Sheheke, Sheheke-shote, translated as White Coyote, and also known as Coyote or Big White (1766–1812), was a

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still re ...

chief. His names is also at times spelled Shahaka. Sheheke was at the time of the arrival of Merriweather Lewis and

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...

among the Mandan in late 1804 the main civil chief at Mitutanka. Sheheke traveled with Lewis and Clark to meet

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

. On October 20, 1804, two Mandan leaders, each considering himself the principal chief of Matutonka, came to visit the captains. Having missed the previous day's meeting, they asked the Americans to repeat their speeches. "They were gratified," Clark reported, "and we put the medal on the neck of the Big White to whom we had Sent Clothes yesterday & a flag." The captains meant well, but they only worsened an enmity between the Mandan leaders. Upon the explorers' return in late August 1806, Sheheke reaffirmed his friendship, and promised that his people would "Shake off all intimacy with the Seioux and unite themselves in a strong alliance and attend to what we had told them.” Amid good feelings all around, they smoked, and took a walk together. "The Mandan Chief," Clark observed, "was Saluted by Several Chiefs and brave men on his way with me to the river." The captains, still eager to fulfill Jefferson's wish to show Indian leaders the advantages of American culture and civilization, invited Sheheke to return to the East with them, but their gesture only ignited old rivalries, and they had to rely on the able diplomacy of the trader and interpreter René Jusseaume to untangle the situation. Sheheke finally agreed to go if he could take his wife and son, and if Jusseaume could take his family along, too. Lewis and Clark returned from their expedition, bringing with them the

Indian Chief Shehaka from the Upper Missouri to visit the "Great Father" at Washington City. When Lewis was appointed Governor of Louisiana Territory, he sent Chief Shehaka up the Missouri with an escort of about 40 United States troops under the command of Captain Nathaniel Pryor. On their arrival to the country of Rickarees, a warlike Indian tribe attacked the Mandans and killed eight or ten soldiers while the rest retreated with Shehaka to St. Louis. With the formation of the Missouri Fur Company, an expedition was proposed to head up the Missouri and into the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

during Spring of 1809. Governor Lewis contracted with the company to convey the Mandan Chief back to his tribe for the sum of $10,000. General Thomas James wrote a journal of how he enlisted in this expedition during his youth. The money was raised for trading with the Indians and

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithi ...

Beaver along the headwaters of the Missouri and Columbia rivers. The total party consisted of 350 men. After his visit east, and because of resistance from Sioux and Arikara warriors, Sheheke's return home required two attempts in two years, involving a collective force of more than 600 soldiers and costing $20,000 plus four American lives. The trip cost him his once respectable reputation among his people, perhaps because of his long absence, but also because his people didn't believe his tales of the wonders he had seen. Sheheke was killed in the fall of 1812 in a battle with

Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...

Indians.

References

{{Authority control 18th-century Native Americans Native American leaders 1766 births 1832 deaths Mandan people