Roots of Resistance: Radical Kansas

It's the and the ghost dance is sweeping across the plains, from Oklahoma to Kansas to South Dakota. The sound of drumming, chanting, and beat pounding the Earth carries powerful messages of hope and defiance. The ghost dance began in Nevada with a Paiute prophet named Waboka, who envisioned a future where Indigenous nations would return to their homelands, where buffalo would once again roam freely, and harmony with the land would be restored.

Music and art have always been important tools for resistance, and the Ghost Dance was no exception. For tribes like the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Prairie Band Potawatomi, who were forcibly displaced to Kansas, the ghost dance became a powerful declaration: We are still here.

But settlers and soldiers didn't see the ghost dance as a celebration. They saw it as a threat. The US government labeled it a dangerous uprising, terrified of what unity among indigenous nations could mean. Their fear led to crackdowns and, ultimately, to 1 of the darkest chapters in US history, the Massacre at Wounded Knee.

The Ghost Dance wasn't the only ceremony targeted by the US government. Across the continent, indigenous nations faced relentless efforts to outlaw their spiritual practices, from the Lakota Sundance to the communal potlatches of coastal nations. These bans were deliberate moves to dismantle connection, culture, and resistance. Even under bans and crackdowns, dances like the ghost dance were preserved in secret, passed down through whispers and practice. Eventually, as policies shifted, indigenous nations revived their traditions openly, reclaiming the spaces where their ancestors had once danced.

Welcome to Roots of Resistance, Radical Kansas. This is a podcast about Kansas history and not the polished stories from the textbooks, but the stories of how everyday people on picket lines, in fields, and in their communities sparked meaningful change. My name is Lindsay, a lifelong Kansan, and I will be your host. This series may surprise you. Kansas has been the birthplace of progressive movements that have gone on to shape the entire country.

And these movements weren't led by politicians. They were started and achieved by people just like you and me. In many of these stories, I'll be sharing experiences that are not of my own, so my research draws from voices and historians from the community whose stories are being shared. The show notes for each episode will be abundant with links and resources that I mentioned, as well as authors, journalists, and creators to check out. We'll also discuss some practical actions that you can take today, much like the people we'll meet along the way.

While narrowing down topics for this series was difficult, there was no question where we would begin with the original caretakers of this land.

Before settlers arrived, Kansas was a sea of tall grass prairie with grasses reaching up to 10 feet high and buffalo roaming the plains by the millions. The Osage, Kaw, and Wichita nations cared for this land with practices that kept everything in balance, from controlled burns and sustainable hunting to protecting waterways. But settlers disrupted that balance. The Indian Removal Act forcibly displaced entire nations onto Kansas land, starting with the Shawnee, Delaware, and Potawatomi.

For the Potawatomi, this violent displacement became known as the Trail Of Death. Nearly 800 people were forced to walk six sixty miles from Indiana to Kansas. Disease, starvation, and exposure claimed dozens of lives, most of them children. They were told they would be resettled near Osawatomie, but the survivors instead found themselves abandoned at Sugar Creek, a remote area that offered none of the provisions they had been promised. The Potawatomi had to adapt, building a new life from literally nothing.

Today, the Potawatomi remember their ancestors through the Trail of Death Caravan. This journey follows the same six sixty mile route they were forced to walk. It's a way to honor those who suffered and to educate others to understand the injustices they faced. By the the conflict in Kansas had reached a boiling point. Settlers pushed west, cutting deeper into territories promised to indigenous nations, and the US military followed closely, building forts like Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and Fort Larned to dominate the area and enforce settler expansion.

In 1867, summoned the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and other nations to Medicine Lodge Creek. The result was the Medicine Lodge Treaty, a so called peace agreement that stripped these nations of millions of acres of land. The treaty promised rations, tools, and education in exchange for moving tribes to reservations. But the government's promises were empty. The rations were insufficient, the tools were poor quality, and the land was barren and unlivable.

The goal was clear. Erase their culture and make them dependent on the colonial system.
Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa warriors refused to accept the theft of their land. They organized strategic raids using their intimate knowledge of the prairie to their advantage.
For the US Army, Kansas became a logistical nightmare.

While tribes in South Central Kansas resisted through raids and guerrilla tactics, nations in Northeastern Kansas turned to the legal and political system to fight back. Delegations from the Shawnee, Delaware, and Potawatomi nations traveled to Washington, DC, petitioning Congress to uphold treaties and protect their lands. They had to navigate a system intentionally stacked against them, learning its rules and finding ways to push back.

Organizing such delegations required a lot of planning in order to try to make an impact.
Leaders drafted petitions outlining treaty violations and the devastating stories of displacement.
Many petitions included detailed descriptions of stolen land, denied resources, and inflicted hardships. Often written in English, which some Indigenous leaders learned to navigate the settlers' institutions.

Getting to Washington, D. C. From Kansas was no easy feat. It took two weeks by wagon or train and required resources tribes often didn't have. Leaders relied on community fundraising efforts or partnered with sympathetic allies, like missionaries, to cover the costs. Once in DC, they faced long waits, indifference, and outright hostility from Congress, which was more likely to be swayed by settlers and railroad lobbyists. Despite these obstacles, some delegations achieved small but significant victories, including temporary halts to land seizures and partial restoration of treaty promised rations. By the late nineteenth century, the Tall Grass Prairie, once spanning 170000000 acres across the continent, was rapidly vanishing.

Today, only 4% remains, and the largest portion remaining in Kansas near Council Grove, which is home of the Kaw and Osage Nations. This is largely due to widespread colonization and unsustainable farming practices. And the buffalo herds, once numbering tens of millions, had been hunted to near extinction. With their food sources destroyed and their land stolen, indigenous nations suffered terrible losses. Disease, violence, and forced assimilation hit their communities hard.

Forced assimilation meant making them give up their languages, traditions, and spiritual beliefs to adopt English, European American culture, and Christianity. Death was everywhere. Starvation, fighting, and diseases like smallpox and measles killed many people. These diseases were new to the area. Indigenous people had no immunity to them.

On top of that, settlers demonized indigenous spiritual practices, calling them witchcraft or claiming they were calling on dark spirits to do their bidding. 1 missionary even said, quote, the Indians worship the spirits of the land and sky, which they believe will protect them. These beliefs are born of ignorance and breed defiance against the Christian God, unquote. This kind of thinking and messaging was used to justify banning indigenous ceremonies like the ghost dance and to push policies that force people to abandon their cultures. Sacred practices were outlawed and children were taken from their families to attend boarding schools designed to erase their identity.

These policies caused trauma that have been passed down through generations, and the effects are still felt today. When the Dawes Act of 1887 tried to divide tribal lands into individual allotments, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Northeastern Kansas resisted.

They rejected treating land as property, preserving communal ownership as an act of defiance against these assimilation policies. This decision safeguarded their cultural connection to the land and ensured future generations could thrive. Today, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation continues that legacy.
Thanks to tribally owned businesses like their casino, they're able to invest in schools, health care, and cultural programs, building up their community while holding on to their heritage. Resistance takes many forms, from dances like the ghost dance to legal battles, petitions, and holding on to land against all odds. Today, 1 of the most urgent calls for action is supporting land back efforts. The devastating wildfires tearing through LA County, as I record this, are a stark example of what happens when land is taken from its original caretakers, people with generations of knowledge of weather patterns and regenerative cycles that help maintain the land and largely avoided catastrophic events. As we've seen, LA is incredibly vulnerable due to climate change, overbuilding, overcrowding, and the privatization of water systems.

Supporting Land Back isn't just about justice for indigenous communities. It's about fighting for climate justice and creating a livable future for everyone. Indigenous stewardship sustained this land for thousands of years before settlers arrived, forcing practices that didn't fit this climate or soil. We'll discuss more of that when we talk about the Dust Bowl in episode 8. So what are some actions we can do today?
Of course, I'll link all of this off in the show notes and more. Be sure to check those out. Seek out and support indigenous led organizations, both locally and nationwide, such as the NDN Collective, that is the letters N-D-N collective dot org or locally - Friends of the Kaw is an example for me. I just became a friend of the Kaw.

Their primary mission is to help keep our waterways, the Kansas River, clean and educate the public as well as push for policy change. So please keep an eye on all of their efforts at kansasriver.org. Speaking of policy change, you can also follow the Kansas Office of Native American Affairs, k n a a, which serves as a liaison between the state government and the 4 federally recognized tribes in Kansas. For example, Kansas colleges and universities now provide in state tuition to students from tribes with historical ties to Kansas. Next time on Roots of Radical Kansas, we'll dive into 1 of the most pivotal chapters in Kansas history, Leading Kansas.

This wasn't just about whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free state. It was a fierce grassroots resistance against slavery that essentially ignited the Civil War. While John Brown often takes center stage, we'll also shine a light on lesser known but equally courageous voices. This podcast is part of Radical Civics, a people's education project. New episodes will drop every Wednesday.

Until next time, stay informed, stay engaged, and keep resisting.