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Searching for Sacred Ground: The Journey of Chief Lawrence Hart, Mennonite
This book grows out of a white Mennonite woman's driving curiosity to know the story of nationally known Cheyenne Peace Chief Lawrence Hart, whose grandfather was born three years after the massacre on the Washita to survivors Afraid of Beavers and Walking Woman. This grandfather would raise his grandson to know Cheyenne ways and select him as his successor to become a principal peace chief to the Cheyennes. Meanwhile the author's people, Mennonites and her blood relatives, intertwine with Hart's people by arriving in Oklahoma to begin schools on the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation and to settle the Oklahoma plains. "Hart is a treasure. Hinz-Penner presents him shiningly," observes Robert Warrior (Osage), Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professor, University of Oklahoma.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 2007
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April 8, 2021
This is a biography steeped with multiple histories. It is a biography of Lawrence Hart, a Peace Chief of the Cheyenne and a Mennonite minister, told within the context of tribal history. That history includes two of most infamous massacres at the hands of the American military, Sand Creek in 1864 and Washita in 1868. A poignant part of this book is telling the story of the centennial celebration of the Washita incident one hundred years later in which Lawrence Hart played a role along with other members of his tribe. Part of the history included in this book is of the relationship between the Mennonite Church and the Southern Cheyenne that developed from a mission school that served the tribe in Oklahoma beginning in the late 19th century.
In 1958 Lawrence Hart was flying jets for the Marine Corps anticipating a continued military aviation career when he received word that his grandfather had died and that his grandfather had asked the council of chiefs to appoint Lawrence to be his successor as a principal peace chief to the Cheyennes. This unexpected event led to his resigning from the Marines to devote his life to this new calling.
His grandfather apparently saw in Lawrence Hart a kindred spirit. Lawrence had older brothers and sisters that grew up in his parents household, but when Lawrence was born he lived with his grandparents for his first six years of life learning to speak Cheyenne as his first language. When Lawrence reached school age he began to live in his parents household with his brothers and sisters, but his special attachment to his grandfather continued. His grandfather took Lawrence with him on annual trips to the Four Corners area to meet with Navajo and Ute leaders for meetings related to the Native American Church. His grandfather had been born three years after the massacre on the Washita, and Lawrence's close relationship with his grandfather placed him generationally closer to the tribe's tragic history than others of his same age.
Lawrence Hart finished his college degree and went on to receive a seminary degree. He then became pastor of a Mennonite church located near his home community in Oklahoma. Much of this book is spent examining how Cheyenne cultural values and belief system are blended with Mennonite traditions and Christian belief. The Cheyenne have indigenous reconciliation practices and traditions of restorative justice that are surprisingly compatible with Mennonite beliefs and traditions.
An emotional story in this book is about a reconciliation that took place during a centennial reenactment of the Washita battle in 1968. The local white community had organized the event as a means to encourage tourist visits. The Native Americans were reluctant to participate, but negotiations led to a compromise where some bones of a Washita massacre victim that had been on display for many years at a local museum would be returned to the Indians for interment.
The problem was that during the reenactment the mounted Sons of the Seventy Cavalry came charging toward the Indians in a manner that was "too real." It scared the children, and it felt to some that white men were enjoying themselves at the expense of Indian sensibility. The Cheyenne kept their cool and during somber reburial ceremony later in the day there was an exchange of presents that included the Cheyenne giving a blanket to the leader of the Cavalry reenactors. In Lawrence Hart's own words:
In 1958 Lawrence Hart was flying jets for the Marine Corps anticipating a continued military aviation career when he received word that his grandfather had died and that his grandfather had asked the council of chiefs to appoint Lawrence to be his successor as a principal peace chief to the Cheyennes. This unexpected event led to his resigning from the Marines to devote his life to this new calling.
His grandfather apparently saw in Lawrence Hart a kindred spirit. Lawrence had older brothers and sisters that grew up in his parents household, but when Lawrence was born he lived with his grandparents for his first six years of life learning to speak Cheyenne as his first language. When Lawrence reached school age he began to live in his parents household with his brothers and sisters, but his special attachment to his grandfather continued. His grandfather took Lawrence with him on annual trips to the Four Corners area to meet with Navajo and Ute leaders for meetings related to the Native American Church. His grandfather had been born three years after the massacre on the Washita, and Lawrence's close relationship with his grandfather placed him generationally closer to the tribe's tragic history than others of his same age.
Lawrence Hart finished his college degree and went on to receive a seminary degree. He then became pastor of a Mennonite church located near his home community in Oklahoma. Much of this book is spent examining how Cheyenne cultural values and belief system are blended with Mennonite traditions and Christian belief. The Cheyenne have indigenous reconciliation practices and traditions of restorative justice that are surprisingly compatible with Mennonite beliefs and traditions.
An emotional story in this book is about a reconciliation that took place during a centennial reenactment of the Washita battle in 1968. The local white community had organized the event as a means to encourage tourist visits. The Native Americans were reluctant to participate, but negotiations led to a compromise where some bones of a Washita massacre victim that had been on display for many years at a local museum would be returned to the Indians for interment.
The problem was that during the reenactment the mounted Sons of the Seventy Cavalry came charging toward the Indians in a manner that was "too real." It scared the children, and it felt to some that white men were enjoying themselves at the expense of Indian sensibility. The Cheyenne kept their cool and during somber reburial ceremony later in the day there was an exchange of presents that included the Cheyenne giving a blanket to the leader of the Cavalry reenactors. In Lawrence Hart's own words:
The wise Cheyenne peace chiefs had initiated a reconciliation, which resulted in conflict transformation. It was at this ceremony that the older peace chiefs indelibly impressed onto the younger what it means to follow the instructions of Sweet Medicine, a prophet of the Cheyenne. The ceremony of reburial ended with the Grandsons firing volleys to honor the victim. There was not a dry eye in the audience....When I greeted the captain of the regiment, he took the "Garry Owen" pin from his uniform and handed it to me to accept on behalf of all Cheyenne Indian people. The captain stated, "Never again will your people hear 'Gary Owen.'"I close this review by including the following excerpt from near the end of the book.
He remembered a "strange" event that happened to him when he was leading a tour to the Washita Battlefield Site. After their tour, he met with the group in a large room at the Coyote Hills Guest Ranch a short drive from the Washita site. There Lawrence had continued for the group his stories of the events that transpired on the Washita. One participant in his audience had brought her old Cheyenne mother to hear Lawrence tell these stories. At a certain point in the program, the old woman arose and made her way across the room to stand in the open doorway. Perhaps she had sat too long, or she might have just needed some air. As Lawrence finished with his presentation, he recalled, he decided to sing a song in Cheyenne. The song would conclude the program for that evening. ....The author learned later that this old woman was a direct descendant of Chief Black Kettle.
Lawrence continued then recounting what happened after he sang the song. As he stood at his place in the from of the room, visiting with the audience as individuals began to take their leave the old woman came slowly toward him. "They were singing with you," she told him. "There, where I stood in the doorway I could clearly hear their voices in the night, they were singing with you."
October 10, 2019
This book deserves a much wider reading than what I'm guessing it's had. Hinz-Penner does an excellent job of describing Lawrence Hart and his important work as a Cheyenne Peace Chief and as a Mennonite pastor. Hinz-Penner weaves her experience, tradition and questions into Hart's story in way that asks those of us from European backgrounds to question our cultural, historical and religious understandings.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews