Death of 7-year-old Ledcie Stechi highlights the injustice of the guardianship system

Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress USA

The allotment era and the guardianship system was a tragic period of time for Native Americans in Oklahoma, including young children who had wealth. 

(MCCURTAIN COUNTY, Okla.) Ledcie Stechi was just seven years old when she died on August 15, 1923, in Goodwater, Oklahoma at the home of her guardian, W.J. Whiteman. However, her death could have been prevented had she received proper care and consideration. 

The circumstances leading up to Ledcie’s death puts a spotlight on the reality of the guardianship system, greed, the thirst for Native wealth and land that impacted Indigenous people in Oklahoma during the allotment era that spanned from the late 1800’s through the 1920s in Oklahoma. 

The Dawes Act passed in 1887 divided up Indian Country land into allotments. One of the goals of this act was to force Native Americans to assimilate and live less communally. It also created a convenient way for more land to be made available to white settlers. The discovery of resources such as oil on allottee land brought about grafters from far all over North America.

In 1906, the Burke Act was passed. This act gave the Secretary for the Department of Interior the power to decide if Native Americans who had allotments were competent enough to handle their own affairs. If an allottee was determined incompetent to handle their own affairs, they would be assigned a typically white guardian who would have control of not only the allottee’s land but their money as well. Furthermore, if an allottee died, it was up to the Secretary of Interior to determine who the legal heirs were. 

The case of Ledcie Stechi is an example of how there was very little protection for members of the Five Tribes with allotments, even when they were too young to speak for themselves. 

Ledcie was one of many children who were taken advantage of through the guardianship system. The publication Oklahoma’s Poor Rich Indians mentions the names of other Indigenous girls who were impacted, including Susanna Butler and Munnie Bear. 

Suanna Butler and Munnie Bear were both full blood Muscogee (Creek) girls. Both had oil resources on their land, and both were declared incompetent and had guardians appointed to them. 

Oklahoma’s Poor Rich Indians discusses the way the guardianship system benefits not only the guardians, but also the judges who appointed them. The publication states, “The judge depends on for his election the persons whom he has promised to appoint guardians, and once he has appointed them he will depend on them for his re-election, so he will not remove them if they are incompetent.” 

On May 27,1908, a law often referred to as “The Crime of 1908” was passed that transferred probate cases from the federal government to county courts. Local judges at these courts could appoint guardians who were friends, and who didn’t always have the best interest of the people whose finances they were to look after. 

Details about Ledcie's death and what led up to it are mentioned in multiple newspaper articles, court documents, and letters in the Part II: Indian Rights Association Collection at the Tulsa City-County Library.

Ledcie was born in 1916, to Eliza Stechi. According to a letter written by the Choctaw National Attorney E.O. Clark to Shade E Wallen, the Superintendent of the Five Tribes in 1923, her dad is assumed to be Wilson Bohanan. 

Eliza died when Ledcie was just three years old. She was raised by her grandmother in a home near Smithville, Oklahoma. Ledcie’s uncle, Noel Samuel, was appointed as her guardian on June 27th, 1919. 

After her mother’s death in 1919, Ledcie inherited land from her mother, including 21 acres that was considered valuable oil land. Samuel sold the other land for $2,000 and was given $10 a month for Ledcie’s care. 

In 1921, a businessman named W.J. Whiteman became Ledcie’s guardian until her untimely death. Testimony states, “At the time of Mr. Whiteman’s appointment in July 1921, Ledcie was living with her grandmother in dire poverty. She lived in a small house, poorly ventilated, without proper food or clothing.”

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By the fall of 1922, Whiteman was allowed a $200 allowance for Ledcie, however as the testimony states, nothing changed in the situation until the spring of 1923. 

Despite being allowed to give Ledcie $200 a month, other documents state that she was only given $15 a month. According to the U.S. Inflation calculator that $200 would be worth about $3,800 today and the $15 Ledcie received would be just $285. 

In 1923, Ledcie and her grandmother were moved to Idabel, Oklahoma. 

Testimony states, “Ledcie was dirty, filthy, and covered with vermin. As to her health she presented an emaciated appearance, weighed about 47 pounds but after five weeks of medical treatment she gained 11 pounds. A medical examination showed she was undernourished and was poisoned by malaria.”

W.J. Farver, an employee for the Indian Service, placed Ledcie in Wheelock Academy, a boarding school for Native American girls. The placement of Ledcie into this academy did not go over well with Whiteman, who had her removed. 

In May of 1923, Ledcie was ill for several weeks with malaria and stomach issues. By August of that year, a man named Dr. McBrayer was called back to see her.

Another doctor was called and Whiteman, Ledcie’s guardian suggested getting her to a hospital. By that point she was too ill. She died the morning of August 15th, 1923. 

The Choctaw National attorney stated that there were circumstances surrounding Ledcie’s death that warranted suspicions. McBrayer refused to share the prescriptions he gave Ledcie, there was refusal to get a nurse involved and Whiteman did not notify Ledcie’s family of her illnesses.

Further, the Choctaw National Attorney stated that Ledcie’s vomiting, diarrhea, and blackened lips were symptoms of mercurial poisoning.  

An excerpt from testimony submitted during the hearing states, “The case of Ledcie Stechi is one, so far as the guardian was concerned, in which it appears that he was interested chiefly, if not solely, in the estate of the Indian ward and was not interested in the health, education or personal and welfare of the Indian; and that said child although having in the hands of the department a cash balance of approximately $135,000, out of which reasonable sums would have been advanced to the guardian for the proper care and maintenance of the ward, died by starvation and neglect.” 

The case of Ledcie Stechi is an example of how there was very little protection for members of the Five Tribes with allotments, even when they were too young to speak for themselves. Today, there are still many American Indian and Alaska Native children who are not properly cared for or accounted for. A 2023 report from the Not Invisible Act Commission found that over an 18-month period, many Alaska Native and American Indian children were reported missing. According to the report, 43,679 Native American children out of 1,016,899 in state-level foster care systems were reported missing. 

After Ledcie’s death her estate was valued at $300,000. According to the U.S. Inflation calculator, the estate would be worth about $5.6 million today. Despite her objection, Ledcie’s grandmother Nellie Stechi was placed under guardianship shortly after the death of her granddaughter. 

Following Ledcie’s death, her estate was divided between Nellie Stechi and Ruth Bohanan, who claimed to be Ledcie’s half-sister. 

In March of 1924, testimony and documents regarding the issues with guardianship and the impact it was having on Oklahoma was submitted to a congressional subcommittee with the title “The Five Civilized Tribes.” 

The hearings asked Congress to consider adding protections for restricted Indian lands and funds in regard to the Five Tribes by moving jurisdiction to the United States Interior Department. Those recommendations were opposed by lawmakers from Oklahoma, and Congress did not implement them. 

This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Fund for Indigenous Journalists: Reporting on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two Spirit and Transgender People (MMIWG2T).