HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Nanyehi'' (
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, th ...
: ᎾᏅᏰᎯ: "One who goes about"), known in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
as Nancy Ward (c. 1738 – 1822 or 1824), was a Beloved Woman and political leader of the
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, th ...
. She advocated for peaceful coexistence with
European American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...
s and, late in life, spoke out for Cherokee retention of tribal lands. She is credited with the introduction of dairy products to the Cherokee economy.


Life

''Nanyehi'' was born c. 1738 in the Cherokee capital, Chota (Cherokee: "City of Refuge"). Today it is within Monroe County, on the southeastern border of Tennessee. Her mother, the sister 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 ...
,Nancy Ward
Tennessee Encyclopedia
was a member of the
Wolf Clan The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...
. (Note: Though her mother is often referred to as "Tame Doe", the name has no historical sources. It is associated with an 1895 novel about Ward by E. Sterling King.) According to Nanyehi's descendant John Walker "Jack" Hildebrand, her father was "Fivekiller", a member of the
Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
(Delaware) tribe.The Association of the Descendants of Nancy Ward, Biography of Nancy Ward, by David Hampton Some Lenape had migrated west across the Appalachian Mountains, far from their traditional mid-Atlantic coastal territories. In her teens, Nanyehi married ''Tsu-la'' (Cherokee: Kingfisher). According to historian Emmet Starr, he was a member of the Deer Clan. By the time she was 17, Nanyehi and Kingfisher had two children, Catherine ''Ka-Ti'' Walker and Littlefellow ''Hiskyteehee'' Fivekiller. In the 1755
Battle of Taliwa The Battle of Taliwa was fought in Ball Ground, Georgia in 1755. The battle was part of a larger campaign of the Cherokee against the Muscogee Creek people, where an army of 500 Cherokee warriors led by Oconostota (c. 1710–1783) defeated the Mus ...
, when the Cherokee fought their traditional enemy, the
Muscogee people The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsStarr, Emmet. ''History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore.'' Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Warden Company, 1921 After Kingfisher was killed in this battle, Nanyehi picked up her husband's rifle and led the Cherokee to victory.


Beloved Woman

For her actions, the Cherokee awarded her the title of '' Ghigau'' (Cherokee: Beloved Woman), and made her the only female voting member of the Cherokee General Council. She was also named the leader of the Women's Council of Clan Representatives, which authorized her to become an ambassador and negotiator for her people.


Marriage to Bryant Ward

In the late 1750s, Nanyehi married again, to Irish trader Bryant Ward. She became known as Nancy, an anglicized version of her name. The couple had a daughter together, Elizabeth "Betsy" Ward. (She later married General
Joseph Martin Joseph Martin may refer to: Military * Joseph Martin (general) (1740–1808), American Revolutionary War general from Virginia *Joseph Plumb Martin (1760–1850), American soldier and memoir writer * Joseph M. Martin (born 1962), U.S. Army officer ...
). Bryant Ward eventually returned to his base in South Carolina and his first wife, a woman of European descent. He had already been married to her when he married Nanyehi.


Changes to Cherokee society

In the early 1760s, the Cherokee entered an alliance with the British colonists who were fighting the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...
, the North American front of the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
in Europe between Britain and France. Each side had Native American allies in North America. In exchange for their assistance, the British Americans promised to protect the Cherokee from the enemy Creek and
Choctaw people 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 British built military stations and frontier posts in Cherokee land. These posts gradually attracted more European-American settlers. A group of European-American frontiersmen killed a group of Cherokee in present-day West Virginia, who were returning from having helped the British take over
Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed a ...
(at present-day Pittsburgh). Outraged, the Cherokee killed more than 20 settlers in retaliation. Conflict broke out that lasted two years, during which the Cherokee captured Fort Loudon on the Tellico River in August 1760. In her role as a Ghigau, Nancy Ward (as she became known to English-speakers) had the authority to spare captives. In 1776, following a Cherokee attack on the
Fort Watauga Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. The fort was originally built in 1775–1776 by the area's fron ...
settlement on the
Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring near the base ...
(at present day
Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...
), she saved settler Lydia (Russell) Bean, the wife of a man named William. She took Bean into her house and nursed her back to health from her wounds. Bean taught Nanyehi a new loom-weaving technique, which she taught others. The women had typically made garments by sewing a combination of processed hides, handwoven vegetal fiber cloth, and cotton or wool cloth bought from traders. Women wove all the cloth in the village for their garments. Lydia Bean had brought two of her dairy cows from the settlement. While she was living with Nanyehi, she taught the Cherokee woman how to care for the cows, milk them, and process the milk into dairy products. Both the animals and their products would sustain the Cherokee when hunting was bad. Starr wrote that Nancy Ward successfully raised cows and was said to have been the first to introduce that industry among the Cherokees. Those Cherokee who adopted loom weaving and dairy farming began to resemble European-American subsistence farmers. Some Cherokee adopted the practice of
chattel slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to per ...
, but these tended to be Cherokee in the Deep South, where they were developing cotton plantations. According to a 1933 account, Nanyehi was among the first Cherokee to own African-American slaves. After a truce, the Carolina Rangers and Royal Scots joined an expedition against Cherokee settlements, which burnt several captured towns. The Cherokee sought peace, making several land cessions.


Revolutionary War

The Cherokee had to face multiple issues during the Revolutionary War. Most were allied with the British against the rebel colonists. They wanted to expel the settlers from their lands. Ward's cousin,
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 ...
, wanted to ally with the British against the settlers, but Nanyehi was trying to support the rebels. In May 1775, a group of Delaware, Mohawk and Shawnee emissaries formed a delegation that headed south to support the British who were trying to gain the help of the Cherokee and other tribes. In July of the same year, Dragging Canoe led the Chickamauga Cherokee band in attacks against the European-American settlements and forts located in the Appalachians and other isolated areas of the region. State militias retaliated, destroying Native villages and crops, and forcing Cherokee bands to give up more of their land by 1777. In July 1776, Ward, who was aiming for a peaceful resolution, warned a group of white settlers living near the Holston River and on the Virginia border about an imminent attack by her people. The British supported Dragging Canoe's war against the settlers and supplied him with weapons. But, in 1778, 700 soldiers under Colonel Evan Shelby attacked his territory. They reduced remaining Cherokee resistance to a minor conflict. In 1780, Ward continued warning Patriot soldiers of attacks, trying to prevent retaliatory raids against her people. According to Harold Felton, she sent cattle to the starving militia. Her efforts did not prevent another invasion of the Cherokee territory by the North Carolina militia. They destroyed more villages and demanded further land cessions. Ward and her family were captured in the battle, but they were eventually released and returned to Chota. In July 1781, the Beloved Woman Nanyehi negotiated a peace treaty between her people and the Americans. No longer facing a Cherokee threat, Americans sent troops from the western frontier to support
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
's Continental army against the British General
Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
in the American Revolution. Ward continued promoting alliance and mutual friendship between the Cherokee and the rebel colonists, helping negotiate the Treaty of Hopewell (1785). Nanyehi objected to the sale of Cherokee lands to whites, but her objections were largely ignored. The Cherokee were under pressure in Georgia and Alabama from European-American encroachment. Some leaders believed that ceding lands bought them some time and helped preserve the Cherokee people. In 1808 and again in 1817, the Women's Council reportedly spoke out against the cession or sale to the United States of more lands. In 1817 Nanyehi was too sick to attend the Cherokee council at which leaders discussed whether or not to move west of the Mississippi River, as was proposed by Georgia and the US government. She sent a letter to the council, writing:
"…don't part with any more of our lands but continue on it and enlarge your farms and cultivate and raise corn and cotton and we, your mothers and sisters, will make clothing for you… It was our desire to forewarn you all not to part with our lands."
Despite her efforts, in 1819 the Cherokee ceded their lands north of the Hiwassee River and she was forced to join other Cherokee in moving south.


Diplomat

Nanye'hi became a ''de facto'' ambassador between the Cherokee and the British and European Americans. She learned the art of
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
from her maternal uncle, the influential chief ''
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"). In 1781, she was among the Cherokee leaders who met with an American delegation led by
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 ...
, to discuss American settlements along the Little Pigeon River in Tennessee. Nanyehi expressed surprise that there were no women negotiators among the Americans. Sevier was equally astonished that the Cherokee had entrusted such important work to a woman. Nanyehi reportedly told him,
"You know that women are always looked upon as nothing; but we are your mothers; you are our sons. Our cry is all for peace; let it continue. This peace must last forever. Let your women's sons be ours; our sons be yours. Let your women hear our words." An American observer said that her speech was very moving.
On July 5, 1807, the Moravian mission school at Spring Place in the Cherokee Nation (now part of Georgia), was visited by three elderly Cherokee women. One had been widowed for 50 years and was said to be nearly 100 years old. She was described by the Moravians as "an unusually sensible person, honored and loved by both brown and white people." Said to be named ''Chiconehla,'' the woman purportedly fought against an enemy nation and was wounded numerous times. The missionaries wrote, "Her left arm is decorated with some designs, which she said were fashionable during her youth...." Chiconehla stayed for two days, entertained by the students, and discussing theology with the missionaries. A relative, Margaret Scott, wife of
James Vann James Vann (c. 1762–64 – February 19, 1809) was an influential Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia as part of the ᎤᏪᏘ ᏣᎳᎩ � ...
(both Cherokee), translated for her. Historian Rowena McClinton believes Chiconehla was the woman also known as Nanye'hi, or Nancy Ward.'' The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees,'' Vol. I, 1805–1813 (pp. 194–196), edited and translated by Rowena McClinton, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2007.


Role of Beloved Woman

Ward has been mistakenly described as the last woman to receive the title of Beloved Woman. The "Cherokee Beloved Woman of Sugartown" was recognized in 1774 for seeking to prevent war with the Muscogee Creek. In the 1980s, the
Eastern Band of Cherokee The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, ''Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi'') is a federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the United States. They are descended from the sma ...
revived the use of the title, awarding Maggie Wachacha the title of Beloved Woman. They also honored several other women with this title in subsequent years."History Feature: WNC’s 50 Most Influential People, Past and Present."
''Mountain Living in Western North Carolina.'' (retrieved 22 March 2011)


Death, burial, and legacy

Nancy Ward opened an inn in southeastern Tennessee at Womankiller Ford, on the Ocowee River (present-day Ocoee River). Her son cared for her during her last years. She died in 1822, or possibly 1824, before the Cherokee were removed from their remaining lands in the late 1830s. She and her son Fivekiller are buried at the top of a hill not far from the site of the inn, south of present-day Benton, Tennessee. *A chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...
in Tennessee was named after her. *In 1923 the Nancy Ward chapter of the DAR, based in
Chattanooga, Tennessee 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 ...
, placed a memorial marker at the two Ward grave sites in Benton. *The Polk County Historical and Genealogical Society maintains a Nancy Ward Room in their genealogy library. *
Polk County, Tennessee Polk County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 17,544. Its county seat is Benton. The county was created on November 28, 1839, from parts of Br ...
is trying to raise money to establish a Nancy Ward Museum. Nanyehi has been documented in historical papers and accounts. She is noted in the Calendar of Virginia State Papers, the South Carolina State Papers, ''James Mooney's History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees'', and the Draper Collection.
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
mentions her in his book, ''The Winning of the West'' (1905). *A statue of Nancy Ward, carved by James Abraham Walker around 1906, was sold in 1912. It stood in a cemetery in
Grainger County, Tennessee Grainger County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,527. Its county seat is Rutledge. Grainger County is a part of both the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area and Morristown ...
for about 70 years, but was stolen in the early 1980s. The East Tennessee Historical Society is seeking the return of the statue to Tennessee.Nancy Ward Statue: update on recent events and status of historic art sculpture
; by D. Ray Smith, ''the Oak Ridger'', December 22, 2008
Nancy Ward is remembered not only as an important figure of the Cherokee people but is also considered an early pioneer for women in American politics. She advocated for a woman's voice during a turbulent period in her tribe's history.


Removal

In her last years Nanyehi repeatedly had a vision showing a "great line of our people marching on foot. Mothers with babies in their arms. Fathers with small children on their back. Grandmothers and Grandfathers with large bundles on their backs. They were marching West and the 'Unaka' (White Soldiers) were behind them. They left a trail of corpses the weak, the sick who could not survive the journey." 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 ...
had long supported
Indian Removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a ...
, and gained Congressional authorization by a law in 1830. The militia invaded Chota and destroyed the printing press used by the tribe to print their newspaper. Some Cherokee in North Carolina evaded or otherwise arranged to stay in the state, becoming state and US citizens when they gave up tribal membership. Most remaining Cherokee were forced to relocate to
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...
west of the Mississippi River. In what they called the ''Nunna-da-ult-sun-yi'', or
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
, they traveled in several large groups, primarily on foot, without proper clothing and provisions, approximately 800 miles. More than 4,000 Cherokees died along the way.


References


Further reading

* Allen, Paula Gunn, ''The Sacred Hoop'', Beacon Press, 1992. * ''American Indian Women: A Research Guide'', edited by Gretchen Bataille and Kathleen Sands, Garland Publishing, 1991. * Green, Rayna, ''Women in American Indian Society'', Chelsea House, 1992. * ''Native American Women'', edited by Gretchen M. Bataille, Garland Publishing, 1993. * Dockstader, Frederick J., ed., ''Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership''. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977 * Felton, Harold W., ''Nancy Ward: Cherokee''. New York: Dodd Mead, 1975 * McClary, Ben Harris. "The Last Beloved Woman of the Cherokees." ''Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly 21'' (1962): 352–64. * Tucker, Norma. "Nancy Ward, Ghighau of the Cherokees." ''Georgia Historical Quarterly 53'' (June 1969): 192–200 * Woodward, Grace Steele. ''The Cherokees''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963


External links

*
Descendants of Nancy Ward website




by Julia White

"Art Reviews; Red, White and Blue Americana Atop a Cultural Rainbow" by Roberta Smith, ''The New York Times'', January 20, 2006

Newsweek/MSNBC.com

* Michals, Debra.
"Nanye-hi (Nancy) Ward"
National Women's History Museum. 2015.
Video showing Nancy Ward's birthplace and burial site by a member of the Cherokee Nation
from 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Nancy 1730s births 1820s deaths Cherokee slave owners Colonial American women People from Chota (Cherokee town) Female Native American leaders Women in the American Revolution Native Americans in the American Revolution People of Tennessee in the American Revolution Cherokee Nation people (1794–1907) Native American women in warfare People of pre-statehood Tennessee 18th-century Native American women 19th-century Native American women 19th-century Native Americans Native American history of Tennessee Native American people from Tennessee American women slave owners American slave owners