DAR speaker to share stories about his childhood on the Osage Indian reservation

Members of the John Bartram Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will learn first-hand about the struggle for survival of the Osage and Quapaw Indian tribes.

The group’s guest speaker at its meeting on Friday, February 19 will be Maryanne Esenwein. She grew up in Oklahoma on the Osage Indian Reservation with her mixed Osage and white family. She will present her story, “Tales of the Prairies: An Intimate Portrait of an Osage and Quapaw Family,” at the reunion, which begins with the recording at 9:30 am and begins 30 minutes later.

The Osage and Quapaw tribes are believed to have lived in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys since 700 BC. They were forced to migrate west when the Iroquois began to invade their native lands in search of new hunting grounds in the late 1700s.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Osages had become the dominant power in the present-day Kansas area. But the tribe fell victim to the white man’s “manifest fate” policy and was forced by the United States government to relocate to Indian territory in present-day Oklahoma.

Esenwein is also a proud fifth generation DAR member, living in Florida and active in several chapter and state positions. In her spare time, when she’s not with her husband James, a retired Air Force officer, and her stepson Alex, she volunteers with her Kappa Gamma Sorority Association, Space Coast Military Spouses and visit Disney World.