Tecumseh And The Quest For Indian Leadership Summary

Tecumseh and the Quest for Indian leadership is a biography by R. David Edmunds. It is about Tecumseh, and his life as a Shawnee warrior. Tecumseh was born in Old Piqua, and in his younger years he joined Mohawk chief Joseph Brant. He joined him because Tecumseh was against whites settling in the United States. Tecumseh was five feet and ten inches which was slightly taller than average. He was also very muscular, and overall a nearly perfect image of a warrior. Another great skill he had was he was an excellent hunter, and not only was he skilled he was also genuine. He supplied his family with food, and if anyone else in the tribe needed food he would share with them as well. He cared so much for his family as well as his tribe, and the people …show more content…
In the book, it talks about how Tecumseh refused to take action in the negotiations of the Treaty of Greenville. He was too focused on sticking to his traditional ways, and did not want to change. For example, the Shawnees believed that the “Master of Life” had fully supplied them with enough food, and plants they would ever need. Another Shawnee tradition was the scared dances they performed for the “Master of Life” as well as the other spirits that helped them in their everyday lives. Another chapter in his book discussed one of his brothers by the name of Lalawethika. His brother was always avoided until one day he claimed that he died, and came back to life with the help of the “Master of Life”. After that occurred he also became known as the Prophet. The Prophet didn’t trust American ideas or technology. He not only hated the American ways, but he also denounced Indian witches. Any Shawnee that would follow the American ways was automatically distrusted according to Lalawethika. This caused Tecumseh to also become a religious leader as well as a war …show more content…
However, this became very confusing and complicated because of Matthew Elliot’s personal connections with the Indians. This didn’t help very much in the Battle of Tippecanoe because at the end of the battle the Indians had to retreat. Reading about the battles, and treaties in this book was very interesting. However, my favorite chapter and part of the book was the last. It talked about how Tecumseh died in the Battle of Thames. When the Battle of Thames ended so did the Indian movement that Tecumseh was so passionate about. The part I found the most interesting was that they don’t fully know what happened to his body after being shot in the chest. Two men by the names of Anthony Shane and John Connor said they have identified his body. However, two other men by the names of Harrison and Simon Kenton have said that it was not Tecumseh. It is still up in the air about where his body was