Hathawekela (also spelled Oawikila, Thaawikila, Thawegila,

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 ...

: ''θawikila'', French: ''Chalaqua'') was one of the five divisions (or bands) of the

, a Native American people during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the

Chalahgawtha Chalahgawtha (or, more commonly in English, Chillicothe) was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. It was also the name of the principal village of the division. The ot ...

Mekoche Mekoche (or Mequachake, Shawnee: ''mecoce'') was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the Chalahgawtha, Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela. ...

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 ...

, and

Pekowi Pekowi was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the Chalahgawtha, Mekoche, Kispoko, and Hathawekela. ...

. (All five division names have been spelled in a great variety of ways.) Together these divisions formed the loose confederacy that was the

tribe. Traditionally, Shawnee

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

leadership came from the Hathawekela patrilineal division. According to J.D. Lewis, "Tradition and the known linguistic connections of the Shawnee indicate that they had migrated to the Cumberland River Valley from the north not long previous to the historic period ... Shortly after 1674, the Hathawekela or that part of the Shawnee afterward so called, settled upon

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

, and in 1681 they proved of great assistance to the new colony of South Carolina by driving a tribe known as

Westo The Westo were an Iroquoian Native American tribe encountered in the Southeastern U.S. by Europeans in the 17th century. They probably spoke an Iroquoian language. The Spanish called these people Chichimeco (not to be confused with Chichimeca i ...

, probably part of the

Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...

, from the middle Savannah." They emigrated from the South "about 1697, together with other Shawnee bands, and settled with them, partly on Susquehanna and partly on

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

, Pa., where they are mentioned in 1731. Sewickley, Pa., probably takes its name from them ... The Hathawekela claim to be the "elder brothers" among the Shawnee, as being the first created of the tribe. The band formerly under Black Bob, are a portion of this division."

References

{{authority control Native American tribes in West Virginia Shawnee history