For the next Four Fridays, I'm doing blog posts about Canadian heroes of History... some you may have heard of... others you may not know... in under 800 words (not including my usual last note), I'm going to TRY and introduce them to you as best I can...

So far, I've done posts about...

- Sam Steele
- Molly Brant
- Mary Shadd Cary
- Madeleine de Verchères
- James FitzGibbon
- Harriet Tubman Davis
- Crowfoot
- Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry

Word of warning... I went WAY over 800 words... but in this case, I had to.

His worst enemy said of him that he was, "the Moses of the family, really, the efficient man."

The same enemy also described him as, "one of those uncommon geniuses which spring up occasionally to produce revolutions and overturn the established order of things."

So said William Henry Harrison of Tecumseh.

The Shawnee warrior, born in (probably) 1768, was a force to be reckoned with. He started life in Ohio Country (in what is now U.S. territory) and was a member of the "panther clan" of the Shawnee.

Tecumseh was a warrior... born and bred. The biggest influence on his life was his elder brother, Cheeseekau, who was a paternal figure as Tecumseh's father died when he was an infant. Cheeseekau taught his younger brother to hunt with bow and arrow (ingraining a contempt for guns as they frightened away the deer,) and to fight with a tomahawk... and most importantly, to loath the white men... especially Americans who they saw as truly the people out to grab their ancestral lands.

Tecumseh fought with his brother against the frontiersmen rising to band leader after the death of Cheeseekau in the Cherokee war in 1792.

Interestingly enough, however, Tecumseh had a very closer friend in a young fellow named Stephen Ruddell, a young white settler who became a Methodist missionary to the Shawnee. Ruddell was adopted into the tribe after a battle during the American Revolution. It's through Ruddell that we see the beginning of Tecumseh's well known mercy's origins... While a white prisoner was slowly burned alive at the stake, Tecumseh rose and delivered a speech to all around that he would never again allow such barbarity in his presence.

Tecumseh avoided the drink as he saw the damage it could do (through the trials of alcoholism throughout the tribe and his younger brother's - The Prophet - successful battle against it,) and even managed to stave off being swayed from his course by love and sex. Tecumseh was, for all intents and purposes, all business and wanted nothing to make him stray from his course.

...but...

He did almost give up for one woman... a young white girl named Rebecca Galloway. She spoke Shawnee and taught him English. She introduced him to The Bible, Shakespeare (apparently his favourite was Hamlet,) and taught him, although he wasn't terribly happy about it, how to "act" in polite European society. He was genuinely taken with Rebecca... and even asked for her hand in marriage.

I should interject, Tecumseh was apparently a very handsome man. He was a lithe five-foot ten-inches with an oval face and fair features... thus he was not someone who women said "no" to a whole lot... and Rebecca did NOT say no.

She did, however, say that he must give up Native customs and ways and adopt the white man's ways...

Needless to say, this didn't work to well for the proud warrior, and reluctantly they parted... but after this, he was determined more than ever to stay single.

Tecumseh's goal was an "Indian Confederacy"... the same dream of Pontiac before him.

He traveled astonishing distances preaching his vision of a confederacy to any tribes that would listen... and made good headway.

He and his brother, The Prophet, ended up setting up a permanent settlement named "Prophet's Town" near the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers in present day Indiana.

This did not sit well with the new governor of the newly established Indiana Territory, the aforementioned William Henry Harrison.

Harrison negotiated the Treaty of Fort Wayne in which many local chiefs sold over two-million acres of land to the new territory... which did not sit well with Tecumseh.

Tecumseh took the concept that all native land was almost communal between the tribes argued that the treaty was invalid as it was only a portion of the elders and chiefs making the deals... not all.

Tecumseh and other elders/chiefs met with Harrison at Vincennes in 1811... and this is when Harrison found out about Tecumseh.

White settlers had long dealt with the aboriginals as "children"... which, by what was considered "civilised white society" was how they were viewed...

Harrison tells his interpreter to tell Tecumseh that "His Father" (meaning Harrison,) wanted him to sit by his side...

"MY FATHER!" shouted Tecumseh, "The Great Spirit is my father! The Earth is my mother - and on her bosom I will recline." and sat cross-legged on the ground surrounded by his warriors.

Harrison delivers a speech to the natives blaming the British for their ills and making promises to the Natives about their treatment and rights... which, once he was finished and the translation begun, Tecumseh lept to his feet and called Harrison a liar and a cheat... his warriors, in turn, started readying for a fight.

Harrison's men quickly gathered... they outnumbered the Natives and had more arms and proceeded to force Tecumseh's departure.

The next day, Tecumseh apologised and asked to see Harrison in the native encampment.

Harrison came and found Tecumseh far less angry and almost skittish. They sat on a wooden bench and Tecumseh started talking to Harrison in quick, almost nervous speech... edging closer and closer to Harrison as he spoke. Harrison was forced to move... and move again... until he was at the edge of the bench and complained.

Tecumseh stopped, laughed, and let him know that NOW Harrison understood how the Natives felt about their lands.

Tecumseh, seeing the writing in the wind, went to his allies, the British at Fort Amherstburg (or Fort Malden... present day Windsor) and asked for assistance should the fight come... The British give no promises... but say if they "must", they will help... but they try to curb the native's anger to wait for the right moment... and also to spare angering the much stronger Americans towards the British in North America at the time.

Tecumseh's brother, The Prophet, is far more leery of the Americans and wants to fight right away... Tecumseh wants to build his force and only go on the offensive if they must or at least, when they are best prepared.

Harrison realised this, and when Tecumseh was off trying to build his tribal confederacy to the South, he knew The Prophet might strike... it was something he was almost counting on.

Claiming the growing aggressive stance of The Prophet, Harrison send troops towards the Indian Territory... and even build a blockhouse, "Fort Harrison", in disputed territory. A "demonstration of force" to let the natives know that he means business. The reality is, Harrison is really only here to further his own ambitions.

In October of 1811, Harrison leads a force of two-hundred and fifty men from the U.S. 4th infantry towards Prophet's Town. They encamp less than a dozen miles away.

The Prophet, expecting an attack at any time, sent negotiators to suss out the Americans intent... both sides feel that a battle is in the offing.

Finally, early one morning at the American encampment, a band of warriors attack the Americans.

Through surprise, the natives gain an early advantage... but not for too long... Two days later, Prophet Town is overrun and reduced to ashes... what's left of the native survivors flee to British territory. The Battle of Tippecanoe is often thought of, with some truth, as the first battle of The War of 1812 (The American War).

Tecumseh, on hearing of this, is reported to have said...

I stood upon the ashes of my own home, where my own wigwam had sent up fires to the Great Spirit, and there I summoned the spirits of the braves who had fallen in their vain attempts to protect their homes from the grasping invader, and as I snuffed up the smell of their blood from the ground I swore once more eternal hatred - the hatred of an avenger.

The mission that had him away from Prophet's Town to the South was a failure... but in it's ashes, he found his Northern confederacy was intact... and ready to assist him and his cause.

When America, who was now using the "aggressive stance of the natives" as one of their reasons to go to war with Britain finally declare full war, Tecumseh and his native confederacy joined the cause with the British and Canadian forces.

Tecumseh fought bravely and hard in almost every battle he could. He was both considered a savage and a good civil soldier.

He kept the native warriors in check. He ensured the safety of captured Americans and was known to fly into a rage and even weep when he found out about any indignity or brutality shown to a wounded man or prisoner by his warriors.

He was both feared and admired... he took full advantage of the "reputation" of the savage natives and tried constantly to avoid needless violence or bloodshed... but when called on, could be as brutal and vicious a fighter as any... it was after the fight that gained him his popular reputation on both sides of the war.

By sheer presence and with the power of his voice, he managed to calm blood-lusting braves and get them into order... he could also equally get them built-up for battle with a rousing speech.

He was also know as a fair man... one who, no matter who it was, if he felt someone was being "cheated" or mistreated, would step up and take control.

The British command, needing the native allies, allowed him almost full control in many situations, and with his power amongst his people, they were very accommodating.

General Brock was a favourite of Tecumseh... Brock's smart efforts and carefully planned moves (while still being agressive) were admired by Tecumseh... Brock said of Tecumseh, "A more ... gallant Warrior does not, I believe, exist."

Tecumseh said of Brock, one simple statement... "This is a man."

With Brock's death at the Battle of Queenston Heights, Tecumseh had little use for the new British command... who were often vacillitating and not aggressive enough for the Shawnee... even going as far to tell General Proctor, after he allowed the natives in his command to slaughter defenseless prisoners and American wounded, that he should "Begone! You are unfit to command; go and put on petticoats." which, for natives, was the WORST insult one could hurl.

In the late Summer of 1813, things were going badly for the British... and Tecumseh saw reversal after reversal... and he wanted to fight and advance.

He convinced command to allow him and his warriors and a group of British regulars and militia to make a stand near the river Thames in Upper Canada in October... According to reports, the battle was fierce, but over the fire one could hear Tecumseh urging on his warriors... until his voice suddenly stopped.

Tecumseh was dead... killed in battle.

His body was never "officially" found... he has no grave. Many of the Americans, upon the completion of the battle, claimed they had the body or had seen it. One American was seen skinning an Indian's corpse to make razor-strops that he would claim were made of Tecumseh. When he was told by someone who knew Tecumseh that he had the wrong man, he replied no one would know the difference.

Legend says he was spirited away by fellow warriors and buried in an unknown location to avoid his body being desecrated.

At the time, the average American loathed the natives. They were seen as savages and allies of the hated British... but in the upper echelon of American society, they knew that he was a real leader... capable of brilliant speeches and a passion that was admirable no matter what.

In a very short time, his legend had outgrown the old animosity and he was hailed as a "Noble Savage" on both sides of the border... his reputation for kindness, honesty, justice, and above all, humanity were (and are) well respected.

Sadly, Tecumseh's dream of a native confederacy never saw the light... in fact, at the war's end, the peace treaty between America and Britain didn't include the natives at all.

Tecumseh was original... and he is considered a hero by many to this day.

Quotes:

"Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it is his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them."

"Then listen to the voice of duty, of honor, of nature and of your endangered country. Let us form one body, one head, and defend to the last warrior, our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers."

"When Jesus Christ came upon the Earth, you killed Him. The son of your own God. And only after He was dead did you worship Him and start killing those who would not."

"Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself."

Of note:

- Tecumseh refused to let a "white man" ever paint or draw his image. The picture at the top is a "best guess" based on descriptions and memories.

- Although it's pronounced a million ways, in Shawnee, it would be "Te-Cum-Suh" or "Te-Cum-Sa" or "Te-Cum-Say"... all will do... just not "Te-Cum-See"!

References:

The Invasion of Canada and Flames Across the Border by the late Pierre Berton
Wiki Entry - Tecumseh
Gala Films - War of 1812
Britannica - Tecumseh

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