OSAGE GENDER: CONTINUITY, CHANGE, AND COLONIZATION, 1720s-1870s BY Copyright 2010 Tai S. Edwards Submitted to the graduate degree program in History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ______________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Paul Kelton Committee members ______________________________ Dr. Rita Napier ______________________________ Dr. Kim Warren ______________________________ Dr. Gregory Cushman ______________________________ Dr. Joy Ward Date defended: __4-14-2010_________ The Dissertation Committee for Tai S. Edwards certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: OSAGE GENDER: CONTINUITY, CHANGE, AND COLONIZATION, 1720s-1870s Committee: ______________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Paul Kelton ______________________________ Dr. Rita Napier ______________________________ Dr. Kim Warren ______________________________ Dr. Gregory Cushman ______________________________ Dr. Joy Ward Date approved: _________________ ii Table of Contents Abstract Page v Acknowledgements Page vii Chapter 1: Introduction Page 1 Chapter 2: Cosmology and Complementary Gender Roles Page 15 Chapter 3: Colonial Trade, 1720s-1810s Page 41 Chapter 4: Confronting the Expanding United States, 1820s-1830s Page 70 Chapter 5: Living in Kansas, 1830s-1870s Page 110 Chapter 6: Epilogue Page 162 Bibliography Page 168 iii List of Illustrations Table 1: Seven ceremonial degrees of Osage clan priesthood rites Page 23 Figure 1: Structure of the Osage cosmos Page 21 Figure 2: Map of Osage villages, 1720s-1810s Page 44 Figure 3: Map of Osage villages, 1810s-1830s Page 71 Figure 4: Map of Osage villages, 1830s-1870s Page 114 Figure 5: Chief Bacon Rind Page 121 Figure 6: Eastman‘s map of Kansas and Nebraska Territory Page 137 Figure 7: Catholic Church at Osage Mission Page 140 Figure 8: Colton‘s Kansas and Nebraska map Page 157 iv Abstract This study demonstrates how the Osage structured their society based on gender complementarity, and although life certainly changed in the face of French, Spanish, and United States colonization, the Osage maintained this gender construction and resisted complete colonization through the nineteenth century. Osage rituals clearly demonstrate gender complementarity. Their worldview stressed duality and defined women and men as necessary pairs. Men provided and protected; women created. The Osage employed a sexual division of labor, and each gender achieved status and power in distinct ways. Gender difference did not imply hierarchical difference between the sexes. Rather men and women cooperated to ensure tribal perpetuation and success. Gender complementarity proved one of the most stable aspects of Osage society throughout colonization. In the eighteenth century, the Osage developed one of the most expansive trading systems in North America. Scholars argue that once the Osage began trading with the French, they increased their hunting to obtain more hides and furs, expanding the male role in society at the expense of the female role. This dissertation disproves such declensionist assertions about the status of Osage women in their society. During the eighteenth century, the Osage achieved regional dominance through the work of women, in agriculture and hide processing, and men, in raiding and hunting. When the United States expanded farther west during the nineteenth century, Osage regional hegemony deteriorated. Yet, federal Indian policy‘s contradictions facilitated Osage v resistance to colonization. While missionaries attempted to change lifeways, federal support for the hide trade encouraged the Osage to maintain historic gendered work as both a spiritually relevant and economically successful social organization. Once removed to Kansas, a volatile environment and increasing settler depredations facilitated further resistance to missionization and the civilization program. Therefore the Osage spent their time hunting and processing hides, a far more successful survival strategy in this environment. Colonization initiated some changes to Osage life, but women were not increasingly subordinated to men. As long as Osage cosmology and subsistence followed the patterns developed before colonization, gender roles remained intact. vi Acknowledgements This all started when I, as a Business undergrad, enrolled in Rita Napier‘s ―History of the Plains Indians‖ course. Up until that time, I thought I was a relatively well-educated person. Rita‘s teaching, along with the assistance of her Indigenous graduate students, disproved everything I thought I knew. Years later I have completed my dissertation thanks to that semester of shock. This project is complete thanks to generous funding. Thank you to the Arthur and Judith McClure Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Research that acknowledged and rewarded my first foray into this dissertation topic. Likewise, thank you to the Donald R. McCoy Memorial Dissertation Research Award, which facilitated my archival research. I am exceedingly grateful to the librarians, archivists, and scholars who kindly shared their time and expertise. The University of Kansas Libraries and their collections, databases, document delivery, interlibrary loan, and technology staff and services made this dissertation possible. Thanks to David Miros and the Midwest Jesuit Archives; Faye Hubbard and John Waide of the Pius XII Memorial Library at St. Louis University; Dennis Northcott and the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center; Bob Knecht and Nancy Sherbert and the Kansas State Historical Society; and the Kenneth Spencer Research Library. I also appreciate J. Frederick Fausz and Theda Perdue for sharing their research and thoughts on my work. vii The Osage Tribal Museum also played a central role in this project. Special thanks to the museum‘s director Kathryn Red Corn, who provided significant guidance and insight. Thanks also to Rhonda Kohnle and Lou Brock for sharing their ubiquitous knowledge on Osage history. Also thank you to Osage artist Anita Fields who graciously permitted use of the text accompanying one of her powerful pieces on display at the museum. I could not have completed this project and degree without the support of my fellow graduate students. In particular, Stephanie Russell, Lon Strauss, and Kristen Epps ameliorated the stress of this process and provided valuable encouragement that contributed to my personal and professional success. In addition thanks to Jason Emerson, Ethan Schmidt, Karl Rubis, Jeremy Byers, John Rosenberg, James Quinn, Chikako Mochizuki, Amanda Schlumpberger, Lena Withers, and Kelley McNabb. The faculty at both George Mason University and KU spent countless hours teaching, mentoring, and advising me. Robert Hawkes was a superb adviser during my master‘s work at GMU and I hope to emulate his commitment to his colleagues and students in my career. Paul Kelton is perhaps the best adviser a student could hope for in a Ph.D. program. He provided the perfect balance of accountability and freedom, while diligently fulfilling university and department duties as an adviser. Paul‘s commitment to student success directly determined my completion of this program, thank you. Rita Napier‘s ability to foster critical thinking started my scholarly career and her friendship is central to viii my personal and professional development. Kim Warren and Greg Cushman also advised this dissertation and I am grateful for their extraordinary teaching, research, and professional support. Thank you to all of the other faculty members who contributed to my education, especially Don Worster, Jennifer Weber, Jonathan Earle, Leslie Tuttle, Paula Petrik, T. Mills Kelly, Jane Turner Censer, and Zach Schrag. Multiple staff members also assisted me throughout my graduate coursework, special thanks to Ellen Garber, Sandee Kennedy, Amanda Contreras, and Sharon Bloomquist. Finally, I want to thank my family. My husband, Ryan Edwards, my parents, Bruce and Denise Gerhart, and my sister Laci Gerhart all encouraged me to follow my dreams and provided unconditional support throughout my education. I also want to thank my mother, who is the artist that produced the maps throughout this dissertation, they are perfect. ix Chapter 1 Introduction Instead of worshipping the Great Spirit, as we supposed, from their frequent use of the word Woh-kun-dah, which we were told meant the Great Spirit, we find that they have four principal deities, viz: the sun, the moon, the earth, and thunder. To each of these deities they apply the word Woh-kun-dah, to express the divinity and providence of each. The sun, they say, is God, because it gives light, warmth, and fertility. The moon is God, because, as they imagine, it presides over the propagation of mankind, and of animals. The earth is God, because it nourishes and supports them. And thunder, they say, is God, because it causes rain. Besides these, they have many inferior deities, the number and names of which we have not yet learned. On the whole, we conclude that they have no correct idea of the one Supreme Being; and that they are a people given to idolatry.1 —Union Mission Journal for January- February 1822 Though the Protestant missionaries did not realize it, they recorded the integrated view of the universe embodied in Osage life and ritual. The ancient Osage Non’-hon-zhin-ga (priesthood), defined Wa-kon-da (Mysterious Power) as the source of all life. The Non’-hon-zhin-ga concluded Wa-kon-da’s creative power manifested in the