A Visionary With a Revolutionary Idea
Was Tenskwatawa really a prophet, or merely
a delusionary pretender?
Some people are born leaders,
venerated their entire lives. Others are
not, spending a significant period being
ridiculed and laughed at. One such person
was Tenskwatawa, a spiritual leader from
the Shawnee Indian tribe. He spent all his
young life being unskilled and clumsy, and
resorted to alcohol to console him.
Overshadowed by his able siblings, such as
Chief Tecumseh, he had to learn skills by
himself. After losing an eye in a hunting
accident, his helplessness grew
exponentially. He relied on the help of
tribe members to provide him basic
necessities like food, clothing, and shelter.
Born as Lalawethika, Tenskwatawa
grew up with little guidance, as his mother
abandoned him at age 4, in 1779. As he
was not able to be a capable warrior, he
attempted to take up the position of
medicine man. When the former medicine
man died in 1804, he quickly realized that
he did not possess these skills either. His
alcoholism accentuated as he fell into a
state of depression.
This all changed in May of 1805,
when he received the first of many
visions. Though reports conflict, the
common theory is that while lighting his
pipe one night, he fell into a trance, and
proceeded to fall into
the fire. His pulse dropped, and he was
assumed to be dead. He was prepared for
the funeral, but then he unexpectedly
awoke. He claimed to have been visited by
the Master of Life, the supreme God of the
Shawnee tribe. In his vision, he entered
the spirit world, and saw the past and the
future. He witnessed a Shawnee paradise,
and was deeply intrigued by this. He
vowed to give up his ways of alcoholism,
and he also his dependence upon
European goods.
He changed his name to
Tenskwatawa, meaning “open door”. He
was called “the Prophet” by settlers, and
treated as if he was the messiah by fellow
Indians. His mission was to get all the
Indians to stop using any goods brought to
them by the whites, such as guns, iron,
glass, white-man’s clothes, and
domesticated meat. Paying no attention to
the economic effects this caused on the
whites, they returned to the traditional
ways of the Shawnee. Telling the Indians
that the Master of Life would support
them by "overturning the land so that all
the white people will be covered and you
alone shall inhabit the land."
His popularity grew, and by 1808,
along with his brother, he moved his
followers to the village of Prophetstown,
in the Indiana territory. This village
continued to grow, until it became so large
that it became a cause of major concern for
the Governor of this territory, William
Henry Harrison. He preached that the
whites were “not my children, but the
children of the Evil Spirit." Perhaps the
most fear inducing though, was that
Tenskwatawa completely condemned the
idea of tribes warring each other. If all the
tribes joined together, the settlers would
be no match for them. Luckily, this
horrific event did not happen, and some
other tribes, such as the Ottawa, utterly
denounced the idea that Tenskwatawa was
a prophet.
Still, Prophetstown continued to
grow, and by 1811, the white settlers
demanded that the government intervene.
In autumn of 1811, William Henry
Harrison led an army of nearly 1,000
soldiers, camping outside of Prophetstown.
At this time Tecumseh was away, meeting
with Indian leaders from other tribes to
help formulate alliances. Though
Tecumseh told his brother to avoid any
conflict with the Americans, the
inexperiencedTenskwatawa foolishly
attacked on November 7, 1811. Claiming
to have received a vision telling him to
attack, Tenskwatawa’s army of Indians
were quickly defeated, though large losses
were experienced on both sides. The
future President Harrison burned
Prophetstown to ashes, and took victory in
the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Never regaining the level of influence he
had before the battle, Tenskwatawa lived
quietly until 1836. His visions inspired
thousands of people to completely change
their lives. Only time will tell if his
influence will be resurrected throughout
the next century, or if he will fade into the
past. Though he is now largely forgotten,
Tenskwatawa was undoubtedly one of the
most important people of the 19th century.
Alex Fredman