"This tomb is erected to the memory of Thayendanegea, or Captain Joseph Brant, principal chief and warrior of the Six Nations, Indians, by his fellow subjects, admirers of his fidelity and attachment to the British Crown."
Shabbona, the White Man's Friend, the Pottawatomie chief, also has a monument on his grave in the cemetery at Morris, Illinois, recently erected by his white friends. In some cases the contributors were the children of the very people whose lives Shabbona saved by warning them at the time of the Black Hawk War. It is a massive boulder of granite, containing only the following simple inscription:
SHABBONA,
1775-1859.
A full description of the unveiling of this monument is given in our sketch of Shabbona.
In the month of June of the year 1905 a substantial monument was erected over the remains of Chief Joseph, of the Nez Perces, known as the Indian Xenophon, and one of the noblest red men of all history.
This monument now stands in the cemetery at Nespelim, Washington, on a commanding point, where the remains of the great chief were interred. The monument is of white marble and measures seven and one-half feet in height. A full account of the dedication is in our sketch of Chief Joseph. There is, as stated elsewhere, in the Council House of the Cherokees, at Tallequah, a marble bust of Se-Quo-Yah, the inventor of the Cherokee alphabet.
There is also over the entrance to "Tammany Hall," city of New York, a statue of the celebrated Delaware sachem, from whom the name is derived. This image is probably fanciful, but there was undoubtedly such an individual as the illustrious Tamenend, who stands foremost in the list of all the great men of his tribe in any age.
This chief certainly exerted a far-reaching influence over both red and white men, even though his history is rather obscure. It is known, however, that he was a mighty warrior, an accomplished statesman, and a pure and high-minded patriot. In private life he was still more distinguished for his virtues than in public for his talents. His countrymen could only account for the perfections they ascribed to him by supposing him to be favored with the special communications of the Great Spirit. Ages have elapsed since his death, but his memory was so fresh among the Delawares of the eighteenth century that when Colonel Morgan, of New Jersey, was sent as an agent among them by Congress, during the Revolution, they conferred on him the title of Tamenend, as the greatest mark of respect they could show for the manners and character of that gentleman; and he was known by his Indian appellation ever afterward.
About this time the old chieftain had so many admirers among the whites also that they made him a saint, inserted his name in calendars, and celebrated his festival on the first day of May, yearly. On that day a numerous society of his votaries walked in procession through the streets of Philadelphia, their hats decorated with buck-tails, and proceeded to a sylvan rendezvous out of town, which they called the Wigwam, where after a long talk or speech had been delivered, and the Calumet of friendship passed around, the remainder of the day was spent in high festivity. A dinner was prepared and Indian dances performed on the green. The custom ceased a few years after the conclusion of peace, at the close of the Revolution, and though other Tammany associations have since existed, they retain little of the model they were formed upon but the name.
New York city gradually absorbed the name (which was changed from Tamenend to Tammany for the sake of the euphony) and whatever of political prestige was included with it.