Chief Peteetneet, or more precisely ''Pah-ti't-ni't'' (pronounced Paw-tee't-nee't), was a clan leader of a band of
Timpanogos
The Timpanogos (Timpanog, Utahs or Utah Indians) were a tribe of Native Americans who inhabited a large part of central Utah, in particular, the area from Utah Lake east to the Uinta Mountains and south into present-day Sanpete County.
Most Ti ...
that lived near
Peteetneet Creek, which was named for him (or perhaps for which he was named), in what is now known as
Payson,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, United States.
Description
His band was semi-nomadic, living in semi-permanent, grass-thatched, wattle-and-daub houses, and roamed throughout the Utah Lake area as well as Sanpete and Sevier counties. Together with Chief
Tabby-To-Kwanah
Chief Tabby-To-Kwanah (or Tabby, Tabiona, or Tabiuna; 1789 – 1898) was the leader of Timpanogos when they were displaced to the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. He rose to power as a young man and was sub-chief under his cousin Chief Walkara ...
, they led seasonal migrations through the canyon each spring and fall. His daughter Pomona (''Pamamaci'' = "Water-woman") married the mountain man, Miles Goodyear. Peteetneet is the anglicized corruption of ''Pah-ti't-ni't'', which in Timpanogos means "our water place".
[Sapir, Edward. 1930. ''The Southern Paiute a Shoshonean Language, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'' 65(1):1-296.][Sapir, Edward. 1931. ''Southern Paiute Dictionary, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'' 65(3):537-730.]
In February 1850, his village was attacked by the
Mormon militia
The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized militia of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States. With growing antagonism from surrounding settlements it came to have as its main function the defense of Nauvoo, and surrounding Latter Day Saint ...
, as part of the
Battle at Fort Utah
The Battle at Fort Utah (also known as Fort Utah War or Provo War) was a battle between the Timpanogos Tribe and remnants of the Nauvoo Legion at Fort Utah in modern-day Provo, Utah. The Timpanogos people initially tolerated the presence of the ...
. Although Peteetneet was not there at the time of the attack, he did confront the soldiers at
Fort Utah
Fort Utah (also known as Fort Provo) was the original white settlement at Provo, Utah, United States, and was established March 12, 1849. The original settlers were President John S. Higbee and about 30 families or 150 persons that were sent fr ...
after finding the bodies of several decapitated Indians.
When the first
Mormon pioneers
The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...
arrived on Peteeneet Creek in late October, 1850, they found that Chief Peteetneet was friendly, along with his band of about 200 Timpanogos. The Mormon pioneers settled on an uninhabited section of the creek about a mile southeast of Peteetneet's village. It is unlikely that the settlement on Peteetneet Creek would have survived the winter without the benevolence of Chief Peteetneet and his band.
[Pace, James Edward. 1946. ''Autobiography and Diary of James Pace, 1811-1888''. Harold B. Lee Library. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. 186 p.]
Chief Peteetneet also enjoyed the support of Mormon leaders in the
Indian slave trade
Slavery among Native Americans in the United States includes slavery by and slavery of Native Americans roughly within what is currently the United States of America.
Tribal territories and the slave trade ranged over present-day borders. ...
. Apostle
George A. Smith gave him talking papers that certified "it is my desire that they
aptain Walker and Peteetneetshould be treated as friends, and as they wish to Trade horses, Buckskins and Piede children, we hope them success and prosperity and good bargains."
Chief Peteetneet died on December 23, 1861, under somewhat mysterious circumstances in Cedar Valley, Utah, near recently abandoned Fort Crittenden (Camp Floyd). He was buried on the mountainside in Cedar Valley by members of his band. His wife, murdered by an axe-wielding woman in his band on express orders near his deathbed, was buried in the valley below his grave in order to accompany him into the afterlife.
[Editor. 1862. Death of Chief Peteetneet. ''Deseret News,'' 1 January 1862.] He was succeeded at the time of his death in 1862 by a near kinsman named Ponnewats, a corruption of ''Pa-ni-wa-tsi'', meaning "Little Master of Our Water".
A monument of Chief Peteetneet stands at the front of the
Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center. The monument was sculpted by local artist, Brian Bird, in 1993.
See also
*
Act for the relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners
*
Mormonism and slavery
The Latter Day Saint movement has had varying and conflicting teachings on slavery. Early converts were initially from the Northern United States and opposed slavery, believing that their opposition was supported by Mormon scripture. After the c ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peteetneet, Chief
1861 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Mormonism and Native Americans
Native American leaders
People of Utah Territory
Timpanogos tribe
Slavery of Native Americans
American slave traders
History of slavery in Utah
Native American slave owners