Emma Kickapoo Williams Ellis (June 1880 – 1942) was a Native American woman of the
Mexican Kickapoo
The Mexican Kickapoo () are a binational Indigenous people, some of whom live both in Mexico and in the United States. In Mexico, they were granted land at Hacienda del Nacimiento near the town of Múzquiz in the state of Coahuila in 1850. A few ...
, known as a model for several artists. She took an allotment in
Indian Territory
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
, was educated at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...
, in
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...
and became a baker. In 1912, she was one of three Kickapoo models for , who made a bronze cast of her image for the Smithsonian. The following year, she was the sole tribal member willing to accept a United States Flag from the Wanamaker Expedition. Her image posing with it was chosen for the cover of the 1971 book ''American Indian Portraits from the Wanamaker Expedition of 1913'', which published the photographic collection taken during the expedition. In 1931, she sent a photograph of herself and a quilt she made to
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
, which was featured in volume 15 of the series ''Handbook of North American Indians'' published in 1978 by the Smithsonian.
Early life and education
Pem-i-tha-ah-kwa, Pem-me-tha-ah-quah, or Pen-e-thah-ah-quah, (meaning flying past) was born probably in 1879 or 1880, on the Mexican Kickapoo Reservation in
Indian Territory
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
to parents who were from
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. The
Kickapoo
The Kickapoo people (; Kickapoo: Kiikaapoa or Kiikaapoi; ) are an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe and Indigenous people in Mexico, originating in the region south of the Great Lakes. There are three federally recognized Kickapoo trib ...
were originally an Algonquian-speaking people, who originated in Wisconsin. Pushed southward from conflict with other tribes and settlers, by the 1830s one group had settled in
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, while the larger traditional faction lived in camps and moved often, ranging from Missouri to western Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Conflicts escalated after the establishment in 1836 of the
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
and the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, forcing the majority of the Kickapoo south into Mexico, where they settled in the state of
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...
. Negotiations began in the 1870s between the United States and Mexican governments to relocate the Kickapoo on a reservation in Indian Territory. An agency was created in 1874 and land set aside for the Kickapoo resettlement on the north fork of the
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Deep Fork Tributary of the Canadian River.
In 1895, the United States government allotted land to 283 tribal members, but the remaining two-thirds of the tribe returned to Mexico. Kickapoo was one of the members who took an allotment in Oklahoma. Her allotment number was W-43. She arrived at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...
in Pennsylvania on November 23, 1898, as an eighteen year old and was given the name Emma Kickapoo. She completed her education in 1905 and returned to Indian Territory, where she first was employed as a
domestic worker
A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...
in the home of Thomas Wildcat Alford. In 1908, Kickapoo married Owen Loyd (or Lloyd) Williams in
Hiawatha, Kansas
Hiawatha (Chiwere language, Ioway: ''Hári Wáta'' pronounced ) is the largest city and county seat of Brown County, Kansas, Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was ...
. Loyd worked as an assistant farmer for the Shawnee Agency and Kickapoo worked as a baker there. Within two years she and Williams had a son, who they named Lloyd.
Career
an American artist working in Paris, visited the Kickapoo in 1912, on behalf of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
. Sawyer was most known for his medallions featuring Native people, which he had begun to capture in portraits on medals or in bronze casts from 1904. For his assignment with the Kickapoo, he chose three models, Ahu-ah-shin-nin-na, Much-a-nin-na, and Emma Kickapoo. After molding their likenesses in clay, the medallions were cast in bronze and reported by the newspaper to be easily recognizable renditions of the subjects. The pieces when completed were to be placed in the collections of the Smithsonian.
Rodman Wanamaker
Lewis Rodman Wanamaker (February 13, 1863 – March 9, 1928) was an American businessman and heir to the Wanamaker's department store fortune. In addition to operating stores in Philadelphia, New York City, and Paris, he was a patron of the ar ...
, a partner in
Wanamaker's
Wanamaker's was an American department store chain founded in 1861 by John Wanamaker. It was one of the first department stores in the United States, and peaked at 16 locations along the Delaware Valley in the 20th century. Wanamaker's was pur ...
department store, sent his employee
Joseph K. Dixon
Joseph Kossuth Dixon (1856–1926) was an American clergyman, lecturer and photographer who led the Wanamaker expeditions visiting indigenous peoples of the United States.
Biography
Dixon was born in Hemlock Lake, New York, in 1856, to Irish ...
on the third North American Indian expedition in 1913, to distribute American flags to Native people. His purpose was to encourage Native citizenship in the country as a way to prevent the death of their cultures and reenact a ceremony which had recently been held at
Fort Wadsworth
Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower bays, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay, Manhattan, and beyon ...
on
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...
, New York at the groundbreaking ceremony for a monument to honor Native people. When Dixon arrived at the Kickapoo agency, in
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Shawnee () is a city in and the county seat of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklah ...
, an interpreter explained the reason for the "Expedition of Citizenship" and the tribe refused to participate. Having signed many agreements in the past with the government, which had caused them regret, tribal officials based their reluctance on a lack of understanding of the purpose. They refused to sign a Declaration of Allegiance or accept a flag from Dixon. The sole tribal member willing to accept the flag was Kickapoo, and she was photographed draped in the flag. The photograph depicts her looking directly into the camera in a sparsely furnished room. A stout woman, Kickapoo, is dressed in a plain dark blouse, a full-length skirt, and over her left-shoulder is draped an American flag which cascades to the floor.
In 1917, Loyd died from
appendicitis
Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...
, leaving Kickapoo as a widow. Two years later, she was remarried to Frank Ellis, a member of the
Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (or Absentee Shawnee) is one of three federally recognized tribes of Shawnee people. Historically residing in what became organized as the upper part of the Eastern United States, the original Sh ...
. Frank was a house painter and building contractor. In the 1930s, Kickapoo was photographed in a series of images which depict her in more traditional clothing. One image shows her standing in front of a quilt featuring donkeys, the symbol of the
Democratic Party of the United States
The Democratic Party is a center-left political party in the United States. One of the major parties of the U.S., it was founded in 1828, making it the world's oldest active political party. Its main rival since the 1850s has been the R ...
. She is dressed in a "fine blue woolen robe with ribbon appliqué and silver adornments". The quilt was made during the first campaign of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
. She wrote him a letter and enclosed the photograph, offering to send him the quilt, "Democratic Quilt" if he won the election.
Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma
Pottawatomie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,454. Its county seat is Shawnee.
Pottawatomie County is part of the Shawnee, OK micropolitan statistical area, which iPottawa ...
. In 1971, the photographs held in the collections of the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
regarding the Wanamaker expedition were rediscovered. Working with a team to research and publish the images, the editor Charles R. Reynolds Jr. selected Ellis' image for the cover of the book ''American Indian Portraits from the Wanamaker Expedition of 1913''. In 1978, a photograph of Ellis and her "Democratic Quilt", appeared in the Smithsonian's publication, ''Handbook of North American Indians'', Volume 15. Some of her photographs are held in the
Oklahoma Historical Society
The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...
's Anna Wox Lewis Collection in Oklahoma, City. The 1913 photograph taken by the Wannamaker Expedition, served as inspiration for one of the pieces in artist Annu Palakunnathu Matthew's series ''An Indian from India'', which compares the effect of imperialism upon Native Americans and South Asians. She adapted "American Indian Woman Wearing Flag" into a self-portrait, "Indian American Wearing Flag as Sari" (2003), to depict the struggle for her heritage to be accepted by her adoptive country and the hybrid nature of culture.