Working to Correct the Historical Record

In the process of developing this film our team has learned so much about Tonkawa history, that we found ourselves this past February, working outside the scope of the film to both update and re-examine Tonkawa history as put forth in the 20th century.
​
One of our team members presented a formal paper at the Texas State Historical Association's (TSHA's) annual meeting in Houston called:  1842-1843, When the Tonkawa Tribe Lived in Austin.  This academic paper by Bob O'Dell summarized the work of a longer paper previously announced in an in this newsletter last year.  This shorter paper also emphasized that some of the stated historical evidence came from early TSHA Fellows, and it even added one new piece of historical evidence not previously announced.  That paper was delivered orally so we do not yet have a printed version to link.

By far the more interesting and important presentation was made by Dr. Stanley S. McGowen, the author of the only single volume on Tonkawa history:  The Texas Tonkawas, published by Statehouse Press.  Dr. McGowen came out of retirement to present a paper in the same TSHA session entitled:  Re-Evaluating the 1601 Oñate Expedition and Late 20th Century Conclusions of Tonkawa Origins. McGowen's paper took on the issue of how in the 1980s, a theory was proposed that the Tonkawa were not originally native to Texas, but were rather from the plains of northern Oklahoma.  This theory was propagated widely, even to the point that the TSHA's website still reports it as fact in its article on the Tonkawa Tribe.  

"Dr. McGowen's paper not only poked massive holes in that 1980s theory, it completely turned it on its head, by using their own evidence against them, and then added new linguistic evidence never previously published, to demonstrate that not only is 1980s theory not correct, it actually helps prove a Texas origin for the tribe," said Bob O'Dell who was present in the session.  "It was an amazing display of logic." That paper was also delivered orally but Dr. McGowen plans to publish it as soon as possible.

It is important to note that current TSHA leadership quickly accepted our proposal for a two-paper session at their annual meeting knowing the proposed content of these papers.  The TSHA were encouraging during the process, consistently enthusiastic about this session, and promoted the session widely in their newsletter prior to the annual meeting.  The papers' authors have nothing but thanks and appreciation for the current TSHA leadership, even though we regret the long-standing position of the TSHA has been, and still is, to accept the 1980s theory as conclusive. We hope that over time they will correct this astounding error that denigrates an entire people group, and diametrically contradicts an oral history which predates any outside involvement in Texas.

---