isa-normaladvance-1913-00238

Description:	238THE NORMAL ADVANCEwhich Wayne negotiated with the varioustribes in 1795. Neither Tecumtha nor hisfather signed that treaty, neither of them beingtribal chiefs, but by it the Indians were to giveup claim to the southern half of Ohio, whichwas Tecumthas home. He was of Shawneeparentage, and this tribe was not granted anyhome after being pushed out of Ohio. Thevarious tribes in that council tried to get Wayneto divide the country north and west of thetreaty line among the Indians, but this he refused to do. Consequently, the Shawnee andother Ohio tribes were thrust back upon thewestern Indians and were compelled either tofight for homes or to beg the hospitality oftheir allies. The Shawnee and Delaware restedin southern Indiana and Illinois, where LittleTurtle, head chief of the Miami, and leader ofthe allied tribes against Harmon, St. Clair, andWayne in succession, had allowed them tofound their homes. In 1803 began a series oftreaties in which great tracts of land in Indiana and Illinois were ceded to the whites. Although nine Shawnee chiefs signed the treatyin 1795, only two signed the treaty in 1803. Inthe series of treaties which followed, theShawnee were not even consulted. It was clearto Tecumtha that his tribe wTas rapidly beingdispossessed of its homes, while it was not beingtreated with the same consideration that someof the other tribes were. Consequently, therewas general dissatisfaction in the tribe, andamong other tribes as well. The climax camein 1809, when Harrison, following the westerndesire for expansion, and with the presidentspermission, negotiated two large cessions in Indiana. (See map.) Harrison consulted theDelaware, Potawatomi and Miami, but againthe Shawnee were not included. Tecumtha andother warriors thought that these treaties werebeing made by chiefs who received especialfavor, from the United States government.He wTould do away with the tribal basis of Indian government, and establish a republicanconfederacy of all the tribes, from Canada toFlorida. In this confederacy, the warriors,and not merely the chiefs, would control thepolicy of the tribes. No tribe could cede awayland without the consent of all the tribes. Thiswas the grandest conception of Indian politythat any Indian ever planned.Tecumtha took advantage of the Indianscongregating around his brother, the Prophetand Magician, and was inciting them to action.WALDO F. MITCHELL, 10, C C, 12Author of Indiana—One Hundred Years AgoIndians from all the Northwest visited theProphets town on the Tippecanoe river. Bythe spring of 1810, the dissatisfaction of theShawTnee, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomihad become so great that they defied the government by refusing to accept the annuity ofsalt which had been pledged to the Indians in1803. Harrison tried to quiet the Indians, andTecumtha met him at Vincennes in a famousconference, but all to no purpose. The Indiansgrew bolder and more defiant under the leadership of Tecumtha and the teachings of theProphet.2The condition at the beginning of 1811 isstated by Lossing as follows: Emissaries sent2Dawson, Harrison Pirtle, Battle of Tippecanoe Lossing, War of 1812 Dunn, True Indian Stories U. S.Statutes, VII.
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34683
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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