An Account of Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha, or Red Jacket, and His People, 1750-1830

by John Niles Hubbard

Elskawata, on the death of Penagashega, an aged and revered prophet, very adroitly assumed the sacred office of this Indian saint, and began to proclaim himself, as a delegated messenger of the Great Spirit to his people.

He commenced his career among the Shawnees, the people of his tribe, as early as 1805. But not content with so narrow a sphere for his endeavors, he went from tribe to tribe, and assembled as he was able, different nations, that he might make known to them the important instructions, he had been divinely authorized to communicate.

For a long time his efforts wore the appearance of a religious, and pacific character. He proclaimed the high superiority of the Indians over the whites, and of his own tribe among the Indian tribes. He declared it to be the will of the Great Spirit, that the Indians should abandon the use of intoxicating drinks, refrain from intermarrying with the whites, live at peace with each other, have their property in common, and maintain their customs, as they had been anciently established. At a later period he affirmed with much solemnity, that he had received power from the Great Spirit, to cure all diseases, confound his enemies, and stay the arm of death, in sickness, or on the field of battle.

As time advanced, the prophet passed from nation, to nation, artfully sustaining his assumptions, and proclaiming his doctrines. He gathered around him adherents from various tribes, encouraged pilgrimages to his camp, became conspicuous in all their general councils, and extended his influence to the various Indian towns, in the vicinity of the northern lakes, and on the broad plains, watered by the Mississippi and its branches. He could now, as he did, forward very effectively the ambitious views of his brother Tecumseh.

From the Prophet's town, which was established on the banks of the Wabash, near the mouth of its tributary the Tippecanoe, as early as 1808, a correspondence was kept up with the numerous tribes at the North and West, and means were taken also to extend the combination they were forming, to the Cherokees and other nations of the South. Runners were sent as far even as the country of the Senecas, and the Iroquois in New York and Canada, were solicited to join the Great Western Confederacy.

Connected with this movement was the holding of Indian councils, at different places in the West. A very large council, was held at or near Detroit, which embraced in it deputations from the most distant tribes. A strong deputation was sent from the Senecas, with Red Jacket at its head.

At the opening of this council a question arose as to precedence in debate, which is said to have been the occasion of one of Red Jacket's most effective and brilliant speeches, and was the means of securing for himself and fellow delegates, the high position he ever claimed, as belonging rightfully to his nation.

The right of precedence was claimed by the Wyandots, a large and powerful nation, which for a long time, had been pre-eminent among the Western tribes. To them had been committed for preservation and safe keeping, the Great Belt, the symbol of a previous union among the tribes. It had been used in gathering them to form their league, to resist the settlements of the whites north and west of the Ohio river. The concert of action among the Indians, in the wars at the West between 1790 and 1795, is to be traced to this league. To the Wyandots also had been given the original duplicate of the treaty of peace, concluded at Greenville in 1795.

Hence the claim they presented to precedence at this council; a claim which was eloquently supported by their most able chiefs.

This claim was denied by Red Jacket, who maintained that the place in question belonged rightfully to the Senecas, and sustained his position by a reference to facts and usages in the past, which displayed a minute and accurate knowledge of the history of the different Indian tribes, that surprised as well as delighted his hearers. His speech was characterized throughout by great ability, and displayed such a power of oratory, particularly of invective, as to excite the wonder of all present, who could understand his language, and comprehend the force of his allusions. His effort was entirely successful. No attempt was made at reply. The first rank after this, without further hesitation, was given to the Senecas.