Portal:Indigenous peoples of North America/Biographies

[edit] June 24, 2006

Osceola (1804 – January 20, 1838) was a leader of the Seminole Indians in Florida. Osceola led the vastly outnumbered Seminole resistance during the Second Seminole War when the United States tried to remove the Seminoles from their lands.

Osceola was born in 1804 in the village of Tallassee, Alabama around current Macon County. His mother was a Creek Indian, and his father might have been white trader William Powell with whom his mother was involved for a time; consequently, some persisted in calling the young man Billy Powell. However, Osceola claimed to be a full-blood.

In 1814 Osceola and his mother moved to Florida alongside other Creek Indians. In adulthood he received his name; the name Osceola is an anglicised form of Asiyahola; assi, from a ceremonial yaupon holly tea or "black drink" and yaholi, the name of a Creek god intoned when the drink was served.

In 1832, a few Seminole chiefs signed the Treaty of Payne's Landing, where they agreed to give up their Florida lands in exchange for lands west of the Mississippi River. Osceola and many other Seminole were outraged by this treaty; Osceola reportedly stabbed the treaty with a dagger and said, "This is the only treaty I will make with the white man!"

[edit] July 1, 2006

Chief Leschi (1808 - February 19, 1858) was chief of the Nisqually Native American tribe. He was hanged for murder in 1858.

Leschi was born in 1808 near what is today Eatonville, Washington, to a Nisqually father and a Yakama mother. He was appointed chief by Isaac Stevens, first governor of Washington Territory, to represent the Nisqually and Puyallup tribes at the Medicine Creek Treaty council of December 26, 1854, which ceded to the United States all or part of present-day King, Pierce, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Mason, and Thurston Counties and stipulated that the Native Americans inhabiting the area move to reservations. Some maintain that Leschi either refused to sign (and had his "X" forged by another) or signed under protest. The historical record is unclear on this point. However, he did argue that the reservation provided too little land for the tribe's horses.

The next year, Leschi traveled to the territorial capital at Olympia to protest the terms of the treaty, but was rebuffed. In October 1855, Governor Stevens ordered that Leschi and his brother Quiemuth be taken into "protective custody" and sent the militia after them, thereby initiating the Puget Sound War of 1855-1856.

[edit] July 8, 2006

Geronimo (Chiricahua Goyaałé 'One Who Yawns'; often spelled Goyathlay in English), (June 16, 1829–February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who long warred against the encroachment of the United States on tribal lands.

Geronimo was born near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Gila River in what is now the state of New Mexico, then part of Mexico, but which his family considered Bedonkohe Apache hell(tori) land. Geronimo himself was a Bedonkohe Apache. He grew up to be a respected medicine man and, later, an accomplished warrior who fought frequently with Mexican troops. Mexican soldiers killed his first wife and three children during a supposedly peaceful trading session in 1858, and as a result he hated all Mexicans for the rest of his life. Mexicans gave him the nickname of "Gerónimo". The reasons for this name are not known. Some believe that his Spanish enemies called out to Saint Jerome for assistance while attacking or in the midst of violent defeat. Others believe it was a transcription of the Spanish attempt to pronounce the name Goyaałé.

Geronimo fought against numbers of both Mexican and United States troops and became famous for his daring exploits and numerous escapes from capture. At the last, these 38 men, women and children evaded 5000 U.S. troops (one fourth of the army at the time) and the Mexican army for a year. His forces became the last major force of independent Indian warriors who refused to acknowledge the United States Government in the American West. This came to an end on September 4, 1886, when Geronimo surrendered to United States Army General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona.

[edit] July 15, 2006

Mangas Coloradas or Dasoda-hae (Red Sleeves), 1793?-1863 was a famous Apache chief, a member of the Eastern Chiricahuas, whose homeland stretched west from the Rio Grande to include most of what is present-day southwestern New Mexico. Considered by many to be the most important Apache leader of the 19th century, he united the Apache nation against the United States.

In the 1820s and 1830s, the Apaches' chief enemy was the Mexicans, who had gained their independence from Spain in 1821. By 1835 Mexico had placed a bounty on Apache scalps. When Juan Jose Compas, the leader of the Mimbreno Apaches, was killed for bounty money in 1837, Mangas became principal chief and war leader and began a series of retaliatory raids against the Mexicans.

When the United States went to war against Mexico, the Apache promised U.S. soldiers safe passage through Apache lands. When the U.S. claimed former territories of Mexico in 1846, Mangas Coloradas signed a peace treaty, respecting them as conquerors of the hated Mexican enemies. An uneasy peace between the Apache and the United States held until the 1850s, when an influx of gold miners into the Santa Rita Mountains led to conflict. In 1851, near Pinos Altos mining camp, Mangas was personally attacked by a group of miners who tied him to a tree and severely beat him. Similar incidents continued in violation of the treaty, leading to Apache reprisals. In December, 1860, thirty miners launched a surprise attack on an encampment of Bedonkohes on the west bank of the Mimbres River. According to historian Edwin R. Sweeney, the miners "...killed four Indians, wounded others, and captured thirteen women and children." Shortly after, Mangas initiated raids against U.S. citizens and property.

[edit] December 2006

Crazy Horse (Lakota: T‘ašunka Witko, pronounced t'khashúnka witkó), (c. 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a respected member of the Oglala Sioux Native American tribe. Noted for his courage in battle, he was recognized among his own people as a great leader committed to preserving the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life and for leading his people into a war against the takeover of their lands by the Federal government of the United States.

On June 17, 1876, Crazy Horse led a combined group of approximately 1,500 Lakota and Cheyenne in a surprise attack against Brig. Gen. George Crook's force of 1,000 cavalry and infantry and 300 Crow and Shoshone warriors in the Battle of the Rosebud. The battle, although not substantial in terms of human loss, delayed Crook from joining up with the 7th Cavalry under George A. Custer, ensuring Custer’s subsequent defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

On September 5, 1877, William Gentiles, a 20-year army veteran who never rose above the rank of private, lunged at Crazy Horse with his bayonet, striking him near his left kidney, after Crazy Horse resisted arrest. Crazy Horse died during the night in the Adjutant's Office, with Dr. McGillycuddy providing medical care and his father singing the death song over him. His body was taken away by his parents and laid to rest somewhere in the Badlands.