Tecumseh
Tecumseh (c.1768? - October 5, 1813), whose given name might be more accurately rendered as Tecumtha or Tekamthi, was a famous Shawnee leader. He spent much of his life attempting to rally disparate Native American tribes in a mutual defense of their lands, which eventually culminated in his death in the War of 1812.
Tecumseh remains a respected icon for Native Americans and is considered a national hero in Canada. Even his longtime adversary William Henry Harrison considered Tecumseh to be "one of those uncommon geniuses which spring up occasionally to produce revolutions and overturn the established order of things."[1].
Early years
The exact year of Tecumseh's birth is unknown; 1768 is the generally accepted estimate. He was born in the Ohio Country, probably in one of the Shawnee towns along the Scioto River. Nineteenth century traditions (and current Ohio historical markers) placed his birthplace further west, along the Little Miami River, although the Shawnee towns there were not settled until after Tecumseh's birth. Tecumseh's name (which has been translated in a number of ways, including "I Cross the Way" or "A Panther Crouching for His Prey") was likely a reference to his family clan (or phratry), but perhaps refers to a passing comet as later traditions claimed.[2] Shawnee children inherited a clan affiliation from their fathers; Tecumseh belonged to the panther clan, one of about a dozen exogamous Shawnee clans.[3]
In addition to clans, the Shawnee had five traditional divisions, membership in which was also inherited from the father. Tecumseh's father Pucksinwah (and thus Tecumseh also) belonged to the Kispokotha sept. Most traditions state that Tecumseh's mother Methotasa was Creek or Cherokee, but biographer John Sugden believes that she was a Shawnee of the Pekowi (Piqua) division. Some of the confusion results from the fact that some Creeks and Cherokees were eager to claim the famous Tecumseh as one of their own; many Creeks named children after him. There is some evidence to suggest that Tecumseh's paternal grandfather (Pucksinwah's father) may have been a white trader.[4] Author Allan W. Eckert claims that Methotasa to be Cherokee.[5]
The Indian Wars
Indian Wars is the name generally used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between the United States and Native Americans (formerly known as "Indians"). Also generally included in this term are those Colonial American wars with Native Americans that preceded the creation of the United States.
The wars, which ranged from colonial times to the Wounded Knee massacre and "closing" of the American frontier in 1890, generally resulted in the conquest of American Indians and their assimilation or forced relocation to Indian reservations. Citing figures from an 1894 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, one scholar has calculated that the more than 40 wars from 1775 to 1890 reportedly claimed the lives of some 45,000 Indians and 19,000 whites. This rough estimate includes women and children on both sides, since noncombatants were often killed in frontier massacres.[6]
The Indian Wars comprised a series of smaller wars. American Indians were (and remain) diverse peoples with their own histories; throughout the wars, they were not a single people any more than Europeans were. Living in societies organized in a variety of ways, American Indians usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level, though they sometimes fought as part of formal alliances, such as the Iroquois Confederation, or in temporary confederacies inspired by leaders such as Tecumseh.
Warfare between whites and first nations loomed large in Tecumseh's youth. Pucksinwah was killed in Lord Dunmore's War at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. In the American Revolutionary War, many Shawnee villages were destroyed by American frontiersmen, including what was likely Tecumseh's boyhood home in the Battle of Piqua in 1780. Tecumseh was raised in mostly by his older brother Cheeseekau (Chiksika), an important war leader whom Tecumseh probably accompanied in skirmishes against whites in Kentucky and Ohio. His sister Tecumapese was also very important in his upbringing, teaching good morals and high character.
In early 1789, Tecumseh traveled south with Cheeseekau (Chiksika)to live among (and fight alongside) the Chickamauga Cherokee. The two were accompanied by twelve Shawnee warriors, and stayed at Running Water (in Marion County, Tennessee}, because that was where the wife and daughter whom Cheeseekau (Chiksika) had not seen in years lived. There Tecumseh met the famous leader Dragging Canoe, who was leading a resistance movement against U.S. expansion. Cheeseekau (Chiksika) was killed while leading a raid, and Tecumseh assumed leadership of the small Shawnee band, and sometimes Chickamauga warriors also, during the raids. Tecumseh returned to Ohio in late 1790, having fathered, according to Cherokee legend, a Cherokee daughter before leaving.
Back in the Ohio Country, Tecumseh took part in the war to resist further expansion into the Ohio Country by the United States, which ended unsuccessfully at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Tecumseh refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville, which ended the war.
"Tecumseh's War"
Tecumseh settled in Greenville, the home of his younger brother Tenskwatawa (formerly Lowawluwaysica) ("One With Open Mouth or The Open Door"), also known as The Prophet. In 1805, a nativist religious revival led by Tenskwatawa emerged. Tenskwatawa urged natives to reject the ways of the whites, and to refrain from ceding any more lands to the United States. Opposing Tenskwatawa was the Shawnee leader Black Hoof, who was working to maintain a peaceful relationship with the United States. By 1808, tensions with whites and Black Hoof's Shawnees compelled Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh to move further northwest and establish the village of Prophetstown near the confluence of the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers (near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana).
Tenskwatawa's religious teachings became widely known, and he attracted first nations followers from many different nations. Although Tecumseh would eventually emerge as the leader of this confederation, it was built upon a foundation established by the religious appeal of his younger brother. Relatively few of these followers were Shawnees; although Tecumseh is often portrayed as the leader of the Shawnees, most Shawnees in fact had little involvement with Tecumseh or the Prophet, and chose instead to move further west or to remain at peace with the United States.
In September 1809, William Henry Harrison, governor of the newly formed Indiana Territory, negotiated the Treaty of Fort Wayne in which various American first nations leaders sold about 3,000,000 acres (10,000 km²) to the United States. Tecumseh's opposition to this treaty marked his emergence as a prominent leader. Although Tecumseh and the Shawnees had no claims on the land sold, he was alarmed by the massive sale. Tecumseh revived an idea advocated in previous years by the Shawnee leader Blue Jacket and the Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, which stated that first nation land was owned in common by all tribes, and thus no land could be sold without agreement by all. Not yet ready to confront the United States directly, Tecumseh's primary adversaries were initially the first nations leaders who had signed the treaty. An impressive orator, Tecumseh began to travel widely, urging warriors to abandon accommodationist chiefs and to join the resistance at Prophetstown (Tippecanoe). Tecumseh insisted that the Fort Wayne treaty was illegitimate; he asked Harrison to nullify it, and warned that Americans should not attempt to settle the lands sold in the treaty.
In August 1811, Tecumseh met with Harrison at Vincennes, assuring him that the Shawnee brothers meant to remain at peace with the United States. Tecumseh then traveled to the south, on a mission to recruit allies among the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes." Most of the southern nations rejected his appeals, but a faction among the Creeks, who came to be known as the Red Sticks, answered his call to arms, leading to the Creek War.
While Tecumseh was in the south, Governor Harrison marched up the Wabash River from Vincennes with more than 1,000 men, on an expedition to intimidate the Prophet and his followers. On November 6 1811, Harrison's army arrived outside Prophetstown (Tippecanoe). Tenskwatawa sent out his warriors against the American encampment that night. In the Battle of Tippecanoe, Harrison's men held their ground, and the Indians withdrew from the village after the battle. The victorious Americans burned the town and returned to Vincennes.
The battle was a severe blow for Tenskwatawa, who lost prestige and the confidence of his brother. Although it was a significant setback, Tecumseh began to secretly rebuild his alliance upon his return from the south. Now that the Americans were also at war with the British in the War of 1812, "Tecumseh's War" became a part of that struggle. The American effort to neutralize potential British-Native cooperation had backfired, instead making Tecumseh and his followers more fully committed to an alliance with the British.
War of 1812
Tecumseh joined British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock to force the surrender of Detroit in August 1812, a major victory for the British. Tecumseh's acumen in warfare was evident in this engagement. As Brock advanced to a point just out of range of Detroit's guns, Tecumseh had his warriors parade out from a nearby wood and circle around to repeat the maneuver, making it appear that there were many more than was actually the case. The fort commander, Brigadier General William Hull, surrendered in fear of massacre should he refuse.
This victory was reversed a little over a year later, however, as Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory on Lake Erie, late in the summer of 1813, cut British supply lines and prompted them to withdraw. The British burned the public buildings in Detroit and retreated into Upper Canada along the Thames Valley. Tecumseh followed, fighting rearguard actions to slow the US advance.
The next British commander, Major-General Henry Procter did not have the same working relationship with Tecumseh as his predecessor. Procter failed to appear at Chatham, Ontario as expected by the Native Americans. Harrison crossed into Upper Canada in October, 1813 and won a victory over the British and the Native Americans at the Battle of the Thames near Chatham. Shortly after, the tribes of his confederacy surrendered to Harrison at Detroit. Certain eye-witness sources state that Tecumseh was killed by Colonel Richard M. Johnson, future vice-president of the United States under Martin Van Buren, although it has not been proven. After Tecumseh was killed, no one ever found his body.
The United States continued to gain title to Native American land after the Treaty of Greenville, at a rate that created alarm in Indian communities. In 1800, William Henry Harrison became governor of the Indiana Territory and, under the direction of President Thomas Jefferson, pursued an aggressive policy of obtaining titles to Indian lands. Two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, organized another pan-tribal resistance to American expansion. Tecumseh's goal was to get Native American leaders to stop selling land to the United States.
While Tecumseh was in the south attempting to recruit allies among the Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws, Harrison marched against the Indian confederacy, defeating Tenskwatawa and his followers at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. The Americans hoped that the victory would end the militant resistance, but Tecumseh instead chose to openly ally with the British, who were soon at war with the Americans in the War of 1812.
Like the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 was also a massive Indian war on the western front. Encouraged by Tecumseh, the Creek War (1813-1814), which began as a civil war within the Creek (Muscogee) nation, became part of the larger struggle against American expansion. Although the war with the British was a stalemate, the United States was more successful on the western front. Tecumseh was killed by Harrison's army at the Battle of the Thames, ending the resistance in the Old Northwest. The Creeks who fought against the United States were defeated. The First Seminole War, in 1818, was in some ways a continuation of the Creek War and resulted in the transfer of Florida to the United States in 1819.
As in the Revolution and the Northwest Indian War, after the War of 1812, the British abandoned their Indian allies to the Americans. This proved to be a major turning point in the Indian Wars, marking the last time that Native Americans would turn to a foreign power for assistance against the United States.
Miscellaneous
Tributes
In June 1930, the United States Naval Academy Class of 1891 presented the Academy with a bronze replica of the figurehead of USS Delaware, a sailing ship-of-the-line. This bust, one of the most famous relics on the campus, has been widely identified as Tecumseh. However, when it adorned the American man-of-war, it commemorated not Tecumseh but Tamanend, the Delaware chief who welcomed William Penn to America in 1682.
Despite his defeat, Tecumseh is honored in Canada as a tragic hero: a brilliant war chief who, along with Brock, saved Canada from U.S. invasion when all seemed hopeless, but could not save his own people. Among the tributes, Tecumseh is ranked 37th in The Greatest Canadian list.
Namings
- Cities and Towns
- Tecumseh, Kansas
- Tecumseh, Michigan
- Tecumseh, Missouri
- Tecumseh, Nebraska
- Tecumseh, Oklahoma
- Tecumseh, Ontario
- Geography
- Mount Tecumseh, New Hampshire
- Mount Tecumseh, Alberta
- People
- The US Civil War Union general William Tecumseh Sherman, like Tecumseh also born in Ohio, was named "Tecumseh Sherman" at birth, but his foster parents insisted on adding a more conventional "Christian name".
- Ships and Military Units
- Union monitor USS Tecumseh (1863), sunk in the Battle of Mobile Bay
- U.S. Navy tugboat USS Tecumseh (YT-24), acquired in 1898 and discarded in 1945
- U.S. Navy tugboat USS Tecumseh (YT-273), built in 1943 and discarded in 1975
- U.S. ballistic missile submarine USS Tecumseh (SSBN-628)
- Calgary-based Canadian Naval Reserve Unit HMCS Tecumseh.
- A Royal Navy gunboat built in 1814 and named HMS Tecumseth. It was laid up after the end of the War of 1812 and sank in Penetanguishene Harbour. A replica based on the original design is in Penetanguishene, Ontario.
- Companies
- Tecumseh Steel Company
- Tecumseh Products Company
- Public Institutions
- Tecumseh Local Schools (including Tecumseh High School), New Carlisle, Ohio
- Tecumseh Middle School, Lafayette, Indiana
- Tecumseh Junior-Senior High School, Lynnville, Indiana
- Tecumseh Elementary School, Farmingville, New York
- Tecumseh Branch of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Tecumseh Public School, London, Ontario, Canada [[1]]
- Numerous parks in the U.S. and Canada, as well as sports teams such as the London Tecumsehs
- Camp Tecumseh, the fourth largest YMCA camp in the nation, located in Brookston, Indiana
- Tecumseh Lodge, the name of an Order of the Arrow chapter house. The Order of the Arrow is an honors campers' society in affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America.
Tecumseh in fiction
One of the main characters in Orson Scott Card's alternate history fantasy series of novels The Tales of Alvin Maker is based on Tecumseh, where he is called Ta-Kumsaw (especially the second book in the series, Red Prophet).
The Frontiersmen: A Narrative (1967) and A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh (1992) by Allan W. Eckert are popular books that feature Tecumseh as a main character. Eckert's books are marketed as non-fiction, although academic historians generally regard them as fiction.
Tecumseh!, also written by Eckert, is an outdoor drama located just outside of Chillicothe, Ohio. The drama highlights Tecumseh's struggle against early settlers in the Ohio River valley; a centerpiece of the story is a relationship (entirely fictional) between Tecumseh and a young white woman who falls in love with him. More than two million people have seen Tecumseh! in Sugarloaf Amphitheatre since 1973. More information can be found at Tecumsehdrama.com
The famous Tecumseh anthology by Fritz Steuben is a fictional work, but it is known for the good source research the author did. It consists of 8 books which cover Tecumsehs whole life, from his youth Tecumseh - The Flying Arrow (1930) to his death Tecumseh - Tecumsehs Death (1939).
The Native American statue in Sam Malone's bar, "Cheers" was a statue of Tecumseh.
The Excelsior class starship USS Tecumseh NCC-14934 in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was named for him. It was mentioned in the episodes "...Nor the Battle to the Strong", "In the Pale Moonlight", and "Image in the Sand".
Quotations
Then listen to the voice of duty, of honor, of nature and of your endangered country. Let us form one body, one head, and defend to the last warrior, our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers. — Tecumseh, circa 1813
A more ... gallant Warrior does not, I believe, exist. — Major-General Sir Isaac Brock
When Jesus Christ came upon the Earth, you killed Him. The son of your own God. And only after He was dead did you worship Him and start killing those who would not. — Tecumseh
"The way to stop this evil is for all redmen to unite in claiming a common and equal right to the land, never to be divided... it belongs to all of us for each use."
"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and Demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, Beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and Its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, Even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and Bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and For the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, The fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, For abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts Are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes They weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again In a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home." - Tecumseh
Tenskwatawa, Tenskatawa, Tensquatawa or Elskwatawa (1775 – November 1836) was a Native American religious and political leader known as the Shawnee Prophet (of the Shawnee tribe). He was the brother of Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee. He was originally given the name Lalawethika (The Noisemaker).
Early years
Lalawethika (Lowawluwaysica) was an awkward youth, and the youngest of triplets, very unusual for Indians. He lost his right eye to an arrow shot into the air by his brother. Disliked by many Shawnees, he became an alcoholic.
In April 1805, he experienced the first of several visions. He became a religious leader of the Shawnee, and taught that the white Americans were children of the Great Serpent, the source of evil in the world. He forbade his people to use European foods, clothing, manufactured goods and alcohol. He changed his name to Tenskwatawa (The Open Door or One With Open Mouth). In 1808 Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh moved their followers to a new village called Prophetstown(Tippecanoe), near the present-day town of Battle Ground, near the juncture of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers in Indiana.
Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812
In 1811, Tecumseh journeyed south to meet with representatives of other tribes, leaving Tenskwatawa in command of Tecumseh's forces at Prophetstown. During Tecumseh's absence, on November 7, 1811, Tenskwatawa ordered an attack on a U.S. force under the command of future President William Henry Harrison. (See the Battle of Tippecanoe.) The village at Prophetstown was eventually burned down and the defeat put an end to Tecumseh's hope of a broad Native alliance.
With his brother, Tenskwatawa participated in the defense of the Canadian colonies during the War of 1812.
In 1813 he was present at the Battle of the Thames, but fled with the British forces and was absent when Tecumseh was killed.
Later years and death
In the following decade he unsuccessfully tried to regain a position of leadership among Native Americans. In 1825 he returned to the United States and assisted in removing many of the Shawnees west of the Mississippi. In 1826 he established a village at the site of modern Kansas City, Kansas. He died in 1839 at his village in Kansas City, Kansas (located in the Argentine area; the White Feather Spring marker notes the location).
Tenskwatawa in fiction
Tenskwatawa is one of the major characters in Orson Scott Card's alternate history fantasy series of novels The Tales of Alvin Maker (especially the second book, Red Prophet). In those books he is called Tenskwa-Tawa (previously Lolla-Wossiky).
Notes
Sources and further reading
Numerous biographies of Tecumseh have been written, but most are full of errors and mythology. — R. David Edmunds.
- Dowd, Gregory Evans. 1993. A spirited resistance the North American Indian struggle for unity, 1745-1815. Johns Hopkins University studies in historical and political science, 109th ser., 4. History E-Book Project. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801842360 and ISBN 9780801842368
- Eckert, Allan W. 1992. A sorrow in our heart: the life of Tecumseh. New York: Bantam. ISBN 0553080237 and ISBN 9780553080230
- Edmunds, R. David. 1984. Tecumseh and the quest for Indian leadership. The Library of American biography. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316211699 and ISBN 9780316211697
- Gilbert, Bil. 1989. God gave us this country: Tekamthi and the first American Civil War. New York: Atheneum. ISBN 0689116322 and ISBN 9780689116322
- Sugden, John. 1998. Tecumseh: a life. New York: Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 0805041389 and ISBN 9780805041385
External Links
- Tecumseh, War of 1812, People and stories, Retrieved March 11, 2007
- Tecumseh, Ohio Historical Society, Retrieved March 11, 2007
- Tecumseh, National Park Service, Retrieved March 11, 2007
- David Yarrow, November 8, 1991, PANTHER-ACROSS-THE-SKY, Tecumseh and the New Madrid Earthquake, Ratville Times, Retrieved March 11, 2007
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
