Minta Foreman, a Native American from the Cherokee Tribe, spent five decades teaching students in government Indian schools. Photo credit: Choctaw Journeys.

Many dedicated Native Americans have served their communities as talented and hardworking educators. One who is an example of this is Minta Foreman, a Native American from the Cherokee Tribe who spent five decades in government Indian schools teaching students from the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes.

Minta was born on April 14, 1878, in Park Hill, near the town of Tahlequah in Oklahoma Indian Territory. Her given name was Araminta Ross Foreman. Her father was Stephen Foreman, a Presbyterian minister. During her childhood, Minta studied at the mission school in Muskogee. Later she attended Willie Halsell College in Vinita, Oklahoma, and the Presbyterian College in Independence, Missouri.

Once she completed her education, Minta taught sixth grade at Cherokee Female Seminary in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Her career there spanned from 1898 to 1909, during which time she also taught high school students and served as the school’s principal. Next, Minta taught seventh and eighth grade at the Cheyenne school in Colorado Springs, and later she taught Choctaw students for six years at Wheelock Academy in Oklahoma. She also completed stints at the Bloomfield Academy, a school for Chickasaw girls, and the Mehusky Indian School. In all, Minta’s career as an educator in government Indian schools spanned 50 years.

Minta’s students said she left a lasting impression on them. They described their teacher as “tall, straight and haughty looking.” Nevertheless, she commanded great respect from her students, who frequently expressed she was an enthusiastic, but dignified, role model.

Sadly, after all these years of dedicated teaching, Minta succumbed to a heart attack on April 29, 1952, in Craig County, Oklahoma. She was 74 years old. She is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Vinita, Craig County, Oklahoma.