The struggle of mixed race families in Southwest America was a daunting issue in the early 19th century.
As part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series of the Southwest, SMU Director of Southwest Studies Andrew Graybill shared a detailed account of a mixed White-Native American family from Montana who faced an exponential amount of racial discrimination.
In the Texana Room of DeGolyer Library Wednesday afternoon, listeners gathered and silently snacked on their lunches as Graybill spoke of the Clarke family.
“To walk in two worlds was impossible,” Graybill said, “whites looked at mixed blood with repulsion.”
His book, entitled A Mixture of So Many Bloods, recalled the life of Helen Clarke and the backlash she received for being the daughter of a white man and a Native American woman. At this time in the early 1800s, marriage within the two races was common, and children served as brokers between the two groups. Helen’s father had a prominent role as a fur trader; therefore, the family was often the talk of the town.
Gerry and Polly York attended the lecture as a way to learn more about early racial prejudice and how it affected the women of the Southwest. “It’s a challenge, even in today’s society, so I can’t imagine what they went through back then,” Polly said.
Young, Female and Mixed- Race
According to Graybill, Helen was the most fascinating of the Clarke family. After her father was brutally murdered by her cousin, who was an Indian, Helen went on to live in New York to pursue a stage career. Graybill described Helen as a woman of “magnificent womanhood.” Although she loved the stage, her career was cut short. Helen received a position as an allotment agent back in Montana for the government and helped local Indians find land. Only one other woman had held this position and she was white.
With the increase of white people in Montana, Helen felt outnumbered and alone. “White people had no sense of racial inclusion at this time,” Graybill said.
The Discrimination Continues
Graybill mentioned the Clarke family was well known and highly criticized for their mixed children. According to white people at the time, the worst aspects of each race created mixed families: white dissipation and Indian savagery. As a young girl born to an Indian woman, Helen was looked down upon her entire life.
“I had no idea this was a problem back then,” Jordynn Prado, SMU senior , said.
Jon Kowalski, a visiting scholar from Carnegie Mellon University, had a great interest in the lecture.
“This lecture series was recommended to me, so I was looking forward to hearing Graybill speak,” Kowalski said.
Graybill’s goal for the lecture was to promote awareness about racial tension in Southwest America during that time period.
“Although Helen received no physical violence, the social ostracism she encountered was bad enough,” Graybill concluded.
The Brown Bag Lecture Series will continue on Thursday, Oct. 20 in the DeGolyer Library at 6:00 p.m.
