The Native American Branch

I have known since I was little that there was Native American blood in my family (my mom's side). I have always been told that my Native American ancestry is Cherokee. This has been a lingering question in my mind for many years, but it didn't spark my interest until I began my recent genealogical searching. When I received the family tree information from my mom, I called her and she asked me about the Native American portion of it. She asked me, "did you see Dragging Canoe?" I said, "yes", but didn't think much of it until I started to do some searching on him the next day. Little did I know that this guy made a name for himself. I don't even think my mom knew this man was famous. He is my 7th great grandfather, via my mom's dad's mother.

Tsiyu Gansini, or "Dragging Canoe" was born in what is now Tennessee in 1734. His father, Chief Attakullakulla, or "Little Carpenter", was part Shawnee and part Nipissing, even though he was one of the early Cherokee Chiefs, or "First Beloved Man". Dragging Canoe's mother, Nionne Ollie was a Natchez living in a town of refugees from that tribe who had settled among the Overhill Towns on the Little Tennessee River. Here is a little bit about him taken from the website, "1776: The Revolutionary War (Year of Decision)"

"Long a powerful Indian nation in the Southeast, the Cherokee had lost much of their power by 1776, as disease and involvement in European wars and trade—including the slave trade that supplied Indians to colonists—had reduced them to around 12,000 people. The Cherokee also suffered from colonial traders who used debt as leverage to seize land. The Sycamore Shoals Treaty of 1776 (also known as the Transylvania Purchase) exchanged a cabin full of trade goods valued at around 10,000 British Pounds for 27,000 square miles of land (encompassing a large percentage of what is now the state of Kentucky), a deal that violated British law forbidding the sale of Indian land east of the Appalachians and angered many Cherokee. Tsi’yugunsi’ny, also known as Dragging Canoe, a Cherokee chief, reportedly pledged to render the land 'dark and bloody.'

The Revolution seemed like an ideal opportunity for Dragging Canoe and his young followers to make good their recent losses. In 1776, Dragging Canoe told a British envoy that 'he had a great many young fellows that would support him and that were determined to have their Land,' and he blamed the recent land cession on old men who were too old to hunt, and therefore desperate for money. The arrival at Chota, a key Cherokee town, of delegates from the Mohawks and several other northern Indian nations urging war emboldened Dragging Canoe’s young warriors, even as the British and many Cherokee women and older men urged patience.

After some initial success, the Cherokee raiders were repulsed by opposing forces and then punished. Many colonists welcomed the Cherokee attacks as justification for seizing even more of their land. Jefferson hoped that 'the Cherokees will now be driven beyond the Mississippi.' That would not happen until the 1830s, but the Cherokee lost a great deal in the Revolution. Big Island Town, which Dragging Canoe had been the leader of, was one of many villages destroyed by the patriots, and the Cherokee were soon compelled to surrender an additional five million acres. Dragging Canoe and his followers fled to the South, where they continued to fight against the United States throughout the Revolutionary War and beyond. Divisions within the Cherokee grew, yet Dragging Canoe referred to his followers as 'the Real people.' He died in 1792."

This is someone that I would like to know more about. I'm looking forward to finding some books, stories, etc, to read up on. Not only is he a blood relative, but he sounds like a very interesting person!