#shawnee

A Shawnee chief, Nonhelema (c. 1718-1786) was both a warrior and a diplomat. Throughout her life, she worked to maintain peace and protect her people.

Keeper of the hearth

Little is known about Nonhelema’s youth. She grew up in Pennsylvania. Her father was a chief and her mother, Katee, was a woman of both white and Native ancestry. She had a brother, Hokoleskwa, also known as Cornstalk.

A striking woman, Nonhelema was six feet six inches tall (198 cm). In 1734, she married her first husband, who was also a chief. By 1750, she was widowed and had become a village chief in her own right.

As producers of crops, clothing, and domestic goods, women played an important role in Shawnee society. They could become war or peace chiefs and were welcomed in diplomatic negotiations.

In 1754, Nonhelema remarried the chief Moluntha and moved from Ohio to the Kentucky area. She oversaw her own village and was in charge of domestic and agricultural matters, as well as the preparation of feasts.

Warrior in her own right

Her village was located close to that of her brother, with whom she maintained close ties and whom she often advised. As war escalated between Native nations and settlers, and between the French and the British, Nonhelema encouraged her fellow chiefs to remain neutral.

However, she was also a warrior in her own right. Shawnee women sometimes fought in self defense and could serve as warriors, as Nonhelema did. In 1763, she fought against British troops during the Battle of Bushy Run. She distinguished herself in battle and gained considerable fame as a warrior.

She became known as “Grenadier Squaw,” a reference to the British grenadiers who were selected among the tallest soldiers and wore tall hats that made them appear even taller. Her village also became known as “Grenadier Squaw’s Town.”

It is also possible that she fought alongside her brother during Lord Dunmore's War. She was present during negotiations accompanied by a young woman named Fannie or Fawney, who may have been her daughter.

According to the resulting treaty, the Shawnee agreed to give up their claims to Kentucky and to refrain from harming settlers. These were terms that Nonhelema was determined to uphold.

Street style at the Santa Fe Indian Market, photographed by Shayla Blatchford

Check out the source for article, more photos, and names of designers!

Another Vogue article on artists and designers at the Santa Fe Indian Market.

More images below the cut!

I was doing some brainstorming on a Care Bears server about Proud Heart/America Cares Bear’s purpose in our current political climate, and how as a Care Bear, they wouldn’t really stand for that.

But then I did some deeper thinking about the idea of a Care Bear representing America when the concept of this country began with colonialism and the removal of thousands of native tribes from their ancestral lands.

And I thought, “why not design a NATIVE American Bear?”

But I didn’t want to make a “Token Native” and call it a day. I did my research on the native tribes found in Ohio (as a reference to Those Characters from Cleveland) and eventually settled with the Shawnee.

Sigel, Illinois (Amtrak)

The next train to come by this same location (Sigel, Illinois, see previous post) was Amtrak’s Shawnee. This train ran between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois.

The speed limit here at that time was 90 miles-per-hour given the cab signals of the Illinois Central. The train is being powered by the short-lived GE P30CH.

Tecumseh To Joseph Barren, messenger of President James Madison [1810]