June 11, 1979
This day in Osage country marks the anniversary of the death of John Joseph Mathews, a famous Osage writer.
John Joseph Mathews was born on November 16, 1895, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He spent much of his youth exploring the Osage Hills, “developing an appreciation and love for his native culture and terrain,” (Encyclopedia of Oklahoma). During his school years, Mathew attended local public schools and by the time of the Great War he joined the United States Army.
Upon his return home, Mathews decided to continue his education and enrolled in the University of Oklahoma. From there, he continued his study at Oxford University where he graduated in 1923, one of the first American Indians to do so. Mathews then traveled overseas and “studied international relations at the University of Geneva while the League of Nations was in session,” (Encyclopedia of Oklahoma). Before returning to the United States, Mathews traveled to Africa where he experienced the cultures of indigenous tribes. It was because of this experience that Mathews decided to preserve the history of his own native tribe. He returned home and began collecting and maintaining artifacts, as well as learning the important oral histories of his tribal elders.
In 1932, Mathews published his first book Wah’Kon-tah: The Osage and the White Man’s Road. This title became the first university press book to be selected as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. Two years later his second book was published titled, Sundown, followed by his third publication, Talking to the Moon, which was published in 1945. Mathews would go on to publish two more books titled Life and Death of an Oilman: the Career of E.W. Marland (1951) and The Osages: Children of the Middle Waters (1961). The latter was compiled of nearly three decades of the oral histories Mathews worked so hard to collect.
From 1934 through 1942, John Joseph Mathews served on the Osage Tribal Council and was one of the main proponents behind the establishment of the Osage Tribal Museum. His legacy earned him a place in the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame in 1996.
Mathews had two children, John and Virginia, who were also active in the academic world publishing their own works. Mathews passed away on June 11, 1979. He is buried near his cabin located at the entrance of the Tall Grass Prairie Reserve.
Morgan M. Guzman
Further Reading
“John Joseph Mathews.” John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/john-joseph-mathews/ Date accessed May 3, 2018.
“John Joseph Mathews, the Osage Tribal Museum, and the emergence of an Indigenous Museum Model.” Project Muse. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/663857 Date accessed May 3, 2018.
“Mathews, John Joseph.” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=MA037 Date accessed May 3, 2018.
