The Story of Tecumseh
Tecumseh was one of the great Shawnee leaders. He was born on the banks of the little Miami River that is at present between Springfield and Xenia in 1768. His father was a Shawnee’s war chief called Pucksinwah and his mother was called Methotasa. It is said that his parents were on their way to Chillicothe when he was born, that during his birth, a meteor passed across the sky. That is why he was named Tecumseh, meaning the shooting star. His father died in 1774 at the battle of Point Pleasant at the time of Lord Dunmore’s war. It said that at his death, Tecumseh’s father commanded his eldest son Chiksika to train Tecumseh as a warrior and also told him to never make peace with the whites. His death led to many Shawnees, including Tecumseh’s mother, move westwards to Indiana, Illinois, and eventually settling at Missouri in fear of the white settlers. This happened when Tecumseh was just eleven years old; he therefore remained in the County of Ohio, where he was brought up by his older brother, Chiksika, and his sister, Tecumpease (Coble 1).
Tecumseh grew up during the period of the American revolutionary war and therefore, he was constantly exposed to warfare. In addition to this, his elder brother trained him to become a warrior and his first military encounter came in 1782 when he fought against an army that was led by George Rogers Clark in the Ohio County. Being his first time, he was full of panic, a situation that saw him flee the battlefield. He was humiliated by this event, but he did not lose hope, in fact his determination grew and since then he swore never run again. He grew into a strong and brave warrior that was admired by his people. He was eventually declared a Shawnee leader. The wars that followed did not go well for the Indians, in 1794, they were not successful against Anthony Wayne’s army. Wayne’s men defeated the Native Americans at the battle of Fallen Timbers, this included Tecumseh. This defeat saw many of the Indians relinquish much of their land with the belief that it was the only way to appease the whites. Many of the Indian tribes residing in Ohio signed the Greeneville treaty of 1795. In the agreement, the Native Americans were to give up all of their land to the whites except the northwestern corner of what is today Ohio. This move did not augur well with some of the Indians including Tecumseh (Tecumseh 1).
Tecumseh did not like the idea of his land being taken away by the whites. By the early 1800s, he had decided that the only best way to stop the advancement of the whites in their territory was to form a confederacy of Indian tribes on the west of the Appalachian Mountains. He did this with the belief that no single tribe owned land, and therefore all their land could easily be turned to the whites if no resistance was done. Tecumseh strongly believed that if all the Indians united, and then they had a better chance of fighting against the whites. With the help of his younger brother, Tenskwatawa, the prophet, Tecumseh managed to bring the Indians together. The prophet claimed that he had had a vision, that the Master of Life, the Shawnee Indians’ primary god, had told him to have the Indians give up all the white customs and products. These included abandoning things like religious beliefs, agricultural practices, use of guns, iron cookware, and also the use of alcohol. The prophet claimed that by turning their backs on the Indian traditional ways, they had seriously offended the Master of Life. The prophet went ahead to tell them that the Master of Life would reward them and help them drive out the whites from their land if they returned to their native customs. This message from the prophet was embraced by many of the natives. Many of them then joined Tecumseh and his brother at Prophetstown, a village that the two brothers had established in the Territory of Indiana in 1808. They did not want to start any conflict. The held onto that belief that land could not be owned but could merely, be occupied by anyone (Raymond 34).
The Governor of the Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, slowly watched the growing numbers of the Indians at Prophetstown, and he was not pleased with it. He therefore led an army to the village in 1811. By then Tecumseh was recruiting allies of the Indians in the southern part of the US. He had left his brother behind with firm orders not to attack the whites. But the prophet claimed he had received another vision from the Master of Life. The Master told him in the vision to send his warriors to fight the Americans. He claimed that the Master had confirmed to him that the bullets will not at all harm the Indians. This led to the famous battle of Tippecanoe, where the prophet together with his followers was badly defeated by the Americans, a defeat that saw Prophetstown destroyed. The Indian confederacy put together by Tecumseh was weakened by the defeat. He had already had enough difficulties in convincing the Indian tribes to put their traditional differences aside and unite as one against the whites. Some of the Indians had stuck to the white customs and had no desire whatsoever to go back to their traditions. During the 1812 war, Tecumseh and his remaining followers allied with the British with the hope that if the British won, the Indians will be able to get their lands back. But unfortunately Tecumseh died in one of the battles, the battle of Thames in 1813. This happened when a combined British-Indian force met the American army led by William Henry Harrison, but the British soldiers fled the battlefield leaving Tecumseh and his men to fight on their own. Because Tecumseh army had reduced, they were easily driven from the field, where one of the American bullets struck Tecumseh and killed him. His death was the end of the united Indian resistance against the Americans (Drake 146).
Conclusion
The story of Tecumseh brings about an explanation based on reality, of how a true leader should be in a position to lead his people towards victorious fulfillment of their goals regardless of whether the goals are personal or for the community. Tecumseh’s life experiences became the basis of who he really was and what he wanted for his Indian community. He did not just work alone, but he worked with others, that is why together with his brother, he struggled to form the Indian confederacy. He believed in the power of unity, a power that enables a group achieve its dreams. Even when others run a way he worked with the few that remained, as seen from the battle that led to his eventual demise. This is the exemplary legacy he left to this world. This story of Tecumseh sends out a very strong message not just to his people, the Indians, but to all the world generations, to keep holding onto their dreams and make things happen in order to achieve fulfillment.
Works cited
Coble Tamera (2010). Biography: Tecumseh, the Great Shawnee Leader. Retrieved from, http://www.helium.com/items/1758301-biography-tecumseh-the-great-shawnee-leader?page=2
Drake Benjamin (2007). Life of Tecumseh and of his brother the prophet: with a historical sketch of the Shawanoe Indians. Publisher: E. Morgan & Co., 1841Original from Oxford University
Raymond T. Ethel (2009). Tecumseh. Edition reprint Publisher: Biblio Bazaar, LLC, 2009
Tecumseh (2000). Biography of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh 1768-1813. Retrieved from, http://www.warof1812.ca/tecumseh.htm
