Our Shawnee neighbors

Many years ago, while living down in northeastern Oklahoma, I worked on a radio station with another disc jockey named Wayne Douthitt, a full-blooded Eastern Shawnee. Wayne and his wife also ran a small neighborhood grocery store at a nearby intersection called “Shawnee Crossing,” just across the Oklahoma state line from Seneca, Mo. Wayne’s father was a great storyteller of Shawnee folklore, and I always enjoyed their friendship.

Imagine my pleasure recently when I was invited to speak before the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society in Johnson County, Kan. My topic was about the various Native American tribes that have lived around Kansas City, which included the Shawnee. The Shawnee were transferred here by treaty from the Cumberland River area of Tennessee and were residents of our neighborhood for a time.

The Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society was back in 1930 at the Blue Jacket Lodge, Merriam, Kan. Georgia Hardesty McGrew served as their first president. The purpose of the organization was to preserve the relics, records, Indian life, and lore surrounding the Shawnee Indian Mission that was established back in 1829.

The Indian mission was founded by the 27 year old Rev. Thomas Johnson under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church on 2,240 acres, solely for the benefit and education of the Shawnees. Rev. Johnson’s son, Alexander S. Johnson, is claimed to be the first white child born in what is today Johnson County.

There were several original buildings, such as the three-story Manual Labor School building, which housed the classrooms, a chapel, and dormitories on the first and second floor.

The state printing office was in this building, and in 1855, the territorial legislature met there. Another building, the boarding house, had accommodations for about 200 to 300 people. The building that housed the female ward also had room for the superintendent’s office. When Shawnee Mission was the capital, several officers made their homes there.

As well as living along the Cumberland River Valley prior to moving to Kansas, the Shawnee also roamed parts of other states such as Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, giving the American pioneers fits, as they intruded into their homelands. They were even known to hang around with the Cherokee in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama.

The Shawnee were quite intelligent people and very versatile in their lifestyle. They were not only gathers and hunters, but were good farmers and fishermen. The word Shawnee in Indian language means “Southerners.”

The Shawnee not only changed territory, but changed their allegiance quite often, generally siding with the French against the British, especially during the French and Indian Wars. However, they often thought British goods were far superior to French goods when it came time to trade with the white man. They were involved in several wars with and against the Americans, even fighting on the Union side during the Civil War.

Today, three Shawnee entities maintain tribal identity in Oklahoma. The Loyal Shawnee (the ones from Kansas who fought for the Yankees) live near their old friends the Cherokee in northeastern Oklahoma.

The Absentee Shawnee (who broke off from the main body in Kansas) lived in Arkansas and Texas for a while, but were eventually relocated to Oklahoma also.

My old friend, Wayne Douthitt’s people, the Eastern Shawnee, never lived in Kansas. They were able to stay behind in Ohio with the Seneca. There is still a large Shawnee population in Ohio, but many of the Seneca and Eastern Shawnee live today along the Missouri-Oklahoma border near the Grand Lake of the Cherokee.

Reference: History of Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society, by Elizabeth Barnes

If you are interested, the next meeting of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society will be held at noon June 23 at Ryan’s Steakhouse, 10810 W. 75th St., Shawnee, Kan.

To reach Ted W. Stillwell, send e-mails to teddystillwell@yahoo.com or call him at 816-252-9909.