QuakerInfo.com Forum

[Natalie]

My husband and I are exploring the Quaker faith, thinking of joining.
I can find lots of historical refernces to Quakers feelings on slavery, racism,etc....but nothing on what was done to the Native Americans.

Can someone here help?

Thanks!

[wsamuel]

Quakers were well known for peaceful relations with native Americans from the beginning. William Penn made a famous treaty with the Lenape tribe that was never broken.

When some Pennsylvania Quakers moved to Virginia to land which had been used by Indians who were now gone and so could not be recompensed, they set up a fund with the value of their land. The interest from this fund continues to be administered by the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Indian Affairs Committee today for the benefit of native Americans in many places.

When the U.S. Government wanted to show it had changed its colors, and was now ready to treat native Americans justly, it selected Quakers as Indian agents because they would be accepted.
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Bill Samuel, Webservant, QuakerInfo.com

[Bart]

During the Grant administration, the Quakers were placed in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As far as I know, it was the only time a government agency was ran by a religious organization. The Associated Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs was formed for this purpose.

[mouse]

Hi Natalie,

A friend brought my attention to your post when it first appeared and I felt like I should reply, but couldn't think of what to say because most of my thoughts about Friends and Native Americans don't have so much to do with what was done to them as what we have to offer and receive from them. And Bill had already summed up most of what I know about the Quaker history with Indians better than I could have. I’m not nearly as intelligent, educated or eloquent as many people on this board, so forgive me if my thoughts tend to wander.

I am part Cherokee and attended a Native American college for 2 years, completely surrounded by “Indians.” While my grandmothers are products of their generation and intentionally didn’t teach their children traditional ways, being convinced that they would have a better life if they were as “white” as possible, there are some things that still stick with us. A few things that I think made the Friends more attractive to them are: an appreciation of quiet, the expectation that experiencing God should encompass all of life, and that how a person expresses and lives out their faith is primarily between themselves and God, with elders to encourage and offer advice and direction. They’re all related to questions & assumptions about Christianity I heard again and again at school.

I don’t know about most Quakers, but it seems like the ones I’ve talked to are saddened by “what was done to the Native Americans,” but don’t really know what to do about it at this point. And, like most white Americans, don’t realize that terrible things are still being done to them, and, maybe, wouldn’t know what to do about it if they did.

I’m reading a book right now called “Living in Color: embracing God’s passion for diversity” by Randy Woodley, a Christian Cherokee pastor who is trying to reach out to other Native Americans in ways that are culturally relevant to them. It talks about how God has given different people groups different ways to relate to God & that we can know the nature of God more clearly when we all work and worship together, not just tolerating differences, but learning from them. The author isn’t a Quaker, but I really relate to what he says & think that Friends have a lot to offer Native Americans if we think about our beliefs in light of their needs, and don’t just go preaching to them the same way any other group would.

I don’t suppose this really answers your question, exactly, but hope it at least gives you something to think about. If you want to chat any more about this, you can email me.


PS
I haven’t researched it very thoroughly, but I have a hard time believing that Quakers were ever “in charge of” the BIA. What I’ve read says that they suggested names of people who would be good Indian Agents, when the administration was concerned that too many of the agents were corrupt.

[orPowers]

I have very recently become interested in this topic, and would like to point out a few things that bear further investigation. The involvement of Quakers with the Bureau of Indian affairs began with a delegation of Quakers to Grant to persuade him to adopt a "peace policy" towards the indians, and about 12 Quaker agents were appointed in addition to militray administrators and some from other faith traditions. The Quakers were taken out of administrative duties in the Bureau of Indian affairs because of confrontations with the military (under whose jurisdiction they operated) and because they were not turning the indians into copies of the white culture (or not "civilizing them" fast enough). I know that the system of boarding schools for indians was established by Pratt immediately after the Quakers were taken out with the avowed purpose of "killing the indian and saving the man," but my information indicates that the Quakers had been trying to teach young indians both English and farming as a means of making a living after their traditional way was destroyed, but without destroying the culture that remained. I would like to see any better information on this topic if anyone has it.
As far as current inequities and what may be done about it by local bodies, I would appreciate any information that can be given me for the Northwest as a possible "missions trip" effort sponsored by our youth group. (Frankly, I'm lazy, and any reduction of research I will need to do would be greatly appreciated.) Also, I have not yet even started checking on possible ongoing contacts in the Medford area.

I would like to say that my understanding is that Quakers generally would try to help any social difficulties without trying to impinge on the traditional culture.
_________________
Romans 8:38-39

my blog: http://mild-side.blogspot.com/

[wsamuel]

See Associated Committee of Friends on Indian Affairs and Friends Committee on National Legislation Native Americans Program.
_________________
Bill Samuel, Webservant, QuakerInfo.com

[Patrocles]

I always thought that Quakers were partly responsible for the installing of "reservations" - the system of "reservations" leaving native Americans at least some autonomy.
That's interesting for me because I'm attracted by a kind of "communitarian" political philosophy - leaving different religious, ethnic or cultural communities as much independance as possible within the frame of a common constitution.
But I don't know if I got the historical facts correct.

[BillSamuel]

Quakers were Indian agents, and when they began to be appointed such the reservation system was already in place. I'm not aware that Quakers ever supported forcing Indian nations to move from their traditional homelands to reservations.
_________________
Bill Samuel, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Co-Coordinator, Friends in Christ

[acfriend]

Friends have always been concerned with Native americans. some of my friends are ministers among Natives (several of them are Natives themselves.) Friends believe that all people are equal and should be respected, black/white/native american/hispanic/male/female, every yearly meeting I've look at all support this. there is a picture painted that shows indians entering an meeting and as I heard the story, then indians came to kill the white folk and instead they put down their weapons and joined in the meeting. (I have the Picture haning in our meeting house)