Red Jacket, Seneca ChiefThis is the story of the famous and controversial Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha, ca. 1750?1830), whose passionate and articulate defense of the old ways won the admiration of many but also earned him the enmity of Chiefs Joseph Brant and Cornplanter. Red Jacket received a medal from George Washington as a token of friendship. He is remembered as a vocal and persistent opponent of foreign encroachment on the Iroquois, protesting bitterly against the sale of tribal lands and involvement in European-American disputes, missionary activities, and various efforts to ?civilize? the Iroquois. Arthur C. Parker, a renowned scholar of the Iroquois and a member of a distinguished Seneca family, offers an engaging and highly readable account of Red Jacket?s life. The biography follows Red Jacket from his early years along the Genesee River through the invasion of Seneca lands during the Revolutionary War, the Big Tree Treaty of 1797, and the rise of the prophet Handsome Lake. Parker (1881?1955) has authored several books on the Iroquois, including Seneca Myths and Folk Tales (Nebraska 1989). |
Contents
Always Ready Awakens to a Problem | 1 |
Red Jackets Homeland | 19 |
Listening and Learning at Seneca Castle | 28 |
A Land of No Restraint | 39 |
The Rumble of Distant Thunder | 52 |
The Tornado of Fire | 65 |
The Whirlwind Subsides | 81 |
Flint and Steel on the Border | 90 |
A Prophet Appears | 136 |
A Declaration of War | 148 |
It Shall Be Like a Rock | 159 |
It All Ended with a Cherry Table | 173 |
His Words Were as the Lightning | 185 |
Winter Sunset | 196 |
Note on Red Jackets Portraits | 213 |
| 221 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
agents agreed Allegany Allegany reservation American army asked became began believe Big Tree boys British Buffalo Creek called Canandaigua Canawaugus Catherine's Town Cattaraugus Cattaraugus Reservation Cayuga Lake ceremony chiefs Christian clan Colonel Pickering Cornplanter council declared dians Dragon Fly enemy exclaimed eyes face Farmer's Brother father Fenton fight friends Genesee Castle Genesee River guns Handsome Lake heard hunting invited Iroquois Joseph Brant Kanadesaga Kirkland knew land companies leaders learned listened lived long house looked ment missionary Mohawk Morris mother never Niagara Ogden Ohio Old King Oneida orator Otetiani Parker peace placed promised Quakers Red Jacket replied reservation River sachems sell Seneca and Cayuga Seneca Lake Seneca Nation settlements settlers shouting Sir William Sir William Johnson Six Nations Sullivan things thought tion told Tonawanda town traders treaty tribes troops United Valley village voice wanted warriors Washington white man's women words York Young King