Ewing believed that Slocum wanted to reveal her identity, a secret she had kept for more than fifty years, because she was in poor health and thought she might die soon. Although some have suggested that Slocum feared she would be forcibly removed from the Miami if her past was known, others have argued it is more likely that she decided to reveal her white identity to save her Miami village from forced removal to the Kansas Territory. Or, she simply may have wanted to remain with her daughters in Indiana during her final years.