Stand Watie was born at Oothcaloga in the Cherokee Nation, Georgia (near present day Rome, Georgia) on December 12, 1806, his Cherokee name was De-ga-ta-ga, or "he stands." He also was known as Isaac S. Watie. He attended Moravian Mission School at Springplace Georgia, and served as a clerk of the Cherokee Supreme Court and Speaker of the Cherokee National Council prior to removal.
As a member of the Ridge-Watie-boundinot faction of the Cherokee Nation, Watie supported removal to the Cherokee Nation, West, and signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, in defiance of Principal Chief John Ross and the majority of the Cherokees. Watie moved to the Cherokee Nation, West (present-day Oklahoma), in 1837 and settled at Honey Creek. Following the murders of his uncle Major Ridge, cousin John Ridge, and brother Elias Boundinot (Buck Watie) in 1839, and his brother Thomas Watie in 1845, Stand Watie assumed the leadership of the Ridge-Watie-Boundinot faction and was involved in a long-running blood feud with the followers of John Ross. He also was a leader of the Knights of the Golden Circle, which bitterly opposed abolitionism.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Watie quickly joined the Southern cause. He was commissioned a colonel on July 12, 1861, and raised a regiment of Cherokees for service with teh Confederate army. Later, when Chief John Ross signed an alliance with the South, Watie's men were organized as the Cherokee Regiment of Mounted Rifles. After Ross fled Indian Territory, Watie was elected principal chief of the Confederate Cherokees in August 1862.
A portion of Watie's command saw action at Oak Hills (August 10, 1861) in a battle that assured the South's hold on Indian Territory and made Watie a Confederate military hero. Afterward, Watie helped drive the pro-Northern Indians out of Indian Territory, and following the Battle of Chustenahlah (December 26, 1861) he commanded the pursuit of hte fleeing Federals, led by Opothleyahola, and drove them into exile in Kansas. Although Watie's men were exempt from service outside Indian Territory, he led his troops into Arkansas in the spring of 1861 to stem a Federal invasion of the region. Joining with Maj. GEn. Earl Van Dorn's command, Watie took part in the bAttle of Elkhorn Tavern (March 5-6, 1861). On the first day of fighting, the Southern Cherokees, which were on the left flank of the Confederate line, captured a battery of Union artillery before being forced to abandon it. Following the Federal victory, Watie's command screened the southern withdrawal.
Watie, or troops in his command, participated in eighteen battles and major skirmishes with Federal troop during the Civil War, including Cowskin Prairie (April 1862), Old Fort Wayne (October 1862), Webber's Falls (April 1863), Fort Gibson (May 1863), Cabin Creek (July 1863), and Gunter's Prairie (August 1864). In addition, his men were engaged in a multitude of smaller skirmishes and meeting engagements in Indian Territory and neighboring states. Because of his wide-ranging raids behind Union lines, Watie tied down thousands of Federal troops that were badly needed in the East.
Watie's two greatest victories were the capture of the federal steam boat J.R. Williams on June 15, 1864, and the seizure of $1.5 million worth of supplies in a federal wagon supply train a the Second battle of Cabin Creek on September 19, 1864. Watie was promoted to brigadier general on May 6, 1864, and given command of the first Indian Brigade. He was the only Indian to achieve the rank of general in the Civil War. Watie surrendered on June 23, 1865, the last Confederate general to lay down his arms.
After the war, Watie served as a member of the Southern Cherokee delegation during the negotiation of the Cherokee Reconstruction Treaty of 1866. He then abandoned public life and returned to his old home along Honey Creek. He died on September 9, 1871.
He is also listed in 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Featured tribe - Eyak
The Eyak Village is currently located on the Copper River highway on the Malaspina Coastal Plain. Old stories say they moved from the interior of Alaska down the Copper River to the mouth of the Copper River Delta. The Eyak have their own language, which is a branch of the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family. They lived off the rich salmon runs and abundant wildlife of the Delta. The Eyak were always a relatively small group, and the neighboring Tlingits, Chugach and Alutiiqs continuously pressured them, raiding their fishing grounds and more peacefully assimilating the Eyak through intermarriage. The Eyak got along better with the Tlingits better than any of the other surrounding cultures do to the common language they spoke.
The Russians who first traded in Alaska recognized the Eyak as a distinct culture with its own territory. By the 1880's, however, Tlingit expansion had reduced the Eyak to about 200 people on the Copper River Delta. At that point, Americans arrived. The Americans opened canneries, and competed with the Eyak for Copper River salmon, slowly taking over their jobs and their food. The Americans also brought alcohol, disease, and opium, the last from Chinese cannery workers. Much of this the Eyaks had never been exposed to. These took their toll, and by 1900 there were only about 60 Eyak remaining. They lived in a settlement on Eyak Lake that, in 1906, became a part of the town of Cordova, Alaska. (Which is where they currently reside).
Today the Eyak culture is represented only by about 172 individuals and only one of those can speak the Eyak language fluently. They are the smallest native group in Alaska and are fighting to revive their culture. As part of that battle, some of the Eyak people are working to protect the traditional lands along the Copper River Delta that sustained their ancestors for so many years. A coalition of national, regional and local groups including the National Wildlife Federation are working together to protect the Delta, and in 1995 the Eyak held their first potlatch (a traditional gathering and gift exchange), the first time they had done so in 80 years.
The Russians who first traded in Alaska recognized the Eyak as a distinct culture with its own territory. By the 1880's, however, Tlingit expansion had reduced the Eyak to about 200 people on the Copper River Delta. At that point, Americans arrived. The Americans opened canneries, and competed with the Eyak for Copper River salmon, slowly taking over their jobs and their food. The Americans also brought alcohol, disease, and opium, the last from Chinese cannery workers. Much of this the Eyaks had never been exposed to. These took their toll, and by 1900 there were only about 60 Eyak remaining. They lived in a settlement on Eyak Lake that, in 1906, became a part of the town of Cordova, Alaska. (Which is where they currently reside).
Today the Eyak culture is represented only by about 172 individuals and only one of those can speak the Eyak language fluently. They are the smallest native group in Alaska and are fighting to revive their culture. As part of that battle, some of the Eyak people are working to protect the traditional lands along the Copper River Delta that sustained their ancestors for so many years. A coalition of national, regional and local groups including the National Wildlife Federation are working together to protect the Delta, and in 1995 the Eyak held their first potlatch (a traditional gathering and gift exchange), the first time they had done so in 80 years.
How antelope stole the moon
Spokane legend...
There was an Indian village down near the place where the sun sets. The people there had the moon.
Other Indians wanted to go and steal the moon and put it back up. They were going to hide and try to steal it. The Indians who had it knew the others were coming to get the moon. They were going to run after them and kill them.
Then two antelope came and decided they would steal the moon. They knew they were so fast the people wouldn't be able to catch them. They stole the moon, and sure enough, the people couldn't keep up because the antelope ran so fast.
When the antelope came to the other village they put the moon outside a teepee and went in. Coyote heard about it and ran out and saw the moon outside by the teepee. He took the moon and ran away with it.
The antelope heard him, and they ran after Coyote as he raced toward the river. They were going to catch Coyote, but he gave the moon a mighty heave and threw it in the pool below the falls in the Spokane River. It is still there.
There was an Indian village down near the place where the sun sets. The people there had the moon.
Other Indians wanted to go and steal the moon and put it back up. They were going to hide and try to steal it. The Indians who had it knew the others were coming to get the moon. They were going to run after them and kill them.
Then two antelope came and decided they would steal the moon. They knew they were so fast the people wouldn't be able to catch them. They stole the moon, and sure enough, the people couldn't keep up because the antelope ran so fast.
When the antelope came to the other village they put the moon outside a teepee and went in. Coyote heard about it and ran out and saw the moon outside by the teepee. He took the moon and ran away with it.
The antelope heard him, and they ran after Coyote as he raced toward the river. They were going to catch Coyote, but he gave the moon a mighty heave and threw it in the pool below the falls in the Spokane River. It is still there.
Crazy Horse largest sculpture in the world
As posted on travelbite.co.uk
A historic memorial to native American hero Crazy Horse is nearing completion some 60 years after work began on the sculpture - which is now said to be the largest in the world.
The giant mountain monument in South Dakota depicts the Lakota warrior who fought to preserve his tribe's culture in the nineteenth century.
Seated on horseback, the sculpture is significantly bigger than the Mount Rushmore monument, which is eight miles away.
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began the monument in June 1948 and other artists, including his widow Ruth, have continued the work since his death in 1982.
Carving on the face of Crazy Horse is now completed but there is still a long way to go.
The Crazy Horse memorial also includes an education and cultural centre honouring the living heritage of the North American Indian peoples.
There are also plans for a university and medical training centre to be built nearby.
Travellers can see the completed Crazy Horse sculpture with North American adventure travel company Trek America.
A historic memorial to native American hero Crazy Horse is nearing completion some 60 years after work began on the sculpture - which is now said to be the largest in the world.
The giant mountain monument in South Dakota depicts the Lakota warrior who fought to preserve his tribe's culture in the nineteenth century.
Seated on horseback, the sculpture is significantly bigger than the Mount Rushmore monument, which is eight miles away.
Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began the monument in June 1948 and other artists, including his widow Ruth, have continued the work since his death in 1982.
Carving on the face of Crazy Horse is now completed but there is still a long way to go.
The Crazy Horse memorial also includes an education and cultural centre honouring the living heritage of the North American Indian peoples.
There are also plans for a university and medical training centre to be built nearby.
Travellers can see the completed Crazy Horse sculpture with North American adventure travel company Trek America.
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