Shenendoah was instrumental in the Oneidas’ choice to side with the colonists during the Revolutionary War and ranks high among the Nation’s most significant historical figures.

March 11 marks the 194th anniversary of the passing of the great chief, who was a hero of the War for Independence, wampum keeper of the Nation and the inaugurator of government-to-government agreements. Shenendoah (with other Oneida chiefs) made decisions based upon the seventh generation to come. Passing at 110 years old, he witnessed nearly six of those generations in his lifetime.

Texts Related to the Works of Sarah Orne Jewett

THE BOYS’ BOOK OF INDIAN BATTLES AND ADVENTURES WITH ANECDOTES ABOUT THEM
ILLUSTRATED WITH TEN ENGRAVINGS BY THE AUTHOR OF “EVENINGS IN BOSTON,” “RAMON THE ROVER OF CUBA,” ETC.
NEW YORK:
JAMES MILLER, 554 BROADWAY.
M.DCCC.LXI.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by JAMES MILLER, in the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.

Editor’s note: Where I have found apparent errors in the text, I have corrected these and indicated the changes with brackets.

Terry Heller, Coe College, July 2006.

SHENANDOH, THE ONEIDA CHIEF.

Although the dignity of a chief is hereditary in his family, generally, the aristocracy of the Indians is not one of birth merely, nor one of wealth; but it is an aristocracy of merit. A chief is liable to be deposed for misconduct; and a brave warrior takes his place on account of the actions he has performed. Among those who have maintained an ascendancy among their countrymen by the force of individual merit, none is more remarkable than Shenandoh, the Oneida chief.

This celebrated chief, whose life measured a century, died in 1816. He was well known in the wars which occurred while the United States were British colonies; and, also, in the war of the Revolution — as the undeviating friend of the Americans.

In his youth he was very savage, and addicted to drunkenness; but, by the force of reflection, and the benevolent exhortations of a missionary to the tribe, he lived a reformed man for more than sixty years, and died in Christian hope. *

Shenandoh’s person was tall and muscular but well made — his countenance was intelligent, and beamed with all the ingenuous dignity of an Indian Chief. In youth, he was brave and intrepid — in his riper years, one of the ablest counsellors among the North American tribes. He possessed a strong and vigorous mind; and, though terrible as the tornado in war — he was bland and mild as the zephyr in peace. With the cunning of the fox, the hungry perseverance of the wolf, and the agility of the mountain cat, he watched and repelled Canadian invasions. His vigilance once preserved from massacre the inhabitants of the then infant settlements of the German Flats. His influence brought his tribe to assist the Americans, in their war of the Revolution. His many friendly actions in their behalf, gained for him, among the Indian tribes, the appellation of the ‘White Man’s Friend.’

To a friend who called to see him, in his wane (he was then blind), he thus expressed himself:

“I am an aged hemlock – the winds of a hundred winters have whistled through my branches – I am dead at the top. The generation to which I belonged have run away and left me. Why I live, the Great Spirit alone knows! Pray to my Jesus that I may have patience to wait for my appointed time to die.”

‘Indulge my native land; indulge the tear
That steals impassioned o’er the nation’s doom:
To me each twig from Adam’s stock is near,
And sorrows fall upon an Indian’s tomb.’

*In 1775 Shenandoh was present at a treaty made in Albany. At night he was excessively drunk; and in the morning, found himself in the street, stripped of all his ornaments, and every article of clothing. His pride revolted at his self-degradation, and he resolved never more to deliver himself over to the power of ‘strong water.’

End note:This text, along with a vast collection of Sarah Orne Jewett’s works, appears online at the site www.public.coe.edu/~theller/soj/sj-index.htm.

Copyright © 1998-2007 by Terry Heller. All rights reserved, except that the Jewett texts at this site may be freely downloaded or copied for scholarly or classroom use. However, users should be aware that some materials at this site, such as quotations in footnotes, are protected by copyright. All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.