Tagwadihi

Last updated

Ta'gwadihi [1] ("Catawba-killer"), also known as Thomas Glass or simply the Glass, at least in correspondence with American officials, [2] was a leading chief of the Cherokee in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, eventually becoming the last principal chief of the Chickamauga (or Lower Cherokee).

Contents

Early life

The Glass was the son of an adopted Wyandot. [3] He first rose to prominence during the Cherokee–American wars, after having left the Overhill Towns along with Dragging Canoe's band in 1777.

Leadership in war

Living at Nickajack Town (of the Five Lower Towns) after 1782, he remained one of the chief leaders of the Chickamauga throughout the Cherokee–American wars. The Glass led raids and war parties—often with Dick Justice of Lookout Mountain Town—at least as late as 1792.

In the journal of his travels in the South, particularly among the Chickamauga, John Norton reported several encounters with the Glass. Norton wrote that a few years after the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the old warrior traveled up to the North country among the Iroquois and became friends with Joseph Brant, the Mohawk, who was the head chief of the Six Nations and had the same year as the treaty initiated the formation of the Western Confederacy to resist American incursions into the Old Northwest. [4] Norton was Brandt's adopted son. The resulting Northwest Indian War (1785-1795) included the great victory of the Western Confederacy at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791 and the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1795, which ended the distant war.

After war prominence

After the Treaty of Tellico Blockhouse in 1794, the Glass remained prominent among the Lower Cherokee and in The Cherokee Nation as well, eventually becoming assistant principal chief to Black Fox. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Glass owned a ferry across Lookout Creek operating at the foot of Lookout Mountain, near present-day Chattanooga, Tennessee. He also partly owned (along with a fellow former war leader, Dick Justice) a nearby mill.

In the revolt of a group of the younger chiefs of the Upper Towns, in 1808, against the domination of national affairs by the older chiefs of the Lower Towns, both the Glass and Black Fox were deposed from their positions in the National Council. However, they were returned to their seats on the council two years later. Although Black Fox again became principal chief of the nation, the Glass did not return as his assistant. Following the assassination of Doublehead in 1809, the Glass succeeded him as head of the Lower Towns' council and was considered their principal chief. Because Black Fox was acknowledged to be the lawful principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, the local position, along with the Lower Towns' council, was disbanded the next year. This took place at the council in Willstown, in 1810, which abolished separate councils for each of the Cherokee divisions (Upper, Lower, Hill, and Valley Towns) as well as the practice of clan blood revenge. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ross (Cherokee chief)</span> 1st principal chief of the Cherokee Nation

John Ross was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 to 1866; he served longer in that position than any other person. Ross led the nation through such tumultuous events as forced removal to Indian Territory and the American Civil War.

Dragging Canoe was a Cherokee red chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the Upper South. During the American Revolution and afterward, Dragging Canoe's forces were sometimes joined by Upper Muskogee, Chickasaw, Shawnee, and Indians from other tribes, along with British Loyalists, and agents of France and Spain. The Cherokee American Wars lasted more than a decade after the end of the American Revolutionary War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of New Echota</span> 1835 treaty between the U.S and a Cherokee faction

The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835, in New Echota, Georgia, by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political faction, the Treaty Party.

Willstown was an important Cherokee town of the late 18th and early 19th century, located in the southwesternmost part of the Cherokee Nation, in what is now DeKalb County, Alabama. It was near Lookout or Little Wills Creek. It was in Wills Valley, which also incorporated Big Wills Creek. This was within the territory of the Lower Creek, who had crossed into this area in an effort to avoid European-American encroachment.

Black Fox, also called Enola, was a Cherokee leader during the Cherokee–American wars. He was a signatory of the Holston Treaty, and later became a Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attakullakulla</span> Cherokee First Beloved Man

Attakullakulla was an influential Cherokee leader and the tribe's First Beloved Man, serving from 1761 to around 1775. His son was Dragging Canoe, the first leader of the Chickamauga faction of the Cherokee tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William P. Ross</span> Cherokee leader (1820–1891)

William Potter Ross, also known as Will Ross, was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation 1866-1867 and 1872-1875. Born to a Scottish father and a mixed-blood Cherokee mother, he was raised in a bilingual home. Ross attended English-speaking schools. He attended Princeton University, where he graduated first in his class in 1844.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis Downing</span>

Lewis Downing, also known by his Cherokee name ᎷᏫ ᏌᏩᎾᏍᎩ ("Lewie-za-wau-na-skie") served as Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1867 to 1872. After the death of John Ross, he was a compromise candidate who was elected to a full term as Principal Chief. Downing worked to heal divisions in the tribe following removal to the Indian Territory and the American Civil War. He was elected to a second term in 1871, but died in 1872, from inflammation of the brain. The Cherokee Council chose William P. Ross as his successor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee–American wars</span> Indian wars in the Old Southwest

The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American settlers on the frontier. Most of the events took place in the Upper South region. While the fighting stretched across the entire period, there were extended periods with little or no action.

This is a timeline of events in the history of the Cherokee Nation, from its earliest appearance in historical records to modern court cases in the United States. Some basic content about the removal of other southeastern tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River is included. In a series of treaties, these tribes ceded land to the United States.

Old Tassel — Reyetaeh in Cherokee language, Koatohee, sometimes Corntassel — was "First Beloved Man" of the Overhill Cherokee after 1783, when the United States gained independence from Great Britain. He worked to try to keep the Cherokee people of the Overhill region out of the Cherokee–American wars being fought between the European-American frontiersmen and the Chickamauga band warriors led by Dragging Canoe. He was murdered in 1788 along with another chief at Chilhowee by white settlers under a flag of truce.

Doublehead or Incalatanga, was one of the most feared warriors of the Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars. Following the peace treaty at the Tellico Blockhouse in 1794, he served as one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee, and he was chosen as the leader of Chickamauga in 1802.

John Watts, also known as Young Tassel, was one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars. Watts became particularly active in the fighting after frontiersmen murdered his uncle, Old Tassel (1708–1788), in 1788.

Turtle-at-Home, or Selukuki Wohelengh, was a Cherokee warrior and leader, brother and chief lieutenant of Dragging Canoe, a war-chief in the Cherokee–American wars.

The Cherokee people of the southeastern United States, and later Oklahoma and surrounding areas, have a long military history. Since European contact, Cherokee military activity has been documented in European records. Cherokee tribes and bands had a number of conflicts during the 18th century with Europeans, primarily British colonists from the Southern Colonies. The Eastern Band and Cherokees from the Indian Territory fought in the American Civil War, with bands allying with the Union or the Confederacy. Because many Cherokees allied with the Confederacy, the United States government required a new treaty with the nation after the war. Cherokees have also served in the United States military during the 20th and 21st centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee history</span>

Cherokee history is the written and oral lore, traditions, and historical record maintained by the living Cherokee people and their ancestors. In the 21st century, leaders of the Cherokee people define themselves as those persons enrolled in one of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, The Cherokee Nation, and The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)</span> Historic, autonomous Native American government

The Cherokee Nation was a legal, autonomous, tribal government in North America recognized from 1794 to 1907. It was often referred to simply as "The Nation" by its inhabitants. The government was effectively disbanded in 1907, after its land rights had been extinguished, prior to the admission of Oklahoma as a state. During the late 20th century, the Cherokee people reorganized, instituting a government with sovereign jurisdiction known as the Cherokee Nation. On July 9, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation had never been disestablished in the years before allotment and Oklahoma Statehood.

The Chickamauga Cherokee were a Native American group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War and up to the early 1800s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Cherokee settlements</span> Early Cherokee settlements established in North America

The historic Cherokee settlements were Cherokee settlements established in Southeastern North America up to the removals of the early 19th century. Several settlements had existed prior to and were initially contacted by explorers and colonists of the colonial powers as they made inroads into frontier areas. Others were established later.

References

  1. ↑ Also spelled Atawgwatihih.
  2. ↑ Lowrie and Clarke, p. 263
  3. ↑ Klink and Talman, p. lxviii
  4. ↑ Klink and Talman, p. 49
  5. ↑ McLoughlin, pp. 109-127

Sources

Preceded by Leader of the Chickamauga/Lower Cherokee
1807–1809		Succeeded by
Position ceased to exist
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.