Harriet Bedell of the Miccosukee

8 January

Harriet Mary Bedell, deaconess and missionary among the Seminoles and Miccosukee in southern Florida, died on 8 January 1969.

Harriet Bedell in her garden in Florida.

Born in 1875 in Buffalo, New York, Harriet Bedell became a teacher with many young Indian students. In the winter of 1905-06, she attended a meeting at her church to hear a missionary speak of the need for more workers in China to spread the word of the Lord. Determined to become a missionary, she gave up her job to train as an Episcopal deaconess in New York City. At the end of her year of training, she elected to study nursing for a year in her home town of Buffalo. At the end of this schooling, in 1907, she was appointed an apprentice deaconess and sent to the Whirlwind Mission in Oklahoma to minister among the Cheyenne (assisting Oakerhater, see Aug. 31).

She threw herself into her work and gradually gained the love and trust of her people. She was adopted into the tribe and given the name of Vicsehia, which means Bird Woman, because she sang, hummed, and whistled constantly while she worked. Harriet devoted herself to the Cheyenne until she contracted tuberculosis and was sent to Colorado to recover. There she attended a healing service and became free of symptoms, which she called a miracle. Instead of returning to Oklahoma, in 1916 she was sent to Alaska, where she worked for many years among the native peoples. In 1922 she journeyed to Portland, Oregon, to be ordained a deaconess in the Episcopal Church, returning to her mission in Alaska.

In 1932 while she was enjoying her first sabbatical with her family in Buffalo, the Bishop of New York asked her to visit the chain of missions in Florida to recruit church workers. On this trip she first encountered the Miccosukee tribe. She was appalled at the condition of the local Seminoles, who were wrestling alligators and making a display of themselves for the tourists. With the backing of Bishop Wing in Miami and the Collier Corporation in Everglades (now Everglades City), Bedell set up the Glade Cross Mission to minister to local people and native Americans. This feisty little woman ventured out into the Everglades swamp by canoe and on foot to visit remote villages, where she worked with the local medicine man to improve conditions and combat disease. She established the tradition of providing a Christmas celebration for the Indians with a feast of good food, small presents, and a brief religious service. Locally in Everglades City, and on nearby Marco Island, the deaconess held Sunday School classes, taught the girls to sew, and preached to the prisoners in the county jail. She attended social functions and became a fixture in the community.

The tribe adopted her and gave her the name Inkoshopie, woman who prays. Bedell borrowed on her salary and made an arrangement with the Collier Corporation to finance sales of Indian craft, including beadwork, clothing, pottery, carving, and leatherwork. With the proceeds, she repaid the loans and gave the Indians company script which they could spend at the store in Everglades. Bedell was tireless in persistent efforts for her people, traveling as far as Washington to prevent Japanese imitations of the craft work from entering the country, and to New York to sell Indian items to large department stores. She continued to do this work after her retirement, augmenting her meager income with loans from the Colliers, who eventually deeded over to her the small dwelling she occupied in Everglades. Every Christmas she arranged an enormous party with feasting and entertainment and gifts for all the Indians and children from Everglades.

In September 1960 Harriet was forced to evacuate her home when hurricane Donna struck. The storm leveled her property, destroying her typewriter, sewing machine, children’s books, and gifts set aside for the upcoming holiday celebration. The bishop insisted that Harriet finally give up her active life at 85, and she moved to the Bishop Gray Inn in Davenport, Florida, a home for retired Episcopalians. Refusing to be idle, she planned and taught Sunday school, worked in the infirmary, and gave speeches to recruit mission workers. A huge birthday party was thrown for her when she turned 90, and Coronet magazine featured an article about her. She died there on 8 January 1969, just short of her 94th birthday.

Her story has appeared in many newspapers and magazines, and three books have been written about her: William and Ellen Hartley, A Woman Set Apart (New York, 1953); Elizabeth Scott Ames, Deaconess of the Everglades (Cortland, NY, 1995); and Marya Repko, Angel of the Swamp (Everglades City, FL, 2009). General Convention in 2009 added her to the Episcopal calendar of saints.