CHIEF LITTLE JIM, GREAT-GRANDSON
OF TECUMSEH.
In volume XXXIV of the Ohio
Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly, pages 143-153, appeared a contri-
bution entitled, "Tecumseh and His
Descendants,"
gleaned from authentic records
furnished by Thomas
Wildcat Alford, scholarly and cultured
gentleman, one
of the great-grandsons of the famous
chieftain, Tecum-
seh, born in Ohio, and later one of the
most intrepid and
resourceful leaders of the confederate
tribes in their
campaigns against the Americans in the
War of 1812.
In his extended list of the descendants
of Tecumseh now
living, Mr. Alford gave Little Jim, the
son of Big Jim,
as the great-grandson and lineal
successor of Tecumseh
and the present Chief of the Absentee
Shawnee Indians
in Oklahoma. It was a matter of
interest to many
readers to know that so many of the
descendants of
Tecumseh are now living in the United
States, including
his lineal successor as chief of the
remnant of that once
powerful tribe that held sway in the
valley of the Scioto
River. They will now be pleased to know
still more of
Little Jim, whose Indian name is
To-tom-mo.
In a recent issue of the Friend, published
in Rich-
mond, Indiana, is his story as follows:
*LITTLE JIM'S STORY
Many, many moons ago (in 1768) my
forefathers lived near
the place where Springfield, Ohio, now
stands. Before that they
* Note: The historical facts of this
story are taken from Compton's
Pictured Encyclopedia.
(510)
Chief Little Jim, Great Grandson of
Tecumseh 511
had lived in South Carolina and in
Pennsylvania where they
made a treaty with Governor Penn in 1701.
In 1768 my ancestor, Tecumseh, was born
in Ohio. White
men persecuted the Shawnees and all Indians then, sold
firewater
to them which made them crazy, took away
their hunting grounds
and plowed fields, drove them farther
and farther west. Tecum-
seh watched his people suffer. He grew
to be a man, strong and
wise, and by that time many had been
forced to migrate into ter-
ritory now called Indiana. They lived
along White River, Tip-
pecanoe and Wabash Rivers. Tecumseh knew
the Indians could
not hold their lands against white men
unless they would join to-
gether. He thought deeply and planned a
great confederacy of
all Indian tribes, which would stop the white man. He went
from tribe to tribe. He was a great
orator and the Indians lis-
tened. They said his talk was good. Tecumseh's brother had
great power over men too. He was called
The Prophet, and
worked with Tecumseh. They established a
village called the
Prophet's Town, where Tippecanoe River
flows into the Wabash,
in northern Indiana. The Prophet's Town
was to be headquar-
ters for the Great Indian Confederacy.
In 1809 Governor Harrison of Indiana
Territory persuaded
some Miami chiefs to agree to the treaty
of Fort Wayne, by
which they ceded to the United States
government about three
million acres of land along the Wabash river,
for about one-third
of one cent for each acre. Tecumseh said
they had no right to
barter away lands which belonged to all
the Indians, in that way.
He asked Governor Harrison to cede the
lands back again and
said there would be no peace between
Indians and whites until
that was done. Then he started on a
journey to get the help of
many tribes to keep the white men from
taking their lands.
While Tecumseh was away, Governor
Harrison began to
build a block house on part of the
disputed land, at the point
where Terre Haute now stands. The
Indians made trouble for
him and he then marched against the
Prophet's Town, defeated
the Shawnees in the battle of Tippecanoe
(near the present site
of the city of Lafayette) and completely
destroyed the Prophet's
Town. Tecumseh could do no more. My
people's spirit was
broken. White men took the lands and the
Indians were again
pushed westward. Tecumseh went to the
British, fought with
them at head of many Indian warriors,
against the Americans in
1812, and was killed in battle.
When the Shawnees were driven out of
Indiana, they went
to Kansas, and about 1845 many of them
came on into Oklahoma,
and settled on the Canadian River where
they became known as
512 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Absentee Shawnees. My father, who was
called Big Jim, and
White Turkey, another chief, divided these Absentee
Shawnees
into two bands. White Turkey encouraged
his people to learn
the white man's ways, but my father
believed the old Indian
ways were best for Indians and that they
should not take up with
any of the white man's ways. We were
driven into these sand-
hills in Cleveland County at the point
of bayonets in the hands of
white men. Why should we become like
them? Now, they send
us missionaries who seem trustworthy,
and the United States
government builds us a few houses, but
when I remember Te-
cumseh, I cannot suddenly love the
long-time enemies of my peo-
ple, who have taken away so much and
given back so little. I am
Tecumseh's direct descendant, his
representative as a leader of
our crushed and wronged Shawnee nation.
It is hard to forget.
Eber Hobson, my friend, will speak for
me of the present.
Friend Hobson then continues as
follows:
LITTLE JIM AS I KNOW HIM
Little Jim, chief of Big Jim's band of
Shawnee Indians, is
very distant when you first meet him and
what he says to you will
be through an interpreter. If perchance
you wish his picture, he
will have his wife tell you that he
believes if you should get his
picture, you would get his shadow, which
is his spirit, so that he
would never see his loved ones who have
gone on before.
Though he married an educated woman of
the White Tur-
key Band, with progressive ideas, he
would not let his children
go to school until he was arrested. He
gave as his reason, that
the Indians who had education had been
judged competent and
had been given their land without
restriction, so had soon sold it
and were without anything in the world.
All of which is true.
But when arrested he promised to let his
children go to school
and they let him go home. He has given
in only an inch at a time
to white civilization and the white
man's ways, but little by little
he does yield.
When talking to white people with whom
he is acquainted,
he is free to talk in our language,
appears to handle it very easily
and speaks plainly.
Little Jim is making progress all the
time as well as others,
though he may not realize it or be
willing to admit it. He lived in
two little log houses until he leased
his land for oil. Then the
agency was foresighted enough to
withhold the lease money until
he would consent to use part of it in
building a new house. It
was a long time before he would sign up.
He said to me that the
Chief Little Jim, Great Grandson of Tecumseh 513 land was not his but belonged to the government. The people who knew his father say it was a long time before he would take his allotment. Mrs. Little Jim is very proud of her new house and I really think that he is if he would but admit it. He comes over during strawberry season to pick berries on the Mission farm, voluntarily so far as I know, unless there is a little persuasion from his family, and he is one of the best if not the best picker that we have had. When I have had berries to sort, he was the finest of help. Assuredly Eber Hobson is to be congratulated that he has as his champion berry picker Little Jim, who still cherishes with solemn pride his famous ancestor, the unconquerable Tecumseh, whom even his foes honor as one of the greatest chieftains of his race. |
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Vol. XL--33. |