David McKellop Hodge facts for kids

David McKellop Hodge (1841–1920) was an important leader of the Creek Nation, a Native American tribe. He worked as a lawyer and interpreter, helping people understand laws and languages. He was also very active in politics, becoming a respected speaker and a member of the Creek Nation Council in Muskogee, their capital city.

He was born in 1841 in a place called Choska, in what was then Indian Territory. This area is now near Coweta in Wagoner County, Oklahoma. His father was white, and his mother was Creek. He grew up learning the Creek culture from his mother's family. He spoke both Creek and English fluently. He later became a lawyer for the Creek Nation.

David Hodge's Important Work

During the Civil War

During the American Civil War, many Creek people sided with the Confederacy. Their leaders had promised them a state controlled by Native Americans if they won the war. David Hodge was part of a Creek cavalry group that fought in the war.

Helping the Creek Nation

David Hodge went to Presbyterian mission schools in the Creek Nation before the war. Because of his education, he was chosen to write the Creek Constitution in 1868. This was a very important document for their government.

He often worked as a clerk for the Creek National Council. He also traveled to Washington, D.C. many times. He was part of groups sent by the Creek Nation to talk with the United States government. He helped negotiate peace terms for a new treaty after the war. Later, he also helped work out the details of the Curtis Act of 1898, which affected Creek lands.

In 1897, the Creek Principal Chief Isparhecker asked Hodge to join a committee. This committee's job was to talk with the Dawes Commission. They wanted to protect the rights of the Creek people when their shared lands were divided up. David Hodge also spoke for the Creek Nation in Washington, D.C., in front of Congress and in courts.

Working for a Native American State

In 1905, David Hodge was chosen to represent his tribal town, Broken Arrow, at the Sequoyah Convention in Muskogee. This meeting was a big effort by several Native American nations in the territory. They wanted to create their own state, controlled by Native Americans. This was happening because there was growing pressure to make the territories into a state, which would take away Native American land rights. Hodge was part of a special committee that helped organize the convention.

Language and Education

David Hodge also helped translate parts of the Bible into the Creek language. He worked with a missionary named Robert McGill Loughridge. Together, they finished and published the English and Muskogee Dictionary in 1890. This was the first dictionary ever made for the Creek language, and it was the only one for almost 100 years.

He also helped start the Loughridge Memorial Presbyterian Church, which is now called White Church. This church was in the Creek Nation. From 1870 to 1900, he helped a private school use the church building. Families paid for their children to attend this school.

David Hodge passed away in 1920. He is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.