SHORT NOTICE OF THE INDIAN CHIEFS, TAMANEND AND TADEUSKUND.
The name of TAMANEND is held in the highest veneration among the
Indians. Of all the chiefs and great men which the Lenape nation ever
had, he stands foremost on the list. But although many fabulous stories
are circulated about him among the whites, but little of his real
history is known. The misfortunes which have befallen some of the most
beloved and esteemed personages among the Indians since the Europeans
came among them, prevent the survivors from indulging in the pleasure
of recalling to mind the memory of their virtues. No white man who
regards their feelings, will introduce such subjects in conversation
with them.
All we know, therefore, of Tamanend is, that he was an ancient Delaware
chief, who never had his equal.[233] He was in the highest degree
endowed with wisdom, virtue, prudence, charity, affability, meekness,
hospitality, in short with every good and noble qualification that a
human being may possess. He was supposed to have had an intercourse
with the great and good Spirit; for he was a stranger to everything
that is bad.
When Colonel George Morgan, of Princeton in New Jersey, was, about
the year 1776, sent by Congress as an agent to the western Indians,
the Delawares conferred on him the name of Tamanend in honour and
remembrance of their ancient chief, and as the greatest mark of respect
which they could shew to that gentleman, who, they said, had the
same address, affability and meekness as their honoured chief, and
therefore, ought to be named after him.
The fame of this great man extended even among the whites, who
fabricated numerous legends respecting him, which I never heard,
however, from the mouth of an Indian, and therefore believe to be
fabulous. In the Revolutionary war, his enthusiastic admirers dubbed
him a saint, and he was established under the name of _St. Tammany_,
the Patron Saint of America. His name was inserted in some calendars,
and his festival celebrated on the first day of May in every year.
On that day a numerous society of his votaries walked together in
procession through the streets of Philadelphia, their hats decorated
with bucks’ tails, and proceeded to a handsome rural place out of town
which they called the _Wigwam_, where, after a _long talk_ or Indian
speech had been delivered, and the _Calumet_ of peace and friendship
had been duly smoked, they spent the day in festivity and mirth. After
dinner, Indian dances were performed on the green in front of the
wigwam, the calumet was again smoked, and the company separated. This
association lasted until some years after the peace, when the public
spirited owner of the wigwam, who generously had lent it every year for
the honour of his favourite saint, having fallen under misfortune, his
property was sold to satisfy his creditors, and this truly American
festival ceased to be observed. Since that time, other societies have
been formed in Philadelphia, New York, and I believe in other towns
in the Union, under the name of Tammany; but the principal object of
these associations being party-politics, they have lost much of the
charm which was attached to the original society of St. Tammany, which
appeared to be established only for pleasure and innocent diversion.
These political societies, however, affect to preserve Indian forms
in their organisation and meetings. They are presided over by a Grand
Sachem, and their other officers are designated by Indian titles. They
meet at their “wigwam,” at the “going down of the sun,” in the months
of snows, plants, flowers, &c. Their distinguishing appellation is
always “The _Tammany_ Society.”
TADEUSKUND, or _Tedeuskung_, was the last Delaware chief in these
parts east of the Allegheny mountains. His name makes a conspicuous
figure in the history of Pennsylvania previous to the revolution, and
particularly towards the commencement of the war of 1756. Before he was
raised to the station of a chief, he had signalised himself as an able
counsellor in his nation. In the year 1749, he joined the Christian
Indian congregation, and the following year, at his earnest desire, was
christened by the name of _Gideon_.[234] He had been known before under
that of _Honest John_. It was not until the year 1754, that his nation
called upon him to assume a military command. The French were then
stirring up the Indians, particularly the Delawares, to aid them in
fighting the English, telling them that if they suffered them to go on
as they before had done, they would very soon not have a foot of land
to live on. The Susquehannah and Fork Indians (Delawares) were then in
want of a leading character to advise and govern them, their great,
good, beloved and peaceable chief _Tademe_, (commonly called _Tattemi_)
having some time before been murdered in the Forks settlement by a
foolish young white man.[235] They, therefore, called upon Tadeuskund
to take upon himself the station of a chief, which, having accepted, he
repaired to Wyoming, whither many of the Fork Indians followed him.
Whatever might have been Tadeuskund’s disposition towards the English
at that time, it is certain that it was a difficult task for him, and
would have been such for any other chief, to govern an exasperated
people, entirely devoted to the opposite interest. This may account
for his not having always succeeded in gratifying our government
to the extent of its wishes. Yet he did much towards lessening the
cruelties of the enemy, by keeping up an intercourse with the governor
of Pennsylvania, and occasionally drawing many from the theatre of war
and murder, to meet the colonial authorities at Easton or Philadelphia
for the negotiation of treaties, by which means fewer cruelties were
committed than would otherwise have been.
His frequent visits to the governor and to the people called Quakers
(to whom he was much attached, because they were known to be friendly
to the Indians) excited much jealousy among some of his nation,
especially the Monseys, who believed that he was carrying on some
underhand work at Philadelphia detrimental to the nation at large; on
which account, and as they wished the continuation of the war, they
became his enemies.
From the precarious situation Tadeuskund was placed in, it was easy to
foresee that he would come to an untimely end. Perhaps no Indian chief
before him ever found himself so delicately situated; mistrusted and
blamed by our government and the English people generally, because he
did not use his whole endeavours to keep his nation at peace, or compel
them to lay down the hatchet; and accused by his own people of having
taken a bribe from the English, or entered into some secret agreement
with them that would be of benefit to himself alone, as he would not
suffer them to inflict just punishment on that nation for the wrongs
they had done them, but was constantly calling upon them to make peace.
The Five Nations, on the other hand, (the enemies of the Delawares
and in alliance with England,) blamed him for doing too much for the
cause which they themselves supported, for making himself too busy, and
assuming an authority, which did not belong to him the leader of a band
of _women_, but to them, the Five Nations alone.
To do justice to this injured chief, the true secret of his apparently
contradictory conduct must be here disclosed. It is said by those
Indians who knew him best, and who at that time had the welfare of
their own nation much at heart, that his great and sole object was to
recover for the _Lenni Lenape_ that dignity which the Iroquois had
treacherously wrested from them; thence flowed the bitterness of the
latter against him, though he seemed to be promoting the same interest
which they themselves supported. He had long hoped that by shewing
friendship and attachment to the English, he would be able to convince
them of the justice of his nation’s cause, who were yet powerful
enough to make their alliance an object to the British government; but
here he was greatly mistaken. No one would examine into the grounds
of the controversy between the Delawares and the Five Nations; the
latter, on the contrary, were supported in their unjust pretensions
as theretofore, and even called upon to aid in compelling the Lenape
to make peace. This unjust and at the same time impolitic conduct, of
which I have before taken sufficient notice,[236] irritated to the
utmost the spirited nation of the Delawares, they felt themselves
insulted and degraded, and were less disposed than ever from complying
with the wishes of a government which sported in this manner with their
national feelings, and called in question even their right to exist as
an independent people.
Surrounded as he was with enemies, Tadeuskund could not escape the fate
that had long been intended for him. In the spring of 1763, when the
European nations had made peace, but the Indians were still at war,
he was burnt up, together with his house, as he was lying in his bed
asleep. It was supposed and believed by many who were present, that
this dreadful event was not accidental, but had been maturely resolved
on by his enemies, whoever they were, and that the liquor which was
brought to Wyoming at the time, was intended by them for the purpose
of enticing him to drink, that they might the more easily effect their
purpose. A number of Indians were witnesses to the fact that the house
was set on fire from the outside. Suspicion fell principally upon
the Mingoes, who were known to be jealous of him, and fearful of his
resentment, if he should succeed in insinuating himself into the favour
of the English and making good terms with them for his nation. It is
said that those Indians were concerned in bringing the fatal liquor
which is believed to have been instrumental to the execution of the
design.
While Tadeuskund was at the head of his nation, he was frequently
distinguished by the title of “King of the Delawares.” While passing
and repassing to and from the enemy with messages, many people called
him the “War Trumpet.” In his person he was a portly well-looking man,
endowed with good natural sense, quick of comprehension, and very ready
in answering the questions put to him. He was rather ambitious, thought
much of his rank and abilities, liked to be considered as the king of
his country, and was fond of having a retinue with him when he went to
Philadelphia on business with the government. His greatest weakness
was a fondness for strong drinks, the temptation of which he could not
easily resist, and would sometimes drink to excess. This unfortunate
propensity is supposed to have been the cause of his cruel and untimely
death.