National Museum of the American Indian

George Conner Carlisle Indian School collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.250
Creators:
United States Indian School (Carlisle, Pa.)
Dates:
circa 1884-1914
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
.21 Linear feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection contains materials documenting George Conner (Tse-da-ha; Osage) and his time as a student at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. The collection contains 3 photographs of Conner circa 1884-1896, as well as Carlisle Indian School booklets and correspondence circa 1900-1914.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged in 5 folders.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
George Conner, also known as Tse-dah-ha (Buffalo Hide), was born on the Osage Reservation in Kansas in 1870. His parents were Wah-kon-tah Shinka (Little Doctor) and Le-ah-tsa, both of the Little Osage tribe. Le-ah-tsa was the daughter of Wa-caba-shinka (Little Bear) who was the Principal Chief of the Little Osage.
Kansas Militia killed George's father on a return hunting trip shortly after George was born. George's mother married William Conner (Oh-hunka-moie) and approximately five years later, she was also killed. William Conner played a prominent role in reformulating the Osage government in the new Oklahoma Reservation and helped write the first Osage Nation Constitution.
William sent George to live with his Aunt Margaret "Maggie" Lawrence on her ranch west of Grainola. He attended Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania from 1885-1890 and was re-admitted in 1896 and stayed until 1899. During his last years at Carlisle, George assisted with the physical education of fellow students including exercise drills using 3.5-pound Spaulding Indian clubs, a set of which he brought home (now held in NMAI's collection). He also assisted with coaching younger boys in baseball and other athletics at Carlisle. While at Carlisle the second time, he learned harness making and saddle repair. He also participated in Carlisle's "outing" program, which placed student on neighboring Pennsylvania farms in the summer.
Upon return to the Osage Reservation at age twenty-nine, George moved from his boyhood home on the Lawrence ranch to the Osage Nation capital, Pawhuska. There he opened a harness shop and met his wife Lillian House, a matron at the Osage Girl's school. They had five children Letha, Adelia, Victor, Lester, and Don. George served as the Osage National Council Secretary for a number of years.
George and his step-father William also got involved with Osage resistance to the U.S. Government's Allotment Act, otherwise known as the Dawes Act of 1887. This law was designed to open up remaining Indian land in the West to white settlement, by dividing large reservations among the tribal members. Each would receive a small parcel and then U.S. made the remaining "surplus" land available for settlement. The Osage opposed this and William, George, and the tribe worked collectively for nearly two decades to prevent the reservation from allotment. In 1906, U.S. Congress passed the Osage Allotment Act, making the Osage one of the last tribes in Oklahoma to accept allotment. The tribe was also able collectively to retain the mineral rights of the reservation.
George and Lillian moved from Pawhuska, started farming west of Grainola, Oklahoma, and remained on the farm the rest of their lives. George died in 1936 at the age of 66 years old.
[Biography written by Dr. Joe L. Conner (George Conner's grandson) in 2012 and edited by E. Moazami (NMAI Assistant Head Archivist) in 2018.]

Administration

Author
Emily Moazami
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased by the museum in 2012.
Separated Materials
The museum also purchased two objects with this collection: a Carlisle Indian School uniform owned and worn by George Conner and a set of exercise jugggling pins used by Conner when he assisted with physical education at Carlisle (object #s 268789 and 268790).
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Emily Moazami, Assistant Head Archivist, 2018.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); George Conner Carlisle Indian School collection, NMAI.AC.250; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Related Materials
The Archives and Special Collections at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania also holds collections related to the school.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Osage Cultural Context Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Education -- Carlisle Indian School Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Indians of North America -- Education Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pamphlets Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Conner, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
Business Number: Phone: 301.238.1400
Fax Number: Fax: 301.238.3038
nmaiarchives@si.edu