The Wyandot Indians of Kansas

Wyandot Indians - Page 2

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The Wyandot were a wealthy community, the improvements in their Ohio Reservation being valued at $120,000. They had, for many years before coming to the West, been under the influence of devoted Methodist missionaries, and were comparatively far advanced in civilization, their reservation rapidly improved. Several of the Indians had intermarried with the French and English while in Ohio and carried the names of Armstrong, Clark, Walker and Northrup and others that are identified with the history of the progress of the Wyandot in Kansas. The nation was governed by a council, consisting of one head chief and six councilmen.

In 1851, at a convention composed of thirteen delegates elected by the Wyandot, a new constitution was formed, preparatory to revising the laws of the nation. The constitution, as drafted, was submitted to a national council, composed of every voter in the nation, and unanimously ratified. It provided for a legislative council and a council composed of the principal chiefs.

Bill Moose Crowfoot was one of the last of the Wyandot

Indians who lived in Central Ohio, 1930.

The laws were codified, and, under the new regime, the progress of the Wyandot was rapid and enduring. On September 2, 1854, a convention was held at Wyandot (Kansas City, Kansas,) at which, a provisional government was formed for the Territory. William Walker, one of the head men of the nation, was appointed Provisional Governor, and it was chiefly through his influence that the treaty was successfully consummated on the January 31, 1855. This treaty, of such moment to the nation, was made at Washington, by George W. Manypenny, Commissioner, on the part of the United States, and the following-named chiefs and delegates of the Wyandot IIndians: Tanromee, Mathew Mudeater, John Hicks, Silas Armstrong, George J. Clark and Joel Walker.

Article 1 read as follows:

"The Wyandot Indians having become sufficiently advanced in civilization, and being desirous of becoming citizens, it is hereby agreed and stipulated that their organization and their relations with the United States as an Indian tribe shall be dissolved and terminated on the ratification of this agreement, except so far as the further and temporary continuance of the same may be necessary in the execution of some of the stipulations herein; and from and after the date of such ratification the said Wyandot Indians, and each and every of them, except as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed, and are hereby declared, to be citizens of the United States, to all intents and purposes, and shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges and immunities of such citizens; and shall, in all respects, be subject to the laws of the United States and of the Territory of Kansas, in the same manner as other citizens of said Territory; and the jurisdiction of the United States and of said Territory shall be extended over the Wyandot country, in the same manner as over other parts of said Territory. But such of the said Indians as may so desire, and make application accordingly to the Commissioners hereinafter provided for, shall be exempt from the immediate operation of the preceding provisions, extending citizenship to the Wyandot Indians, and shall have continued to them the assistance and protection of the United States an Indian agent in their vicinity for such a limited period or periods of time, according to the circumstances of the case, as shall be determined by the Commissioner of Indian affairs; and on the expiration of such period or periods, the said exemption, protection and assistance shall cease, and said persons shall then, also, become citizens of the United States, with all the rights and privileges and subject to the obligations above stated and defined."

By the provisions of Article 2, the Wyandot nation "cede and relinquish to the United States all their right, title and interest in and to the tract of country situated in the fork of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers, which was purchased by them of the Delaware Indians on December 14, 1843, the object of the cession being that the lands may be subdivided, assigned and re-conveyed, by patent, in fee simple, to the individuals and members of the nation in severalty."

Nancy "Quindaro" Guthrie

Certain reservations were made to churches, and a specified sum was named which the tribe was to receive for the relinquishment of annuities. The treaty was ratified February 20, 1855.

In 1856, shortly after Kansas was opened to white settlers, the town of Quindaro was established as a Free-State settlement in the midst of the nearby pro-slavery towns of Atchison, Leavenworth and Delaware City. The land was owned by Abelard and Nancy Quindaro Guthrie, a Wyandot Indian woman. The couple had long offered slaves shelter on their farmland playing an early role in Underground Railroad. The place was then selected by a number of Free-State men as a location for a town and Mrs. Guthrie used her influence to purchase more land from members of the tribe. The following year, a town site called Quindaro, was established and rapidly settled by emigrants aided by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, who were trying to help secure Kansas as a free territory.

On February 23, 1867, a treaty was concluded between the United States and the Wyandot, making provision for those of the tribe who had not chosen to avail themselves of the provisions of the treaty of 1855 and become citizens and for those who desired to resume tribal relations. For these Wyandot, some 20,000 acres of land purchased from the Seneca trib in the 1940s a program was formed to address grievances filed by various Native American tribes which allocated some $800 million to rectify promises broken by settlers who invaded their territories. The Wyandot settlement was based on an 1830 Federal law which required them to move west of the Mississippi River. Originally the Wyandot were paid .75 cents per acre for land that was worth $1.50 an acre.

In February, 1985 the government agreed to pay descendants of the Wyandot Indians $5.5 million, which settled the 1842 treaty which forced the tribe to sell their Ohio homes for less than fair value.

In 1999, representatives of the far-flung Wyandot bands of Quebec, Kansas, Oklahoma and Michigan gathered at their historic homeland in Midland, Ontario, and formally re-established the Wendat Confederacy.

Today, there are several autonomous bands:

Wyandot Nation of Kansas - About 400 members headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas.
Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma - A federally recognized tribe headquartered in Wyandotte, Oklahoma, with about 4,300 members.
Huron-Wendat Nation - Located just outside Quebec City in Canada, with some 3,000 members
Wyandot Nation of Anderdon - Headquartered in Trenton, Michigan, with about 800 members

Compiled by Kathy Weiser/Legends of Kansas, updated April, 2010.

About the Article: The majority of this text was published in Kansas: History of the State of Kansas, by William G. Cutler; SA. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883. However, the text that appears on these pages is not verbatim, as additions, updates, and editing have occurred.

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