Man in the Middle

Henry Benjamin Whipple served as the First Episcopal Bishop of Minnesota from 1859 until his death in 1901. Not only did he oversee the yearly trials and successes of the diocese of Minnesota, but also became an active advocate of Indian policy reform. His role in reform, rather than generating the process of cultural genocide for the Dakota and Chippewa peoples of Minnesota, actually worked for their survival and the salvation of what land claims they could arrest from the advancing American population to the West. Whipple's Chippewa and Dakota friends and congregants called him "Straight Tongue." Contrary to their experiences with Indian Agents and other American officials, Whipple was a man who kept his word and who worked for their benefit and the protection of those within his diocese.

Whipple also faced the horrors of the Civil War and saw firsthand its impact on Minnesota. He maintained significant correspondence throughout the war with associates, politicians, and generals. His interpretation of the war, its causes and its meaning, stand with other conservative nineteenth century clergyman of his day. The war was a judgment of God upon a sinful nation, a nation neglectful of their responsibility to their Native wards in the North, and their African American wards in the South.

Man in the Middle reopens the history of Henry Benjamin Whipple using his sermons, his letters, and Dakota and Chippewa letters. One who had become an obscure figure in American history deserves a reintroduction to the story of American religious and Indian history.