Quakers, First Nations and American Indians from the 1650s to the 21st Century

Conference, November 10-12, 2016

Univeristy of Pennsylvania, November 10

Bryn Mawr College, November 11

Haverford College, December 12

Native Americans, Quakers and others around the world have celebrated the accommodation that marked the founding of Pennsylvania. After the Quakers lost control of the colony, their reputation for maintaining good relations with American Indians gave them influence in federal policy on Indian Reservations, at boarding schools and in adoption programs. The pattern of interaction between Quakers, First Nations and American Indians has taken many turns, giving rise at various times to currents of distrust and disappointment, darkening the celebration of Pennsylvania's mythical, original peace. "Quakers, First Nations and American Indians from the 1650s to the 21st century" is an interdisciplinary conference examining from a historical perspective all aspects of relations between American Indians or First Nations and the Society of Friends.

The conference is sponsored by Bryn Mawr College, the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at the American Philosophical Society, Haverford College, and the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, with additional funding from the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, and Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Keynote speakers are John Echohawk, Pawnee, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund, and Jean Soderlund, author of Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society before William Penn.

Register at www.mceas.org