First Encounters: Native Americans and Christians

Benjamin West's Painting of William Penn's Treaty with the Delaware Indians

Benjamin West's painting of William Penn's 1701 treaty with the Delaware Indians. In making this treaty, Penn sought to treat Native peoples with justice and respect, thus attempting to set Pennsylvania apart from many of the other colonies (Photo: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Gift of Mrs. Sarah Harrison. The Joseph Harrison, Jr. Collection). Image file courtesy Wikimedia Commons.)

Mother Frances with Four Cheyenne Girls at a Missionary School

Mother Frances with four Cheyenne girls, 1930. For over a century, mission schools provided education and at the same time encouraged the separation of Native students from their cultures (Photo Credit: Montana Historical Society, Helena)