9 Historical Native American Figures

 

Here we are, the final Native American post for this month and the beginning of a full week of posts about various Native American topics. For this final list I’m going to cover the who’s who of native history. Some major players have been discussed in previous posts (Geronimo, Tankskatawa) and will be omitted from this list. Below are 9 important historical figures from Native american history. Enjoy.

9. Powhatan

The name Powhatan is actually the name of this man’s tribe. His true name was Wahunsenacawh, but history will remember him as Chief Powhatan. This guy should sound familiar since he is the father of Pochahontas, probably the most well-known native american woman. He led a coalition of tribes in the early 1600’s and was around in 1607 when the English first arrived in Jamestown. He alternated between helping the new visitors and allowing his brother to raid English settlements. These raids led to an English backlash that almost wiped out the Powhatan Confederacy. The fate of Powahatan is unknown and many legends surround his death.

8. Red Cloud

Red Cloud was a Sioux war chief who gave the US a run for their money in the late 1860’s. From 1866-1868 Red Cloud led a campaign against US expansion known as Red Cloud’s War. The most famous engagement during this war was the Fetterman Fight. On December 21, 1866 the Sioux and their allies managed to lure around 100 American soldiers out of Ft. Laramie. The troops had been told not venture to far from the fort, but they arrogantly chased a decoy warrior (a young Crazy Horse) sent by the Sioux. They were soon met with 2,000 braves who slaughtered them while only losing 14 warriors. This massacre led to the Treaty of Ft. Laramie and the creation of the Great Sioux reservation. Red Cloud opted out of future Sioux wars and tried to help his people adjust to reservation life. He converted to Catholicism in 1884 and spent the rest of his years fighting injustices and unfair land deals.

7. Sitting Bull

Besides looking like red Cloud’s twin brother, Sitting Bull was a Lakota Sioux holy man. He foresaw the Sioux defeat of General Custer in a dream and rallied the various Sioux tribes and inspired them to defeat Custer in one of history’s most famous battles. This victory was short-lived and Sitting Bull found himself pursued by the US military. He retreated to Sascatchawan, Canada and remained there until his surrender to US troops in 1881. Sitting Bull, like many of his peers, spent time in a Wild West Show after surrendering to US authorities. During the Ghost dance Movement (discussed in an earlier post), Indian Agency police were ordered to arrest Sitting Bull so he could not join the movement and fan the flames of discontent. While he was being arrested, some of his supporters fired on the police who shot Sitting Bull in the head and side. He died and was buried near Fort Yates, but his body is said to have been stolen by his Lakota family and reburied in South Dakota.

6. Tecumseh

This guy is one of my favorites. He was the brother of Tanskatawa and the Shawnee leader who tried to create an pan-tribal alliance against American expansion. He traveled all over the east coast and tried to gather a following. His plans were met with a luke warm response, but he did manage to help incite the Creek War and develop a following. His dream came to an end in 1813 when, after siding with the British during the War of 1812, he was killed at the Battle of the Thames. If you ever want to do extra research on one of these guys, this would be my choice.

5. Joseph Brant

Joseph Brant represents a fairly unspoken of phenomenon in Native American history. Brant was only half Mohawk and rose to prominence due to his education, skills and connections with the British. In fact, he sided with them during the American Revolution and gained a terrible reputation with the colonists. Many of these stories were lies or exaggerated, but they made Brant one of the most famous natives of his time. He met both King George III and George Washington as well as a number of other key figures. When the Revolutionary War was lost by the british, he and his followers moved up to Canada where he remained a prominent member of the Mohawk community.

4. Cochise

Cochise was one of the Apache’s most celebrated leaders. While he was growing up, it had become common practice for Mexican troops and mercenaries to hunt down Apache civilians to get their scalps which they could then trade for money (Americans and other natives took advantage of this system as well). Cochise’s father was actually killed by one of these men. This led Cochise to fight against his people’s enemies. Tensions came to a head at the Battle of Apache Pass. During this engagement the Apache held off US forces for hours until the artillery guns showed up. The artillery forced the Apache to retreat and for one of their war chiefs to turn himself in as a prisoner. The US later murdered this prisoner and Cochise decided to keep the raids going. He continued his raids until 1872 when he finally signed for peace and retired to the reservation.

3. Crazy Horse

A famous name that people know very little about, Crazy horse has grown into a legend since his death. Crazy Horse was Sioux leader who fought alongside Red Cloud and continued to fight after his ‘retirement.’ Crazy Horse was a major player in the
Great Sioux War of 1876-77. He held up General George Crook from meeting with Custer and was present when Custer suffered a humiliating defeated. He continued to raid and fight until 1877, but soon realized that his people could not survive another winter in hiding. He surrendered himself to the US in the May of 1877 and was murdered by US troops when he tried to escape custody on September 5th. Many believe he was set-up and never tried to escape at all. Given what I’ve read about Native American history, this doesn’t seem too farfetched.

2. Metacomet

Also known as King Philip, Metacomet was the war chief of the Wampanoag Indians during the uprising known as King Philip’s war. This conflict took place in the 1670’s and pitted the natives verses to the English Colonists.The natives had grown tired of English expansion and the lack of available game, and decided to rally together and attack the English. They did some serious damage; destroying 12 towns and seeing almost half of the English towns attacked. The English eventually rallied their numbers and the Wampanoag fled to the swamps. On August 12th, 1676, Puritan leaders and their indian allies shot Metacomet dead. His followers fought on for a time, but eventually signed a peace a little more than a year later.

1. Red Eagle

I actually did a report on this guy in college and he remains one of my favorite historical figures. He was a Red Stick Creek, and led the Creek forces against the US during the Creek War of 1813-14. He participated in the Fort Mims massacre of 1813 which saw 500 frontier families and White Stick Creeks killed. However, there are sources that claimed he tried to stop the event from taking place. This forced the US military to act, and the Creek War was underway. A force led by future president Andrew Jackson destroyed the Creek forces at a number of key engagements and Red Eagle eventually turned himself in to Jackson personally. Jackson was so impressed by Red Eagle that he spared his life and used him to reign in the other Creek chiefs. After surrendering to the US, he lived the rest of his life as an Alabama planter.

Thanks for reading one of my favorite lists. For more on the Native Americans check out 7 Incredible Native American Rituals, 7 Crazy Native American Drugs, 8 Native American Tribes (Pt. 1), 8 Native American Tribes (Pt 2) and 9 Obscure Native American Mythological Figures.