Keetoowah Nighthawk Society - History

History

The Cherokee Nation was divided by the Dawes Commission in the 1890s. The Dawes commission was tasked to force assimilation and breakup of tribal governments within Oklahoma by instilling the concept of land ownership among individual households of the Five Civilized Tribes. The commission divided large sections of land into household allotments to eliminate the traditional governments of the Cherokee and other tribes, which were based on communal holding of land. As a consequence of the Dawes Commission programs, the Cherokee culture and society was destabilized and strictly controlled. The federal government appointed chiefs of the tribe, who were reduced to administrators and carried out government programs intended to force assimilation of the Cherokee.

As part of assimilation, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the government sponsored Indian boarding schools, where Cherokee and other Native American children attended away from their families. They were prohibited from speaking their own languages or practicing their own religions and cultures. Over time, much of the Cherokee culture was lost. The remaining Cherokee during this period in history begin to adopt and integrate cultural practices of other tribes who were being forcibly removed into Oklahoma Territory.

To resist the cultural erosion, many Cherokee leaders and elders formed a secret society, the Keetoowah Nighthawk Society, where they secretly practiced the traditional ceremonies and gatherings. This group preserved much of the pre-removal culture, ceremonies, and beliefs of the Cherokee. In modern times, the society is fractured and is not affiliated with any particular Cherokee Nation, Band, or Tribe. Members of the fragments of the original society are affiliated with many Cherokee groups in Oklahoma. Many of the modern groups claiming to represent the original Keetoowah culture have integrated Christianity and various new age beliefs into their religious practices.