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|
 official tribal flag | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 4,675 (2024)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Oklahoma) | |
| Languages | |
| Shawnee,English,Yuchi | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,Native American Church, traditional tribal religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma,Shawnee Tribe, andSac and Fox |
TheAbsentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (orAbsentee Shawnee[2]) is one of threefederally recognized tribes ofShawnee people.[3] Historically residing in what became organized as the upper part of theEastern United States, the original Shawnee lived in the large territory now made up of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and neighboring states. In total, they occupied and traveled through lands ranging from Canada to Florida, and from theMississippi River to the eastern continental coast.
AfterIndian Removal, most of the people settled inIndian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma). In 1936, the Absentee Shawnee Tribe reorganized their government and became federally recognized. Their headquarters is inShawnee, Oklahoma.[3] Theirtribal jurisdictional area includes land in Oklahoma in bothCleveland andPottawatomie counties.[4] The other federally recognized tribes are theShawnee Tribe and theEastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.
There are 4,675 enrolled Absentee Shawnee tribal citizens as of June 30, 2024.[1] Approximately 74% of citizens lived in Oklahoma as of 2020.[4] Tribal enrollment is based onblood quantum criteria, with applicants required to have a minimum of one-eighth (1/8) documented Absentee-Shawnee blood to be accepted as citizens, as established by the tribal constitution.[5] Though it is not a formal division, there is a social separation between two major groups of the tribe, based on different histories of their ancestors. Descendants of the traditionalist Big Jim Band have kept cultural traditions and ceremonies; they have their primary community in the Little Axe, orNorman area. The White Turkey Band historically had assimilated more, adopting cultural ways of the European-American majority. Today many of its families are based in theShawnee area. Regardless of historical viewpoints, the bands cooperate for the future of the tribe.
The tribe operates its own housing authority and issues tribal vehicle tags. It owns a gas station, two smoke shops, two casinos, and the AST Health Center and Plus Care, inNorman orShawnee, Oklahoma.[6] Its casinos, both called Thunderbird Casino, are east of Norman, near the tribal headquarters in Shawnee.[7] As of 2017, the tribe's economic impact is over $145 million. The tribe has 1,130 paid positions and paid $55 million to workers.[4]
The Absentee Shawnee Tribe has all the inherent powers ofsovereignty held prior to theConstitution of the United States. Such powers include adopting and operating a form of government of its choosing, defining the conditions of tribal enrollment, regulating domestic relations of its citizens, levying taxes, regulating property within its jurisdiction, and controlling the conduct of citizens by legislation and a justice system.
Its chosen form of government evolved over the first half of the 20th century. In 1938, the current government was formalized under a constitution written to provide statutory authority. The current constitution was ratified on December 5, 1938, and it was last amended on August 13, 1988.
The tribal government is composed of two separate branches: the legislative/executive branch (also referred to as Executive Committee) and the judicial branch. In addition, an independent body, the 'Election Committee,' conducts annual elections.
The legislative/executive branch has five members, all electedat-large: Governor, Lieutenant, Secretary, Treasurer, and Representative. Terms are four years. The Executive Committee sets policy, administers government programs, and executes the will of the tribal membership.
The current administration includes the following:[3]
TheShawnee are anAlgonquian-speaking people, and at the time of European encounter, they had bands living in present-dayEastern United States and parts of theSoutheastern United States.
During theAmerican Revolutionary War, many Shawnee moved from the area later defined as theNorthwest Territory near the Great Lakes toCape Girardeau, Missouri; some later moved intoSpanish Louisiana. These bands were later joined by other Shawnee groups fromAlabama. Some relocated southward intoArkansas Territory,Spanish Texas, andFrench Louisiana after the 1803Louisiana Purchase by theUnited States of former French-controlled lands west of the Mississippi River. Due to encroaching European-American settlement, the Shawnee in Missouri negotiated an 1825 treaty, ceding their Missouri lands forreservations inKansas.
However, prior to the treaty, a group of Shawnee (later known as the Big Jim band) had already left the region to migrate toTexas Territory, then controlled by Spain. Collectively, the band would become known as Absentee Shawnee, as they were referred to as such in the provisional clause of an 1854 treaty regarding Kansas reservation lands.[10] Later, theTexas-Mexico War compelled numerous Absentee Shawnee to leave Texas Territory and to relocate intoIndian Territory of Oklahoma. Historians believe that other Shawnee bands, also once in Kansas, had already resettled in Indian Territory beginning around 1839, the year that theCherokee Nation were removed from the Southeast to this territory.
In the late 19th century, an Indian Agent of theUS government brought soldiers fromFort Reno to force the traditionalist Big Jim band of Absentee Shawnees out of theDeep Fork River area, southward to Hog Creek and Little River area near present-dayLake Thunderbird, Norman. Their descendants, federally recognized since 1936 as the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, continued to live here, in communities now calledLittle Axe, andShawnee.
In 1872, theUS Congress gave the Absentee Shawnee title to shared lands occupied on theCitizen Potawatomi Nation-Absentee Shawnee Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area (OTSA).[10][11] In the late 19th century, the communal land was allotted to individual households in an effort to force the tribes to adopt subsistence farming and assimilate to mainstream European-American ways. They lost control of considerable land in the process.
In 1936, the tribe reorganized and gainedfederal recognition as the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma under the newOklahoma Indian Welfare Act, with the current constitution ratified on December 5, 1938.[12]
Since the early 21st century, the tribe has created the Cultural Preservation Department to support cultural and language preservation. They offer aShawnee language class and immersion program for children.[13] According to the Intertribal Wordpath Society, as of 2006, some 200 to 800 people still spoke the Shawnee language in Oklahoma.[14] Pauline Wahpepah, a fluent native speaker, teaches Shawnee for the tribe.[15]
George Blanchard, Sr, Governor of the Absentee Shawnee from 2009 to 2013, has more recently also been working on language programs and teaching both children and adults. Since 2014 he has worked as a language specialist at theEastern Shawnee Cultural Preservation Department inSeneca, Missouri, near the Oklahoma border. He grew up speaking Shawnee and did not learn English until he was five years old. At Seneca, he teaches Headstart and elementary grade classes, as well as adults two evenings a week, to encourage families to use Shawnee at home. Since the early 21st century, he has also provided translations and language coaching on TV projects, such asRic Burns’s 2009PBS seriesWe Shall Remain and the 2018History Channel documentary seriesFrontiersmen.[16]
The official emblem was designed by Leroy White (October 4, 1928 – July 25, 2002), a great-grandson ofBig Jim and direct descendant of ChiefTecumseh. His work was selected in a 1974 competition sponsored by the Absentee Shawnee for a tribal logo.
White said about his design:
Leroy White was born and raised in Little Axe, Oklahoma, on land allotted to his family in 1886, in the break-up of communal tribal lands. White was immersed from birth in theShawnee language and traditions.[citation needed] In 1976 he was selected to succeed his uncle, Webster Little Jim, as the traditional chief of the Big Jim band of Absentee Shawnee Tribe. His interests included painting. In 1974, with the encouragement of his family, White had entered the contest sponsored by the Absentee Shawnee Tribe for design of a tribal logo. He included what he believed are the most important symbols to the Absentee Shawnee people. White won the contest, and his design was adopted as the official emblem of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe.[citation needed]
| Preceded by | Absentee Shawnee Tribal Governor 2013–Present | Succeeded by |
