Senachwine (

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

: ''Znajjewan'', "Difficult Current") or Petchaho (supposedly from Potawatomi: "Red Cedar") (c. 1744-1831) was a 19th-century

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

chieftain. In 1815, he succeeded his brother

Gomo GoMo is an online-only mobile telephone flanker brand currently operating in Ireland and Switzerland, owned by Xavier Niel's Iliad SA. GoMo was first launched in Ireland on 15 October 2019, using the Eir mobile network. and has over 250,000 mobil ...

as chieftain of their band and was one of the last major Potawatomi chieftains to live in the region. A number of places in Illinois are named in his honor including Senachwine Township in

Putnam County, Illinois Putnam County is the least extensive county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 6,006. The county seat is Hennepin. The county was formed in 1825 out of Fulton County and named after Israel Putn ...

Senachwine Creek Senachwine ( Potawatomi: ''Znajjewan'', "Difficult Current") or Petchaho (supposedly from Potawatomi: "Red Cedar") (c. 1744-1831) was a 19th-century Illinois River Potawatomi chieftain. In 1815, he succeeded his brother Gomo as chieftain of the ...

Senachwine Lake Senachwine Lake is a riparian lake that forms part of the valley of the Illinois River. It is located in Putnam and Marshall counties, Illinois. Its elevation is above sea level. Senachwine Lake is connected by a shallow channel to adjacent Go ...

and the Lake Senachwine Reservoir.

Biography

In April 1812, he and other Potawatomi chieftains met with Governor

Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775July 20, 1833) was a founding political figure of the State of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to until the territory was dissolved in 1818. He was then one of t ...

Cahokia The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed 1050–1350 CE) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri. This historic park lies in south-w ...

to discuss relations between the Potawatomi and the United States. Although opposed to an offensive war, Senachwine sided with

Black Partridge The black partridge (''Melanoperdix niger''), also known as the black wood partridge, is a small (up to 27 cm long) partridge with a thick bill, grey legs and dark brown iris. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Melanoperdix''. ...

during the

Peoria War During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between Native Americans and United States soldiers and settlers. The Illinois Territory at that time included the areas of modern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minneso ...

and commanded a sizable force during the conflict. He later accompanied the Potawatomi peace delegation who were escorted by Colonel

George Davenport Colonel George Davenport, born George William King (1783 – July 4, 1845), was a 19th-century English-American sailor, frontiersman, fur trader, merchant, postmaster, US Army soldier, Indian agent, and city planner. A prominent and well-known ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

where a peace treaty was eventually signed. Around 1814, a mysterious

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher and missionary known as Wigby lived in his village. Wigby was allowed to

baptize Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation and Adoption ...

him and later converted Senachwine to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. However, despite Wigby's attempts to dissuade him, Senachwine refused to give up

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...

and retained his several wives. After Wigby's death, he was buried on a high bluff overlooking Senachwine's village. He succeeded his brother

as head chieftain of the

band and was a signatory of several treaties between the Potawatomi and the United States during the 1810s and 1820s. He and Black Partridge would remain the leading chieftains of the Potawatomi for over a decade before their positions of authority and influence were assumed by

Shabbona Shabbona (or Sha-bon-na), also known as ShaboneeNative Americans, would eventually become extinct. His son, Kaltoo (or

Young Senachwine Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

), succeeded him as chieftain after his death in the summer of 1831. He was buried on a high bluff overlooking the village, like the missionary Wigby years before, and a wooden monument was placed on his grave. A black flag was also flown from a high pole placed next to the monument and could be seen from the gravesite for several years afterwards. Two years later, his band were removed to the

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 ...

and eventually settled in western

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

.Matson, Nehemiah, Matson. ''French and Indians of Illinois River''. Princeton, Illinois: Republican Job Printing Establishment, 1874. (pg. 262-264) In the summer of 1835, 23 Potawatomi warriors traveled over 500 miles to visit the gravesite of Senachwine. Their faces blackened and their heads wrapped in blankets, they performed a ritual invoking the

Great Spirit The Great Spirit is the concept of a life force, a Supreme Being or god known more specifically as Wakan Tanka in Lakota,Ostler, Jeffry. ''The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee''. Cambridge University Press, ...

to protect the gravesite and remains of the chieftain. According to a local resident observing the ceremony, the warriors spent several hours knelt around the gravesite as ''"their wails and lamentations were heard far away"''. The following morning they performed the "dance of the dead" which continued for several days before departing. A short time after, Senachwine's grave was robbed of its valuables including his

tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

, several

medals A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

and other personal effects. The chieftains bones had also been scattered around the site. Members of his band returned to the site to rebury his remains and again placed a wooden monument over his grave. James R. Taliaferro, who had been present at the reburial, later built a cabin near the gravesite and claimed that ''"Indians from the west at different times made a pilgrimage to the grave"''.Watson, Nehemiah, Watson. ''French and Indians of Illinois River''. Princeton, Illinois: Republican Job Printing Establishment, 1874. (pg. 262-264) The

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...

chapter in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

placed a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

memorial plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

, engraved with his speech to

Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...

pleading for peace prior to the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

, at the supposed burial spot of Senachwine north of present-day

on June 13, 1937. During the ceremony, an address was given by author P.G. Rennick. Five tribal members of the Potawatomi from Kansas were also in attendance during the ceremony.State Historical Society of Wisconsin. ''The Wisconisin Magazine of History''. Vol. XXI. No. 1. (September 1937): 124.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading