Cheeseekau (c. 1760–1792) was a war chief of the Kispoko division 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 ...

Nation. Also known as Pepquannakek (Gunshot), Popoquan (Gun), Sting, and Chiksika. Although primarily remembered as the eldest brother and mentor of

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, who became famous after Cheeseekau's death, Cheeseekau was a well-known leader in his own time, and a contemporary of Blue Jacket. Few details are known about Cheeseekau's early life. He may have been born along the Tallapoosa River in what is now

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. His parents, Puckeshinwa and Methoataaskee, moved north to 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 ...

around the time of his birth. After Pukeshinwa's death 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 ...

in 1774, Cheeseekau assumed much of the responsibility for his younger brothers, including Tecumseh and

Tenskwatawa Tenskwatawa (; also called Tenskatawa, Tenskwatawah, Tensquatawa or Lalawethika) (January 1775 – November 1836) was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe, known as the P ...

. 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 ...

(1775–1783), Cheeseekau joined with those Shawnees who allied themselves with the British and sought to drive the American settlers out of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. After the war, as Americans expanded into Ohio, in 1788 Cheeseekau led a group of Shawnees to Missouri. American colonists were moving to Missouri too, and Cheeseekau resettled his band at the village of Running Water on the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

, where he joined Dragging Canoe's militant Chickamauga Cherokee in fighting American expansion. He died On October 1, 1792 after being mortally wounded during an attack on Bledsoe's Station, a frontier fort near

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, TN.Brown, p. 271

Notes

Sources

*Brown, John P. ''Old Frontiers: The Story of the Cherokee Indians from Earliest Times to the Date of Their Removal to the West, 1838''. (Kingsport: Southern Publishers, 1938). *Eckert, Allan W. ''A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh''. (New York: Bantam, 1992). *Sugden, John. ''Tecumseh: A Life''. New York: Holt, 1997. (hardcover); (1999 paperback). *Sugden, John. "Cheeseekau". ''American National Biography''. 4:767–68. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheeseekau 1760s births 1792 deaths Native American people in the American Revolution Native American people of the Indian Wars Chickamauga Cherokee people 18th-century Shawnee people Shawnee leaders Tecumseh