Cheeseekau (c. 1760–1792) was a war chief of the

Kispoko Kispoko (also spelled Kiscopocoke, Kispokotha, Spitotha) is the name of one of the five divisions (or septs) of the Shawnee, a Native American people. The Kispoko were the smallest of the five septs or divisions during the 18th century. They lived ...

division of the

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 ...

Nation. Also known as Pepquannakek (Gunshot), Popoquan (Gun), Sting, and Chiksika. Although primarily remembered as the eldest brother and mentor of

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

, who became famous after Cheeseekau's death, Cheeseekau was a well-known leader in his own time, and a contemporary of

Blue Jacket Blue Jacket, or Weyapiersenwah (c. 1743 – 1810), was a war chief of the Shawnee people, known for his militant defense of Shawnee lands in the Ohio Country. Perhaps the preeminent American Indian leader in the Northwest Indian War, i ...

. Few details are known about Cheeseekau's early life. He may have been born along the

Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and wes ...

in what is now

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. His parents,

Puckeshinwa The family of Tecumseh (c. 1768 – October 5, 1813), the Shawnee leader, has long been the subject of inquiry by historians. The documentary evidence of his personal life is fragmentary, with frequently contradictory evidence, and historians have o ...

and

Methoataaskee The family of Tecumseh (c. 1768 – October 5, 1813), the Shawnee leader, has long been the subject of inquiry by historians. The documentary evidence of his personal life is fragmentary, with frequently contradictory evidence, and historians have o ...

, moved north to the Ohio Country around the time of his birth. After Pukeshinwa's death in the

Battle of Point Pleasant The Battle of Point Pleasant, also known as the Battle of Kanawha, was the only major action of Dunmore's War. It was fought on October 10, 1774, between the Virginia militia and Shawnee and Mingo warriors. Along the Ohio River near modern-day P ...

in 1774, Cheeseekau assumed much of the responsibility for his younger brothers, including Tecumseh and

Tenskwatawa Tenskwatawa (also called Tenskatawa, Tenskwatawah, Tensquatawa or Lalawethika) (January 1775 – November 1836) was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe, known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was a ...

. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

(1775–1783), Cheeseekau joined with those Shawnees who allied themselves with the British and sought to drive the American settlers out of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. After the war, as Americans expanded into Ohio, in 1788 Cheeseekau led a group of Shawnees to Missouri. American colonists were moving to Missouri too, and Cheeseekau resettled his band at the village of

Running Water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

on the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

, where he joined

Dragging Canoe Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the ...

's militant

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...

in fighting American expansion. He died On October 1, 1792 after being mortally wounded during an attack on Bledsoe's Station, a frontier fort near

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, TN.Brown, p. 271

Notes

Sources

*Brown, John P. ''Old Frontiers: The Story of the Cherokee Indians from Earliest Times to the Date of Their Removal to the West, 1838''. (Kingsport: Southern Publishers, 1938). *Eckert, Allan W. ''A Sorrow in Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh''. (New York: Bantam, 1992). *Sugden, John. ''Tecumseh: A Life''. New York: Holt, 1997. (hardcover); (1999 paperback). *Sugden, John. "Cheeseekau". ''American National Biography''. 4:767–68. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheeseekau 1760 births 1792 deaths Native Americans in the American Revolution Native American people of the Indian Wars Chickamauga Cherokee Shawnee people Native American leaders