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SPRING IS SPRINGING AND A FRESH OUTLOOK ON LIFE IS IN ORDER!
Jessica Dodson and Brittany Haines are 15 year old Romney, West Virginia High
School Freshmen working on a county Social Studies Fair project, hopefully
winning a place in the State Social Studies Fair with this project called
Carlisle Social Studies Project.
Ashlyn Haines and Megan Wells are 10 year old Fourth Graders at Romney
Elementary School collaborating with Jessica and Brittany on the same subject in
their school’s social studies class (like sister, like project)!
The above young students are all of Indian descent.
Barbara Landis, an active historian at Carlisle, Pennsylvania (blandis@epix.net),
asked descendents of Carlisle Industrial School students to participate in this
project. Being related and personally living part of my life with two
1890’s era students, I felt that participating would be a worthwhile endeavor for posterity. Besides, I like doing this kind of stuff!
The girls developed an interview that focused on the life of Indigenous American
children at a government school designed to convert them from semi-savage
redskins to white persons, obvious my words but in effect, very close to
the truth.
I hope you enjoy this work of enterprising students.
To: Jessica Dodson, Brittany Haines,
Ashlyn Haines and Megan Wells
Indians All.
I am honored that you would solicit my input to your student project.
Please send me the name and place of your school, your year in school and the
class in which you are doing your project.
PROLOGUE
Gertrude Renfro was born in 1880 near Timber Hill in Indian Territory, 15 miles
south of the Kansas State Line and 27 miles west of the Missouri State Line.
Her mother was born Emma Bluejacket in 1854 in Kansas Territory at the southwest
edge of what is now Kansas City KS. Emma’s father was Henry Bluejacket
who was born about 1800 southwest of Detroit on the Detroit River in Michigan
Territory. Henry’s father was George Bluejacket who was born in about
1783 in what is now northwest Ohio. His father was Blue Jacket, the last
principal War Chief of the Shawnee Nation, born about 1740, probably along the
Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.
Historians at Fort Recovery believe Blue Jacket was leader of Shawnees in attack
on St. Clair's army November 4, 1791. His battle along the Wabash River at what
is now Fort Recovery OH in 1791 became the worst defeat ever suffered by the
Army at the hands of American Indians. Blue Jacket also led Indians in
unsuccessful attack against newly constructed Fort Recovery on June 30 - July 1
, 1794.
Gertrude arrived at Carlisle in the fall of 1893 at age 13. She was
accompanied by her first cousin, Pearl Tecumsah Bluejacket who was a year and a
half younger. Pearl’s father and Emma were brother and sister.
Both kids had left from Afton, Indian Territory, a very small town northeast of
Vinita.
YOUR INTERVIEW
1-How did they [your ancestors] feel when they wee taken
away from their families? I do not know for sure but
because the traveled together, I doubt that it really bothered them. They
were close life long friends.
2-Did they like the school at first? Later? Did it turn out to be a good
experience? Both were proud of the fact that they
went to school there and mentioned it a great deal.
3-How did they feel when they had to get their hair cut and wear white
man's clothes and eat strange food? I do not know
for sure. Pearl played Indian all his life and the only photograph I have
of him is in the full regalia of a plains Indian.
4-After they went home could they relate to their families when they
went back to their tribes or did they feel different? Were they
accepted? Both seemed to enjoy the experience with
little indication of personal problems.
5-Did they have a Native American name and did they get an Americanized
name? If so, what were they? What was their tribe's name?
I don’t know their native name. Gerturde’s meant Little Rabbit and
Pearl was named for the famous Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, although spelled
differently. His father, Stephen S. Bluejacket, was named Wa-wa lath-kah-ka.
6-When they returned home, did they go back to the ways of the Indian
culture or did they keep white man's ways? Did they belong? To
my knowledge, Gertrude lived her long life with and was respected by, the white
community. Pearl was more attuned to the Bluejacket family farm life but
in my experience with him, he was comfortable in any situation.
7-How did attending the school affect your ancestors? Both
admittedly were better persons for it.
8-Did having an Indian ancestor who attended Carlisle affect you growing
up? Does it affect you now? How? I was raised in
Parsons KS, a predominately white community but mixed with Mexican and Black
groups. The white adopted parents of my mother, also white, became my guardians
at age 3 and looked after me until I was drafted into the Army. I have had
no experiences detrimental to my ethnicity.
9-Did they have to travel far to go to the school? Where did their
original family live? I do not know for sure but
probably not a great distance. They were born in the vicinity of
Bluejacket, Indian Territory, which was a community established by the Reverend
Charles Bluejacket. The Shawnee Tribe was in
the area north of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes in the 1700’s
and early 1800’s. They were removed to northeast Kansas around 1830 and
chased to Indian Territory around 1871, settling with the Cherokees in the 14
county area of northeast Oklahoma comprising the Cherokee Nation.
10-Did they ever get to go home to visit while at the school? Gertrude
spent some time at home with an illness and I do not know about Pearl.
11-Were their roommates from the same or a different tribe? I
do not know.
12-Did having to speak English make living there hard? Did they ever get
punished for speaking their native tongue or using sign language? Gertrude
was not conversant in the Shawnee language and Pearl may have been but spoke
English with no discerning difficulty.
13-Did they learn a good trade or skill while there? Did it help them
get a job? Were they accepted by whites in the working world?
Pearl wrote a letter to Carlisle in 1913 and in it said
“I am still a bachelor. I have worked at many jobs since leaving
Carlisle and am sorry to report have not accepted one as my profession yet.”
Gertrude was bookkeeper for a general store in Vinita owned by a Bluejacket
cousin and her husband. In fact, that is where she met her future husband,
George Austin Hinshaw. They married in 1904.
14-Carlisle is famous for its sports. Did they play any sports while
there? If so, which ones? Pearl possibly participated in
sports. He played football and semi-pro baseball after leaving Carlisle
and professed to have played with Jim Thorpe on a team in Boston.
15-What is your opinion of their treatment of your loved one at the
school? Were the staff nice? Do not know but again,
they had good comments on their time there.
16-Did they ever go on an outing trip in the summer? If so, where and
doing what? Do not know but Gertrude did make a trip to
Haskell at Lawrence KS as a young girl and saw Frank James in prison on that
outing.
17-Do you have an Indian name? If so, what is it? No.
There are some names that I have been called that I do not want to embarrass you
with!
18-Do you still keep some Indian culture alive in your life today? I
spend quite a bit of time researching Shawnee history in hopes of writing
something worthwhile to the Tribe.
19-Did they stay healthy while there? As above,
Gertrude became ill, returned home for a while but went back.
20-Did they make lifelong friendships there? With
themselves, certainly,
with others, I am not aware.
21-Do you think the school was good for Indians or bad or both? Why? These
two did not go from Indian to White. They were living in a mixed world
before going to Carlisle even if it was the Cherokee Nation that those Shawnees
inhabited. I have a personal experience to relate here. My wife and
I were sponsors of the Jr. High youth group at the Presbyterian Church in
Ardmore OK during the early 1960’s. At a government Indian school there,
we picked up a half dozen Indian children every weekly meeting and brought them
in to join us. They were generally withdrawn, un-communicative and lacking
in self-confidence. But, they always came and when encouraged, attempted
to be a part of our group. Regardless, after that episode, I firmly
believe that a school without parents has got to be the next thing to bad!
21-Did your ancestor ever get disciplined at the school ? What for and
how? No knowledge on this one.
EPILOGUE
Gertrude and Pearl were declared ineligible in the fall of
1896 and sent home. The reason is not in the files but it may have to do
with their family. Pearl had a sister going there at about the same time
but I am not familiar with her records. There were about 70 Shawnee
children that attended Carlisle over the years.
The following event probably gives the best insight to how the girls, at least,
viewed the situation. When leaving Carlisle, Gertrude and her best
girlfriend concocted a scenario to be played out on Gertie’s trip home.
The friend accompanied her to the train, had Gertie wrapped in a blanket and
carrying her grip. The friend turned her over to the ticket agent saying
that Gertie could not speak or understand English and he should have the
conductors make sure she made the right changes and get her home OK.
Gertie said she played it to the hilt, spending the time observing how others
acted upon learning about her predicament and had the time of her life!
Another statement by her is that she named my father Felix Carlyle Hinshaw and
influenced my naming. Although spelled differently, the meaning is clear,
she had an affinity for Carlisle.
This exercise has been extremely thought provoking. I now wish I could
interview those youngsters who attended the Indian school at Ardmore to see
their adult views of those lonely days. Gertie and Pearl, in my
opinion, received and cherished a life experience at Carlisle. Others were
not so fortunate.
I know several of my Bluejacket family will be interested in your project’s
outcome because of their relationships with Gertie and Pearl. Please let
me know the results and good luck.
I am also sending four separate e-mails with attached pictures in the JPG format
which may be used for your report if you wish. One is Pearl’s picture,
one Gertie’s, one of a pair of leather beaded moccasins and one of a leather
beaded coin purse. The latter two were made by Emma Bluejacket and
represents at least a small example of Shawnee Tribal art. The coin purse
is mounted in a shadow box and the picture is not real sharp as a result.
Pearls beadwork was said to have been done by Osage women in the Osage Nation at
Pawhuska OK. Pearl was a superb bow maker. He used Bois d Arc wood,
a native tree better known as Osage Orange or Hedge Apple. Pearl sold them
but made many for Bluejacket children. He made mine at age 10. I
went out in the alley to shoot it the first time and my guardian came out to
watch. The first arrow struck him in the arm. I was devastated.
So much for being an Indian!
Also, a Microsoft Word document of this e-mail message is attached for you to
use if it helps in doing the report.
In December last, President Clinton signed a Public Law that re-established the
Shawnee Tribe as a separate, federally recognized Indian group. They had
been a part of the Cherokee Nation for about 140 years. Most of my cousins
and me are registered as Cherokee Adopted Shawnee members of the Cherokee
Nation. On Saturday, April 7th, the Tribe is holding a PowWow
celebrating the event in Big Cabin OK, seven miles south of Vinita. Gourd
and Stomp dancing will prevail. Everyone is
invited and a good time will
be had by all.
Pearl died in Vinita in 1958 at age 67 and Gertrude, also in Vinita, in 1981 at
age 101. Both had an effect on my life, Gertrude especially so. A
great deal of my summer time as a youngster was spent in Vinita at the Hinshaw
home. I firmly believe that
part of Carlisle rubbed off on me due to their
experiences.
Yours very truly;
Gaylord Carlyle Hinshaw
1713 Baron Drive
Norman OK 73071
(405) 364-4584
bjexploration@swbell.net
PS: the University of Oklahoma is here and two of our three children went
there. Personally, I’m a Kansas State Wildcat. However, I still
love
‘em.
Historian Van Trees and friend Robert;
Your work is highly appreciated and as usual, enlightening. Will make sure
it is entered in the appropriate records, especially
those supplied to the West
Virginia kidoos. Keep us posted on your verification progress.
The earliest date that I have seen on Blue Jacket's birth was 1739 and without
shuffling myriad papers, I believe it came from Vaughn Pedersen.
Hopefully, you have a line on his birth place. Vaughn 'n me don't seem to come
up with a place that satisfies either of us as being fastidious.
At 06:14 AM 3/3/01 -0500, you wrote:
Historian Hinshaw:
Historians at Fort Recovery believe
Blue Jacket
was leader of Shawnees in attack on St. Clair's army
November 4, 1791. Blue Jacket also led Indians
in unsuccessful attack against newly constructed Fort
Recovery on June 30 - July 1 , 1794. Don't get the
little ones off on the wrong foot! My latest research
indicates the future Shawnee War Chief was probably
born nearer 1740 than 1743 also. Verification process
now in the offing.
Mothers Day, May 13, 2001
Database: Kansas
Census, 1850-90
|
Year |
Surname |
Given Name (s) |
County |
State |
Page |
Township or Other Info |
Record Type |
Database |
ID# |
|
1857 |
BLUEJACKET |
EMMA |
Indian Census |
KS |
006 |
Shawnee |
- |
KS 1857 State Census Index |
KS0251397 |
|
1857 |
BLUEJACKET |
EMMA |
Indian Census |
KS |
006 |
Shawnee |
- |
KS 1857 State Census Index |
KS0251398 |
|
1857 |
BLUEJACKET |
EMMA |
Indian Census |
KS |
046 |
Shawnee |
- |
KS 1857 State Census Index |
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Emma Bluejacket
was born in 1854, probably at Bluejacket’s crossing on the Wararusa River (now
Johnson Co), Kansas Territory. She was the youngest daughter and next to last
child of Henry Bluejacket and wife Eliza (?). Henry had gone to Washington DC to
sign the 1854 Shawnee Treaty with the United States Government. He died in 1855.
Joseph, the youngest, was born in early 1856, after Henry’s death, and Eliza
had seven children to look after.
There was an Emma A.
Bluejacket born in about 1862 to Thomas Bluejacket and Josephine Bailey. And you will see one of
my Mothers Day presents. This is the Johnson County Kansas marriage records for
the years 1867-1870. On page 239, Emma Bluejacket is shown to have married Henry
Payne on January 7, 1770. In an interview in 1978 in Vinita OK by the Craig
County Historical Society, Gertrude Alice (Foreman) Hinshaw, Emma’s daughter
and my grandmother, stated that she had an older sister. I have searched for
years to find some corroboration of Gertie’s recollection and today I had the
privilege of talking to my mother and finding my great-grandmothers first
husband. The trail is clearer but records of later husbands and/or intimates may
be lurking out there.
Carlyle Hinshaw
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