Museum set to highlight history

FORT RECOVERY — The museum is highlighting the history and culture of a few Native American tribes this weekend.

“Beyond the Battlefield: Interpreting St. Clair’s Defeat through the Eyes of Tribal Citizens,” a free Fort Recovery State Museum event featuring members of the Shawnee, Miami and Wyandotte tribes, will be held Saturday and Sunday at Fort Recovery State Museum and the surrounding area.

Museum director Kim Rammel noted the museum was awarded a $5,000 grant from Ohio Humanities in the spring to put on the event.

“We thought it would be a good approach,” said Rammel.

The event focuses on three of the tribes involved in St. Clair’s Defeat, a battle on Nov. 4, 1791, in which U.S. Gen. Arthur St. Clair and his army were defeated by Native Americans.

Five tribal citizens — they are members of the Eastern Shawnee, Wyandotte or Miami tribes — will be sharing their nation’s relationship to the battle with 18th-century garb accurate to their tribe, significant items that tie into family, tribal identity, political roles and conflict, and book lists, maps and other sources visitors may take home. Tribal interpreters will set up along the walking trail next to the museum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday for visitors to ask questions or have discussions.

They’ll also have games and other hands-on activities available, including traditional tribal games, such as stickball and hoop and stick.

Talon Silverhorn, a member of the Eastern Shawnee tribe, has been a history interpreter since 2007. The cultural programs manager at Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Silverhorn oversees Native American historical content in Ohio’s parks and has been involved in creating a new cultural interpretive center in Greene County. He worked with Rammel to plan the event, and he’s one of the tribal citizens sharing their culture’s history at the museum this weekend.

“We want to show people what the community life was like, we want to show people what family relations are like, we want to answer questions about our government and everything that makes us tick historically and today so we can draw a line of continuity between the period of St. Clair’s defeat to where we are now in Oklahoma,” he said.

Around the turn of the 19th century, between 1790 and 1812, there was a large number of Shawnee people heading into and flowing out of Ohio, explained Silverhorn.

“There’s a very split opinion on what is the best thing to do to survive,” he said, noting Shawnee populations living in Missouri, Indiana, Canada and Ohio. “Something like St. Clair’s defeat that became such a galvanizing event that you know, really, I think, drew more and more supporters for this cause of staying in the homeland, reclaiming part of our homeland, and reestablishing our connection with the British prior to the United States, I think it gave hope to some people that may have been on the fence.”

As the title suggests, this weekend’s festivities reach beyond the battlefield. Silverhorn’s goal is to focus more on other historical context around the time of the battle.

“The military history of the site is what most people are aware of and sort of interpret and place value on,” said Silverhorn. “We want to show people something a little bit different which is the entire reason these warriors are fighting is to preserve the community that’s behind them. They’re not fighting for their own individual glory or fame or their place in history … All that they were thinking about, in my mind, (are) were the people that they loved and the homeland that sustained those people.”

Tribal interpreters will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday inside the museum, with panel presentations set for 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. in the community room.

Ball State University archeologists will also give 45-minute battlefield tours both days at various times and the museum will be open free of charge.

 This weekend’s activities also act as a precursor to the traveling exhibit “St. Clair’s Defeat Revisited: A New View of the Conflict” coming to the museum from October to December. According to a press release from the museum, it shares the history of the battle’s context and aftermath in respect to the nine tribal nations who defeated the United States military.

“I just hope we have a big turnout,” said Rammel. “I think there’s just a lot of really good information. These guys are so knowledgeable and they’re just going to be so interesting to talk to.”

Rammel explained that the history surrounding the battle and that time period is often taught to Americans from one perspective. 

“Their ancestors were at the battle,” she said, referencing the five tribe members visiting this weekend. “A different perspective like that, it rounds out the historical content we have.”

For more information, visit fortrecoverymuseum.com or the museum’s Facebook page.