To order images and/or obtain permission to use them commercially, please contact the KSHS Reference Desk at KSHS.reference@ks.gov or 785-272-8681, ext. 117.
For more information see the Copyright and Permission FAQ.
In this fascinating letter, Jotham Meeker updated Reverend Lucius Bolles (of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions) on his missionary efforts among the Ottawa Indians in Kansas Territory. Meeker included excerpts from his journal to describe the turmoil among the Ottawa over Indian conversions to Christianity. On March 13, 1840, Meeker and his fellow missionary David Green, attended a council of the Ottawa and Chippewa that had been called to protest their missionary work. The Ottawa and Chippewa chiefs were concerned about the breakdown of their tribal society, customs, etc... and placed the blame squarely on the missionary's shoulders. The Ottawa Mission was located near present-day Ottawa, Kansas.
Creator: Meeker, Jotham, 1804-1855
Date: July 8, 1840
This source demonstrates missionaries' efforts at cultural assimilation, the disappearance of native customs, and the Ottawa and Chippewa chiefs' resistance to mission work. Most importantly, this illustrates that natives' perspective on removal and their new homes in Indian Territory. This could be paired with Meeker's letter from March 11, 1840, which has also been selected for this standard. While the whole letter has been included on this website, only pp. 1-4 are necessary for use in the classroom.
KS:7th:1.4:Indian Removal (2005)
Item Number: 210063
Call Number: Jotham Meeker Papers Coll. #439, Box 1, 1840 Correspondence Folder
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 210063
Business and Industry - Occupations/Professions - Religion - Missionaries
Collections - Manuscript - Meeker, Jotham
Community Life - Religion - Christianity - Baptist
Community Life - Religion - Missionaries
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - Prehistory to 1854 (Benchmark 1) - Indian Removal Act (Indicator 4) - Assimilation
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - Prehistory to 1854 (Benchmark 1) - Indian Removal Act (Indicator 4) - Cultural persistence
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - Prehistory to 1854 (Benchmark 1) - Indian Removal Act (Indicator 4) - Mission work and mission schools
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - Prehistory to 1854 (Benchmark 1) - Indian Removal Act (Indicator 4) - Ottawa
Date - 1800-1819
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - American Indians - Indian removal
People - American Indians - Missions - Ottawa Mission
People - American Indians - Tribes - Chippewa
People - American Indians - Tribes - Ottawa
Places - Cities and towns - Ottawa
Places - Counties - Franklin
Places - Indian reservations - Ottawa
Thematic Time Period - Indian Territory, 1820 - 1854
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/210063