Tecumseh

Tecumseh Showed Us What Leadership Is All About

A meteor flew threw the night sky.

The Shawnee thought it looked like

the eye of a panther crossing the sky.

This was a powerful sign.

An infant was born on that night

at a time when the Shawnee needed a leader.

His father called the infant

the eye of a panther crossing the sky, or Tecumseh

Tecumseh lived up to the power of his name

and excelled in everything he did.

But when he first went into battle

he was too afraid to fight.

That was the last time

Tecumseh would ever run from a battle.

His enemies would wish

that he wasn’t so brave.

In the American Revolution

the Shawnee supported the British.

They felt the British were less likely

to steal their homeland.

The British surrendered Shawnee land

that didn’t belong to them.

The new American government

tried to take the land, but failed twice.

On the third attempt

the Shawnee were defeated

at the battle of Fallen Timbers.

The British betrayed Tecumseh’s people again.

His father and brother were killed

fighting to defend their homeland.

Before his brother died Tecumseh promised

never to sign a treaty with the U.S. government.

His family felt that

the government could not be trusted.

Although many of the chiefs signed treaties,

Tecumseh would never break his oath.

He led his followers to the new

Native American territory called Indiana.

They built a village on

the banks of the Tippecanoe River.

In this village Tecumseh developed a strategy

that recognized the only real power

working people have.

United we stand divided we fall.

He understood that the only way

for Native Americans to stop the theft

of their homelands was to unify all the tribes.

So he made an attempt to do the job.

This was not easy, for there were many tribes

who spoke different languages,

who made war against each other,

and who thought their enemy was too powerful.

But Tecumseh stood firm to his plan.

He traveled from the Ottawa in Canada,

to the Natchez and Chocktow in Louisiana,

to the Seminole in Florida, and to the Mohawk in New York.

He spread the word of unity

for the defense of all Native Americans,

or to allow the United States government

to steal all tribal lands.

Tecumseh felt “that a white man with a treaty

is like a dog who wants permission

to put his nose in the doorway

and smell the meat cooking inside.

‘Only my nose’ the dog promises

With each treaty

the dog got farther inside the doorway

and closer to the meat,

until all the meat was inside the dog.”

Many joined his movement

and came to the banks to the Tippecanoe.

Others honored their treaties with the government

and saw their lands stolen in later years.

The U.S. General Harrison waited until

Tecumseh traveled to the tribes in the south.

He was afraid to attack a Native American leader

who knew how to defend his people.

Tecumseh’s brother Open Door

attempted to defend the village

before his people were ready.

And the center of resistance was destroyed.

Tecumseh fought with the British again

in the war of 1812.

The Shawnee forces captured the U.S. forts

in Detroit and Chicago.

Many native people were incensed

by the treatment they endured from the Americans.

They wanted revenge.

So they abused and tortured their prisoners.

Tecumseh was horrified when he saw this.

He felt the abuse of prisoners degraded Native Americans.

He said he would never fight

with anyone who abused prisoners.

The U.S. prisoners in Detroit

spoke about how well

they were treated by the forces

under the command of Tecumseh.

No U.S. President ever

treated the prisoners of that nation

with the respect that Tecumseh treated his prisoners.

But Tecumseh was called a savage.

In the end, Tecumseh was murdered

in a battle at the Thames river.

His American enemies rejoiced

at the death of someone they thought was a bitter foe.

But Tecumseh spent his life fighting

for the dignity and respect of his people.

In his many struggles he redefined

what the word leadership means.