts to exploit the Native American population, and from others at the local and national level, who deplored the poor conditions there.
Oakerhater retired from Whilrwind with a pension
in 1918 but continued to preach, serving as a Native American chief and holy man. He moved briefly to Clinton, Oklahoma
and then to Watonga
, where he lived until his death in 1931.
After Oakerhater died, the Episcopal Church did not sponsor significant mission work in Watonga, Oklahoma for more than thirty years. In the early 1960s, an Episcopalian family that had moved to the area placed an ad in a local paper to announce a meeting in their home. Native Americans who had known Oakerhater met with the family and worked with them to revive his old mission.
In 1985 the Episcopal Church designated Oakerhater as a saint
, thanks in part to the years of work and research by Lois Carter Clark, a Muscogee Creek scholar. On September 1, 1986, the first feast was held in his honor at the Washington National Cathedral
in Washington, D.C.
, with his descendants and delegations from Oklahoma invited to the celebration. In 2000 the Saint George Church of Dayton, Ohio
dedicated a large stained glass window in its chapel depicting Oakerhater, and a smaller window bearing his glyph signature.
St. Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma City dedicated a chapel to St. Oakerhater. The congregation of St. Paul's commissioned Tlingit glass artist, Preston Singletary
, to create a stained glass window featuring Oakerhater's glyph. It replaced a church window destroyed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
. The Oakerhater Guild of St. Paul's was organized in partnership with Whirlwind Mission of the Holy Family and sponsors dances, tribal outreach, and a vacation Bible school for children in Watonga
.
In 2003 the Whirlwind Church obtained at a new permanent site in Watonga, where it dedicated the Oakerhater Episcopal Center in September 2007. The site is used for powwow
s, a sweat lodge
, classes, and an annual Cherokee Dance in Oakerhater's honor.
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
warrior and spiritual leader, who became an artist and Episcopal deacon. Imprisoned in 1875 after the Indian Wars at Fort Marion (now Castillo de San Marcos), Florida, Oakerhater became one of the founding figures of modern Native American art. Later he was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
as a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and worked as a missionary in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. In 1985, the Episcopal Church named him the first Native American Anglican saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
.
Early life
Born in the 1840s in the Indian TerritoryIndian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
(later the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
) to Sleeping Wolf (father), and Wah Nach (mother), Oakerhater was the second of three boys. His childhood name was Noksowist ("Bear Going Straight"), and he was raised as a traditional Cheyenne. His older brother was Little Medicine, and his younger brother was Wolf Tongue.
Oakerhater is believed by some to have been the youngest man to complete the sun dance
Sun Dance
The Sun Dance is a religious ceremony practiced by a number of Native American and First Nations peoples, primarily those of the Plains Nations. Each tribe has its own distinct practices and ceremonial protocols...
ritual (his Cheyenne name, Okuh hatuh, means "sun dancer"). He participated in his first war party (military raid
Raid (military)
Raid, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose and is not normally intended to capture and hold terrain, but instead finish with the raiding force quickly retreating to a previous defended position prior to the enemy forces being...
) at age 14 against the Otoe
Otoe tribe
The Otoe or Oto are a Native American people. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa and Missouri tribes.-History:...
and Missouri tribe
Missouri tribe
The Missouria or Missouri are a Native American tribe that originated in the Great Lakes region of United States before European contact. The tribe belongs to the Chiwere division of the Siouan language family, together with the Iowa and Otoe...
s, and became a member of his tribe's "Bowstring Society" (one of five military societies). He later participated in actions against United States federal and state militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
forces. His first engagement with white settlers was at the Second Battle of Adobe Walls
Second Battle of Adobe Walls
The Second Battle of Adobe Walls was fought on June 27, 1874 between Comanche forces and a group of twenty-eight U.S. bison hunters defending the settlement of Adobe Walls, Texas in what is now Hutchinson County, Texas.-Adobe Walls Settlement:...
, in which 300 Native American warriors from various tribes, angered by settlers' poaching of buffalo, cattle grazing, and theft of horses, attacked a small trading village used by poachers. The battle, led by Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
leader Isa-tai
Isa-tai
Isa-tai was a Comanche warrior and medicine man of the Quahadi band. Originally named Quenatosavit , after the debacle at Adobe Walls he was known as Isa-tai which translates as "wolf's vulva" or "coyote vagina". Isa-tai gained enormous prominence for a brief period in 1873-74 as a prophet and...
and Chief Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker
Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...
, triggered United States government response in the form of the Red River War
Red River War
The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874, as part of the Comanche War, to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains and forcibly relocate them to reservations in Indian Territory...
of 1874-75. Oakerhater may also have participated in the Battle of Washita River
Battle of Washita River
The Battle of Washita River occurred on November 27, 1868 when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S...
and the Sand Creek massacre
Sand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
.
Oakerhater married Nomee (translated as "Thunder Woman") in 1872. She died in 1880. They had four children, all of whom died young. Oakerhater also married, had at least one child, and divorced, a second woman, Nanessan ("Taking Off Dress").
Fort Marion prisoner
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...
near what is now Lawton, Oklahoma
Lawton, Oklahoma
The city of Lawton is the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Located in the southwestern region of Oklahoma approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. A group of 74 were selected from there and another location, all without trial, for imprisonment in Florida. Oakerhater was in a group chosen for being the eighteen farthest right in a line-up by a US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
colonel who had been drinking and was running out of time before nightfall. Some among the eighteen had nothing to do with the insurrection.
The army assigned First Lieutenant (later Captain) Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt is best known as the founder and longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.-Military career:...
to transport the prisoners to an old Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos
Castillo de San Marcos
The Castillo de San Marcos site is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It is located in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. Construction was begun in 1672 by the Spanish when Florida was a Spanish territory. During the twenty year period of British possession from 1763 until 1784, the...
(then known as Fort Marion), near Saint Augustine. Shackled together, they were taken across country on foot, by wagon, train (most had never before seen a train), and steamboat. Many initially thought they would be executed. At least two attempted suicide; one was later shot and killed attempting to escape, and another died of pneumonia.
Captain Pratt believed that Native Americans were deserving of support and respect, and could be assimilated
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
as full members of society. He thought they needed to abandon their old ways and learn the various practices of America's dominant white culture
Dominant culture
The dominant culture in a society refers to the established language, religion, behavior, values, rituals, and social customs. These traits are often the norm for the society as a whole...
to survive: English, work, Christianity, literacy, education, and so on. The practice of forced assimilation, now criticized as cultural genocide
Cultural genocide
Cultural genocide is a term that lawyer Raphael Lemkin proposed in 1933 as a component to genocide. The term was considered in the 1948 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples juxtaposed next to the term ethnocide, but it was removed in the final document, replaced with...
, was considered progressive in its time. Most considered Native Americans to be enemies and murderers who should be killed, imprisoned, or defeated through force. Pratt's superior, General Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
, dismissed Pratt's beliefs as "Indian twaddle".
Conditions at the old fort were initially very poor: prisoners slept on the floor of their cells facing a central open-air courtyard. Several died in the first weeks. Pratt quickly improved conditions, obtaining army uniforms, removing the prisoners' shackles, setting them to work building a new residential shed, and procuring bedding. Later, as trust developed on both sides, Pratt convinced his superiors to allow the Indians to carry nonoperational rifles, perform guard duty, obtain outside employment collecting and selling sea beans and other tourist items, have passes to visit the town on Sundays to attend church, and camp unsupervised on nearby Anastasia Island
Anastasia Island
Anastasia Island is a barrier island which is approximately long located off the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States. The island is located east and southeast of St. Augustine. It is separated from the mainland by the Matanzas River, part of the Intracoastal waterway, Matanzas...
.
Pratt, who offered to resign his military post if the experiment failed, appointed Oakerhater First Sergeant of the prisoners, with a duty to organize morning military drills, ensure hygiene and dress code, choose assistants for Captain Pratt, and oversee the prisoners in Pratt's absence. Pratt and his wife also arranged for volunteer teachers who were vacationing in Florida from across the United States to instruct the prisoners in English, carpentry, and other subjects. They allowed the Indians to conduct a mock buffalo hunt.
In return the prisoners educated townspeople and tourists in archery, and made handicrafts and drawings to sell. Aware for their part of the nature of Pratt's experiment, the prisoners took pride in their work and martial discipline, eager to demonstrate that they could master white Americans' cultural and military practices. They took longer to overcome other cultural barriers, such as discomfort with being taught by women. The first summer Pratt arranged for their families to visit them from the Indian Territory. Within two years of arrival at Fort Marion, Oakerhater was proficient in English, and was regularly writing letters to townspeople he had befriended. That year nineteen of the prisoners were released, in exchange for accepting scholarships for education on the East Coast.
Ledger art
Ledger
A ledger is the principal book or computer file for recording and totaling monetary transactions by account, with debits and credits in separate columns and a beginning balance and ending balance for each account. The ledger is a permanent summary of all amounts entered in supporting journals which...
. Somewhat abstract in style and depicting nostalgic memories of scenes from daily life, their art evolved from earlier Plains Indian art that had been calendar chronicles of events and expressions of personal accomplishments. Typical subjects were tribal dances, hunts, courting, and events at the fort, as well as self-portraits depicting scenes before their captivity. The Ledger Art
Ledger Art
Ledger Art is a term for Plains Indian narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth. Ledger art was primarily from the 1860s to about 1900, although some of the old style drawing continues to the 1930s. There is also a contemporary group of accomplished Native American artists who work in the...
was a popular item for tourists to purchase. Through his art, Oakerhater gained the attention of Mrs. Alice Key Pendleton, to whose daughter he had given one of his drawing books.
Oakerhater was the first, and one of the most prolific, artists in the group. Deceptively naive, Oakerhater's drawings are considered by critics to be sophisticated in composition and subject content. They are very valuable as collector items today. He often signed his works "Making Medicine", a non-literal English translation of his Cheyenne
Cheyenne language
The Cheyenne language is a Native American language spoken by the Cheyenne people, predominantly in present-day Montana and Oklahoma in the United States. It is part of the Algonquian language family...
name, Sun Dancer, which the military had assigned him upon his arrest. Other times he would sign with a glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
of a dancer in a sun dance lodge to represent himself. The Smithsonian Institution has a collection of the Fort Marion artists online.
Episcopal affiliation
In 1877 an Episcopal deaconessDeaconess
Deaconess is a non-clerical order in some Christian denominations which sees to the care of women in the community. That word comes from a Greek word diakonos as well as deacon, which means a servant or helper and occurs frequently in the Christian New Testament of the Bible. Deaconesses trace...
, Mary Douglass Burnham, began to make arrangements to sponsor the remaining prisoners, including Oakerhater, to serve as church sextons and continue education. In April 1878 all of the prisoners were released. Burnham arranged funding from Alice Key Pendleton and her husband, a Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Ohio, to bring Oakerhater, as well as his wife Nomee, to St. Paul's Church in Paris Hill, New York
Paris, New York
Paris is a town in Oneida County, New York, USA. The town is in the southeast part of the county and is south of Utica. The population was 4,609 at the 2000 census. The town was named after an early benefactor, Colonel Isaac Paris.-History:...
, along with three other prisoners who each had separate sponsors. The church's priest, Reverend J.B. Wicks, took charge of Oakerhater's education on matters of agriculture, Scripture, and current events, and welcomed him as part of his family. Oakerhater, along with his three companions from Fort Marion, became popular among townspeople. They made and sold various items, including handmade bows. Within six months Oakerhater agreed to be baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and was confirmed shortly after. He chose the biblical Christian name David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and adopted the last name Pendleton in honor of his sponsors.
Captain Pratt, encouraged by the success of his former prisoners at Paris Hill and a larger group at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute for Negroes (now Hampton University
Hampton University
Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
), lobbied the federal government for funds to open schools for Indian children. Senator Pendleton pushed a bill through Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to found the first school in 1879 at the unused Carlisle Barracks in central Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. It was named the Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Carlisle Indian Industrial School was an Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1879 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania by Captain Richard Henry Pratt, the school was the first off-reservation boarding school, and it became a model for Indian boarding schools in other locations...
.
In July, 1880 Nomee died in childbirth. The next year Oakerhater's young son Pawwahnee died. Both were buried in the cemetery in Paris Hill. Oakerhater was ordained an Episcopal deacon in July, 1881.
Missionary
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
to recruit students for Carlisle, where Pratt had been appointed superintendent
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
. Traveling with Reverend Wicks to the Darlington Agency near what is now El Reno, Oklahoma
El Reno, Oklahoma
El Reno is a city in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States, in the central part of the state. A part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, El Reno is west of downtown Oklahoma City...
, Oakerhater used his connections and influence to encourage local Cheyenne to attend Episcopal religious services. Remaining in the area, he traveled to the Anadarko Agency (near present day Anadarko, Oklahoma
Anadarko, Oklahoma
Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County.-Early History:Anadarko got its name when its post office was established in 1873...
) for Sunday services, spending weekdays visiting and caring for ill members of various tribes.
In 1882 Oakerhater married Nahepo (Smoking Woman), who adopted the English name Susie Pendleton. They had two children, who both died young. Nahepo died in 1890, at age 23.
In 1887 Oakerhater began work at newly built missions in Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Oklahoma
Bridgeport is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 109 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bridgeport is located at , elevation 1,428 feet ....
, and in 1889 at the Whirlwind Mission near Fay
Fay, Oklahoma
Fay is a small community located on State Highway 33 in the extreme southeastern corner of Dewey County, Oklahoma. Platted along the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway line, the Fay Post Office opened April 19, 1894. Fay was named for Fay Fisco, the son of the first postmaster.-Sources:Shirk, George...
, seventeen miles west of Watonga, Oklahoma
Watonga, Oklahoma
Watonga is a city in Blaine County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,658 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blaine County.-Early History:...
. The mission, built in 1887, was on the Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...
allotment land of Chief Whirlwind, one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge. As at other Indian schools being established in the United States, many of Whirlwind's students suffered from poverty and related diseases. Many suffered from trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
and conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva...
.
Their parents, whose lives had been disrupted by colonialism, warfare, forcible relocation, and the breaking up of tribal lands for allotment, were exploited by local non-Indians who wanted to profit from their newly assigned land grants. Uprooted, the families would often camp out near the schools to be with their children and provide a safer environment. Oakerhater's school and mission were under pressure both from locals, who saw the mission as a threat to their attempts to exploit the Native American population, and from others at the local and national level, who deplored the poor conditions there.
Oakerhater retired from Whilrwind with a pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
in 1918 but continued to preach, serving as a Native American chief and holy man. He moved briefly to Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton is a city in Custer and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the 2010 census.-History:The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E...
and then to Watonga
Watonga, Oklahoma
Watonga is a city in Blaine County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,658 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blaine County.-Early History:...
, where he lived until his death in 1931.
Saint
In 1985 the Episcopal Church designated Oakerhater as a saint
Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church in the United States of America)
The veneration of saints in the Episcopal Church is a continuation of an ancient tradition from the early Church which honors important people of the Christian faith. The usage of the term "saint" is similar to Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Those in the Anglo-Catholic tradition may...
, thanks in part to the years of work and research by Lois Carter Clark, a Muscogee Creek scholar. On September 1, 1986, the first feast was held in his honor at the Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, with his descendants and delegations from Oklahoma invited to the celebration. In 2000 the Saint George Church of Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
dedicated a large stained glass window in its chapel depicting Oakerhater, and a smaller window bearing his glyph signature.
St. Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma City dedicated a chapel to St. Oakerhater. The congregation of St. Paul's commissioned Tlingit glass artist, Preston Singletary
Preston Singletary
Preston Singletary is a Native American glass artist.- Biography :Preston Singletary grew up in the Seattle area listening to stories told by his great-grandparents, who were both full Tlingit. In high school he met and became friends with future glass artist Dante Marioni, son of glass artist...
, to create a stained glass window featuring Oakerhater's glyph. It replaced a church window destroyed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
. The Oakerhater Guild of St. Paul's was organized in partnership with Whirlwind Mission of the Holy Family and sponsors dances, tribal outreach, and a vacation Bible school for children in Watonga
Watonga, Oklahoma
Watonga is a city in Blaine County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,658 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blaine County.-Early History:...
.
In 2003 the Whirlwind Church obtained at a new permanent site in Watonga, where it dedicated the Oakerhater Episcopal Center in September 2007. The site is used for powwow
PowWow
PowWow is a wireless sensor network mote developed by the Cairn team of IRISA/INRIA. The platform is currently based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard radio transceiver and on an MSP430 microprocessor...
s, a sweat lodge
Sweat lodge
The sweat lodge is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures...
, classes, and an annual Cherokee Dance in Oakerhater's honor.
External links
- Oakerhater Episcopal Center, Watonga, OK
- "David Oakerhater window", St. George Church Official Website, Dayton, OH
- St. Oakerhater Guild, St. Paul Cathedral, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Library project on Oakerhater
- Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Cheyenne, Oakerhater collaboration, Anglican Communion