Magdalena Hergert Becker (August 4, 1878 – July 7, 1938) was a pioneer

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

. She served as Field Matron at Post Oak Missionary in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

for 28 years. The matron position was one created by the US government to assist with assimilation efforts. Becker was considered a success in the matron program as some Native Americans did identify as Christian.

Biography

Becker was born to farmers Wilhelm and Magdalena Hergert in Ebenfeld, Kansas (also disputed to be

Hillsboro, Kansas Hillsboro is a city in Marion County, Kansas, United States. Hillsboro was named after John Gillespie Hill, who homesteaded in the area in 1871.Hillsboro Kansas, The City on the Prairie; Wiebe, Raymond F; 1985. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...

) on August 4, 1878, and her family moved to

Fairview, Kansas Fairview is a city in Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 240. History Fairview was founded on October 27, 1886, on land purchased in 1872 by W. F. Lambertson. It was named for its scenic ...

in 1894. Becker witnessed filming of the 1920 silent film '' Daughter of Dawn'', with a native cast of

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

and

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

. She complained in her weekly report to the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

: "Went to a camp close to headquarters where their icare about 300 Kiowas and Comanches gathered dancing and having pictures taken to be used in the movies.... I talked to the manager to have the camp broken up and dances stopped. These dances and large gatherings week after week are ruining our Indian boys and girls as they have been going on for about three months at different places. No work done during these days." A Comanche scholar wrote that her "amusing attempt to claim jurisdiction over "our" Natives' labor and assembly joins centuries of colonizing tactics against the Indigenous." Becker was married to Abraham "A.J." Becker, a

missionary. They had 7 children with 1 dying in infancy. Becker retired from her field matron work in 1932 and later died from liver disease on July 7, 1938 in

Indiahoma, Oklahoma Indiahoma is a town in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located just south of US Route 62, about 24.4 driving miles west of Lawton. The population was 344 at the 2010 census. It is included as an exurb in the Lawton, Oklahoma, M ...

(also disputed to be

Chickasha, Oklahoma Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,036 at the 2010 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The city is named for and strongly connecte ...

). Over 1,500 people attended her funeral service at Post Oak Cemetery. Abraham remarried to a woman named Katharina Poetker in 1941, and died in

Lawton, Oklahoma Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Ce ...

around 1957. He is buried next to Magdalena.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Magdalena Hergert 1878 births 1938 deaths Mennonite missionaries