Many_Cultures_Develop_a_Nation

Abstract Since the mid-1700's the Shawnee Indian Tribes had settled in the eastern part of the United States. This particular area covers the states of Ohio, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. They spoke in the Algonquian tongue, which also had ties to various other tribes. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 enforced the Shawnees to move to a smaller piece of land. Prior to that, the majority of the Shawnees moved west Ohio when the government moved them west of the Mississippi River in 1786. Body As early as the late 1600, there was evidence that the Shawnee Indians were living in the Ohio Valley. The Iroquois Indians drove the Shawnee away because they were reluctant to share these rich hunting grounds. Some went to Illinois; others went to Pennsylvania, Maryland, or Georgia. As the control of the Iroquois destabilized, the Shawnee Indians moved back into Ohio from the south and the east. The Shawnee Indians became friendly with the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country approximately 1740. The French forced the British out of Ohio and the Shawnees became friends of the French again until the British triumph in the French and Indian War. As French trading posts turned into British forts, the Ohio Indians, including the Shawnees, fought the British and their pioneers. A Shawnee leader named Hokoleskwa (ca. 1720 – November 10, 1777) — known as Cornstalk — was an important 18th century leader of the Shawnee people. In the Shawnee language, his name meant “blade of corn”. His name was spelled a variety of ways, including Colesqua and Keigh-tugh-qua. Cornstalk led the Shawnees against British settlers during Lord Dunmore's War in 1774. Throughout the American Revolution, the Shawnees fought together with the British against the Americans. The Shawnees thought that England would stop the settlers from infringing further upon the natives' land. After the war, the Indians carried on fighting the Americans. The Shawnees were ferocious fighters. They were among the more dreaded and admired of the Indian's in Ohio. General Anthony Wayne conquered the Shawnees and other Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Shawnees submitted most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville. Many of the Shawnees moved into the Indiana Territory, still some of these people hoped to reclaim their Ohio lands. Among them was Chief Tecumseh, who hoped to bring together all native tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains against the Americans. Due to the advanced technology of the whites and the Indians' clash to put aside their customary diversities, Tecumseh's hard work at integration failed. General William Henry Harrison overpowered the Shawnees and their partners at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Other Shawnees, like Black Hoof, adopted the white customs in the hope that the whites would allow the natives to continue to live on the land if they saw this. Between 1831 and 1833, the United States forced the Shawnees to give turn over their claim to the land in Ohio. The American government sent the natives to reservations in Oklahoma and Kansas causing them to divide into clans. The main leader of the Shawnees could only come from one clan; the name of this clan was Chillicothe. When a village was called Chillicothe, it meant that it was home to the main chief -- the capitol city of the Shawnees. The first Ohio state capital was named Chillicothe. The Shawnee accept as true that a great Goddess is knitting a net that will eventually come down to sweep her children away. There are some similarities of this to the Christian "Rapture" (the second coming of Jesus Christ) but not entirely the same. Shawnee as all Indian Nations believe that nature is never ending (having infinite space and time), revered and should be respected by all and that the earth/ land is not owned by anyone. They also respected others traditions and beliefs. As far as tribal ceremonies, they were mostly in parallel with helping them with cultivating; one annually for every season and having pre and post war ceremonies. The Shawnee were also prominent for their health and medical practices and which was considered as witchcraft to some because most of the healing process was done with their spirituality. With the Shawnee having strong spirituality presence, the quick healing process to an outsider was pure amazement. In death, the Shawnee believed that it was disrespectful to leave a body unburied and quickly pick upped the deceased after battle and gave them the proper burial. The wake practice was a lengthy four days in which they rejoiced in song, dance, and eulogies/ speeches by most tribe-members. The bodies were buried and to be laid to rest with their Mother (Earth). Just like most mystical beliefs, the deceased spirits walked the earth to watch over them just as we believe in angels who watch over us. Cornstalk and the rest of the Shawnee people moved and settled into present-day Ohio in the 1730s, pushed by European colonial advancement into their conventional lands. He and his tribesmen partook in many mêlées against the English settlers of Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. His death came at a time when there had been at tranquility with the whites. His attempt to advise the fort of looming plans of annihilation by aggressive natives characterizes the status of this Native American hero. Reference Steele, I. (2006). Shawnee Origins of Their Seven Years' War. Ethnohistory, 53(4), 657-687. doi:10.1215/00141801-2006-018 SUGDEN, J. (2009). The Shawnee. Indiana Magazine of History, 105(1), 91-93.