FIRST Episcopal Indian Deacon - Oklahoma City
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 28.518 W 097° 30.986
14S E 634595 N 3926765
Serving the Episcopal church on his home reservation, Rev. Oakerhater gave 50 years in service to his people on the reservation.
Waymark Code: WM14NMR
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 08/01/2021
Views: 0
David Oakerhater served Indian Territory and later Oklahoma, from 1881-1931 as a deacon in the Episcopal church. He was also a prisoner of war in the era of westward expansion.
He served 50 years on his home reservation, the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation in western Oklahoma. There were times when he was the single ordained presence in all of Indian Territory. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church added his name to its Calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts in 1985, the first American Indian to receive this recognition.
On the west side of the church, alongside the cornerstone showing the building was constructed in 1903, this bronze plaque is mounted on the church wall alongside a handicap ramp. The bronze plaque reads:
In memory of
The Reverend
David Pendleton Oakerhater
1847 - 1931
First Episcopal Indian Deacon in
Oklahoma at the Whirlwind Mission
A small chapel is located at the left front of the sanctuary dedicated to Rev. Oakerhater. It has an oil painting of him, and a symbolic circular window.
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