Shingas ( fl. 17401763), was a

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 includ ...

chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during 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 ...

. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on

Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

settlements during the war, for which he was nicknamed "Shingas the Terrible" by the settlers. The colonial governments of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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 ...

responded to these raids by placing a

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

on Shingas.

Early life

Shingas was born and raised in the Tulpehocken Creek Valley, in Berks and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

counties, on the upper

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...

, with his uncle

Sassoonan Sassoonan or Allumapees (c. 1675 - 15 October, 1747) was a Lenni Lenape chief who lived in Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was known for his negotiations with the Provincial government of Pennsylvania in several land purc ...

and his brothers Tamaqua,

Nenatcheehunt Nenatcheehunt (d. 30 April, 1763), also spelled Nenacheehunt, or Nenatchehan, and sometimes referred to as Menatochyand, was a Lenape chief known for participating in peace negotiations at the end of the French and Indian War. He is referred to a ...

, and

Pisquetomen Pisquetomen (died ca. 1762)Michael McConnell, "Pisquetomen and Tamaqua: Mediating Peace in the Ohio Country," in ''Northeastern Indian Lives, 1632-1816,'' Robert S. Grumet ed., Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996
/ref> He was a member of the

Turkey clan (or

phratry In ancient Greece, a phratry ( grc, φρᾱτρῐ́ᾱ, phrātríā, brotherhood, kinfolk, derived from grc, φρᾱ́τηρ, phrā́tēr, brother, links=no) was a group containing citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most I ...

), was a nephew of

(also known as Allumapees), a leader who was regarded by colonial authorities in

as the Lenape "king". This title had no traditional meaning for the Lenape, who lived in autonomous villages. However, since the colonial governments of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

preferred to deal with a single leader rather than numerous village elders, Sassoonan emerged as the Lenape "king". Colonial officials in Pennsylvania found Sassoonan useful because he could be induced (with the help of gifts such as large quantities of liquor) to sign away Lenape lands to the colony. One source reports that Shingas had six brothers (Tamaqua, Pisquetomen, Nenatcheehunt, Buffalo Horn, Munhuttakiswilluxissohpon, and Miuskillamize).Timothy Alden, "An Account of the Captivity of Hugh Gibson among the Delaware Indians of the Big Beaver and the Muskingum, from the latter part of July 1756, to the beginning of April, 1759," ''Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society,'' 1837
/ref>

Appointment as chief of the Lenape

Sassoonan died in 1747, and Shingas's brother

Pisquetomen Pisquetomen (died ca. 1762)Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

and settling at Kittanning on the

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 ...

. The Iroquois instructed Tanacharison to decide on a leader acceptable to all parties, and at the Logstown Treaty Conference of 1752, Tanacharison presented Shingas as his choice, arguing "that is our right to give you a King" to represent the Lenape in "all publick Business" between the Lenape, the Six Nations, and the British."The Treaty of Logg's Town, 1752." ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,'' vol. 13, 1906; Pp 154–174.
/ref> Tanacharison announced to the Virginia commissioners, "we have given our Cousins, the Delawars, a King, who lives there, we desire you will look upon him as a Chief of that Nation." Shingas was absent from the treaty conference, so Tamaqua "stood proxy for his brother and was presented with a lace hat and jacket and suit."

French and Indian War

Even on the other side of the mountains, the western Lenape were still caught in a three-way power struggle between the Thirteen Colonies,

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

, and the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

. The Haudenosaunee at this time claimed sovereignty over the Lenape, a dubious claim that British colonial officials recognized in order to strengthen ties with the Haudenosaunee. In an attempt to assert control over the western Lenape, a Haudenosaunee chief

Tanacharison Tanacharison (; c. 1700 – 4 October 1754), also called Tanaghrisson (), was a Native American leader who played a pivotal role in the beginning of the French and Indian War. He was known to European-Americans as the Half-King, a title also ...

(the "Half-King"), dubbed Shingas the "king" of the Lenape at the treaty conference at the Treaty of Logstown conference in June 1752. British colonial officials approved this "coronation," but would come to regret it, as Shingas proved just as difficult to control as his brother. The

struggle Struggle may refer to: Film and TV * ''Struggle'' (2003 film), an Austrian film * Struggle (2013 film) * ''Struggle'' (TV series), 2007 Chinese TV series Music * ''Struggle'' (Nonpoint album), 1999 release * Struggle (Woody Guthrie album), 1 ...

between

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

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 ...

for control of the interior of the North American continent (the

) began near Shingas's village close to the forks of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. Like most Lenape, Shingas and his villagers stayed neutral in the early stages of the conflict, declining to assist

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 th ...

Fort Necessity Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a National Battlefield in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, which preserves the site of the Battle of Fort Necessity. The battle, which took place on July 3, 1754, was an early battle of the ...

in 1754 and the Braddock Expedition in 1755. The Lenape had no desire to be French subjects either, but when France asserted dominance in the region after Braddock's defeat, the Lenape reluctantly aligned themselves with the French. Shingas took part in the brutal backcountry war with the Thirteen Colonies, leading raids deep into colonial settlements in Pennsylvania and

. Although he was an implacable foe in battle, he was never known to treat his prisoners of war with cruelty. The colonies were unable to mount an effective resistance to the hit-and-run tactics of the Indians, though the destruction of Shingas's base of operations in the

Kittanning Expedition The Kittanning Expedition, also known as the Armstrong Expedition or the Battle of Kittanning, was a raid during the French and Indian War that led to the destruction of the American Indian village of Kittanning, which had served as a staging p ...

in 1756 surprised the Lenape and compelled them to move further west, settling in what is present-day

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. A peace faction led by Shingas's brother Tamaqua soon gained ascendancy. Though the brothers apparently always worked in harmony, Tamaqua, known to the whites as "the Beaver" or " King Beaver," would eventually eclipse his brothers in fame and influence. In 1758, Pisquetomen was dispatched to the east to help negotiate the

Treaty of Easton The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, ...

, which effectively ended Lenape involvement in the French and Indian War, and enabled

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer John Forbes to capture

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne (, ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort French colonization of the Americas, established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny River, Allegheny and Monongahela River, Monongahela rivers. It was lat ...

without interference from local Indian tribes. Fearing retribution because of his actions in the war, Shingas kept a low profile.

Final years

The British Army constructed Fort Pitt on the ruins of Fort Duquesne, to the consternation of the local Lenape, contributing to the outbreak of

Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...

in 1763. Fort Pitt was besieged by the Lenape; Shingas may have participated in the siege at this time. He and Tamaqua unsuccessfully tried to convince the garrison of Fort Pitt to withdraw from the region, but the fort was relieved by an expedition led by Swiss mercenary

Henry Bouquet Henry Bouquet (born Henri Louis Bouquet; 1719 – 2 September 1765) was a Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in British service during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. He is best known for his victory over a Native American ...

. Shingas and Tamaqua, who advised accommodation with the British, began to lose influence to more militant Lenape leaders influenced by

Neolin Neolin (meaning ''the enlightened'' in Algonquian) was a prophet of the Lenni Lenape (also known as ''Delaware'') from the village of Muskingum in Ohio. His dates of birth and death are unknown. Inspired by a religious vision in 1761, Neolin ...

, the "Delaware Prophet". Shingas disappears from the historical record around 1764; some historians have speculated that he may have contracted

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 ...

from blankets distributed to the besieging Lenape from Fort Pitt during the siege, but there is no clear evidence that he died as a result of the incident.

Notes

*Franks, Kenny A. "Tamaqua" in ''American National Biography''. Oxford University Press, 1999. *Lambert, Paul F. "Shingas" in ''American National Biography''. Oxford University Press, 1999. *McConnell, Michael N. ''A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724–1774.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. *Weslager, C. A. ''The Delaware Indians''. New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1972. *White, Richard. ''The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815''. New York, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shingas 18th-century births 18th-century deaths Native American leaders Lenape people Indigenous people of the French and Indian War People from Pennsylvania People of colonial Pennsylvania Native American people from Pennsylvania