Iowa tribe of kansas and nebraska

Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission Museum

The original Iowa and Sac & Fox Presbyterian Mission

Built in 1845-46

Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission Museum
as it appears today

“The Iowa Tribe [of Kansas and Nebrakasa] is still here, and we are working to do what we can to bring back our culture and land.”

Through the Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission Museum, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska is working to revitalize our culture and land. 

 

The ITKN Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Lance Foster, and several other tribal leaders worked together with the State to bring the Mission School under the Tribe’s custody. After assuring State legislators that the Tribe would not develop the land into a casino, the building and the 10 acres around it were returned to the Tribe on October 7, 2021, after 153 years of being in the hands of others.

The museum was reopened under the Tribe in May of 2022. Michael Kelley, Museum Director and Historian for the Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission Museum, loves to share the history of the museum and the Tribe to guests.

Currently, a set of sketches of Ioway ancestors by Rudolf Frederiech Kurz(1818-1871) are on display on the museum’s first floor. Kurz was a Swiss artist who traveled along the Mississippi and Upper Missouri Rivers from 1846 to 1852. Upon arriving in the United States, he aimed to give an honest portrayal of the American Indian. In 1850 he married Chief White Cloud’s daughter, Witthae. Witthae missed her family so much that she ran away after only two weeks of marriage. Kurz returned to Switzerland in 1852 where he lived out the rest of his life as an art instructor and artist. Upon his death in 1871, he left numerous sketches, paintings (some of which were burned by his family due to nudity), and texts. He also compiled a brief dictionary of Native American dialects. Kurz’s sketches are on loan from the St. Joseph Museum and are due to be returned in January 2025.

Timeline graphic of the Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission's history from 1845 to 2022, detailing key events such as its founding, transitions to private ownership, museum openings, and eventual return to the Iowa Tribe.

On the second floor of the museum you will find the Ioway: Here to Stay exhibit. 

ITKN tribal members Sydney Pursel and Rebecca Schlichting curated this exhibit. Some items are on loan by Tribal Members and other items were crafted by Tribal Members.

 

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Stay connected and up to date about events and more by joining the 

Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission Museum Facebook page 

The Mission School opened on the ITKN reservation, but now due to reservation boundaries being moved in 1854 it sits near Highland, KS.

 

The address is 1737 Elgin Rd, Highland, KS 66035

 

The hours of the Museum are 

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 10am-4pm, 

closing for Tribal and federal holidays.

 

Admission is free!

 

Be sure to stop by and chat with Director Kelley and reconnect with ITKN history and culture!

 

(785)442-3251

For any questions or corrections regarding this page, please email communications@iowas.org