Dual Review: The Cherokee Removal & Tecumseh

Tecumseh - A Life by John Sugden and Cherokee Removal by Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green tell two distinct stories of the Indians’ struggle for survival in the early American landscape. After reading Tecumseh, one is immediately struck by the difficulties faced by the various Indian peoples in the Western United States. Not only did Tecumseh have to balance relations with Britain and the United States, he also had to attempt to bring the many different tribes and villages of Indians under one banner to defend their land. This stands at contrast to the Cherokee Nation of the Appalachians, who more or less acted as one people when dealing with the United States. That is not to say that there were not disagreements among the Cherokees, but they did not face the challenges of Tecumseh’s attempt to unite and protect their lands.

Sugden’s biography of Tecumseh is an extensive work, one that attempts to “fit Tecumseh into his essential context” (p. x). Sugden asserts that no authoritative study on Tecumseh, or any recent work on the Shawnees, exists. He delves into a variety of primary and secondary sources and attempts to trace Tecumseh’s life from childhood. Tecumseh was clearly a magnificent man motivated by turbulent times. The Shawnee’s traditional homeland of the OhioValley was being inundated with settlers from the fledgling United States, and they were constantly forced to move their homes throughout the region. Tecumseh was disturbed by this trend, and set out to protect the Indians from the onslaught of white settlements. Over several years, he traveled through Indian lands hoping to unite the various people behind his brother, Tenskwatawa the prophet, who preached a return to traditional native values and culture. Sugden suggests that Tecumseh used his brother’s teachings as a means to an end – unity among the Indians against the ‘Big Knives,’ or Americans. Eventually, Tecumseh disassociated himself from his brother.

Throughout Sugden’s work, we can see the difficulties faced by Tecumseh in his mission.  Each village, even those of the same ‘tribe’ had different leadership and goals.  Some were friendly to the Americans, some were outright hostile, and others maintained basic neutrality.  Eventually (and with a bit of help from the Americans), Tecumseh was able to string together a loose alliance of many of the tribes to follow what became his ultimate goal – to take back Indian lands from the Americans.  His efforts ultimately ended in his death in battle, and the lands he so desperately wanted to reclaim were lost to the Americans for good.

This stands in contrast to the story of the Cherokee Nation.  Perhaps by nature of sheer geography, the Cherokees were more involved with the British and, later, the Americans.  They were more willing to adapt to some of the cultural expectations of the British and Americans, as evidenced in their creation of The Cherokee Nation.  They even went so far as to publish a constitution in 1827.  The Cherokees did not completely adopt the ways of the Americans, however.  Many aspects of their culture remained intact, and they mostly refused the advances of the many missionaries they encountered.  Regardless of how accommodating they were, the Americans wanted the Cherokee land – especially in the state of Georgia.  In 1830, The United States Congress, spurred on by the Georgia delegation, passed the Indian Removal Act which would shortly be signed into law by President Andrew Jackson.  It stipulated that all Indians would be moved from American states and territories and moved to lands provided by the U.S. Government west of the Mississippi River.  The subsequent forced removal of the Cherokee people resulted in as many as 8,000 deaths, and the path they were marched over became known as the Trail of Tears.

By examining both of these books one can get a sense of the plight the Indian people faced when confronted with the might of the U.S. Government and her people’s hunger for land. Regardless of whether the Indians chose struggle and war to defend their land as Tecumseh did, or accommodation as the bulk of the Cherokee Nation did, the ultimate outcome was the same – traditional land and lives were lost. By examining these two episodes, we are also granted a vision of the rate at which the United States was expanding, and the length to which it would go to secure its future. This is not to say that no Americans supported the plight of the Indians – from the Shakers who visited with Tecumseh to the William Penn essays to support the Cherokees, there were many who believed the Indians had a right to their lands and way of life.

Tecumseh and Cherokee Removal tell two different sides to what is overall the same story. We are given a glimpse into the struggle between the United States and the Indians who she would displace. Each tells of a different approach to the struggle with a very similar outcome.