TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The UKB Education department and library will be hosting a lecture about the history of Dwight Mission from 1817 to present on Tuesday, November 18th at 10 am in the Community Services conference room.  Refreshments will be served.

The lecture is made possible by funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  The mission of IMLS is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. We provide leadership through research, policy development, and grant making.

The lecture will be presented by Peter Newbery, Executive Director of Dwight Mission Camp and Conference Center.  Dwight Mission was founded at the request of Western Cherokee Chief Tahlonteskee in 1818. Tahlonteskee expressed to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), an extension of the Presbyterian Church, the desire for a mission school to educate the Western Cherokees. The Western Principal Chief knew if his people were to weather the ensuing changes before them it was imperative they be educated. And Dwight Mission became the first mission west of the Mississippi River to serve the Cherokee people.

The mission was to be located in the newly created Territory of Arkansas which in part became the Cherokee Reserve as part of the Treaty of 1817. The Treaty of 1817 was an agreement between one group of the Cherokee tribe which would give up their lands in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama and in exchange would receive an equal portion of land in Arkansas. This group of Cherokee became known as the “Old Settlers”. The Cherokee Reserve was situated in the northwestern part of the Arkansas Territory between the Arkansas and White Rivers.

For more information, contact the UKB Education Department at 918-456-8698.