Levi Colbert (1759–1834), also known as ''Itawamba'' in Chickasaw, was a leader and
chief
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of the
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 ...
nation. Colbert was called ''Itte-wamba Mingo'', meaning ''bench chief''. He and his brother George Colbert were prominent interpreters and negotiators with United States negotiators in the early decades of the 19th century. They were appointed by
President
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Andrew Jackson
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's administration to gain cession of their lands and arrange for
removal of their people to
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
west of the Mississippi River. They were under considerable pressure from the Mississippi state government, white interlopers in their area, and the federal government to cede their lands.
Levi Colbert (''Itawamba'') worked most closely with US
Indian Agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
John Dabney Terrell, Sr.
John Dabney Terrell Sr. (October 14, 1775 – May 10, 1850), surveyor, planter, and politician in Alabama, was born to a planter family in Bedford County, Virginia, Bedford County, Virginia, and died in Marion County, Alabama, Marion County, Alabam ...
of Marion County, Alabama. The Chickasaw negotiated hard; after their representatives initially surveyed the lands offered in the West, they returned saying it was unacceptable. The Chickasaw worked to gain more approval over their future lands.
Early life and education
Levi Colbert was born in 1759
as one of six sons of James Logan Colbert (1721 - 1784), a
North Carolinian
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
of
Scots ancestry, and his second wife Sopha ''Minta Hoye'', a Choctaw woman. Colbert, known in Chickasaw as ''Itawamba,'' was born in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...
, within what was the Chickasaw Nation, in a tribal settlement along the Tennessee River.
He and his
mixed-race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
siblings grew up
bilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
and were educated in both Chickasaw and European-American traditions.
As the Chickasaw had a
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's Lineage (anthropology), lineage – and which can in ...
kinship
In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
system of descent and inheritance, children were considered to belong to the mother's clan. They gained their status through her, and hereditary leadership for males was passed through the maternal line. Colbert attended Charity Hall School.
When Levi Colbert assumed the hereditary title of head chief of the Chickasaw Nation, he was living on the bluff west of the Chickasaw trading post known as
Cotton Gin Port, established near the old cotton gin. The post was marked by a large spreading oak known as the council tree.
Removal
Levi Colbert and his brother
George
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were prominent among the negotiators for the Chickasaw when they met with US government officials related to treaties and removal.
A written report given to the US Senate on January 15, 1827 noted that US commissioners assigned to negotiate a treaty with the Chickasaw Nation had met in parley on November 1, 1826 with members of that tribe. It reported that Levi Colbert, on behalf of agents of that nation, said that "there was not a man in the nation who would consent to sell either the whole or part of their lands." Although opposed to the
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...
of 1830, the Chickasaw chiefs of the council signed a treaty, based on the tribe's removal, in a treaty meeting with General
John Coffee
John R. Coffee (June 2, 1772 – July 7, 1833) was an American planter of Irish descent, and state militia brigadier general in Tennessee. He commanded troops under General Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars (1813–14) and during the Battle o ...
and other United States representatives in November 1832. They wanted to keep peace, and they were suffering from the aggressive and hostile behavior of the Mississippi state government, as well as white settlers in their territory. Their removal was to west of 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 ...
to
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
. This treaty promised 25 cents per acre for their land, less than half of what the government had initially promised.
In a long letter to President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
in November 1832, Colbert noted the many complaints the chiefs had with the resulting Treaty of Pontotoc Creek. He restated their position, and noted their belief that General Coffee had ignored their comments and viewpoints. They had wanted the tribe to keep control of the money resulting from sale of their lands, they were not ready to choose land in Indian Territory, they did not want to share a reservation in Indian Territory with "half breeds" (mixed-race persons they did not consider members of their people), and they were dismayed at the way they had been treated by General Coffee. More than 40 chiefs who had attended the treaty council signed the letter with Colbert. They were chiefs of the
clans
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
and leading villages.
Colbert had been ill during the meeting and was unable to attend all the sessions.
He died in 1834, two years after the final treaty was signed and Chickasaws were preparing to remove to Indian Territory.
Some of Colbert's goals were achieved in a treaty of 1837, which enabled the tribe to control monies resulting from the sale of their homesteads and ensured they would be compensated for improvements.
Intra-tribal conflict
Colbert did not want conflict; he wanted peace with the
US government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
, even if it meant giving up his people's land. He wanted to try to preserve his people's rights during negotiations, as they were pressured by increasing conflict with encroaching European-American settlers and governments. He was very concerned that the federal government was treating equally with mixed-race men he called "half-breeds." Although Colbert was of mixed descent, he had grown up identifying with the Chickasaw culture and his mother's clan.
He believed some white men were marrying into the tribe just to try to get control of land. By the 1830s, he felt such men were ignoring traditional practices and the tribe's recognized chiefs in seeking personal gain.
Family
"He married three times. He married Ishtimmarharlechar. She was listed as a resident in the census report in Chickasaw Roll, Chickasaw Nation, MS, 1818. He married Temusharhoctay 'Dollie' (Schtimmarshashoctay) before 1795. Temusharhoctay was born before 1780. She was listed as a resident in the census report in Chickasaw Nation, MS, 1818. He married Mintahoyo House of Imatapo before 1799. Mintahoyo was born before 1799. Mintahoyo died after 1839." Most of the younger children were educated at Charity Hall school, a mile and a half from their home, (also called Bell Indian Mission).
It has been described as "a mission school ... established in 1820, near
Cotton Gin Port, Mississippi
Cotton Gin Port is a ghost town in Monroe County, Mississippi, United States.
Geography
Cotton Gin Port was located at on the east bank of the Tombigbee river.
History
Cotton Gin Port was the first town settled by Europeans in what became nort ...
, by Rev. Robert Bell, under the auspices of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, for the education of Chickasaw children."
Death
Colbert died June 2, 1834, at
Buzzard Roost, Alabama
Buzzard Roost is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama. Buzzard Roost had a United States Postal Service, post office in the 1850s, but it no longer exists.
Geography
Buzzard Roost is ...
,
His brother George Colbert succeeded him as leader of the Chickasaw.
Legacy
Several places were named after him:
*
Itawamba County, Mississippi
Itawamba County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 23,401. Its county seat is Fulton. The county is part of the Tupelo, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The county was ...
*Colbert's Spring, Alabama
*
Colbert County, Alabama
Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals.
The county is named in ...
was named after him and his brother
George Colbert Chief George Colbert, also known as ''Tootemastubbe'' in Chickasaw (c. 1764–1839), was a leader and war chief of the Chickasaw people in the early 19th century, then occupying territory in what are now the jurisdictions of Alabama and Mississippi. ...
.
[McAdory (1921), p. 302]
See also
*
Colbert County, Alabama
Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals.
The county is named in ...
*
George Colbert Chief George Colbert, also known as ''Tootemastubbe'' in Chickasaw (c. 1764–1839), was a leader and war chief of the Chickasaw people in the early 19th century, then occupying territory in what are now the jurisdictions of Alabama and Mississippi. ...
, his brother
*
Holmes Colbert
Holmes Colbert was a 19th-century leader of the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Of mixed European and Chickasaw ancestry, Colbert was born to his mother's Chickasaw clan and gained significance in the tribe's history through ...
, his nephew and writer of the Chickasaw Constitution
*
Trebloc, Mississippi
Trebloc is an unincorporated community in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, United States. It is located at the intersections of Highways 8 and 47, southeast of Houston, Mississippi.
History
Trebloc is named after a historic Chickasaw- Scots fami ...
References
Further reading
"Refusal of the Chickasaws and Choctaws to Cede Their Lands in Mississippi: 1826" Avalon Project, Yale University
Kerry M. Armstrong, compiler, Chickasaw Historical Research Website includes numerous primary sources, including some dating to before Removal
*
External links
Levi Colbert Profile and Videos- Chickasaw.TV
Natchez Trace Parkway - Buzzard Roost Spring, near Cherokee, AL Home place and site of inn run by Chickasaw chief Levi Colbert
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbert, Levi
1759 births
1834 deaths
19th-century Native Americans
Chickasaw people
Colbert County, Alabama
Native American leaders
People from Muscle Shoals, Alabama