Shawnee Political Leader - Essay Example

Life of Tecumseh Tecumseh is the renowned Shawnee political leader and war chieftain who was feared and admired both by his allies and opponents alike. Given his outstanding skills in the art of war as well as in public speaking, Tecumseh was revered and given the honor befitting a national hero. This paper provides an overview of Tecumseh’s life as a young warrior and the legendary battles he spearheaded. It also discusses his significance particularly to the Native American people and the legacy he imparted to them. Youth and Rise to Power Tecumseh was born in 1768 (estimated) at Old Piqua, on the Mad River in Western Ohio (Foner & Garraty). His name is accurately rendered as Tecumtha or Tekamthi, which meant “I cross the way” or “A Panther Crouching for his Prey.” As part of the Shawnee tribe, Tecumseh inherited his father’s clan affiliation, i.e. the panther clan, after which he was named (Sugden). Tecumseh was orphaned at an early age. His father, Puckeshinwa, was slain by whites in the Battle of Point Pleasant. On the other hand, his mother, Methoataske, left when he was only seven years old to accompany some of the Shawnee people, who fled in fear of the white settlers, to Missouri. She was never able to return (“Encyclopedia Britannica”). Tecumseh was then raised by his older sister Tecumpease, who faithfully taught him the strict Shawnee code of honesty. Tecumseh also had an elder brother Cheeseekau, who trained him in woodcraft and hunting. Aside from this, his brother also trained him to become a good warrior (“Ohio History Central”). He was also adopted by Blackfish, a Shawnee chief at that time, and grew in a household with several white foster brothers whom the chief had captured (“Encyclopedia Britannica”). Tecumseh’s youth was filled with battles between the whites and the Indians. There were abounding murders and massacres as well as relentless invasion of the Shawnee’s lands and destruction of their crops. These images were instilled in the young Tecumseh’s mind and impelled him to fight for the people and their native land (“Encyclopedia Britannica”). Trained to become a skilled warrior, Tecumseh’s initial military encounter took place against an army led by George Rogers Clark into the Ohio county when he was only fourteen years old. Being inexperienced, Tecumseh became terrified and fled from the battlefield. With the humiliation he experienced, he vowed never to flee again. (“Ohio History Central”) During the American Revolutionary War, Tecumseh fought alongside Blackfish in combined British and Indian attacks on Americans (“Encyclopedia Britannica”). He also fought against the army of Arthur St. Clair in 1791. As Tecumseh developed into an exceptional warrior and leader of the Shawnee, the Indians in the northwest emerged victorious. Tecumseh called for the violent resistance against the encroaching white settlers in their land. For this, he was greatly admired particularly by the younger generation of warriors (“Ohio History Central”). Albeit he was the youngest in the clan’s army, Tecumseh was the chosen leader because of his prowess in battle (“Encyclopedia Britannica”). Although Tecumseh was generally hostile toward whites, he advocated humanitarianism by admonishing his fellow Shawnees for torturing prisoners (“The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia”). There was an instance when he had participated in one of the Shawnee assaults on the flatboats that were carrying white settlers along the Ohio River. Following the attack, he witnessed the burning of a white man who was tied to a stake. He was completely appalled by the practice and heavily reprimanded his fellow tribesmen. With this, he discovered the powerful effect of words on people. (“Encyclopedia Britannica”) After the war, Tecumseh continuously fought small battles against the whites in the northwest and assisted the Cherokees in the south as well as the Creeks (“Encyclopedia Britannica”). Forming Alliance In 1794, at the battle of Fallen Timbers, the army led by Anthony Wayne defeated the natives including Tecumseh. Disheartened by their loss, most tribes in Ohio endorsed the Treaty of Greenville, which stipulates that the Native Americans relinquish all their land for the exception of the northwestern portion of what is now Ohio. Tecumseh and other Indians did not concur to this agreement. (“Ohio History Central”) As the United States refused to honor his stand that all Native American land should be commonly owned by the Indians and therefore could not be legally ceded by or purchased from an individual tribe, Tecumseh fervently aimed to unite the Native American tribes of the old Northwest, the South and the eastern Mississippi Valley including the Shawnee, Canadian Iroquis, Wyandot, Mongo, Ottawa, Chickamauga, Miami, Kichapoo, Lennilenape, Ojibway, Pottawatomie, Fox, Sauk and Mascouten nations (“The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia”). He believed that by uniting the Indians together, they would stand a better chance against the Americans (“Ohio History Central”). However, this proved to a difficult task as Tecumseh advocated Pan-Indian political unity, many of his political ideology seemed unfamiliar to the other Indians. Most Native Americans still perceived their world from a tribal perspective and were skeptical of Tecumseh’s attempts to centralize political leadership. (Edmunds) In 1805, one of Tecumseh’s younger brothers, who adopted the name Tenskwatawa meaning “The Open Door,” became a recognized religious leader by virtue of the series of visions he experienced. Although Tecumseh was at first reluctant to acknowledge his brother’s visions, he became a believer as the new Shawnee Prophet accurately predicted an eclipse of the sun and Indians from the Midwest flocked in the Shawnee village to listen to Tenskwatawa’s preaching. The Shawnee Prophet taught the significance of nativistic revitalization that provided the Indians a form of spiritual deliverance from their problems. (Foner & Garraty) In this regard, Tenskwatawa also helped Tecumseh to unite the Indians. The Prophet spread his vision about the Shawnee tribe’s primary god dubbed as the Master of Life (“Ohio History Central”). According to his vision, the Master of Life was commanding the Indians to give up all white customs adopted and products utilized by the tribes (Sugden). These included religious beliefs, agricultural practices as well as the use of guns, iron cookware and alcohol. The Indians had apparently offended their god by changing their traditional ways. (“Ohio History Central”) The Prophet asserted that reward awaited the Native Americans should they return to their native customs. The reward would be driving the whites from their native land. As numerous Indians strongly believed the Prophet’s message, they joined the two brothers at Prophetstown, a village established by Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa in the Indiana Territory. (“Ohio History Central”) Tecumseh gradually transformed his brother’s religious movement into a political crusade. Due to the further depletion of the Indian land with the ratification of the Treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809, Tecumseh slowly emerged as the primary leader of the improvement. He frequented various areas in the Midwest to urge tribes to join their political alliance (Foner & Garraty). Downfall at Battle of Tippecanoe In view of the fast growing population of Indians gathering in Prophetstown, William Henry Harrison, the governor of Indiana Territory, became alarmed. In 1811, while Tecumseh was away to recruit more Indian allies in the southern part of the United States, Harrison led an army towards the village. Despite Tecumseh’s instructions not to attack the Americans, the Prophet pushed through with the battle because according to his vision, the Master of Life ordered him to send warriors to fight the Americans. Moreover, he claimed that the Master of Life would protect the Indians and would not be harmed by the bullets. (“Ohio History Central”) The Americans defeated the Prophet and the Native Americans. They managed to destroy Prophetstown by burning the settlement and the Indians’ food reserve (Foner & Garraty). This became known as the Battle of Tippecanoe that tragically ended Tecumseh’s dream of uniting the Native Americans as their defeat substantially weakened the confederation (“Ohio History Central”). From this tragedy, Tecumseh’s curse proclaiming the death of all presidents of the United States every twenty years. Alliance with the United Kingdom With this recent defeat, Tecumseh sought alliance with the British forces in the War of 1812. He was appointed as a brigadier general (“The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia”). He then helped the British military in capturing Detroit. He also led Indians, who were British sympathizers, in subsequent battles in Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio or what was then Fort Meigs. In addition, Tecumseh reluctantly accompanied the retreating British army led by General Henry Procter when Harrison invaded upper Canada. Tecumseh’s Death At the Battle of Thames in 1813, the British and Indian forces faced the American army headed by Harrison. In this crucial battle, the British soldiers fled and left Tecumseh and his Indian followers to fight on their own. Tecumseh was shot and died during the battle. His body was never recovered. (“Ohio History Central”) Recognition In spite of the tragic end of his dream to unite the Indians, Tecumseh is undoubtedly deemed as one of the most outstanding Native Americans in history (“The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia”). As recognition by his fellow Indians, many Creeks named their children after Tecumseh (Dowd). His exceptional political leadership, oratory and courage made him a much admired figure in Canadian, British and American history (Foner & Garraty). As a matter of fact, Tecumseh is the only full blooded Native American included in the list of Greatest Canadian. He became legendary and has become an American folk hero with myriad fictional works depicting his heroism. He has been portrayed by both historians and the general public as an idealized "noble savage" who was enveloped in myth (Edmunds). Beyond the legend and romantic notions about the great chieftain, his remarkable career as a leader and warrior stand on their own merits. Works Cited Dowd, Gregory Evans. A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745-1815. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1992. Edmunds, David. Tecumseh and the Quest for Indian Leadership. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984. Foner, Eric and John Garraty, eds. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991. Sugden, John. Tecumseh: A Life. New York: Holt, 1997. “Tecumseh.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2003. 07 November 2005 . “Tecumseh.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2005. “Tecumseh.” Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History. 2005. 07 November 2005 . Read More