Founder(s) | Jotham Meeker |
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Publisher | Jotham Meeker, John G. Pratt |
Editor | Johnston Lykins |
Founded | 1835 |
Language | Shawnee |
Ceased publication | 1844 |
Headquarters | Shawnee Baptist Mission |
Country | Indian Territory |
Circulation | 200 |
The Shawnee Sun (Shawnee: Siwinowe Kesibwi) newspaper was published in the Shawnee language from 1835 to 1844, in the portion of Indian Territory that became Kansas. The paper was founded by Baptist missionary Jotham Meeker, who created his own script for Shawnee, an Algonquian language. This missionary newspaper was intended to give the Shawnee a written language, aid in education and news, and to help convert the tribe to Christianity. It is the first newspaper published entirely in a Native American language, and the first newspaper printed in what became Kansas.