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Tecumseh was born in 1768
as a member of the Shawnee Indian tribe, native to Ohio. He had one
brother, Tenskwatawa, also known as Shawnee Prophet. The successful
native trading post, Keth-tip-pe-can-nunk,
also known as Tippecanoe,
thrived in Illinois' Wabash River Valley until 1791, when it was
destroyed to make room for the white man.
In May 1808, Tecumseh and his brother left Ohio and founded the village Prophet's Town in the same location as the former Tippecanoe. The land had been claimed by the Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes, but Tecumseh and his brother were granted settlement. Their village would eventually become the Indian equivalent to Washington, D.C., the capitol of a great Indian confederacy.
The white settlers were
disturbed at Tecumseh's movement and the power him and his followers
were creating for themselves. According to then Governor of the
Illinois Territory, Ninian Edwards, "the hostility that he (the
Prophet) excites against us is the cement of their union." In the
late summer of 1811, while Tecumseh was on a summer recruitment drive
in an attempt to bring the Chickasaw, Choctaw an Creek nations to
Prophet's
Town, Governor of the Indiana
Territory, General William Henry Harrison sent a small army of 1000
men into Prophet's Town to try and drive away the Indians.
The brothers' main idea behind such a confederacy was to form a Native union against the western settlers in protection of the land they had lived on for thousands of years. Prophet's Town became not only the center of diplomacy, but also a rigorous training center for the warriors, housing over 1000 of these men during the village's peak.
On November 16, 1811, General Harrison and representatives of the Prophet met to discuss matters of land. It was also decided that no hostilities would be needed until an official meeting could be held the next day.
Harrison and his men moved west to a site on a wooded hill farther away from Prophet's Town. Harrison warned his men of a possible invasion from the Prophet, although Tecumseh had told his brother not to attack the battle-ready white men until the Native union was strong and completely balanced.
Unfortunately, the Prophet claimed the white man's bullets would not hurt them, and he allowed his men to attack. The battle bloodily intensified until a reported thirty-seven soldiers were dead, twenty-five would eventually die of injuries, and over one hundred and twenty-six were seriously injured. Between twenty-five and sixty Indians were killed, and the warriors, feeling betrayed, threatened to kill the Prophet an stripped him of his power.
Three months later,
Tecumseh returned to find a broken dream. Prophet's Town was
destroyed. Tecumseh decided not to rebuild his confederacy, feeling
that doing so under the United States government would be useless and
much too risky. Together, he and his remaining followers allied
themselves with British
forces for the War of 1812
against the Americans.
He fought as a brigadier
general at Frenchtown, Raisin River, Fort Meigs, and Fort Stephenson.
On October 5, 1813, when he was forty-five, in the Battle of the
Thames at Chatham, Ontario, Tecumseh was killed leading his warriors,
dressed in traditional Indian deerskin garments.
"The way, the only way to stop this evil is for the
red man to unite in claiming a common and
equal right in the land, as it was first, and
should be now, for it was never divided.
We gave them forest-clad mountains and
valleys full of game, and in return what did they
give our warriors and our women? Rum,
trinkets and a grave.
Brothers--My people wish for peace; the red
men all wish for peace; but where the white
people are, there is no peace for them, except it
be on the bosom of our mother. Where today
are the Peoquot?
Where today are the Narrangansett,the
Mohican, the Pakanoket, and many other once
powerful tribes of our people?
They have vanished before the avarice and the
oppression of the White Man, as snow before a
summer sun."
* * *
"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
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 grovel 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 the
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. .
