A leading tribe of Algonquian Indians, who formerly lived in what is now South Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The Shawnee - whose name meant "southerners" - were also called Shawano, Savannuca, and Savannah. They are best known for strongly opposing the advance of settlements through the Ohio Valley, and because of their celebrated chief, Tecumseh.
The Shawnee early came under the influence of the French and fought on their side. They were with Pontiac at the siege of Detroit, and for a period of forty years from the beginning of the French and Indian War until 1795, were at war with the English or the Americans. From the latter date their great chief Black Hawk kept the majority of his tribe friendly to the Americans.
Later, however, a part of the Shawnee joined with the Creek and Cherokee in the south, while the more hostile went with the Delaware in Indiana. It was this latter group - stirred by the preaching of a medicine man, Tenskwatawa, called "The Prophet," and the brother of Tecumseh - who gathered at the mouth of the Tippecanoe River in Indiana, where they were defeated in 1811 by General William Henry Harrison.
In the War of 1812 Tecumseh led the hostile group of Shawnee and allied tribes on the side of the British. Following his defeat and death in 1813 at the battle of the Thames River in Canada, most of the tribes accepted peace terms.
Today the Shawnee live in Oklahoma. Their name is preserved in various forms in several states, but most prominently in Georgia where the Savannah River and the city of Savannah are named for them. There are towns named Shawnee in Colorado, Kansas, Ohio, and Wyoming; Shawnee-on-Delaware in Pennsylvania; Shawnee in Tennessee, Shawano in Wisconsin; and Shawneetwon both in Illinois and Missouri.
Related Information within this Site
[ Black Hoof ][ Cornstalk
][ Pontiac ][ Tecumseh
][ Tippecanoe ]