Description: This color illustration depicts a Shawnee Indian holding a spear. He is walking in a stream or a lake, and appears to be spear-fishing. He is carrying pack slung over one shoulder. The Shawnee Indians were living in the Ohio Valley as early as the late 1600s. The Iroquois natives were unwilling to share these rich hunting grounds and drove the Shawnee away. Some went to Illinois; others went to Pennsylvania, Maryland or Georgia. As the power of the Iroquois weakened, the Shawnee moved back into Ohio from the south and the east. They settled in the lower Scioto River Valley. Fierce warriors, the Shawnee were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country around 1740. The French pushed the British out of Ohio, and the Shawnee allied with the French again until the British victory in the French and Indian War. Ohio natives, including the Shawnee, fought the British and their colonists. During the American Revolution, the Shawnee fought alongside the British against the Americans, believing that Britain would prevent the colonists from encroaching further upon the natives' land. After the war the American Indians continued to fight the Americans. General Anthony Wayne defeated the Shawnee and other Ohio natives at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Shawnee were forced to surrender most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville. Many of the Shawnee moved into the Indiana Territory. Some of these people, however, hoped to reclaim their Ohio lands. Chief among them was Tecumseh, who hoped to unite together all native tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains against the United States. Due to the advanced technology of the whites and the American Indians' failure to put aside their traditional differences, Tecumseh's efforts at confederation failed. General William Henry Harrison defeated the Shawnee and their allies at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Other Shawnee leaders, like Black Hoof, adopted white customs, in the hope that the whites would allow the natives to continue to live on the land if the American Indians adopted white customs. Between 1831 and 1833, the United States government forced the Shawnee to give up their land claims in Ohio, and forcibly removed the tribe to reservations in Oklahoma and Kansas. The Shawnee divided themselves into different clans. The principal leader of the Shawnee 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 principal chief, the “capital city” of the Shawnees. Chillicothe was also the name of Ohio's first state capital. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07000
Subjects: Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history and society; Shawnee Indians--Government relations; Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; Greenville, Treaty of, 1795
 

Description: Illustrated portrait of Shawnee Indian Tenskwatawa, the brother of Tecumseh. In 1805, Tenskwatawa claimed to have been visited by the Master of Life, a Shawnee Indian deity, who said that American Indians must reject the ways of white men in order to regain their lands. For this reason, he is known as the Prophet. He was named Lalawethika (the Rattle) by his mother but changed his name to Tenskwatawa after being visited by the Master of Life. Though he and Tecumseh were initially able to unite many Indian tribes under this message, the confederation ultimately failed. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04623
Subjects: American Indians; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; American Indian tribal leaders; Shawnee Tribe
 

Description: Portrait of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. Tecumseh, meaning Shooting Star, was born in 1768 near Chillicothe, Ohio, the son of the reigning Chief Pukeshinwau. Throughout his childhood, Tecumseh experienced many malevolent, violent expansions by the United States which would later sustain his hatred towards the United States. Tecumseh proved himself able-bodied when, as a teenager, he contributed to a successful attack on a group of Americans sailing down the Ohio River. He would later be given charge of a mass amount of men to direct during ongoing clashes with white settlers, and was made a commander who would resume leadership if his superior was killed. The ending to the Pan-Indian Movement occurred in late 1794 with the Battle of Fallen Timbers where the First Nations tribal alliance was heavily outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the U.S military. During the battle, Tecumseh led an offensive attack that led to a temporary U.S. retreat and the release of American battle animals, mainly horses. When the United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812, Tecumseh and the group of men he led traveled to Canada to organize militant strategies. Tecumseh and his men were assigned to overtake the city of Detroit with Major General Isaac Brock. The taking of the city was a major success as the Americans surrendered due to fear of the unknown numbers of American Indians there were attacking. Tecumseh, who led the First Nations into battle, was regarded as a hero among the tribes, Canada, and Britain. During the Battle of the Thames, the U.S. launched a surprise attack against the British and their First Nations allies, which had them heavily outnumbered. While many soldiers felt that retreat was the only option, Tecumseh pursued his attack forward, including an offensive on the "long knives" whilst alone. In a final stand against the Americans, Tecumseh was killed. Many of his tribal men refused to continue participating in the conflict because their allegiance was only to Tecumseh. His life represented the American Indian struggle against U.S. expansion and although he never personally experienced victory he influenced many tribes to continue their resistance. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07699
Subjects: Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history and society
 

Description: Dated 1918, this is a map titled "The Ohio Country of the Historic Indian Period," compiled by H.C. Shetrone and drawn by R.B. Sherman. The map includes geological features, regions occupied by various American Indian peoples, Anglo-American settlements, and political forces governing the Ohio landscape, such as the Treaty of Greeneville. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MAP_VFM0436_4
Subjects: American Indian history and society; Miami Tribe; Wyandot Indians--History; Shawnee Tribe; Delaware Indians--History; Geography and Natural Resources
Places: Ohio
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Shawnee leader Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea, commonly referred to as Colonel Lewis, published in "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea, whose name means "The man on the water who sinks and rises again," was born at Pickaway Plains, Ohio. He lived for many years near Wapakoneta, Ohio. McKenney and Hall say in their book that Colonel Lewis' rise to chief was entirely accidental. An American government official mistook Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea for the chief and his tribe followed suit, believing that was the wish of the government. Eventually, Colonel Lewis moved to land west of the Mississippi that was given to the Shawnee by the American government, and there he died in 1826. Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785–1859) served as the U.S. Superintendent of Indian trade from 1816–1822 and superintendent of Indian affairs from 1824-1830. James Hall (1793–1868) was a lawyer, writer, and editor who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1833 until his death in 1868. Their book was illustrated with portraits from the Indian gallery in the Department of War in Washington, D.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02909
Subjects: Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington D.C.
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Shawnee leader Tenskwatawa, or The Prophet, published in "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Tenskwatawa worked with his brother Tecumseh to unite American Indian tribes in the Northwest Territory to defend themselves against white settlers. The title across bottom of the page reads "Tens-Kwau-Ta-Waw." Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785–1859) served as the U.S. Superintendent of Indian trade from 1816–1822 and superintendent of Indian affairs from 1824-1830. James Hall (1793–1868) was a lawyer, writer, and editor who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1833 until his death in 1868. Their book was illustrated with portraits from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War in Washington, D.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02992
Subjects: Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington (District of Columbia)
 

Description: Portrait of Kish Kal Wa, a Shawnee chief, from "History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs," by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall (Philadelphia: D. Rice & A. N. Hart, 1854). Kishkalwa was a renowned warrior and was believed to be a brother of Chief Black Hoof. Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785–1859) served as the U.S. Superintendent of Indian trade from 1816–1822 and superintendent of Indian affairs from 1824-1830. James Hall (1793–1868) was a lawyer, writer, and editor who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1833 until his death in 1868. Their book was illustrated with portraits from the Indian gallery in the Department of War in Washington, D.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02779
Subjects: Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington D.C.