About the Wyandot Nation of Kansas

The Wyandot Nation of Kansas is made up of the descendants of Wyandots formerly known as "absentee" or "citizen class Wyandot Indians. We called ourselves Wendat, meaning People of the Island. However, the French explorers and traders called us "Huron" which may have referred to the roach headdress worn by Wendat men. Our ancestral homeland is considered to be Georgian Bay, an inlet of Lake Huron, (yes, the lake was named after the our people). Due to war and disease our people were forced to disperse; one group went east to Quebec the other south to Ohio, Michigan and Ontario. The name Wendat was Anglicized to Wyandot/Wyandott/Wyandotte while we were in Ohio and Michigan. In 1843, the Wyandots left Ohio/Michigan and relocated to Kansas. Following the Civil War, some Wyandots stayed in Kansas, others moved to Oklahoma.

In response to the U.S.Government policies and procedures intent to dissolve American Indian tribes, along with repeated threats to commercially develop Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City Kanasas the Wyandot Nation of Kansas incorporated in the State of Kansas in 1959 . The Wyandot Nation of Kansas is currently petitioning the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs for federal recognition.

Article: "Wyandots Seek Tribal Status"- Kansas City Kansan April 16, 1995

The Wyandot Nation of Kansas is dedicated to the preservation of Wyandot history and culture and the preservation, protection, restoration and maintenance of the Huron Indian Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Wyandot Nation of Kansas is proud to be a member of the Wendat Confederacy. The historic Wendat Confederacy was in effect before our people were visited by Viking explorers .and was reaffirmed on August 27, 1999 in Midland Ontario by the leaders of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas, Wyandott Nation of Oklahoma, Wyandotte Nation of Anderdon and the Huron Wendat of Wendake.

Read the Wendat Confederacy Agreement of 1999