Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the Upper South. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and afterward, Dragging Canoe's forces were sometimes joined by Upper Muskogee,

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...

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 ...

, and Indians from other tribes/nations, along with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

, and agents of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The series of conflicts lasted a decade after 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 ...

. Dragging Canoe became the preeminent war leader among the Indians of the southeast. He served as war chief, or ''

skiagusta A skiagusta (ᎠᏍᎦᏯᎬᏍᏔ, also ''asgayagvsta'', also ''skyagunsta'', also ''skayagusta''), (ᎠᏍᎦᏯᎬᏍᏔ, ''asgayagvsta''), also spelled ''skyagusta'', ''skiagunsta'', ''skyagunsta'', ''skayagunsta'', ''skygusta'', ''askayagust ...

'', of the group known as the

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 ...

(or "Lower Cherokee"), from 1777 until his death in 1792. He was succeeded by John Watts.

Biography

Born about 1738, he was the son of

Attakullakulla Attakullakulla (Cherokee”Tsalagi”, (ᎠᏔᎫᎧᎷ) ''Atagukalu''; also spelled Attacullaculla and often called Little Carpenter by the English) (c. 1715 – c. 1777) was an influential Cherokee leader and the tribe's First Beloved ...

("Little Carpenter," a Nipissing Head Man) and ''Nionne Ollie'' ("Tame Doe" a Natchez adopted Cherokee). Dragging Canoe's parents had been born to the Nipissing and Natchez respectively, many of whom lived with the Cherokee after their difficulties with the French (1700-1731 and thereafter) and adapted to Cherokee society. Cherokee families liked the Natchez skill with herbal medicine(s). Attakullakulla, Dragging Canoe's father, was born to the Nipissing near

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. His mother was born to the

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

and was adopted as a daughter by

Chief Oconostota Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

's wife. Dragging Canoe's brother, The Badger, was also a Natchez/Nipissing Cherokee Chief. His family lived with the

Overhill Cherokee Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 1 ...

on the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portio ...

in what is now southeast Tennessee. Dragging Canoe survived

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

at a young age, which left his face marked. According to Cherokee legend, he was given his name because of an incident in his childhood. When he wanted to join a war party moving against the Shawnee, his father said that he could accompany the war party as long as he could carry his canoe. The youth tried to prove his readiness for war but could only drag the heavy canoe.''Dragging Canoe''
By Ezzell, Patricia Bernard. (Tennessee Valley Authority); Tennessee Encyclopedia; accessed September 2015

War chief of the Cherokee

Dragging Canoe saw his first experience in combat during the

Anglo-Cherokee War The Anglo-Cherokee War (1758–1761; in the Cherokee language: the ''"war with those in the red coats"'' or ''"War with the English"''), was also known from the Anglo-European perspective as the Cherokee War, the Cherokee Uprising, or the Cherok ...

. In its aftermath, he was recognized as one of the strongest opponents to encroachment by white colonists onto Cherokee territories. Eventually, he became the headman of

Mialoquo Mialoquo (also "Malaquo", "Big Island", or "Great Island") is a prehistoric and historic Native Americans in the United States, Native American site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The site saw significant periods o ...

("Great Island Town," or "''Amoyeli Egwa''" in Cherokee) on the Little Tennessee River. When the Cherokee chose to ally with the British against the colonists in the Revolutionary War, Dragging Canoe was at the head of one of the major attacks. After the colonial militias' counterattack, which destroyed the Cherokee Middle, Valley, and Lower Towns in the Carolinas, his father and

Oconostota Oconostota (c. 1710–1783) was a Cherokee ''skiagusta'' (war chief) of Chota, which was for nearly four decades the primary town in the Overhill territory, and within what is now Monroe County, Tennessee. He served as the First Beloved Man of Ch ...

wanted to sue for peace. Refusing to admit defeat, in 1777 Dragging Canoe led a band of the Overhill Cherokee out of the towns, further south. They migrated to the area seven miles upstream from where the South Chickamauga Creek joins 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, ...

, in the vicinity of present-day

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. Thereafter, frontiersman called them the "Chickamauga" because of their settlement by the creek.''Dragging Canoe & The Chickamauga Cherokees''
Bogan, Dallas; Tennessee Gen Web online; accessed September 2015 They established 11 towns, including the one later referred to as "Old Chickamauga Town." This was across the river from the trading post of Scotsman John McDonald, assistant superintendent of the regional British concerns. He supplied the Chickamauga with guns, cannons, ammunition, and supplies to fight the American colonists. In spring of 1779, American pioneer

Evan Shelby Evan Shelby (1720 – 4 December 1794) was a Welsh-American trapper and militia officer in the Washington District Regiment of the North Carolina militia on the frontier of the Southern colonies. Early life Evan Shelby was born in Tregaron, Ca ...

led an expedition of frontiersmen from Virginia and North Carolina to destroy Dragging Canoe's Chickamauga towns. Shelby reported their success in a letter to

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

, saying "

he Chickamauga Cherokee He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

are reduced to a Sense of their Duty and a Willingness to treat for peace with the united States." In 1782, for the second time, Cherokee towns were attacked by United States forces. The devastation caused by Colonel

John Sevier John Sevier (September 23, 1745 September 24, 1815) was an American soldier, frontiersman, and politician, and one of the founding fathers of the State of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he played a leading role in Tennes ...

's troop forced the band to move further down the Tennessee River. Dragging Canoe established the "Five Lower Towns" below the natural obstructions of the

Tennessee River Gorge The Tennessee River Gorge is a canyon formed by the Tennessee River known locally as Cash Canyon. It is the fourth largest river gorge in the Eastern United States. The gorge is cut into the Cumberland Plateau as the river winds its way into Alab ...

. These were: Running Water Town (now Whiteside), Nickajack Town (near the cave of the same name), Long Island (on the Tennessee River), Crow Town (at the mouth of Crow Creek), and Lookout Mountain Town (at the current site of

Trenton, Georgia Trenton is a city and the only incorporated municipality in Dade County, Georgia, United States—and as such, it serves as the county seat. The population was 2,195 at the 2020 census. Trenton is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee–GA Metropo ...

). Following this move, this band was alternately referred to as the "Lower Cherokee." From his base at Running Water Town, Dragging Canoe led attacks on white settlements all over the

American Southeast The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, especially against American colonists on the Holston,

Watauga Watauga can refer to: ;Places *Watauga, Kentucky * Watauga County, North Carolina * Watauga, South Dakota * Watauga, Tennessee * Watauga, Texas ;Bodies of Water * Watauga Lake in Tennessee * The Watauga River in North Carolina and Tennessee ;Shi ...

, and Nolichucky rivers in

eastern Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 counti ...

. After 1780, he also attacked settlements in the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

area, the

Washington District The Washington District is a Norfolk Southern Railway line in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg. Most of the line was originally built from 1850 to 1860 by the Orange and ...

, the Republic of Franklin, the

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

areas, and raided into

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 ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

as well. His three brothers, Little Owl, the Badger, and Turtle-at-Home, often fought with his forces.

Death

Dragging Canoe died February 29, 1792 at Running Water Town, from exhaustion (or possibly a heart attack) after dancing all night celebrating the recent conclusion of an alliance with the Muskogee and the

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

. The Chickamauga were also celebrating a recent victory by one of their war bands against the Cumberland settlements.

Legacy

Historians such as John P. Brown in ''Old Frontiers'', and

James Mooney James Mooney (February 10, 1861 – December 22, 1921) was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. Known as "The Indian Man", he conducted major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as of tribes on the Gr ...

in his early ethnographic book, ''Myths of the Cherokee'', consider him a role model for the younger Tecumseh, who was a member of a band of

living with the Chickamauga and taking part in their wars. In ''Tell Them They Lie'', a book written by a direct descendant of

Sequoyah Sequoyah (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏍᏏᏉᏯ, ''Ssiquoya'', or ᏎᏉᏯ, ''Se-quo-ya''; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American polymath of the Ch ...

named Traveller Bird, both Tecumseh and Sequoyah are stated to have been among his young warriors.

Notes

References

*Alderman, Pat. ''Dragging Canoe: Cherokee-Chickamauga War Chief,'' (Johnson City: Overmountain Press, 1978) *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). *Evans, E. Raymond. "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Dragging Canoe," ''Journal of Cherokee Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2'', pp. 176–189. Cherokee: Museum of the Cherokee Indian, *Haywood, W.H. ''The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from its Earliest Settlement up to the Year 1796,'' (Nashville: Methodist Episcopal Publishing House, 1891). *Klink, Karl, and James Talman, ed. ''The Journal of Major John Norton,'' (Toronto: Champlain Society, 1970). * McLoughlin, William G., ''Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic''. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992). *Mooney, James. ''Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee''. (Nashville: Charles and Randy Elder-Booksellers, 1982). *Moore, John Trotwood and Austin P. Foster. ''Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769–1923, Vol. 1''. (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923).
Ramsey, J. G. M., ''The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century, 1853 (2007 Online Edition)''. (Rockwood, TN: RoaneTNHistory.org, 2007)

Biography

War chief of the Cherokee

Death

Legacy

Notes

References

Further reading