Catecahassa or Black Hoof (c. 1740 – 1831) was the head civil chief of the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

Indians in the

Ohio Country The Ohio Country (Ohio Territory, Ohio Valley) was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie. Control of the territory and the region's fur trade was disputed i ...

of what became the United States. A member of the

Mekoche Mekoche (or Mequachake, Shawnee: ''mecoce'') is the name of one of the five divisions of the Shawnee People. The Shawnee now exist as three federally recognized tribes located in the state of Oklahoma. The other four divisions are the Chalahgawth ...

division of the Shawnees, Black Hoof became known as a fierce warrior during the early wars between the Shawnee and encroaching American settlers. Black Hoof claimed to have been present at the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755 when General

Edward Braddock Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...

was defeated during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, although there is no contemporary evidence that Shawnees took part in that battle. Little documentary evidence of Black Hoof's life appears in the

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

record before 1795. As a child he may have been a member of a wandering band of some 400 Shawnees led by

Peter Chartier Peter Chartier (c. 16901759) (Anglicized version of Pierre Chartier, sometimes written Chartiere, Chartiers, Shartee or Shortive) was a fur trader of mixed Shawnee and French parentage. Multilingual, he later became a leader and a band chief am ...

between 1745 and 1748, who founded the community in Kentucky called EskippakithikiLucien Beckner, "Eskippakithiki, The Last Indian Town in Kentucky," ''The Filson Club History Quarterly,'' Vol. 6, No. 4, Oct 1932. Louisville, KY, pp 355-382
/ref> and later moved to Sylacauga, Alabama, eventually settling in Old Shawneetown, Illinois."Hanna on Peter Charter"
E.P. Grondine, posted Thu Feb 14, 2013. He probably took part in the

Battle of Point Pleasant The Battle of Point Pleasant, also known as the Battle of Kanawha and the Battle of Great Kanawha, was the only major action of Dunmore's War. It was fought on October 10, 1774, between the Virginia militia and Shawnee and Mingo warriors. Along ...

during

Lord Dunmore's War Lord Dunmore's War, also known as Dunmore's War, was a brief conflict in the fall of 1774 between the British Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo in the trans-Appalachia region of the colony south of the Ohio River. Broadly, the war incl ...

against the Virginia militia in 1774. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, he may have taken part in the Siege of Boonesborough in 1778, which was led by Chief Blackfish, as well as the subsequent defense of the Shawnee

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Chillicothe in 1779. In the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native Americans in the United States, Native American na ...

, Black Hoof was defeated by "Mad"

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military expl ...

and, following the collapse of the Indian confederation, surrendered in 1795. Like

Little Turtle Little Turtle () (1747 July 14, 1812) was a Sagamore (chief) of the Miami people, who became one of the most famous Native American military leaders. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader then in the Northwes ...

of the Miamis, Black Hoof decided that Native Americans needed to adapt culturally to the ways of the

whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

in order to prevent decimation through warfare. During his later years, Black Hoof became an ally of the United States and was responsible for keeping the majority of the Shawnee nation from joining

Tecumseh's War Tecumseh's War or Tecumseh's Rebellion was a conflict between the United States and Tecumseh's confederacy, led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in the Indiana Territory. Although the war is often considered to have climaxed with William Henry Ha ...

, which became part of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Black Hoof resisted the policy of Indian removal that the United States implemented soon after the

. He never signed a removal

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

, and continued to lead his tribe until his death in Saint Johns, Ohio in 1831. After his death, the Shawnee were eventually compelled to

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the West.

References

* *Grant, Bruce. ''Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian'', 3rd ed., Wings Books: New York, 2000. *

External links

Address of Black Hoof to President Thomas Jefferson, 5 February 1802
at

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Hoof People from Auglaize County, Ohio Native American people in the American Revolution Native American people of the Indian Wars 18th-century Shawnee people 19th-century Shawnee people 1740s births 1831 deaths Wapakoneta, Ohio Shawnee leaders