Pekowi was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) 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 ...

, a Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the

Chalahgawtha Chalahgawtha (or, more commonly in English, Chillicothe( ) was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. It was also the name of the principal village of the division. Th ...

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 ...

, Kispoko, and Hathawekela. Together these divisions formed the loose confederacy that was the Shawnee tribe. All five Shawnee division names have been spelled in a great variety of ways. Variations of the name "Pekowi" are reflected in many place names in the United States, including Piqua, Pickawillany, Pickaway, and Pequea. Traditionally, Shawnee ritual leaders came from the Pekowi patrilineal division. From 1737 to about 1750 the Pekowi were 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 ...

(born Pierre Chartier), a

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r of Pekowi and French colonial parentage. He was recognized as a leader and rose to be chief of the band. Through his mother's line, Chartier was the grandson of chief Straight Tail Meaurroway Opessa. In 1710 he married his cousin, ''Blanceneige-Wapakonee'' Opessa and they had three children: two sons and a daughter. Chartier opposed the sale of rum in Shawnee communities in Pennsylvania, and this brought him into conflict with other traders and the provincial governor,

Patrick Gordon Patrick Leopold Gordon of Auchleuchries (31 March 1635 – 29 November 1699) was a general and rear admiral in Russia, of Scottish origin. He was descended from a family of Aberdeenshire, holders of the estate of Auchleuchries, near Ellon. The ...

. Shawnee and other Native American chiefs had long complained about the sale of alcohol, and had given the colonial government a list of traders they wanted banned because of their actions. In 1745 Chartier accepted a French commission and left Pennsylvania, leading some 400 members of the Pekowi to Lower Shawneetown. They moved on to modern Kentucky, where they founded the community of ''Eskippakithiki''. Pekowi warriors led by Chartier fought on the side of the French against the English at the

Battle of Fort Necessity The Battle of Fort Necessity, also known as the Battle of the Great Meadows, took place on July 3, 1754, in present-day Farmington in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The engagement, along with a May 28 skirmish known as the Battle of Jumonville ...

in 1754 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 ...

.Charles Augustus Hanna, ''The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Volume 1 The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path,'' Putnam's sons, 1911
/ref> The Peckuwe and Kispoko divisions of the Shawnee Tribe lived in the Shawnee village of Peckuwe, which was located at near modern

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, until the Battle of Piqua, August 8, 1780, 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 ...

. The Piqua Sept of the Ohio Shawnee Tribe have placed a traditional cedar pole in commemoration of their history here. It is located "on the southern edge of the George Rogers Clark Historical Park, in the lowlands in front of the park's 'Hertzler House.'"

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Further reading