Post by Matthew S. Schweitzer on Oct 10, 2003 9:05:10 GMT -5
Here is an excellent web site regarding the ongoing and interesting controversy surrounding the famous Shawnee War Chief Wayapiersenwah...Blue Jacket.
www.examiner.org/blue_jacket/part_1.html
It deals with the touchy issue of whether or not Blue Jacket, the leader of the pan-Indian confederacy which defeated two American armies in Ohio in the 1790s, was really an adpoted white man. This controversy has raged for decades and seems to circle around delicate racial issues. After all, to Native Americans and Shawnees in particular, Blue Jacket was a great native hero and for people to assume that he was in reality a white man degrades that heroism in their eyes.
According to popular myth, sometime around 1771, 17 year-old Marmaduke Van Swearingen was captured by Shawnee hunters in Virginia and adopted into the tribe, going on to become a powerful and trusted leader. Blue Jacket, along with Miami leader Little Turtle, led a contingent of warriors from many Ohio tribes and inflicted humiliating defeats against American armies under the command of Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair.
There have been several books that have dealt with Blue Jacket, most notably Allan W. Eckert's "Blue Jacket-War Chief of the Shawnee" and John Sudgen's "Blue Jacket - Warrior of the Shawnee". Both books are interesting but both have their shortcomings. Eckert's book continues to support the notion that Blue Jacket was a white adoptee, a stance that has helped to draw criticism of his work. Sudgen's book gets deeper into the history of Blue Jacket and his people, but it too is somewhat soft on real hard evidence either way.
www.examiner.org/blue_jacket/part_1.html
It deals with the touchy issue of whether or not Blue Jacket, the leader of the pan-Indian confederacy which defeated two American armies in Ohio in the 1790s, was really an adpoted white man. This controversy has raged for decades and seems to circle around delicate racial issues. After all, to Native Americans and Shawnees in particular, Blue Jacket was a great native hero and for people to assume that he was in reality a white man degrades that heroism in their eyes.
According to popular myth, sometime around 1771, 17 year-old Marmaduke Van Swearingen was captured by Shawnee hunters in Virginia and adopted into the tribe, going on to become a powerful and trusted leader. Blue Jacket, along with Miami leader Little Turtle, led a contingent of warriors from many Ohio tribes and inflicted humiliating defeats against American armies under the command of Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair.
There have been several books that have dealt with Blue Jacket, most notably Allan W. Eckert's "Blue Jacket-War Chief of the Shawnee" and John Sudgen's "Blue Jacket - Warrior of the Shawnee". Both books are interesting but both have their shortcomings. Eckert's book continues to support the notion that Blue Jacket was a white adoptee, a stance that has helped to draw criticism of his work. Sudgen's book gets deeper into the history of Blue Jacket and his people, but it too is somewhat soft on real hard evidence either way.