Charlot Kaské (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1763–1765) was a

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

war chief during

Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...

. Kaské's personal details were unusual for a Shawnee chief: he was a Catholic, his father was German, and his wife was an English captive brought up among the Shawnees. Kaské initially participated in the war, which was an effort to prevent the British from occupying the

Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...

, as an ally of

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

. As the war progressed and went badly for the American Indians, Pontiac began to negotiate with the British. Kaské remained firmly anti-British, however, and eventually left British territory by crossing the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

with other French and Indian refugees rather than accept British rule.

References

*Dixon, David. ''Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac's Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. . *Dowd, Gregory Evans. ''War under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations, & the British Empire''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. , (paperback). * White, Richard. ''The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815''. Cambridge University Press, 1991. . Native American leaders Indigenous people of Pontiac's War 18th-century Shawnee people Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{NorthAm-mil-bio-stub