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Philip Frazier

The Story of the “Dakota Hymn” Composed by Joseph R. Renville before 1846, the tune is a native Dakota air and has been in the Dakota Odowan since 1846. The words are based on Jeremiah 10:12-13. The hymn was translated into English by PHILIP FRAZIER, a third generation Dakota pastor in the Congregational church, at the request of the National YWCA. It was first presented at their convention in 1930. Frazier and his wife, Susie Meek Frazier, then spread the English version through-out the country. Frazier was a grandson of Artemas Ehnamani, a Santee Dakota who was converted to Christianity by missionaries while in prison after the U.S.-Dakota conflict of 1862. Ehnamani became pastor of the largest Dakota church, Pilgrim Presbyterian. He was followed by Frances Frazier, Philip’s father. The Dakota Hymn can be found in the hymnals of many denominations and in many youth songbooks such as the Girl Scout Pocket Songbook. t is probably the most widely known Christian Indian hymn in the United States, a legacy to all people from the Santee Dakota, who still sing it in their native language.

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