John and Edith Kilbuck
Encyclopedia
John Henry Kilbuck — sometimes spelled Killbuck — and his wife, Edith (Romig) Kilbuck, were Moravian missionaries in southwestern Alaska
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
John was the great-grandson of Delaware
(Lenape) chief Gelelemend
, a signer in 1778 of the first American Indian treaty
with the United States
.
on May 15, 1861, into a family of the Christian Munsee
band of the Delaware, where many Munsee had relocated after their old territory in the northeast United States was taken. As a youth, he left home and went to the Moravian center of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
to obtain an education, first at the Nazareth Boys’ School and later at the Moravian College
and Seminary. He became the first Delaware ordained a Moravian minister in 1884.
Edith Romig was born on April 16, 1865 in Franklin County, Kansas
. She was the daughter of Joseph Romig, a Moravian minister among the Munsee in Ottawa, Kansas
and the granddaughter of Levi Ricksecker, Joseph's predecessor as minister there. Both Levi and Joseph preserved important historical information about the Munsee of that period.
In 1885 John and Edith married. In that same year, Sheldon Jackson
invited the Moravian Church to send missionaries to Alaska. The Kilbucks went as part of the first group of missionaries. They spent their adult lives in southwestern Alaska as missionaries and teachers among the Yupik people. In 1896, they were joined by Edith's younger brother Joseph H. Romig
and his wife, Ella.
The Kilbucks were perhaps the most influential missionaries during the period around 1900. John and Edith quickly learned the Yupik language. John instituted the strategy of centering missionary work around existing villages, rather than establishing mission stations as had been done by Moravian missionaries in Greenland
and Labrador
. He also established the use of Yupik as the language of the Moravian Church in Alaska, a policy which continues to the present in Yupik-speaking areas.
Another missionary, Reverend John Hinz, had begun to translate scripture and other material into Yupik written with Roman (English) letters. A local "helper" and later missionary, the genius convert Uyaquk
, also translated some of these texts into Yupik using a script he had invented to write Yugtun
. Hinz, John and Edith supported both of these efforts. The Hinz script became the standard for writing Yupik until about 1970, when it was replaced by a script developed by a group of native Yupik speakers and scholars at the University of Alaska.
The diaries and letters of John and Edith Kilbuck provide much information otherwise unavailable about Yupik life in the late 19th century. Their story is told in the book, The Real People and the Children of Thunder by Ann Fienup-Riordan. The Kilbuck Mountain range and the Kilbuck Elementary School in Bethel, AK, bear their name.
John Henry Kilbuck died in 1922 in Akiak, Alaska
. Edith died in 1933. Today, the Kilbuck Family Scholarship for Native Americans is awarded annually to a native American college student from Alaska or Oregon.
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
John was the great-grandson of Delaware
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(Lenape) chief Gelelemend
Gelelemend
Gelelemend , also known as Killbuck or John Killbuck Jr., was a Delaware chief during the American Revolutionary War...
, a signer in 1778 of the first American Indian treaty
Treaty of Fort Pitt (1778)
The Treaty of Fort Pitt — also known as the Treaty With the Delawares, the Delaware Treaty, or the Fourth Treaty of Pittsburgh, — was signed on September 17, 1778 and was the first written treaty between the new United States of America and any American Indians—the Lenape in this case...
with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
John was born in Franklin County, KansasFranklin County, Kansas
Franklin County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 25,992. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa...
on May 15, 1861, into a family of the Christian Munsee
Christian Munsee
The Christian Munsee were a group of Lenape native American Indians, primarily Munsee-speaking, who converted to Christianity, following the teachings of the Moravian missionaries...
band of the Delaware, where many Munsee had relocated after their old territory in the northeast United States was taken. As a youth, he left home and went to the Moravian center of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
to obtain an education, first at the Nazareth Boys’ School and later at the Moravian College
Moravian College
Moravian College a private liberal arts college, and the associated Moravian Theological Seminary are located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region.-History:...
and Seminary. He became the first Delaware ordained a Moravian minister in 1884.
Edith Romig was born on April 16, 1865 in Franklin County, Kansas
Franklin County, Kansas
Franklin County is a county located in East Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 25,992. Its county seat and most populous city is Ottawa...
. She was the daughter of Joseph Romig, a Moravian minister among the Munsee in Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa is a city situated along the Marais des Cygnes River in the central part of Franklin County, located in east-central Kansas, 50 miles southwest of Kansas City, Mo., in the central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,649. It is the county seat and most populous...
and the granddaughter of Levi Ricksecker, Joseph's predecessor as minister there. Both Levi and Joseph preserved important historical information about the Munsee of that period.
In 1885 John and Edith married. In that same year, Sheldon Jackson
Sheldon Jackson
Sheldon Jackson was a Presbyterian missionary who also became a political leader. During this career he travelled about 1 million miles and established over 100 missions and churches in the Western United States. He is best remembered for his extensive work during the final quarter of the 19th...
invited the Moravian Church to send missionaries to Alaska. The Kilbucks went as part of the first group of missionaries. They spent their adult lives in southwestern Alaska as missionaries and teachers among the Yupik people. In 1896, they were joined by Edith's younger brother Joseph H. Romig
Joseph H. Romig
Joseph Herman Romig was a frontier physician and Moravian Church missionary, who served as Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska from 1937–1938.- Family and missionary work :...
and his wife, Ella.
The Kilbucks were perhaps the most influential missionaries during the period around 1900. John and Edith quickly learned the Yupik language. John instituted the strategy of centering missionary work around existing villages, rather than establishing mission stations as had been done by Moravian missionaries in Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
and Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
. He also established the use of Yupik as the language of the Moravian Church in Alaska, a policy which continues to the present in Yupik-speaking areas.
Another missionary, Reverend John Hinz, had begun to translate scripture and other material into Yupik written with Roman (English) letters. A local "helper" and later missionary, the genius convert Uyaquk
Uyaquk
Uyaquq was a Yupik Moravian missionary and linguistic genius who went from being an illiterate adult to inventing a series of writing systems for his native language and then producing translations of the Bible and other religious works in a period of five years.Uyaquk was born in into a family of...
, also translated some of these texts into Yupik using a script he had invented to write Yugtun
Yugtun
Yugtun is a dialect of Central Alaskan Yup'ik spoken in Central Alaska. A syllabic script, now referred to as the Yugtun script, was invented in the early 1900s by Uyaquk to write the language....
. Hinz, John and Edith supported both of these efforts. The Hinz script became the standard for writing Yupik until about 1970, when it was replaced by a script developed by a group of native Yupik speakers and scholars at the University of Alaska.
The diaries and letters of John and Edith Kilbuck provide much information otherwise unavailable about Yupik life in the late 19th century. Their story is told in the book, The Real People and the Children of Thunder by Ann Fienup-Riordan. The Kilbuck Mountain range and the Kilbuck Elementary School in Bethel, AK, bear their name.
John Henry Kilbuck died in 1922 in Akiak, Alaska
Akiak, Alaska
Akiak is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 309 at the 2000 census....
. Edith died in 1933. Today, the Kilbuck Family Scholarship for Native Americans is awarded annually to a native American college student from Alaska or Oregon.