UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 8-1-2012 Captivity, Adoption, Marriage and Identity: Native American Children in Mormon Homes, 1847-1900. Michael Kay Bennion University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Cultural History Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Repository Citation Bennion, Michael Kay, "Captivity, Adoption, Marriage and Identity: Native American Children in Mormon Homes, 1847-1900." (2012). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1655. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/4332636 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CAPTIVITY, ADOPTION, MARRIAGE AND IDENTITY: NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN IN MORMON HOMES, 1847-1900. By Michael K. Bennion A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in History Department of History College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2012 Copyright © 2012 Michael K. Bennion All rights reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the thesis prepared under our supervision by Michael K. Bennion entitled Captivity, Adoption, Marriage and Identity: Native American Children in Mormon Homes, 1847-1900. be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Department of History David Holland, Committee Chair Diedre Clemente, Committee Member William Bauer, Committee Member P. Jane Hafen, Graduate College Representative Thomas Piechota, Ph. D., Interim Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College August 2012 ii Abstract The Indigenes of North America’s Great Basin developed a way of life based on the available resources the Basin provided. Their culture and customs provided a stable means of understanding and interacting with the forces of nature and men. Their myths elaborated on their expectations, hopes, and fears, in real and metaphorical ways, as evidenced by stories of the trickster Coyote. As Great Basin bands came in contact with the Spanish and other Europeans, they adjusted their mode of gathering necessary resources based on new technologies, such as horses and guns, as well as their myths to cope with change. This process entailed some adjustment in their perceptions of the world around them and in their own perception of their identities. Some Indigenes, such as the Utes and Comanches, raided other Native bands throughout the Southwest enslaving women and children who they traded to the Spanish in exchange for additional horses and guns. Native American children, acquired through this difficult and wrenching raid-and-trade process, experienced a major cultural shift that imposed upon them an external identity. They reacted to that shift in varied ways that expressed individual constructed identity. The Utes and others who sold, traded or gave them away, and the Mormons who purchased, accepted or received them in trade, struggled to define rules governing the practice and their obligations concerning the children caught up by that practice. Individual personality characteristics, preconceived notions about the opposing culture, and the external actions of the United States federal government, complicated rules definition and the subsequent behavior of those involved. As the children came of age to marry, some faced prejudice and others found acceptance. Individual and family personalities, rather than cultural conventions alone iii often determined the outcome of the marriages. During this time Native Americans and Mormons experienced conflicts with each other, but especially with the U. S. Army and federal agents, and worked to negotiate their place in new structures. The Mormons and Native Americans experienced disillusionment in this time as fervently accepted concepts collided with hard realities, resulting in a mixture of anger, accommodation, assimilation and acculturation. Adult Native American children who grew up in Mormon homes negotiated their individual identities based on cultural cues from their combined cultures. This was a complicated process, but subsequent secondary literature written years after the fact tried to simplify the complexity as dictated by preconceived, often culturally skewed, notions. iv Acknowledgements I offer sincere thanks to my thesis committee. Dr. David Holland guided me through the thickets of American religious thought and offered many hours of guidance and encouragement during my studies. Dr. Willy Bauer taught me to separate Lakotas, Dakotas, Utes, Pahvants, Paiutes, Goshiutes, Bannocks, Shoshones, Navajos and other Indigenous nations from the generic European appointed designation of “Indian.” Although I understood the difference he taught me to see individuals, not stereotypes, and to listen for the story that came before the written narrative. His knowledge of historiography proved invaluable. Dr. Deidre Clemente opened my eyes to hands-on history and widened my historic horizons. She constantly encouraged me and warned me about becoming “addicted to words.” Dr. Jane Hafen provided enthusiastic support from the day she first heard about my topic, and guided me to find funding necessary to complete my research. Each has been tough on me when I deserved it and kind when I needed kindness. Other excellent instructors such as Dr. David Wrobel, Dr. Janet Ward, Dr. Andy Fry, Dr. Marsha Gallo, Dr. Elizabeth Nelson and Dr. Andy Kirk encouraged me, introduced many concepts that broadened my view and provided me with tools to craft this current work. Dr. Brian Cannon and Jesse Embrey at Brigham Young University provided research guidance, and the Charles Redd Center at BYU granted me funds and a summer location to complete the majority of my primary document research. I thank also the staff of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library, at BYU in Provo, Utah, the staff of the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City, and the staff of the Lied Library and Special v Collections at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, especially Dr. David Whittaker at BYU, and Priscilla Finley and Claytee White at UNLV. Dedication My exquisitely patient wife, Luisa, dealt with my odd study habits and night owl hours. She kept me grounded and gave me wings. Bruce and Peggy Bennion gave me a sense of heritage. My grown children Karl-Erik, Shawn and Liesel offered love and encouragement Mike Bennion, June, 2012 vi Preface “Write about a Native American topic,” said Dr. Willy Bauer, as he introduced us to his graduate seminar on the American West. As a new non-traditional student, returning to academia after a 32-year absence, I wondered where a white middle-aged male might look for a topic and whether anything I wrote would be believable or acceptable. I remembered that my third great-grandfather once traded a horse for “an Indian boy, two or three years old.” Or so his journal said.1 My journey began. The resulting research over the past two years opened my eyes, sometimes horrified me, often humbled my heart and left me amazed at the resilience of the human spirit and the ability of women and men to respond in positive ways to crushing circumstances. Native Americans and Mormon settlers became my companions and friends as their life narratives unfolded in books, on microfilm, in videos and audios and in live oral interviews. I made new friends and learned new things. 1 John Bennion, Diary, September 15-17, 1858, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/UU_EAD&CISOPTR=1795 accessed March 5, 2010. vii Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...iii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..v Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...vi Preface…………………………………………………………………………………...vii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………..ix List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..x Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 SECTION I: Slavery, Indenture and Adoption…………………………………………..34 Chapter one: From Before the Europeans to Mexican Independence…………...35 Chapter two: Encounters, Negotiations Extra-legal Slave Trade, And the Indenture Act, 1847-1853………………………………………………65 Chapter three: Growing Up Indentured or Adopted: Accommodation, Resistance, and Identity, 1854-1865………………………...102 SECTION II: Marriages, Conversions, Perceptions, and Identity……………………...151 Chapter four: Maturing and Marriage 1865-1900……………………………...152 Chapter five: Epilogue………………………………………………………….188 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………...241 I Glossary……………………………………………………………………….241 II Tables………………………………………………………………………...245 III Maps…………………………………………………………………………256 IV XLS Database……………………………………………………………….258 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………273 Author’s CV…………………………………………………………………………….293