Sachems / Chiefs - Leaders

Hereditary Sachems

Kandiaronk: A Man Called Rat

Reprinted in it's entirety.

Kandiaronk: A Man Called Rat

 



     The eighteenth century Jesuit historian Father Pierre F.X. Charlevoix deemed him "the Indian of the highest merit that the French ever knew in Canada",1 and asserted that in oratory and debate "he was the only man in Canada who was a match for the Count de Frontenac"2, who as governor established himself as one of the most dynamic and influential figures in early Canadian history. At the time that he died, he was the most highiy-respected Native leader in New France.  Yet, in his younger years he was several times accused of 'treachery'. His political and military manoeuvring may well have been the immediate cause of the Iroquois raid on the village of Lachine (traditionally termed a 'massacre', a label typically attached to Native success in warfare),3 in which at least 150 French people died. For a time afterwards he was a wanted man, one whom the then governor of New France, the Marquis de Denonville, declared would be hanged.

      The man's name was Kandiaronk, which in the Huron language meant "Rat".4 The name may have been a new one, as rats were recent immigrants hitchhiking on European ships. But Kandiaronk's people, the Wyandot, were new too. As a distinct tribe they were about the same age as Kandiaronk. It was claimed in 1689 that he was forty.5 From 1649 to the early 1650s the Wyandot6 were formed from the remnant of the Ekhionontateronnon or Petun7 people, along with some of their eastern neighbours the Huron, and possibly some of the more southerly Neutral as well.

      The early years of Kandiaronk and the Wyandot were unsettled ones. First they moved west from their Ontario home of perhaps 1,000 years, fleeing first from one powerftil enemy, the Iroquois, and then making, and escaping from another, the Sioux. It wasn't until 1671, with Kandiaronk a young man in his twenties, that the Wyandot finally settled at Michilimakinac, where Lake Huron  meets Lake Michigan. They stayed there until 1701, the year of Kandiaronk's
death.

       At Michilimakinac Kandiaronk's people had to carefully choose when and under what circumstances they supported the combating forces of the more powerful peoples with whom they came into contact. They had to closely watch the fluctuating fortunes of the opposing European powers - the French and the English - while at the same time keeping one eye on the moves of the ever- threatening Iroquois. Even their allies, the numerically superior Algonkian speakers8 of the upper Great Lakes (e.g., the Ottawa, Ojibwa, Sauk and Potawatomi) merited observation. The Wyandots were guests in their country.

     The Algonkians had already experienced what the Iroquois could do militarily, and they had no desire to increase that experience unnecessarily. One careless move by the Wyandot could result in their dissolution as a people.   Kandiaronk's first recorded entry9 onto this perilous political stage occurred during the late 1680s. He was not the 'chief' of his people, such a position was reserved for the holder of the name-title Sastaretsi.10 He was, however, undoubtedly a man of influence, perhaps a war leader. At that time Governor Denonville was more than eager to persuade Kandiaronk, and all those Wyandot who would follow him into battle, to make a definite commitment on the side of the French. For despite the fact that Denonville's troops had struck deep into the home territory of the Seneca in 1687, that westernmost of the
Iroquois tribes had successfully avoided major confrontation and had stayed strong. The French still saw them as a threat to their attempt to control Great Lakes trade. Of further concern to Denonville was that the English, through Iroquois intermediaries, had managed to complete a successful trading expedition to the various tribes living in the Michilimakinac area.

     On his part, Kandiaronk was concerned about what strong public commitment to the French might mean to the relationship between his people and the Iroquois. They needed either flexibility or power to deal with the then Five
Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. If an official French-Wyandot military alliance was not backed by a substantial French force, it would merely serve to alienate the Iroquois, without providing the might necessary to cope with the
grim consequences of that alienation.

     So Kandiaronk drove a hard bargain. In the fall of 1687 he pledged his allegiance to the French cause on the condition that both nations were to make war on the Iroquois until the latter's ability to retaliate was effectively neutralized.11

     The Wyandot had a saying that 'the Sky' was watching them when they were making treaties. 12 If promises were violated, the Sky might punish the violator with drought, or canoe-swamping storms. Thus agreements were not
to be made lightly, but usually with a deeply-felt commitment. Convinced that Denonville had similar feelings, Kandiaronk led a group of at least 40 warriors from Michilimakinac to Fort Cataroqui (now Kingston) in the late spring of
1688.13 They came intending to strike a telling blow in a joint French-Wyandot campaign against the Iroquois.

      They were in for a shock. Denonville had failed to receive the reinforcements from France he had hoped for. The king felt he needed all his troops to protect France against an ever-increasing coalition of unfriendly countries. The colony would have to fend for itself. Kandiaronk was probably unaware of this, as the French liked to create an illusion of strength with its Native allies.

     What he did know was that he needed to act fast. An opportwiity presented itself. Denonville had just arranged to have ambassadors from the Onondaga meet with him at Montreal to negotiate peace. They were to speak for the
Oneida and the Cayuga, but significantly not for the recently-raided Seneca, nor the experience-cautioned Mohawk, arguably the two most powerful of the Iroquois tribes. To Kandiaronk this must have looked like French faithlessness
combined with an Iroquois ploy. For Kandiaronk knew only too well that the Iroquois were well-schooled in the advantages of divide and conquer. Several times in the past they had made peace with the French in order to be able to
attack unhindered the Native allies of those seemingly inconstant Europeans.

      To use a Wyandot expression, Kandiaronk must have felt that the earth was opening up in front of him, ready to swallow his people up. But he had a plan. He made no show of his true feelings, and pretended to accept the news and to
paddle back home peacefully. Once out of sight of the fort, he headed east, towards a place he knew the Iroquois would pass by.

     After a wait of almost a week, Kandiaronk's plan and patience were rewarded. The ambassadors, travelling without the usual caution of a war party, were caught by surprise and easily defeated. When their leader, Teganissoren,
protested that they had been on a mission of peace, Kandiaronk declared in seeming astonishment and anger that he had been deceived. He claimed that Denonville had informed him that a war party was to come that way, and had
instructed him to ambush the Iroquois on that spot. He then released all his prisoners save one, speaking these words to them before they left:
 

"Go, my Brethren, though I am at War with you, yet I release you, and allow you to go home. 'Tis the Governour I sic I of the French that put me upon this black Action, which I shall never be able to digest unless your five Nations revenge themselves and make their just Reprisals. N ~~ontan 1970:222)

 


      The Onondaga appear to have been convinced by Kandiaronk's clever charade. It no doubt sounded a lot like what the Seneca and Mohawk had been telling them. They told Kandiaronk that if he should wish to make a separate
peace, the Five Nations of the Iroquois would be willing to negotiate.  Kandiaronk had not yet, however, completely acted out the plan that he had been following since leaving Fort Cataroqui. He was like someone crossing a cold-coursing river by treading tentatively on jump-spaced, moss covered stones. The ambush was the first step, but there were leaps to go.

     Next was his treatment of the prisoner kept in apparent accord with the long established custom of replacing someone lost in combat. Kandiaronk took the prisoner back to Michilimakinac. There he presented him to the French commandant at the fort. Unaware of the peace negotiations, the commandant had the protesting Iroquois executed. The prisoner's pleading that he was an envoy of peace was to no avail. For Kandiaronk had gone around saying that fear of death had driven the man crazy.

     One more step was soon to follow. Kandiaronk released an old Iroquois who had been captured and subsequently adopted by the Wyandot many years before. He instructed the man to inform his people of what he had just witnessed: an Iroquois invited by the French as a peace envoy had been coldly shot and killed by a French commandant, despite his pleas of the nature of his mission.

      The other shore was reached. A Frenchman who had been an Iroquois prisoner, but had managed to escape, told Denonville a short time later that:

 "...the Breach made by the Rat's Contrivance was irreparable; that the five Iroquese Nations resented that Adventure with so much warmth, that 'twas impossible to dispose 'em to a Peace in a short time; that they were so far from being angry with that Huron for what he did, that they were willing to enter into a Treaty with him, owing that he and his Party had done nothing but what became a brave Man and a good Ally." (Lahontan  1970:225)

 


    Denonville was both angry and frightened. He was quick to assure the Iroquois that his desire for peace was genuine, and that the offending Wyandot leader would not be punished with the loss of his life. But Denonville's 'arm of the law' was not long enough to reach all the way from Quebec to Michilimakinac to grab Kandiaronk, nor was it strong enough to defend the village of Lachine, near Montreal, when the Iroquois hit swiftly and hard in retaliation for the treachery of Onnontio (Iroquois and Huron name for the governors of New France).

      Shortly afterwards Kandiaronk was again in trouble with the French. Fur trader Nicholas Perrot claimed in 1689 that Kandiaronk had been collaborating with the Iroquois in order to perpetuate "the destruction of the Outaoua" ~errot 1911:253) and related Algonkian tribes living in the vicinity of Michilimakinac. Perrot asserted that Kandiaronk had secretly travelled to the country of the Iroquois and that subsequently:
 

"They agreed together that the Iroquois should come with a large force to Michilimakinac, and that they should send scouts ahead to observe and examine the places in which they could attack the Ontaouas. It was resolved that the Hurons should occupy the flank of the fort; that the Rat should confer with all the tribes at the Bay and the Saulteurs, and invite them, on behalf of the Iroquois. . . to repair to this fort in order to confirm more thoroughly the peace which they had made together, and which would be more substantial and assured . . . The Iroquois, in order to persuade them more easily to this had given presents of collars / of wampum / to the Rat, in order that he might offer them to the other Outaoua tribes when they should be assembled. They furnished to the latter much stronger assurances besides, by sending them word that they could (thus) secure a good stronghold; for it was the purpose of the Iroquois, according to the measures that they had taken, to render the Hurons master of a stockade which they could undermine. By this method the assault was sure . . . , because the Hurons fired off only powder." (Perrot 191 1:253A}

 


 Perrot states that, after being informed of this plan by an Iroquois, he passed it on to the missionaries resident in the area. According to the fur trader, at that point, the Fathers:
 

  "...sent for him / Kandiaronk /, and told him that they had learned, from the lips of the Iroquois themselves, the design that the latter entertained of destroying the Ontaoua peoples. The Fathers, in order to convict him more forcibly, told him the means which have been agreed upon for the success of his scheme, and all that he had planned in order the better to deceive them; he could not deny it; and the whole plan fell through." (Perrot 1911:254)

 


 In order to make sense of this story, several questions need to be addressed. Was this plan consistent with Kandiaronk's policies towards the Ottawa, and his other Algonkian-speaking neighbours? I would say "No". For throughout his life he worked for unity between the Wyandot and the Algonkians. The Ottawa had been living next to the Petun for at least two centuries prior to contact with the Europeans. One group of Ottawa moved west to establish a village next to that of the Wyandot at Michilimakinac, and set up another neighbouring village when the Wyandot moved to Detroit in 1701. Even when the Ottawa later committed an act that struck deep into Kandiaronk's heart, that heart did not cry out for vengeance nor overcome his desire for unity between these peoples.  Secondly, would the Wyandot really be planning to have just powder in their guns, and not shot as well? This would have been a golden opportunity for Kandiaronk to draw his long term combatants a long way from home and then have a surprise waiting for them. That seems more in line with how Kandiaronk operated than an attempt to fool people who lived in the area and who had a good number of allies right there.

 Finally, why would an Iroquois tell Perrot of such a plot? What would he have to gain other than the discrediting of Kandiaronk? That would have benefitted the Iroquois cause at Michilimakinac. It was not in their best interests to have a Wyandot leader as strong and as independent as Kandiaronk. It makes more sense that they would have preferred to have a Wyandot leader that they could use as an agent or middleman. Such a man, called "Escoutache" or "the Baron "14 emerged during the late 1680s. He and Kandiaronk were to become like two stone-faced poker players, gambling on the future of their people.  The first public record of a 'hand' the two would play occurred in May of 1695. It was at a meeting of the principal chiefs of the Wyandot and Ottawa with De la Motte-Cadillac, then commandant of Michilimakinac. Being discussed was an impending attack by the Iroquois against the Miami, allies of the Wyandot, Ottawa and the French. The Baron, relaying an Iroquois message, stated that the Iroquois meant no harm to the allies by this attack, but rather they were:
 

  "... going to devour the Miami in order to unite the whole earth; inviting all the Lake Tribes to repair with the French to the neighbourhood of Detroit when the leaves are red; . . ." ~YCD 9:606)

 


 Kandiaronk's reply to this was a call for unity with their Miami brothers by acting against the Iroquois:
 

"We have but one cabin and one fire, and we ought to have one mind. Let us unite. The opportunity is favourable. There is corn in the village to feed the women and children; we have brave warriors. What hinders us to die like men defending our lives? Shall we remain passive whilst our brethren are being carried off?" (op.cit.)

 


 Although war plans were made, no action was taken. Something was holding them back. A major source of hesitation was revealed at a meeting held on the first of June. The Baron spoke of having encountered an ancient man and his wife, each supposed to be about one hundred years old. According to the Baron the old man had had a series of revelations from the "Master of Life", a term first used to refer to the god of the missionaries. One part of the alleged message, as related by the Baron, had seriously disturbed those intending to initiate action against the Iroquois. In the words of Cadillac:

 
  "the old man forbid them to be the first to strike the Iroquois, as he who should begin would be infallibly destroyed, and the Iroquois himself would be annihilated were he so bold as to be beforehand with them with his hatchet." ~YCD 9:608)

 There is good reason to believe that the Baron dreamed up this vision, or at least was anxious to publicize it. He had cards he wasn't showing. Even as he was travelling to Montreal to speak on behalf of the Wyandot to the French authorities, his son was part of a secret embassy sent to the Seneca (NYCD 9:619). This was one hand that was won by the Baron.

 For Kandiaronk the cost was to be high. With the Baron's increasingly apparent close ties with the Iroquois, the neighbouring Algonkians were becoming more and more suspicious of the actions of the Wyandot. In 1696 an Ottawa raiding party of twenty went out looking for Iroquois. 15 Along the way they encountered Kandiaronk's son and then a single Wyandot canoe, containing mostly women and children. It wasn't long before violence flared. All of the Wyandot were killed.

 The next hand would be Kandiaronk's. In 1697 at least thirty Wyandot, some of whom were from the Baron's family, had gone to New York, Iroquois territory, to see about being granted land there. The Baron went to the Miami, apparently continuing his role as Iroquois agent. For there were plans afoot for a large Iroquois war party to join with a group led by the Baron to strike the unsuspecting Miami.

 But this was not to be. Kandiaronk "notified the Miamis to be on their guard and not to trust the Baron." (NYCD 9:672), and led a smaller intercept force comprised of about 150 Wyandot, Potawatomi, Ottawa and Sank. He learned from Iroquois scouts he had captured that there were about 250 in the Iroquois war party. They also informed him that the group had only canoes enough to carry about sixty people. Kandiaronk cleverly utilized this knowledge to devise a plan of attack. As the historian Charlevoix tells it:

 ".../ Kandiaronk / advanced with his whole force towards the spot where he had been told the enemy was encamped; when he came within gun-shot, he feigned to be surprised and alarmed at their number, and pretended flight. At once sixty Iroquois sprang to their canoes to give chase; the Rat pushed out from land, and plied his paddles till he was two leagues from shore. There he stopped and drew up, receiving without firing the first Iroquois volley, which killed only two of his men, then, without giving them time to reload, he dashed on them so furiously that all their canoes were riddled or stove in. Thirty-seven were killed, fourteen taken, the rest drowned. Among them were five of the highest chiefs in the nation." (Charlevoix 1900 5:68)

European perception of and writing about Native people in the late 17th century came in basically two sharply~opposed varieties: nasty savage and noble savage. The nasty savage was like an animal: possessing cunning, being vicious, and following base instincts or passions rather than logic. The noble savage partook of purity through living in a state~of-nature free from civilization's corrupting influences. Its characteristics stem more from the author's critical feelings towards European culture than from genuine aspects of Native culture. As Kandiaronk's interests and actions began to dovetail with those of the French, his portrayal in French writing shifted from nasty to noble savage.

     The most extreme example of Kandiaronk's new characterization appears in the writing of the Baron Louis-Aamand de Lahontan, who met the Wyandot leader at Michilimakinac, and claimed to be a close friend. Under the pseudonym "Adario",16 the noble savage Kandiaronk was used as a straw man for the safe articulation of the Baron's radical, politically- dangerous views. In Lahontan's "A Conference or Dialogue between the Author and Adario, A Noted Man among the Savages", Adario spoke critically of such European institutions as the French legal system and medical profession, war,the Pope, and the Jesuits. Although some turns of phrase sound Native, and may have been lifted from Kandiaronk's speeches, Adario's critical voice of pristine purity spoke with Lahontan's jaded intellectual accent. It reflects a wealth of embittering 17experiences the Baron had had with European society in areas of life that had not touched the Wyandot of Michilimakinac.

  At the turn of the 18th century, ambitious plans were being laid to organize the most extensive set of negotiations for peace ever held in New France to that time. Never were renresentitives from so many First Nations to come together to speak in council These talks were to involve not only the Wyandot Iroquois and French, but all the nations allied with the French, and those tribes  on the upper Great Lakes which still possessed a large measure of independent strength. Many were far from anxious to come to talk peace with the Iroquois, and were even more reluctant to bring their hard-earned Iroquois prisoners to give back as a strong statement of goodwill. It was largely through the respect that these people had for Kandiaronk that they all finally agreed to this statement as a precondition for negotiations. Without his encouragement, one wonders whether all the groups involved would have gone along with this idea.

  Almost all of the First Nations to be involved in the meeting were tired of fighting and were eager for peace. However, suspicions were rnnnmg high, and first steps were difficult to make. Kandiaronk was a major force in clearing the path of obstacles (a Huron expression> so that these first hesitant and necessary steps could be taken. Invaluable were his efforts during the actual negotiations, particularly after it was discovered that the Iroquois had not brought all their prisoners with them (He had suggested that the Iroquois bring their prisoners first, but the governor thought that unnecessary).

 Regrettably, the first days of the conference were to be the last for Kandiaronk. Although somewhat exaggerated, as was the historical writing style of that time, the words of Jesuit historian Father Charlevoix eloquently captured the double spirit of hopefulness and tragedy that took flight with Kandiaronk's death:

 "... on the last day of August/1701/, the first public session was held, and while a Huron chief was speaking, the Rat fell sick. He was attended with all solicitude, inasmuch as on him the Governeror-General built his main hope of successfully terminating his great work. He was almost exclusively indebted to him for this wonderful concert, and this assemblage, till then unexampled of so many nations for a general peace. When he came to, and recovered his strength, he was placed in an armchair in the midst of the assembly, and all drew around to hear him.

He spoke at length, and being naturally eloquent, no one perhaps ever exceeding him in mental capacity, he was heard with boundless attention.  He described with modesty, and yet with dignity, all the steps he had taken to secure a permanent peace among all the nations; he made them see the necessity of such a peace, and the advantages it would entail on the whole country in general and each tribe in particular, and with wonderful address showed distinctly the different interests of each.

His voice failing, he ceased speaking, and received from all present, applause, to which he was too well accustomed to be affected by it, especially in his actual condition; in fact he never opened his lips in council without receiving such applause even from those who dislike him.

He felt worse at the close of the session, and was carried to the Hotel Dieu, where he died two hours after midnight.
His death caused a general affliction, and there was no one French or Indian who did not show that he felt it." (Charlevoix 1900 5:145-8)

 And what came at the end of the negotiations Kandiaronk worked so hard for, but did not live through? Peace. His people found a relatively safe new home near the just-formed settlement of Detroit. A Wyandot community existed there for almost 200 years. They live today mostly in Oklahoma and Kansas.  And what of the Rat? Although he was buried with great ceremony, the location of his grave is unknown. Few but the Huron know the story of his life.*


 

Notes:

1. Charlevoix 19004:12.
2. Charlevoix 19004:146
3. In Donald Creighton's Dominion of the North we get the following:
"The Iroquois redoubled their raids on the settlement: they harried the fur trade routes to the west. And at daybreak on August 5, 1689, some fifteen hundred of them fell upon the little village of Lachine, close to Montreal, and massacred about three score of the inhabitants." (Creighton 1957:97)
4. FH1697:169 and 231.
5. Lahontan 1970:220.
6. This name came from the term 'Wendat' used by the Huron, Wyandot and probably the Petun to refer to themselves.
7. See Steckley 1988.
8. The term 'Algonkian' or 'Algonquian' refers to the largest family of Native languages in Canada. It includes the following languages: Micmac, Malecite, Innu, Abenaki, Cree, Mgonkin, Delaware, Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Blackfoot and
Kainai.
9. William Fenton wrote (Fenton 1969:321) that the first reference to Kandiaronk occurred in 1682, when a Wyandot orator, whose name translated as "Le Rat" was recorded as speaking on behalf of his people. The Wyandot name given was not Kandiaronk, but "Souoias", "Souaia" and "Souaiti" (NYCD 9:178-9 and 181), which are various ways of representing "Tsisk8aia", which meant 'muskrat'(FH1697:232). There are no compelling reasons to believe that Tsisk8aia and Kandiaronk were the same person.
10. See Lahontan 1970:641 and NYCD 9:661, 672 and 707. For a good example of how the name Sastaretsi was used to represent the Wyandot people, see NYCD 9:178-9.
11. See Lahontan 1970:220.
12. See JR1O:159-163.
13. Lahontan claimed that there were 100 men with Kandiaronk (Lahontan 1970:149 and 220), while Parkman (Parkman 1966:174), citing a letter written by Denonville, dated November 9, 1688, asserted that there were only 40.
14. See NYCD 9:648.
15. See NYCD 8:648.
16. The etymology of this name is unclear. Perhaps it is based on the verb form "atrio", meaning 'to combat' (Potier 1920:269-70). This would not be a surprising pseudonym for a warrior of his calibre.
17. See the introduction to Lahontan 1970.

 



Bibliography

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Adams, Arthur T., The Explorations of Pierre Esprit Radisson Ross & Haines, Inc., Minneapolis, 1961

Barbeau, Charles Marius, Huron and Wvandot Mythology Dept. of Mines, Geological Survey, Memoir 80, Ottawa, 1915.

Charlevois, Pierre F.X., History and General Description of New France (tr. and ed. by 3.0. Shea) 6 vols., New York, 1900.

Creighton, Donald, Dominion of the North Hou~ton-Mifflin, Boston, 1944 & Macinillan Co., Toronto, 1957.

Eccies, William 3., France in America Fit~enry & Whiteside Ltd., Toronto, 1972.

Fenton, William, "Kondiaronk" in Dictionary of Canadian Biogravhv pp230-3, Univ. of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1%9.
FH1697, French-Huron dictionar" ms., c1697.

Filion, Maurice, Homma~e ~ Lionel Groulx Les Editions Lemeac, Quebec, 1978.
 

Garneaux, F.X., History of Canada vol.1, 3ohn Lovell, Montreal, 1862.
Grassinazi, Thomas, "Al'atsistari" in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography vol.
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Groulx, Abbe Lionel, "If Dollard were Mive Today" in Ramsay Cook's
French-Canadian Nationalism, Macmillan, Toronto, 1969, pp! 88-201.
Jenkins, Kathleen, Montreal: Island City of the St. Lawrence Doubleday &
Co., Garden City, New York, 1966.
Jury, Elsie M., "Annaotaha" in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography vol.1,
1966, pp64-5.
Kidd, Adam, The Huron Chief and Other Poems Herald and News Gazette,
Montreal, 1830.
Lahontan, Baron de, New Voyages to North America Lenox Hill, New York,
1970.
Lanctot, Gustav, "Dollard des Ormeaux and the fight at the Long Sault: Was
Dollard the saviour of New France" in the Canadian Historical Review vol.
XIII, 1932, pp13446.
Le Moine, J.M., Picturesque Oliebec Dawson Bros., Montreal, 1882.
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Colonial History of the State of New York 15 vols., Albany, Weed,
Parsons, 1966.
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Archives for the Province of Ontario (originally written in the 1740s)
Toronto, C.W. James, 1920.
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French, 1632) trans. & ed. by George M. Wrong, The Champlain Society,
Toronto, 1939.
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John Steckley's book "Untold Tales Four 17th Century Huron" may be purchased from the author by sending $5 to

John Steckley
Liberal Arts and Sciences
Humber College
205 Humber College Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario
M9W 5L7

Sachem (Chief) Robert Hawkstorm Bergin

Sachem (Chief) Robert Hawkstorm Bergin, UN/NGO Representative of Tribal Link is the hereditary Sachem of the Schaghticoke People and Grand Sachem of the Algonquin Confederacy.
 
He traces his lineage back to Wasanegin Massasoit the great Wampanoag Chief who was the father of King Phillip.
 
According to English sources, Massasoit prevented the failure of Plymouth Colony and the almost certain starvation that the Pilgrims faced during the earliest years of the colony's establishment.
 
Sachem Hawkstorm is an advocate for the rights of his peoples as well as other indigenous peoples from his region and beyond.
 
The Schaghticoke are a Native American tribe of the Eastern Woodlands, indigenous to what is now New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The remnant tribes amalgamated in the area near the Connecticut-New York border after many losses.
 
There is a town by the name of "Schaghticoke" in New York State, so named because of the confluence of Hoosic and Hudson Rivers
.

Sachem Raven Fox

Sachem Sylvester Myrick III, Chief Raven Fox,
Was the Principal Chief of the Notoweega Nation 


Descendant of Sachem Doctor  D.C. Goins

He was born May 17, 1955 in Lorain and lived there until moving to Columbus in 1979. Died December 14, 2009

He became a cosmetologist and owned his own salon called Chez d'or.

He also dealt with radio broadcasting and commercial dub overs.

 

Sachem Sheila Payne

 

Sheila Payne
Sachem Ohio Nottoway
War Woman Notoweega Nation



Sheila Anne (Brady) Payne, age 65 of Xenia passed away Wednesday June 11, 2014 at her residence. Sheila was born August 24, 1948 in Xenia, Ohio the daughter of Eugene and Anna Belle (Woodson) Brady. She is preceded in death by her father: Eugene Brady; and two brothers: Dale Maurice Brady and Eugene Brady.

Shiela worked tirelessly in support of her indigenous family and extensively traveling to the east coast and attending Notoway Council meetings in Richmond Virginia. She also worked very close with Helen Roundtree (Historian for the Bureau of Indian Affairs) in her search for historical documents.  

Sheila is survived by her mother: Anna Belle Brady; daughter: Kendra Valerius (Jacques); son: Philip Payne (Sonya); sister: Eugenia Garner; grandchildren: Austin Burlong, Ashtyn Payne, Kyndrah (Deja) Goshay, Alexia Payne, D-Angelo Dewberry, and Anderson Payne; she is also survived by a great-grandchild: Zalaia Burlong.

Sheila served in the United States Army 7th Infantry Division.

Sheila was a member of the Third Baptist Church of Xenia, Chief of the Nottoway Tribe, War Woman on the Notoweega Grand Council and member of the North American Iroquois Veterans Association, and the Appalachian American Indians of West Virginia. Sheila also enjoyed reading and attending Indian Pow Wows.

Chief Sheila was interned with Full honors and Tribal Ceremony at the Dayton National Cemetery.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.mccolaughfuneralhome.com.

Citations

Published in Fairborn Daily Herald from June 11 to June 12, 2014

http://www.cheroenhaka-nottoway.org/about-nottoway-tribe/return-of-natives-pt-2.htm

 

Sam Kennedy

Sammy Lee Kennedy, descendant of Sam Norris and Pretty Hair, born April 12, 1944 passed away October 17, 2013

was the Sachem of Alleghenny Nation Indian Community Center (Ohio Band)

One of the first tribes to filed for Federal Recognition in 1975.

 

Doctor D.C. Goins / Goings

 

Doctor D.C. Goins Death Certificate (Indian)

Doctor D.C. Goings
Choctaw, Cherokee, Tuscaroura
- Earlier Cusabo, Wapoo and Croaton
Leader of Paulding County

 

Pictured here, he is with his wife Rebecca Fox. Rebecca is a member of the Lett, Cole and Randolph families, related to Pocohantas "Matoaka"

D.C was son of Joel Weslin GOINS son of  Jason Goins. the son of Luke.

He is also mentioned in the "History of Paulding County" known as American Indian and practiced medicine and faith healing.

Joel Weslin GOINS was born on 16 Mar 1799 in the Common Wealth of Virginia. He died on 22 Sep 1872. He was buried in Collins Cemetery, Shelby, Ohio. The 1816 tax rolls of Mononagalia County, Virginia expanded by include Joel Goens (sic), William Cook, Willmore Cook, Hesekiah Cook, and Jaccent Goens (sic), while retaining the Daltons, Males, Hills, and Parsons. They all were included in Charles Byrn's district under the title of " free Negro 16 and upward "

Hanah Findley who was Choctaw was married to Jason GOINS (son of Luke GOINS and Susan LNUK). Jason GOINS was born about 1760 in the Common Wealth of Virginia. He was listed in Loudon County. He died on 23 May 1848 in Rumley, Shelby County, Ohio. He was buried in Collins Cemetery, Shelby, Ohio. Jason Going was in Cameron Parish in Loudoun County in 1775.

Hannah Findley, brought a successful suit for her freedom in Henry County Court in August 1788. She testified that she was the granddaughter of two Choctaw Indians, James and Chance, who were brought home by Henry Clay, an Indian trader, from a trip beyond the Carolinas to present day Chesterfield County in 1712. Her claim was supported by several residents of Chesterfield County. A Chesterfield County deposition taken in 1772 names the descendants of James and Chance by first name only: Ned, Lucy, Silvia, Bristol, Chance, Ned, Frank, Peter, Sam, Rachell and her children [Fender vs. Marr, Henry County Virginia. Loose papers, Determined Cases 1788-1789, folder 66, LVA, published in the Virginia Genealogist].

 

D.C. Goins, Great Aunts and Daughters of Jason Goins are Sophia and Sarah Goins. Sophia and Sarah married into the Wiya Nipe Lenape and Mingo Clans of Barbour County, West Virginia. Sarah married Joeseph Hill and Sophia married Warner Pritchard.

There are many spelling variations to the surname Goins that include but are not limited to: Goin, Going, Gowen, Goyne, Guin and Goen.  While the name does not appear in most of the list of names that are associated with the English surnames that are connected to the Lost Colony, there is a history of the Goins intermarrying with Waldens , Chavis, Locklear  and other surnames that are associated with the Lost Colony.  There was Francisco Guni that arrived in 1538 and Doughan Gannes that is listed on the roster of 1584. Some have speculated the name Goyne could be related to the Spanish and Portuguese settlers from Florida.  It is interesting to note that James Ernest Goins is the current Chairman for the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina and is said to have come from a long line of tribal leaders.

Pontiac, one of the greatest Indian leaders, was an Ottawa Indian and said to have been born near Defiance, Ohio.

Paulding County
The largest Indian village ever located in Paulding County was Charloe, beautifully located upon the left bank of the Auglaize River in Brown Township. It was near the center of an Indian reservation, four miles square and known as Oquanoxa's reserve. Their chief, with about 400 Indians, dwelt there until 1820, when most of them moved west. Several straggling bands remained. Some of the names of Indians remembered by the old settlers were Ant, Wayne, Totigose, Saucy Jack, Big Yankee Jim, Draf Jim, P. Ashway, a squaw(In print) named Songo, and two brothers named Pokeshaw and Wapacanaugh. Charloe was named for an Indian chief, known as Charloe Peter, who acquired considerable fame as an orator and statesman.

At one time, the very ill daughter of Chief Oquanoxa was brought to Dr. John Evans, father of Dr. S.A. Evans of Delphos, for treatment. When her health was restored, the chief presented to the doctor, one of his finest horses.

 

Citations

History of Paulding County

Lumbee Indians and the Goins Family

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/a/r/Glenn-W-Barnett/FAMO2-0001/index.htm

Lumbee Indians, The Lost Colony and The Goins Family

Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia “hundreds of the descendants of Indians have obtained their freedom:” Freedom Suits in 18th & 19th Century Virginia

Notoweega / Mingo other Leaders

The following is a list of other names associacted to the Notoweega /Mingo - Reprinted her verbatum

MINGO INDIANS

(Iroquois or Six Nations)

What follows was intended to be a LOT longer, but alas I may never get time to complete my research on the Mingo Indians. It seems that a number of our members are interested in their Native American roots so I submit the following notes to aid such persons in their understanding of the "Indians" who roamed central West Virginia.

I will not go into a debate as to which family of natives lived on the Potomac. It is clear, however, that Indian occupation of the Tygart Valley in Randolph and Barbour Counties was never numerous, and that the only group ever to occupy that area were the "Mingo".

Below will be found the notes I have accumulated about that family of Native Americans. I have tried to cite my sources fully. The list at the end is an index of references I have found to SPECIFIC Mingo or Iroquios individuals. These persons would have been relatives or acquaintances of the Tygart Valley Mingoes. I have included only people whose names I have found in source records.

Since the Mingoes had no written language, the spellings are those rendered by the white man, based upon how the names sounded to him. It is best if interested persons try and read the names out loud to get a "feel" of how the Mingo language and names would have sounded. I submit the following as a tribute to the many forgotten Native Americans who were here to witness the onslaught of Europeans into a once pristine America.

George Washington's 1753-54 map of Ohio Country shows Mingo Town about 20 miles below present Pittsburgh, about two miles below Logs Town. An anonymous map of the Ohio drawn about 1755 shows the notation at the same location that "Senecas moved from here last summer". These two sources will show that the Mingoes were also considered as Senecas. Brown, Lloyd Arnold, EARLY MAPS OF THE OHIO VALLEY, Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1959

The Return of Prisoners from Detroit by Lt. Robert Holmes 26 Dec 1760, reports that Charles Grant of Montgomerys Highlanders, who had been taken prisoner with Major Grant in 1758 was prisoner with the Mingoe Indians. Stevens, BOUQUET Ibid.

Minutes of Indian Conference at Pittsburgh 8 Jan 1759 shows among the participants "Canigaatt, the White Mingo" Stevens, Sylvester K. and Kent, Donald H., EDs., THE PAPERS OF COL HENRY BOUQUET., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1943

At Ft Pitt 6 Jun 1761 a speach was sent by a 6 nation chief called Otchithenengush and was delivered by The White MingoStevens, BOUGUET PAPERS, Ibid

Thomas Hutchins map of the Western Country and the Ohio 1778 shows Mingo Town at presentday Steubenville, Ohio. Brown, EARLY MAPS, Ibid.

Augusta County Court Papers Petitions March 1775, Mary Gregory appeared before John Poage and made oath that Mingo Indians about five years previous (1770) had came to her house on the Head of Greenbrier and stole 4 hogs and 1 horse. Chalkley, Lyman. CHRONICLES OF THE SCOTCH IRISH SETTLEMENT Vol I page 511

Notes of Thomas Jefferson 1784 shows Mingos as numbering 60 in 1779 and living on the Scioto River in Ohio, also there the Shawnees. Jefferson lists the Mingos as separate from the Senecas, who he shows as numbering 650 in 1779 and living in the north. Bergh, Albert Ellery, Ed., THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, Washington, DC, The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1907

When the white man first penetrated the Monongahela and Allegheny River Valleys the land was partially occupied by roving bands of Indians whose primary settlements were near the confluence of the rivers, but who had in the interior a few transient villages or camps. These were chiefly Delaware and Shawnee, but they had living among them several colonized bands of Iroquois called "Mingoes", who had been sent by the powerful six nation Iroquois to live among their vassals the Delawares. In 1768 the "castle" of the "White Mingo" was on the Allegheny River a few miles above it's mouth. Crumrine, Boyd, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, Philadelphia, L. H. Everts and Co., 1882

Joseph Friend in 1784 in Harrison County made an entry for 200 acres on the West Side of the Tygart Valley River as assignee of Joseph Hastings who was assignee of Charles Grigsby. The entry was to include the "Mingo Cabin" Harrison County Entry Book

Title of Mingo, WV (Indian Village Site):

  • Randolph County Deed Book 1 pg 78: 6 Nov 1788 Joseph Pennell of Chester, PA to Stephen Sherwood of Fairfield, Conn. Lot 3 surveyed 5 April 1786 for Pennell as assignee of Alexander Dick for 3000 acres on LOTW 19473 adjoin on the west land of Thomas ?Pennell? and Joseph Pennell (calls in deed no good)
  • Randolph County Deed Book 9 page 348: 15 April 1826 Brown Jenks to Edward Wood, Lot 3 in "so called Sherwood Survey" patented 1787 in the name of Joseph Pennell and sold by him to Stephen Sherwood and by Daniel Sherwood to Jenks. Begin three white oaks "the Derby Corner", to forks of River, 3000 acres except 26 acres off of west side of tract sold to Ferdinand Stalnaker at request of Wood on Mingo Run
  • Randolph County Deed Book 9 page 408: 8 March 1826 Brown Jenks to Ferdinand Stalnaker WEst of Tygart Valley nRiver in lots 2 & 3 of Sherwood Survey 800 acres Hauley Bush Run and 26 acres adjion on the east of 800 on Mingo Run

    Specific Individuals

    ASHENOCH, of the Onondagas, at Indian Conference at Easton Aug 1761 (Bouquet Papers)

    KING BLUNT, a Tuscarora Chief addressed in speech sent from Winchester Aug 1756 (Writings of Washington)

    BUNT, see CHENAUGHEATA

    CANASSATEGO, a Six Nations Cheif reprimanded the Delawares at a treaty council at Philadelphia 1742 (Crumrine's HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY)

    CANIGAAT, aka White Mingo, participant in conference at Pittsburgh Jan 1759, and delivered speech of Otchithenengush, six nation chief at Ft Pitt JUn 1761 (Bouquet Papers) his "Castle" was on Allegheny River, west side, a few miles above it's mouth (Crumrine's WASHINGTON COUNTY) ?could "Canigaat" be "Chenaugheata" below?

    CAUSTRAX, a Seneca Chief, (sign of his nation the High Hill), sign Groghan Purchase deed 1768 (Augusta DB 22/1)

    CHENAUGHEATA, aka Bunt, an Onondaga Chief, (the sign of his nation the Mountain) sign Groghan purchase deed 1768 (Augusta Deed Book 22/1)

    COSSWERTENICEA, six nation chief at Log Town 1749 sell tract to George Groghan on Monongahela River (Augusta DB 22/1)

    GAYACHIOUTON, a Seneca and deputy of the 6 nations, attendee Indian Council at Wyandott town near Detroit Jun 1761 (Bouquet Papers)

    SENECA GEORGE, speaker at Indian Conference at Easton, PA August, 1761. (Bouquet Papers)

    HALF KING, see TANACHARISSON

    IONONERISSA, six nations chief at Logs Town 1749 sell tract on Monongahela River to George Groghan (Augusta DB 22/1)

    IENOCHIAADA, chief of the Onondagas, sent string to Governor at Indian Conference at Easton Aug 1761 (Bouquet Papers) Also called Ienochryada same document

    CAPTAIN JACK, a Tuscarora Chief, addressed in speech sent from Winchester Aug 1756 (Writings of Washington)

    KANNADAGAWYA, a Mohawk Chief, speaker at Pittsburgh Jan 1765 (Bouquet Papers)

    KEYASHUTA, a Seneca, speaker at Tuscarawas October 1764; (Bouquet Papers)

    MONACATOOCHA, MONOCATOOTHE, see SCARCYADIA

    OTCHINNEYAWESSA, a chief and ruling man of the 6 nations, made speech May 1761; mentioned by Bouguet as a great Indian Jun 1761; (Bouquet papers)

    OTCHITHTHENENGUSH, a 6 nation chief Jun 1761; (Bouquet Papers) ?Possibly Otchinneyawesssa above?

    SAGNARISERA, aka Hendrick, a Tuscarora Chief, (sign of his nation the cross) sign Groghan P{urchase deed 1768 (Augusta DB 22/1)

    SCARCYADIA, aka MONACATOOCHA, a six nation chief, at Log Town sell tract Monongahela River to George Groghan 1749 (Augusta DB 22/1) mentioned in Washington's report to Dinwiddie at Great Meadows May 1754; as Monocatoothe, friend of Andrew Montour in invitation from Washington to Montour October 1755.(Writings of Washington, footnote calls him aka Scarrooyady, an Oneida and a Mingo chief)

    SENNGHORS, aka William, Oneida Chief, (sign of his nation the Stone) sign Groghan Purchase deed 1768 (Augusta DB 22/1)

    TEAATORERINSE, aka TEAATORIANCE, a Senesa and deputy of the 6 Nations, called Nightengale by the French, brought speech of 5 nations to Detroit Jun 1761; attendee Indian Council at Wyandott Town near Detroit Jun 1761; (Bouquet Papers)

    TANACHARISSON, aka "Half King", as "Half King", addressed by Washington at Wills Creek April 1754 a Seneca Chief (Writings of Washington) an Iroquois sachem who lived at Logs Town 1748 (Crumrine's HISTORY OF WAHSINGTON COUNTY PA)

    TOKAHAIO, or TAGAAIA a Cayuga Chief, speaker at Indian Cinference at Easton PA Aug 1761 (Bouquet Papers); (sign of his nation the pipe) sign Groghan purchase deed 1768 (Augusta DB 22/1)

    TYAHANESERA, aka Abraham, a Mohawk Chief (sign of his nation the Steel) sign Groghan purchase deed 1768 (Augusta DB 22/1)

    With available records the above list o£ individual Native Americans could be expanded into the thousands. The above includes only individuals who could be identified as Iroquois, but similar lists could be compiled for other native groups. I had at one time intended to maintain an index of every Native American whose name I could recover, but time does not permit m to undertake such a project now. Perhaps some industrious member would like to take up where I have left off?

    David Armstrong, 201 Graham St, Elkins, WV 26241


    The Allegheny Regional Family History Society
    Post Office Box 1804
    Elkins, West Virginia, 26241
    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Talgayeeta - Chief Logan

Talgayeeta - Chief Logan

During the American Revolution (1776-1783), the Mingo and Shawnee allied themselves with the British. In 1777, a party of 350 Wyandots, Shawnees, and Mingos, armed by the British, attacked Fort Henry, near present-day Wheeling. Nearly half of the Americans manning the fort were killed in the three-day assault. The Indians then left the Fort celebrating their victory. For the remainder of the war, smaller raiding parties of Mingo, Shawnee, and other Indian tribes terrorized settlers throughout northern West Virginia. As a result, European settlement in the region came to a virtual standstill until the war's conclusion. Following the war, the Mingo and Shawnee, once again allied with the losing side, returned to their homes. However, as the number of settlers in the region began to grow, and with their numbers depleted by the war, both the Mingo and the Shawnee moved further inland.

The most famous Mingo in West Virginia history was known to the European settlers as Logan. He was born near Auburn, New York in 1725 and was called Talgayeeta (or Taghahjute). His father, Shikellamy was a member of the Cayuga tribe and a Vice-Gerent of the Iroquois Confederacy. Following the French and Indian War, Shikellamy moved his family to central Pennsylvania. His father had taken the name Logan after a Pennsylvania official named John Logan. In 1763, Logan moved west to the Ohio River where he established a small settlement consisting primarily of members of his extended family. Logan and the other members of his settlement were considered friendly and cooperative by most settlers in the region, until his settlement was attacked by English settlers on April 30, 1774.

The attack occurred on the West Virginia side of the river, in present-day "Hancock County. Tennessee", members of Logan's settlement, including two women, were killed and scalped by the settlers.

Among the victims were members of Logan's immediate family, including his wife and all but one of his children. Several versions of the massacre circulated on the frontier. Lord Dunmore blamed a settler named Daniel Greathouse while Logan blamed Michael Cresap, a Maryland soldier and land speculator who was building cabins along the Ohio River as a means of securing land. Although the evidence suggests that Cresap was in the vicinity at the time of the massacre, many historians believe that he was not involved in the murders. In any case, following the massacre, Logan allied himself with the British and went on the warpath, leading four deadly raids on the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontiers and instigating what would later be called Lord Dunmore's War of 1774.

 

The Battle of Point Pleasant also made Talgayeeta, known by the settlers as John Logan, the most famous Mingo in West Virginia history. Logan's father was a member of the Cayuga tribe and originally lived in central Pennsylvania. In 1763, Logan moved west to the Ohio River where he established a small settlement consisting primarily of members of his extended family. Logan and the other members of his settlement were considered friendly and cooperative by most settlers in the region, until his settlement was attacked by English settlers on April 30, 1774. The attack occurred on the West Virginia side of the river, in present-day Hancock County. Ten members of Logan's settlement, including two women, were killed and scalped by the settlers. Among the victims were members of Logan's immediate family, including his wife and all but one of his children. Several versions of the massacre circulated on the frontier. Lord Dunmore blamed a settler named Daniel Greathouse while Logan blamed Michael Cresap, a Maryland soldier and land speculator who was building cabins along the Ohio River as a means of securing land. Although the evidence suggests that Cresap was in the vicinity at the time of the massacre, many historians believe that he was not involved in the murders.

In any case, following the massacre, Logan allied himself with the British and went on the warpath, leading four deadly raids on the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontiers that would later be called Lord Dunmore's War of 1774. Logan gained national fame for his eloquent speech that was delivered during the peace negotiations following the Indians' defeat at the Battle of Point Pleasant. Logan was not at the decisive Battle of Point Pleasant, but returned to the main Indian camp during the peace negotiations. His speech was given to Colonel John Gibson who wrote it down and delivered it on Logan's behalf during the negotiations. The speech was later published in many newspapers across the nation: "I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry and I gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked and I gave him not clothing.

During the course of the long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said, "Logan is the friend of white men." I had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any human creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my county I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."

After Lord Dunmore's War concluded, Logan moved from place to place and, in 1789, joined an Indian raiding party that attacked settlements in southwestern Virginia. He was later killed by one of his own relatives in 1780, near present-day Detroit. He said before his death that he had two souls, one good and the other bad, as he put it "...when the good soul had the ascendant, he [referring to himself] was kind and humane, and when the bad soul ruled, he delighted in nothing but blood and carnage."

Citations

County Commissioners' Association of West Virginia West Virginia County Histories Barbour County History

http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/logan.html

 

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