Trail of Hope

Our beliefs are essentially feelings of certainty we have about events or circumstances in our daily life. They are powerful and determine and control all of our choices and actions. 

Beliefs are shaped by facts, ideas, morals and even our personal experiences that we come to accept as absolute truths. Impressionable factors such as our parents, the media, and education will also shape our core beliefs.

Our beliefs are formed throughout time. Typically as we grow older we become less willing to adjust our beliefs.  These are the truths that have been molded through experience and it becomes hard to see things in a different, unfamiliar light.

We can enhance our beliefs by trying to do and see things differently. We can try to change or improve aspects of our lives.  We must spend our lives altering our beliefs through new knowledge and experience. Only then will we have the ability to willingly let go of old and false beliefs. Like a flower that wilts and dies, only to produce seeds and new life, our beliefs should reincarnate and adjust to our continual changing perspective as we age.

People believe certain things. It comes from a personality which was formed in the early years of life. Any critical or negative judgments are not necessarily a reality within the personality, but rather a mirage formed by repeated thoughts. 

Sometimes negative beliefs are formed out of fear. These beliefs cause us to hesitate and not live life to the fullest. As a result, people can become crippled by their beliefs and live a limited life.  Hesitation leads to limiting ourselves from seeking curiosity and desiring exploration.  In the words of photographer, Ansel Adams, “No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions and to build confidence in the creative spirit.”

All people have different beliefs and what is realistic for one might be totally opposite for another person. Whenever we begin to question our beliefs we find we no longer feel absolutely certain about then. What a person believes, what he thinks, is possible or impossible is the very thing that determines what he can or cannot do.

Yesterday was supposed to be my day off to rest from the heat but I ended up exploring for a little bit. I was staying in Lawrence, Kansas and decided to walk around the area.

I happened to across the Haskell Indian Nations University. It was on the other side of town but it was interesting to see. The campus was made up of many buildings but all of the buildings were closed. No one was around for me to talk to or ask questions. I was a little disappointed but it was still nice to see the campus.

Afterwards I walked back to the side of town I was staying at. Lawrence has a lot of interesting history. The California and the Oregon Trail pass through the town. I wandered around a little more before returning to my hotel.

I started to make plans for the final stages of my walk. From here on out I will be walking south through Kansas to Oklahoma.

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Haskell Indian Nations University – Lawrence, Ks

Haskell Indian Nations University is a unique and special place. Although it originally started as an assimilation school like other government-run Indian boarding schools, Haskell’s destiny was different than that of other schools. Haskell is the only government boarding school that has evolved into a four-year university for Native students. It is also the only inter-tribal college, accepting students from all federally recognized tribes.

In 1884 a government boarding school was established in Lawrence, KS, called the U.S. Indian Industrial Training School. The school opened in September 1884 with three buildings and 31 students from the Ponca, Sac and Fox, Shawnee, Kiowa, Comanche, and Chippewa Muncee tribes. This government boarding school was part of the federal government’s assimilation policy. This policy involved removing Indian children from their families, sometimes forcibly, and placing them in schools far from their homes for a period of up to four years to give them training in domestic and farming skills. The assimilation policy was put in place to remove all connections to the tribes and cultural influences to “assimilate” the students into the dominant culture. This policy was very traumatic for Native families, and the effects of this boarding school era are still affecting families today.

In the beginning years Haskell was run as a military school where the students made their own uniforms and grew and preserved their own food. The rules were very strict—no speaking a tribal language, no conversing with siblings, no practicing of tribal customs and traditions. Their traditional clothing and personal items were removed, their hair was cut, and they were forced to march to classes and to church. In those beginning years, the children were taught to speak English and classes were at an elementary school level.

By the end of the first school year, there were 400 students coming from tribes from all around the country. Eventually the level of education was increased and went up to the high school level. A Commercial Department taught business classes, including the first typing class in Kansas in 1895.

A Normal School prepared students to become teachers. By 1933, Haskell got the first Native superintendent, Dr. Henry Roe Cloud. Dr. Roe Cloud was a progressive educator and the first Native person to graduate from Yale University. During his time at Haskell, Dr. Roe Cloud reversed the assimilation style emphasis on the curriculum and actually changed the curriculum to emphasize Native culture.

As students got their education at Haskell, they stayed on as staff and faculty. One notable individual, George Shawnee, got his degree at Haskell and stayed on as staff for 40 years, and saw 9,000 students go through Haskell. As these staff and faculty stayed at Haskell, they slowly turned the school around. By the 1930s, people who came to Haskell loved the school and learned trades such as printing, nursing, business, and other vocational-technical trades such as electricity and refrigeration, as well as receiving high school diplomas.

In 1970, the level of education increased to that of a junior college and the name was changed to Haskell Indian Junior College. And in 1993, Haskell introduced the first four-year baccalaureate degree program in elementary teacher education and the name was changed to Haskell Indian Nations University.

Today there are four four-year degree programs— elementary teacher education, business, environmental science, and American Indian Studies. There are several two-year associate degrees offered. There are on average 950 students each semester, coming from approximately 130 different tribes, and from about 35 different states. Almost the entire faculty is Native and all classes are taught from a Native perspective.

Yesterday it was another long and hot day. I was walking mostly along a country road which turned to gravel at certain times. This walk was like many of my walks where the temperature was so high and there was little shade around. There were no places to stop for water and I ran out of water in the middle of the day. It was kind of a dangerous situation given the heat.

I started to think about my time in Joplin when the temperature was always over 100 degrees. Now the weather remains in the 100s and will continue to be that way for the remainder of the Trail.

Since I have been subjected to fierce heat a lot, I am thinking about adjusting my walking pattern. Today I’m taking the day off and am planning on creating the final schedule for the last part of my walk to Oklahoma.

It is daunting knowing that I will face these conditions to the very end but I must have hope and carry on, keeping my spirit resilient and strong.

Yesterday was a good day, despite the fact it was long and very hot. I went to the Annie and Moses Grinter House.  Annie was a Lenape Indian who married Moses Grinter. Their house, the oldest house in Wyandotte County,  is now run by the historical society. Inside the house was a magnificent man named Joe. He was a great person who gave me a wonderful tour of the house. He was very familiar with the Lenape history which I found to be quite refreshing.

The house contained several original artifacts which had been passed down through the family, including a beautiful quilt. I was really excited to see these artifacts and grateful to finally embrace a taste of visual Lenape history.

After my great tour, I walked to the White Church which I had mentioned before in a previous post. Imagine my disappointment when I discover the White Church has now been converted to a daycare center. I was elated after my previous tour and immediately deflated upon discovering the state of this church.

I knocked on the door to see if I could take a look inside of the church but it was obviously a huge problem. Since it is now a daycare, they do not allow people to tour the building until after childcare hours. They invited me to come back at a later time but that is impossible since I needed to walk to my lodging for the evening.

On a small high note, there was a cemetery next to the church where several Lenape, some missionaries and pioneers were buried. I spent some time in the shade of whatever trees were there and meditated on my Trail. As I looked over some of the graves, I found a headstone for Captain Ketchum, Chief of the Delawares. This was a fantastic discovery!

After spending some time to pay my respects and mediate on the Trail I had to press onward to my hotel which was 8 miles away. I arrived late in the evening and was able to rest. All in all it was a good day and I was happy.

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Delaware Kansas Reservation 

White Church

Both the White Church and White Church Cemetery were founded in 1831 by Rev. Thomas Johnson and his brother, Rev. William Johnson as part of a Methodist Mission to the Delaware Indians. This is the oldest church in Kansas City, Kansas.

This cemetery is the last resting place for many of the Delaware Indians that were served by the Mission as well as the pioneers involved in service to the Mission and the Delaware tribe.

That part of the country on the north side of the Kansas River was first settled by the Delawares in 1829. They came from Ohio, and brought with them a knowledge of agriculture, and many of them habits of industry. They opened farms, built houses and cut out roads along the ridges and divides, also erecting a frame church at what is now the village of White Church. The population of the Delaware tribe when it first settled in Kansas, was 1,000. It was afterward reduced to 800. This was in consequence of contact with the wilder tribes, who were as hostile to the short-haired Indians as they were to the whites. Still the Delawares would venture out hunting buffalo and beaver, to be inevitably overcome and destroyed. Government finally forbade their leaving the reservation. The effect of this order was soon apparent in the steady increase of the tribe, so that when they removed in 1867, they numbered 1,160. The ruling chiefs from 1829 to 1867, were Ne-con-he-con, Qui-sha-to-what (Capt. John Ketchum), Nah-ko-mund (Capt. Anderson), Kock-a-to-wha (Sar-cox-ie), Charles Journeycake, Qua-con-now-ha (James Sacondine or Secundine), Ah-cah-chick (James Connor) and Capt. John Connor.”

Capt. John Ketchum, one of the most noted chiefs of the Delawares, died in August, 1857. He lived near White Church on the Lawrence road, and at the time of his death, which occurred at an advanced age, he was almost helpless. His funeral was attended by a large number of Indians, who came in their colored blankets and painted faces, carrying their guns. They were mounted on horseback, and as the procession slowly followed the remains of their chief along the windings of the forest road, they seemed truly the sorrowful survivors of a once powerful race.

Delaware Kansas Reservation

Grinter Place

Grinter Place is a house on the National Register of Historic Places above the Kansas River in the Muncie neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas.
The house was constructed by Moses Grinter where he and his half-Lenape (Delaware) wife lived until he died in 1878 and she in 1905. 
Grinter  wife’s Indian name was “Windagamen,” which meant “Sweetness.” 
She was one of a couple dozen Delaware women who became U.S. citizens when the territory became a state. 
 Near this place, the Delaware Crossing (or “Military Crossing”; sometimes “the Secondine’”) allowed passage from the old Indian trail where it met the waters of the Kaw River. 
Around 1831, Grinter, one of the earliest permanent white settlers in the area, set up the Grinter Ferry on the Kansas River here. His house, the Grinter Place, still stands at 1420 South 78th Street.
 The ferry was used by individuals such as traders, freighters and soldiers traveling between Fort Leavenworth and Fort Scott on the military road. Others would cross this area on their way to Santa Fe. The area was home to the first non-military post office in Kansas.

 Moses Grinter  played such a central part in the lives of the Delaware as a trader and ferry operator. His place of business and residence were the center of activity of the Delaware residence in Kansas. Being married to a Delaware woman, he was also a part of their social and family activities.

Today I visited the Shawnee Indian Mission in Fairway, Kansas. When I woke up this morning I left my motel early and skipped breakfast since the closest place to eat was an hour and a half in the opposite direction from the Mission.

The historic site is comprised of three buildings. One is currently a private residence and two serve as exhibits. One of the buildings was closed when I arrived so I only had the opportunity to tour one building.  This building didn’t have that much information on Indian history.

 I did read a little excerpt stating that the US policy of relocating Indian tribes did not take into account the varied lifestyles of the tribes. Hunting was an important part of the Delaware and Shawnee life, while the Iowa and Kickapoo tribes traditionally were farmers. Upon arrival in Kansas, many tribes found the living conditions to be unfamiliar and difficult.

I was kind of expecting more since it was sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society. There was a lady who worked at the exhibit but she was in the middle of working on something and I seemed to be bothering her.

It was good to visit even if I couldn’t find much information on regarding the Indian history.

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Shawnee Indians, along with many other eastern tribes, including Delaware, were moved to present-day Kansas in the 1820s and 1830s. Upon relinquishing their lands in the East, Shawnees received a large tract of land (about 1.6 million acres) west of Missouri in an area sometimes called the Great American Desert.

In July 1830 Chief Fish, leader of the Missouri Shawnees, requested a missionary through their Indian agent George Vashon. A missionary society was formed in September 1830. Reverend Thomas Johnson, a Methodist minister, was appointed missionary to the Shawnees and his brother William, missionary to the Kansa tribe.

 The Reverend Thomas Johnson was born in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and later moved to Missouri. He married Sarah Davis  at Clarksville, Missouri, in 1830, and that same year he arrived with his new bride in present-day Turner, Wyandotte County, Kansas.

Johnson proposed to the missionary society that a central school be built to serve many tribes. A site was chosen where a branch of the Santa Fe Trail passed through the Shawnee lands.

 Building began, and the school opened at the present Johnson County location in October 1839. Indian children of many tribes were sent to this school to learn basic academics, manual arts, and agriculture. Some of the tribes represented were the Kaw (Kansa), Munsee, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Otoe, Osage, Cherokee, Peoria, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Wea, Gros Ventres, Omaha, and Wyandot. 

At the height of its activity, the mission was an establishment of more than 2,000 acres with 16 buildings, including the three large brick structures, which still stand, and an enrollment of nearly 200 Indian boys and girls from the ages of five to 23.

The manual training portion of the school ceased in 1854. In 1858 Reverend Thomas Johnson turned the school over to his oldest son, Alexander, who ran the mission until it closed in 1862.

Thomas Johnson was murdered at his home in Missouri on January 2, 1865. The murderers were believed to have been Southern sympathizers who apparently were angered when Johnson, a proslavery man for many years, had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Union at the start of the Civil War. Johnson is buried in the Shawnee Methodist Mission cemetery (three blocks east of Mission Road on Shawnee Mission Parkway) along with several members of his family.

After several months of legal battles, the mission property was deeded to the Johnson family and was owned by various individuals until the State of Kansas acquired it in 1927. Since that time it has been administered by the Kansas Historical Society and today operates as Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site.

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Yesterday I crossed over into Kansas near Kansas City.  As I approached closer and closer to the city, the traffic on the road I was walking on picked up quite a bit. Kansas City reminds me of many other cities, big, crowded and full of traffic. I was surrounded by cars as I continued to press onward through the heat.

Today I am taking a nice rest. Over the next couple days, I’ll be in and around the Kansas City area. I will be going to Shawnee Mission, an area in Fairway, Kansas which served as a manual training school for children from the Shawnee, Delaware, and other Indian nations from 1839 until 1854.

 I am also planning on visiting the White Church Cemetery in Kansas City. The Church and cemetery were founded in 1831 by Reverend Thomas Johnson and his brother Reverend William Johnson as part of a Methodist Mission to the Lenape Indians. The White Church is the oldest church in Kansas City. The cemetery is the last resting place for many of the Lenape Indians that were served by the Mission as well as pioneers involved in service to the Mission and the Delaware tribe.

I’m hoping the weather will stay on the cooler side but I fear my walk south through Kansas will be the hardest part of my journey. The heat combined with long stretches of distance from motels and places of rest are going to make for a rigorous walk. I’m choosing to focus on the present and trying not to think about that eminent future.

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