page_title: Tenskwatawa
hierarchical_section_title: Tenskwatawa
caption_attribution_description: English: Ten-sqúat-a-way, The Open Door, Known as The Prophet, Brother of Tecumseh. “The ‘Shawnee Prophet,’ is perhaps one of the most remarkable men, who has flourished on these frontiers for some time past. This man is brother of the famous Tecumseh, and quite equal in his medicines or mysteries, to what his brother was in arms; he was blind in his right eye, and in his right hand he was holding his ‘medicine fire,’ and his ‘sacred string of beads’ in the other. With these mysteries he made his way through most of the North Western tribes, enlisting warriors wherever he went, to assist Tecumseh in effecting his great scheme, of forming a confederacy of all the Indians on the frontier, to drive back the whites and defend the Indians’ rights; which he told them could never in any other way be protected . . . [he] had actually enlisted some eight or ten thousand, who were sworn to follow him home; and in a few days would have been on their way with him, had not a couple of his political enemies from his own tribe... defeated his plans, by pronouncing him an imposter . . . This, no doubt, has been a very shrewd and influential man, but circumstances have destroyed him . . . and he now lives respected, but silent and melancholy in his tribe.” Records show that the Prophet was living west of the Mississippi by 1830, which suggests that Catlin painted this portrait at Fort Leavenworth (in today’s Kansas) on his earliest journey to the West. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 49, 1841, reprint 1973; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)
context_page_description: Tenskwatawa was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee, known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was a younger brother of Tecumseh, a leader of the Shawnee. In his early years Tenskwatawa was given the name Lalawithika by the Red Sticks, a faction of the Muscogee.
  Tenskwatawa was once the town drunk, but about 1805, after a stupor so deep that he was believed dead, he awoke and said he had visited the Master of Breath, and been shown a heaven with game and honey for those who lived virtuously and traditionally. Tenskwatawa denounced Euro-American settlers, calling them offspring of the Evil Spirit, and led a purification movement that promoted unity among Native Americans, rejected acculturation to the settler way of life, including alcohol, and encouraged his followers to pursue traditional ways. He was called a Prophet.
context_section_description: Tenskwatawa (/tənskwɒtɒweɪ/; also called Tenskatawa, Tenskwatawah, Tensquatawa or Lalawethika) (January 1775 – November 1836) was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee, known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was a younger brother of Tecumseh, a leader of the Shawnee. In his early years Tenskwatawa was given the name Lalawithika ("He Makes a Loud Noise", "The Noise Maker", or "The Rattle") by the Red Sticks, a faction of the Muscogee.
  Tenskwatawa was once the town drunk, but about 1805, after a stupor so deep that he was believed dead, he awoke and said he had visited the Master of Breath, and been shown a heaven with game and honey for those who lived virtuously and traditionally. Tenskwatawa denounced Euro-American settlers, calling them offspring of the Evil Spirit, and led a purification movement that promoted unity among Native Americans, rejected acculturation to the settler way of life, including alcohol, and encouraged his followers to pursue traditional ways. He was called a Prophet.
caption: Ten-sqúat-a-way, Painted in 1830 by George Catlin
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