While the Shawnee are well-known in American history because of their involvement in Lord Dunmore’s War and Little Turtle’s War in the eighteenth century, and Tecumseh’s Rebellion of the nineteenth century, relatively little is known about their aboriginal homeland. Their name, Shawnee, means “Southerner”, reflecting the fact that they lived to the south of other Algonquian-speaking Indian nations.
The Shawnee language belongs to the Central Algonquian language family and is, therefore, related to Miami, Illinois, Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Menominee, Potawatomi, Ojibwa, Cree, Montegnais, and Naskapi. Regarding the archaeological evidence concerning the Shawnee homelands prior to the European invasion, some people see the Fort Ancient people in Ohio as ancestral to the Shawnee. Archaeologists Pennelope Drooker and C. Wesley Cowan, in their chapter in Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodland Indians, A.D. 1400-1700, write:
“Archaeologists and ethnohistorians have reached no consensus about which historically named group or groups might have been descended from Fort Ancient populations, although Shawnee and related Central Algonquian groups are most often suggested.”
In his book Shawnee! The Ceremonialism of a Native American Tribe and its Cultural Background, archaeologist James Howard writes:
“It would certainly appear that the most economical explanation in terms of available archeological, linguistics, and ethnohistorical data is to equate the prehistoric Shawnees with at least part of the Fort Ancient archaeological culture, though other groups were probably involved as well.”
Since the Shawnee often migrated, it is difficult to pinpoint their aboriginal homeland at the beginning of the European invasion. In his Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Carl Waldman writes:
“Perhaps the best way to think of their territory is generally to the west of the Cumberland Mountains of the Appalachian chain, with the Cumberland River at the center. At one time or another, the Shawnees had villages along many of the rivers of the region: the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee. This area now comprises parts of the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.”
Subsistence
The Shawnee, like many other Algonqian-speaking people, engaged in a combination of farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. Farming was of secondary economic importance and contributed less than half of their food.
The Shawnee used slash and burn agriculture. The fields would be cleared and then burned so that the wood ash would fertilize the soil. Corn would be planted first. When the corn was about a foot high, beans, squash, and pumpkin were interplanted with the corn.
Among some groups, such as the Shawnee, a slightly fermented corn drink was made. Flint corn would be allowed to ripen and dry on the stalk. The kernels were then boiled in water until it became a heavy whitish mass. This would be set away until it fermented and then used. It is described as tasting something like a sweet pickle.
Hunting was an important economic activity and hunting territories were allocated to specific families. While these families did not own the land in the European sense of land ownership, they did have the exclusive hunting rights for a specific area. Game taken by a hunter was generally shared freely among all in the camp or village, including strangers. The purpose of hunting was to feed the people, not just the hunter and the hunter’s immediate family.
Among the Shawnee, the most important animals which they hunted were deer, buffalo, bear, mountain lion and turkey. These animals would usually be hunted in the fall and early winter.
Fishing was a year-round occupation. Fish were taken with fishhooks, nets, spears, traps, lures, and bait. One method of spearing fish involved fishing at night with a torch.
Overall, Shawnees used about 275 species of plants: they used 130 species for food; 31 species for spiritual purposes; 25 species for dyes; 18 species for beverages; and 52 species for other purposes.
Settlement
The settlement patterns for the tribes in this area reflected their subsistence activities which included both agriculture and hunting and gathering. In his chapter on sociopolitical organization in the Handbook of North American Indians, Charles Callender reports:
“The settlement pattern alternated between concentration into semipermanent riverine villages in summer and large camps in winter, with dispersal among scattered camps in spring and fall.”
Among the Shawnee, each town had a large wooden structure which was used for council meetings and for ceremonies. Some of these buildings were 60 to 90 feet in length.
Political organization
The Shawnee were a confederacy of five political units: Chillicothe (Chalahgawtha), Hathawekela (also spelled as Thawekila or Thawegila), Kispoko (Kispokotha), Mequachake (Mekoche or Maykujay), and Piqua (Pekowi). In his book The Shawnees and the War for America, Colin Calloway reports:
“The Shawnees traditionally comprised five divisions, though it is not certain whether these divisions originally constituted different tribes, which came together to form the Shawnees, or if they developed during their migrations.”
Each of these divisions was autonomous, with each having its own chiefs. Within the Shawnee, however, each of the five political units had specific responsibilities: Chillicothe and Thawekila provided tribal leaders and took care of political concerns relating to the whole tribe; Pekowis were responsible for matters relating to religion and ritual; Mekochea were concerned with health and medicine and provided healers and counselors; and Kispokos provided war leadership.
Among the Algonquian-speaking people of the area, chiefs could generally command no one. The power of the chiefs was based on persuasion rather than coercion. During a war expedition, however, war chiefs could command the warriors.
Leadership power, according to the Algonquian worldview, stemmed from the manitous or spirits and was given to individuals or to clan ancestors. The power given to the clan was symbolized in objects in the clan bundle which related to the original vision from the manitous. The clan chief was responsible for carrying out the ceremonies which involved the clan bundle. Village chiefs were often the heads of the chiefly clans, but this did not mean that leadership was hereditary. When the leading candidate from the chiefly clan was felt to be unsuitable for village leadership, the village council would meet and select a village chief.
Among the Shawnee there were two kinds of chiefs. The peace chiefs were responsible for domestic order. This was an office which could be inherited. On the other hand, the war chief was an earned office. To be considered a war chief, a young man was expected to organize and lead (to persuade other young men to follow him) four raids, bringing back honor and all of his men. According to Ian Steele, in an article in Ethnohistory:
“A raid was considered successful only if the entire raiding party returned unhurt, and if it brought back at least one scalp or prisoner.”
However, war could not be declared unless the peace chiefs agreed. After leading 12 raids, a war chief was allowed to resign if he wished.
The Shawnee tribal council was composed of both peace chiefs and war chiefs. In his chapter on the Shawnee in the Handbook of North American Indians, Charles Callender reports:
“Elderly men also attended or gave advice and assistance, besides providing information about earlier events and the decisions reached by past councils.”
Colin Calloway writes:
“Civil chiefs tended to be mature men who had earned a reputation for good sense and whose counsel guided the people during times of peace and in everyday affairs.”
During times of war, the civil chiefs would temporarily hand over leadership to younger men who would lead war parties. When peace returned, the war chiefs would give leadership back to the civil or peace chiefs.
The Shawnee also had two female chiefs: a peace chief who supervised the planting and prepared feasts of vegetable foods, and a war chief who was responsible for the preparation of meat. The female peace chief had the power to stop a war party from leaving. When a war party returned with prisoners, the prisoners would be spared if they were touched by the female peace chiefs. However, if a female war chief touched the prisoners first, they were burned and ritually eaten.
Family
Shawnee family structure was organized around patrilineal clans which means that individuals belonged to their father’s clan. The Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa reported that originally his people had 34 clans, but by the first part of the nineteenth century there were only about a dozen left.
Among most of the Algonquian-speaking tribes, a woman’s status or social position was not dependent on her husband. Among the Shawnee, a woman’s husband had almost no influence on her social or political position.
Among the Shawnee, a child was kept in its mother’s arms for the first month. Then the child would be kept in a cradle board. This allowed the mother to go about her daily tasks with her child on her back.
A child was first named by an elder from a different clan. This name was publicly announced at a feast given by the parents for their friends and relatives. Later in life, individuals could change their names to obtain better luck. Again, the name would be announced at a special feast.
Indians 101
Historically the United States government, schools, textbooks, and the popular media have viewed American Indians as a single racial group conveniently ignoring the fact that there are more than 500 culturally distinct tribes in North America. Cultural profiles of distinct tribes, such as the Shawnee, are attempts to dismantle racist stereotypes. More tribal profiles from this series:
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Miami Indians
Indians 101: A Brief Overview of the Omaha Indians
Indians 101: A very brief overview of the Osage Indians
Indians 101: A Short Overview of the Potawatomi Indians
Indians 201: A short overview of the Tillamook Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Timucua Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Tututni Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Wea Indians