Levi Colbert (1759–1834), also known as ''Itawamba'' in Chickasaw, was a leader and chief 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 classif ...

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

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 ...

'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 United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

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. 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, 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-eth ...

siblings grew up bilingual and were educated in both Chickasaw and European-American traditions. As the Chickasaw had a matrilineal kinship 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 George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

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 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 fl ...

. 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

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 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, His brother George Colbert succeeded him as leader of the Chickasaw.

Legacy

Several places were named after him: * Itawamba County, Mississippi *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 ...

was named after him and his brother George Colbert.McAdory (1921), p. 302

References

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