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Huron Indian
Chiefs and Leaders
Donacona. A Huron chief
found by Jacques Cartier, in 1535, residing with his people at the
junction of St Croix and St Lawrence rivers, Canada. Although Cartier was
well received and kindly treated by this chief, he managed, partly by
stratagem and partly by force, to convey the latter aboard his vessel and
carry him to France where he soon died.
Half
King (Petawontakas, Dunquad, Dunquat, Daunghquat;
Delaware name, Pomoacan). A Huron chief of Sandusky, Ohio, who flourished during
the latter part of the Revolutionary war. Under employment by the British he
aided the Delawares in their resistance to the encroachment of the white
settlements beyond the Allegheny mts., and it was through his intervention that
the Moravians of Lichtenau were saved from massacre by the Indians in 1777.
According to Losk'el (Missions United Brethren, pt. 3, 127, 1794) he was
joined by a large number of warriors, including Huron, Ottawa, Chippewa,
Shawnee, and others, besides some French, and his influence as a disciplinarian
was such that he kept this mixed assemblage in good order, permitting no
extravagance on their part. Sometimes more than 200 warriors lay all night close
to Lichtenau, but they behaved so quietly that they were hardly perceived.
Loskiel also says that Half King "was particularly attentive to prevent all
drunkenness, knowing that bloodshed and murder would immediately follow." He
insisted on the removal of the Christian Indians from the vicinity of Sandusky,
believing it to be unsafe for them to remain there; he also protected the
Moravians and their converts from mal treatment when the missionaries were sent
to Detroit. Under the name Daunghquat he signed the
treaty of Ft McIntosh, Ohio, Jan. 21, 1785. The
treaties of Greenville, Ohio, Aug. 3, 1795;
Ft McIntosh, July 4, 1805;
Greenville, July 22, 1814, and
Spring Wells, Sept, 8, 1815, were signed by Haroenyou (Harrowenyou), his
son, not by himself; but the name "Dunquad or Half King" is appended to the
treaty of Miami Rapids, Ohio, Sept. 29, 1817. (C. T.)
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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