The Indian Congress occurred from August 4 to October 31, 1898 in
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
, in conjunction with the
Trans-Mississippi International Exposition. Occurring within a decade of the end of the
Indian Wars
The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States of America and Republic of Texas agains ...
, the Indian Congress was the largest gathering of
American Indian tribes of its kind to that date. Over 500 members of 35 different tribes attended, including the
Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
medicine man
A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name i ...
Geronimo
Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...
, who was being held at
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...
as a
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
.
["Indian Congress"](_blank)
, Omaha Public Library. Retrieved 8/20/07.
Frank A. Rinehart's photographs of the Indian Congress participants are regarded as one of the best photographic documentations of American Indian leaders around the start of the 20th century.
["The Photographs of Frank Rinehart and Adolph Muhr: American Indian Portraits. 1898 - 1900," Haskell Indian Nations University. Retrieved 8/20/07.](_blank)
Background
In a report on the Indian Congress published in the American Anthropologist in 1899, its chief ethnological consultant, James Mooney credited the realization of the project to "the grit and determination of the exposition managers, foremost among whom was
Edward Rosewater, proprietor of the ''Omaha Bee''. The successful outcome was due chiefly to his tireless activity and unfaltering courage. The ethnologic project was the child of his brain, and in spite of serious imperfections, the general result was such—particularly from the practical standpoint of the ticket seller—that we may expect to see ethnology a principal feature at future expositions so long as our aboriginal material holds out."
After steady
lobbying
Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...
by Rosewater, an extremely influential Republican and a friend of President
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
, and other members of the organizing committee of the
Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, in December 1897 a bill was introduced in the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
that provided an appropriation of $100,000 to carry out an Indian Congress at the same time as the Expo. After it passed in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, preparations for the
Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
monopolized the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, preventing a vote on the bill. In July 1898, $40,000 was made available for the event in the
Indian Appropriations Act
The Indian Appropriations Act is the name of several acts passed by the United States Congress. A considerable number of acts were passed under the same name throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the most notable landmark acts consi ...
by the President. That was a month after the rest of the Expo opened.
Funding was also made available by the
Bureau of American Ethnology
The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Departme ...
, a part 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 ...
.
["Westward the Empire: Omaha's world fair of 1898"](_blank)
University of Nebraska at Omaha Television. Retrieved 8/20/07.
In 1898
W. A. Jones, the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
, sent a letter to each
Indian Agency to appeal for attendees. The purpose of the Indian Congress, as he stated, was:
Description
The entire Indian Congress was managed by ethnologist
James Mooney
James Mooney (February 10, 1861 – December 22, 1921) was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. Known as "The Indian Man", he conducted major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as of tribes on the Great ...
and Army Captain William Mercer of the
8th U. S. Infantry, under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs acting on behalf of
Cornelius Newton Bliss, the
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
.
The original intention of the organizing committee was to illustrate the daily life, industry and traits of as many tribes as possible. However, once the congress was open authorities realized that the average person attending the Exposition wanted to see dances, games, races, ceremonials and sham battles. Soon the main activities of the Indian Congress were re-enactments and the
Ghost Dance.
["Indian Congress Activities."](_blank)
Omaha Public Library. Retrieved 8/20/07.
Weather
According to Captain Mercer's report, the weather "has been trying in the extreme ... Most of the time we have had extreme heat accompanied by dry, hot winds, which rendered camp life anything but pleasant, the conditions being rendered somewhat worse by our location. Following close upon the heated period we have just had a week of cold, heavy rains which made the camp and life in it more disagreeable even than it was during the hot spell."
Criticism
Ethnologist Mooney sought for the Congress to display customs of the various tribes. Instead, promoters erected a 5,000 seat grandstand, and arranged the tribes in re-enactments of battles.
[Mooney, J. (1899) "The Indian Congress at Omaha," ''American Anthropologist - New Series. 1''(1) pp. 126-149.] There were also concerns regarding the Indian Congress hosting a
Ghost Dance, particularly after the
U.S. Army attacked dancers during the
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, involved nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. More than 250 people of the Lakota were killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women a ...
in 1890. However, the Ghost Dance was encouraged by the managers of the Exposition. A local newspaper reported the Ghost Dance became a popular attraction. The Ghost Dance shirt of
Big Foot was displayed in another part of the Expo.
Frank A. Rinehart
Mooney contracted with
Frank A. Rinehart and
Adolph Muhr to take photographs of the attendees. Rinehart made several hundred pictures, regarded as one of the most complete, non-
exotifying collections of Native American portraits in existence.
Rinehart and Muhr took their photographs in a studio on Expo grounds.
Speaking of his photos of the Indian Congress, Merry Foresta, director of the
Smithsonian Photography Initiative at 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 ...
said, "Rinehart's portraits are really quite extraordinary and put him above the average workaday photographer who might have also made photographs for similar reasons. There were other people working, but he seems to have really, because of the quality of his work, stood apart."
[Paget, M. (2005]
"Native treasure: Haskell photos capture pivotal time in history"
''Lawrence Journal-World and News.'' 3/13/05. Retrieved 8/20/07.
Attending tribes
35 individual tribes were represented by more than 500 Indians. The tribes in attendance included the
Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
,
Arapaho
The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...
,
Assiniboines,
Blackfoot,
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
,
Chippewa,
Crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...
,
Flathead,
Fox,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
Kiowa
Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...
,
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
,
Otoe
The Otoe ( Chiwere: Jiwére) are a Native American people of the Midwestern United States. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk tribes.
Histori ...
,
Ponca
The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...
,
Pottawatomie,
Sauk and Fox,
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language
Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...
,
Southern Arapaho,
Tonkawa
The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...
,
Wichita, and the
Winnebago, as well as the
Santa Clara Pueblo.
Mooney's above-quoted observation that ethnology would be "a principal feature at future expositions" proved prophetic, for Indian Congresses were also convened at the
Pan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...
in 1901 and the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...
in 1904.
See also
*
History of Omaha
*
Native American tribes in Nebraska
Native American tribes in the U.S. state of Nebraska have been Plains Indians, descendants of succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples who have occupied the area for thousands of years. More than 15 historic tribes have been identified as havin ...
Image gallery
Photos taken by Frank Rinehart and Adolph Muhr at the Indian Congress in Omaha.
File:Chiricahua Apache Hattie Tom.jpg, Hattie Tom, Chiricahua Apache.
File:Touch the Clouds 1877a.JPG, Touch the Clouds, Minneconjou Teton Lakota chief
File:SarahWhislter.jpg, Sarah Whistler, Sauk and Fox woman.
File:YellowShirt.jpg, Yellow Shirt, Hunkpapa Sioux chief.
File:WhiteBuffalo.jpg, White Buffalo, Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
chief.
File:Wah-Ta-Waso.jpg, Wah-Ta-Waso, Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
woman.
File:KickingHorse.jpg, Kicking Horse, Flathead Salish chief.
File:FreckleFace.jpg, Freckle Face, Arapahoe woman.
File:BonieHattie.jpg, Bonie Tela, San Carlos Apache; and Hattie Tom, Chiricahua Apache.
File:Interpret omaha.jpg, Little Snake, Omaha Tribe
The Omaha are a federally recognized Midwestern Native American tribe who reside on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States. The Omaha Indian Reservation lies primarily in the southern part of Thurston Co ...
interpreter.
File:Moni chaki.jpg, Moni Chaki
Moni or Mone ( Kamkata-vari: ''Mone''/''Mune''), also known as Mandi (from Prasun) was, after Imra, the second-most important god in the pre-Islamic pantheon of the Nuristani people. With his breath, Imra created Moni and Gish. Moni was belie ...
, Ponca
The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...
chief.
File:Naiche.jpg, Naiche, Chiricahua Apache chief.
File:GeronimoRinehart.jpg, Geronimo
Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...
, Chiricahua Apache leader.
File:Geronimo I.jpg, Geronimo.
File:Cwpbh 04312.jpg, (standing) Joe Merrivale, Young Spotted Tail, Antoine Janis. Seated: Touch the Clouds, Little Big Man, Black Cool, unknown
References
Further reading
* Rydell, R. (1981) "The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition: "To Work Out the Problem of Universal Civilization", ''American Quarterly, 33''(5). Special Issue: American Culture and the American Frontier. (Winter) pp. 587–607.
External links
The Indian Congress of 1898- Photos, stories and research from the Omaha Public Library
- Portraits be
Frank Rinehart
{{Native Americans in Nebraska
Native American history of Nebraska
Trans-Mississippi Exposition
American frontier
1898 in Nebraska
1898 conferences
August 1898 in North America
September 1898 in the United States
October 1898 in the United States