New website celebrates and marks Feast Day of St. Oakerhater

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

The Oklahoma State University Library’s Electronic Publishing Center and participating scholars have made previously unavailable letters and pictures of St. David Pendleton Oakerhater available online.

The website, titled, “From warrior to saint: the journey of David Pendleton Oakerhater,” was unveiled on Sept. 3, 2006, to coincide with the feast day of Oakerhater, the first Native American saint in the Episcopal Church.

It contains over 30 letters from Oakerhater to his patroness, Deaconess Mary Burnham, as well as 19 pictures of Burnham, Oakerhater and his family. The artifacts are part of the collection donated to St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral by Nellie Burnham, great-granddaughter of the deaconess.  

“The letters written by the saint offer a unique insight into the history of Oklahoma and Indian Territory from an Indian perspective,” said Cokie Anderson, assistant professor and Electronic Publishing Librarian.

The website also includes a biography of Oakerhater by K.B. Kueteman and an essay by Dr. C. Blue Clark of the Native American Legal Resource Center, Oklahoma City University School of Law. It can be reached online at http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Oakerhater/index.html.