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Pottawatomie Indian Chiefs and Leaders
Chechawkose. A Potawatomi chief of this name formerly
lived at a village commonly called " Chechawkose's village," on the s. side of
Tippecanoe r., about Harrison tp., Kosciusko co., Ind. The reserve was sold in
1836. The name is also spelled Chechawkose and Chitchakos. (J. M.)
Shavehead. A well known Pottawatomie chief, so named
by the whites because, like many of his ancestors, he kept the hair shaved
from the greater part of his scalp. The dates of his birth and death are
not known, but lie lived during the early part of the 19th century in the
southeast part of Cass
County, Mich. As a warrior Shavehead was the terror of the vicinity, feared by both
whites and Indians. He participated in many battles and manifested a determined
hatred for the whites, openly boasting of the scalps he had taken, and wearing
them as trophies about his person. It was reported, although probably with great
exaggeration, that he possessed a string of 99 white men's tongues.
Many
incidents of Shavehead's vindictiveness are related. After the mail stages had
begun to run on the Chicago road, Shavehead, claiming the rights of his people
as proprietors of the soil, established himself at a ferry of St Joseph River,
near Mottville, and demanded tribute from every one who crossed, especially the
settlers who were compelled to use this route to the nearest grist mill.
Finally, exasperated beyond endurance, one of the settlers caught the Indian
unaware and administered a severe beating, which had the effect of curing his
depredations, but making him more sullen. He is described in his old age as
being tall and erect, quite dark, and with not a hair on his head. Both a lake
and a prairie bear his name.
Several stories are told of the manner of Shavehead's
death, but they can not be substantiated. One is that the old chief, while
boasting of his part in the massacre at Ft Dearborn, Chicago, in 1812, was
recognized by a surviving soldier, who followed him out of the village, and, it
is supposed, murdered him. Another account states that after significantly
saying that there was no longer game enough for both the Indian and the white
man, he was killed by a white hunter who had been his companion on many hunting
expeditions. The last and more probable story is that be died, enfeebled by age
and poverty, and was buried in a hollow log in the forest.
Settlers visited his
grave and severed his head from his body, and his skull was said in 1889 to be
in the collection of the pioneers of Van Buren County. One of Shavehead's sons died
in prison under a life sentence for murder. See Coll. Mich. Pion.
and Hist. Soc., v, 1884; XIV, 1890; XXVIII, 1900.
Metea (prob. for Metawä,
he sulks.' W. J.). A Potawatomi chief, distinguished in his tribe as a
warrior and an orator. When the Potawatomi were subsidized by the
British at the beginning of the War of 1812 he was one of the leaders
of the party that massacred the families of the garrison and citizens
of Chicago as they were retreating to Detroit. He led the hand that
harassed the troops who marched in the fall of 1812 to the relief of
Ft Wayne and was shot in the arm by Gen. W. H. Harrison. At a council
held at Chicago in 1821 he impressed the whites by his eloquence and
reasoning powers, and also when the treaty of the Wabash was concluded
in 1826. He advocated the education of Indian youth and sent several
from his tribe to the Choctaw academy in Kentucky. He died in a
drunken debauch at Ft Wayne, in 1827, after having conducted difficult
negotiations with dignity and skill in a conference with commissioners
of the Government.-McKenney and Hall, Inc. Tribes, 59-64, 1858. See
Muskwawasepeotan.
Photograph
Blackbird (Mukatapenaise).
A Potawatomi chief who lived in the early part of the 19th century. He
was conspicuous at the massacre of
the garrison at Ft Dearborn, Chicago, in Aug., 1812.
Shabonee (the name
is in dispute; by some he is said to have been named from Capt.
Jacques de Chambly; by others the name is said to be of Potawatomi
derivation and to signify `built like a bear'). A Potawatomi chief,
grand nephew of Pontiac, born on Maumee river, Ill., in 1775; died in
Morris, Grundy county, Ill., July 17, 1859. His father was an Ottawa
who fought under Pontiac. The son, who was a man of fine parts and
magnificent presence, emigrated at an early age with a part of his
tribe to Michigan, and, becoming one of Tecumseh's lieutenants, fought
by his side when he was killed at the battle of the Thames. Incensed
at the treatment of the Indian allies by the British commander, he and
Sauganash transferred their allegiance to the Americans. Joining the
Potawatomi, among whom he married, he was chosen peace chief of the
tribe and was their spokesman at the council with the representatives
of the Government at Chicago in Aug. 1836. In the Winnebago and Black
Hawk wars he performed invaluable services for the white pioneers,
time and again saving the settlements from destruction by timely
warnings. When the Winnebago rose in 1827 he visited the Potawatomi
villages to dissuade them from taking up arms, and at the village of
Geneva Lake, Wis., he was made a prisoner and threatened with death.
As the white man's friend he encountered the ill will of a large part
of the Indians, but his influence over his own tribe was sufficient to
restrain it from joining in a body the forces of
Black Hawk, who
twice went to Shabonee and tried to enlist him in his cause. At a
council of the allied tribes in Feb. 1832, Shabonee espoused the cause
of the whites and endeavored to convince Black Hawk that his proposed
uprising would only bring disaster to the Indians. Unsuccessful in his
endeavor, he and his son mounted their ponies at midnight, and
starting from a point near the present Princeton, Ill., warned the
settlers both east and west of the intended outbreak, Shabonee finally
reaching Chicago in time to put the inhabitants on their guard. The
Sauk and
Foxes in revenge attempted many
times to murder him, and killed his son and his nephew. When under the
treaties of 1836 the Potawatomi migrated beyond the Mississippi,
Shabonee went with them, but returned shortly to the two sections of
land at his village "near the Pawpaw Grove," in De Kalb co., which the
Government had awarded him under the treaties of July 29, 1829, and
Oct. 20.
Winamac. Another Potawatomi chief of the same period, the name being a common
one in the tribe. Unlike his namesake, he was generally friendly to the
Americans and interposed in their behalf at the Ft Dearborn massacre, although
he was said to have been among the hostiles at Tippecanoe in 1811. He visited
Washington several times and died in the summer of 1821. His village, commonly
known by his name, was near the present Winamac, Pulaski County, Ind.
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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