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Karen Elliott Mrs. Mathis English 2327. 01 June 23, 2011 Tecumseh and His Courageous Fight for the Shawnee Way of Life The Native American Indians inhabited the land of America long before the colonist arrived. After the colonist’s arrival, tension between them and the Native American Indians eventually led to an outbreak of war in which innumerable Indians and colonists perished. The Americans would not allow Tecumseh, “Shooting Star” and the Shawnee to remain on their own land (Wikipedia 1).
Tecumseh, a Native American Indian, wanted nothing more than to retain the Shawnee land, continue living their way of life and have peace. Tecumseh first experienced the perils of war when the Kentucky militia attacked and destroyed his Shawnee village forcing them to leave their land and head northwest. Once the tribe was settled, Tecumseh along with other tribal leaders began to pull together an intertribal resistance against the American colonist in the Northwest. After the attack by the Kentucky militia at the age of eighteen, Tecumseh became known as a brave and energetic warrior (Wikipedia 1).
Although the Shawnee strove for peace, they were prepared to fight for the land they believed was rightfully theirs as Tecumseh argues, “Since my residence at Tippecanoe we have endeavored to level all distinctions ??? to destroy village chiefs, by whom all mischief is done. It is they who sell our lands to the Americans. Our object is to let our affairs be transacted by warriors” (Tecumseh 464-465). Early in his life Tecumseh saw his village attacked five times forcing them to move and leave behind their land and the loved ones who had perished (Wikipedia 3).
As Tecumseh and the Shawnee tribe struggled to maintain a peaceful relationship with the colonist, their land was being stripped from them almost daily. The colonists continued attacking the tribe until they drove the tribe off the land (Wikipedia 1-3). In the “Speech of Tecumseh to Governor Harrison,” Tecumseh reasons, Brother, I was glad to hear your speech. You said that if we could show that the land was sold by people that had no right to sell, you would restore it. Those that did sell did not own it. It was me. If the land is not restored to us you will see, when we return to our homes, how it will be settled.
Brother, do not believe that I came here to get presents from you. If you offer us any, we will not take. By taking goods from you, you will hereafter say that with them you purchased another piece of land from us. (Tecumseh 465) Tecumseh was determined to restore the land to the rightful owner, the Shawnee and insists that there will be repercussions if the land is not returned. Not only did Tecumseh desire to live in peace and have the land of the Shawnee returned; he also coveted a return to the Shawnee way of life.
When many Indian leaders were accepting the new way of American life, Tecumseh refused to succumb to their ways as is stated by Wikipedia: “Tecumseh was not among the singers of the Treaty of Greenville that had ended the war” (Wikipedia 5). Peace would not come in Tecumseh’s lifetime. At the Battle of the Thames October 5, 1813, Tecumseh was killed by Colonel Richard Johnson (Wikipedia 10). Tecumseh was a man of principle; he knew what he believed and he fought for his beliefs. He strove to regain the Shawnee land that was taken from them, but he did not succeed.
Tecumseh wanted to live in peace, but peace was an elusive mystery that could not be solved by him and the Shawnee tribe. The Shawnee way of life died the night of the first colonist attack never to be attained again. Works Cited Tecumseh. “Speech of Tecumseh to Governor Harrison. ” The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Susan Belasco and Linck C. Johnson. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 464-465. Print. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. “Tecumseh. ” 1 June 2011. Web. 22 June 2011.