November Page

Red Dirt Groundbreaker: Henryetta Vann

When the Europeans first encountered the Five Civilized Tribes in the eastern part of the continent, they were living in agricultural villages. Men were hunters and warriors, and they cleared land. Women cultivated fields and raised children. Women held very high status in these communities. They owned virtually all the family possessions, including the home, the fields and the crops.

Women continued to play an important role in managing farm operations after the tribes came to Indian Territory. They brought their knowledge to start farms in the new land. Henrietta Vann was the wife of a prominent Cherokee, Judge John Vann. In the Chronicles of Oklahoma, Carolyn Thomas Foreman provides a glimpse into her life on her farm near Muskogee.

In a big house built of oak logs this Cherokee woman ruled her household like a real chatelaine. On the rich land were grown corn, oats, millet and some wheat, tobacco in a limited quantity, and cotton. There being no gins, the cotton seeds had to be removed by hand before the lint could be carded and spun. There were peaches, apples, pears, plums, berries, grapes and melons grown on this farm....Many vegetables were grown and while some of them were stored in the cellar, many were dried for winter consumption. Fruits were preserved with sugar and quantitles were dried but no fruits or vegetables were canned....Sheep were raised on the farm and their wool was utilized to spin cloth and for yarn from which socks and stockings were knit....In winter...hogs were butchered for making sausage, hams and bacon....When cattle were butchered parts of the animal were dried and proved very palatable when fresh meat was not available.

Henryetta managed the farm, but much of the work was done by slaves. The Cherokees held slaves and fought with the Confederacy during the Civil War. In retaliation, the Union troops burned the farms of many Cherokees, including that of Henrietta Vann. Hundreds of Cherokees headed south by wagon and ox cart to wait out the war in Texas. After the war they returned to their farms in Indian Territory.

More Red Dirt Groundbreakers

November Page

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.