This LibGuide features CNU's collection of American Indian bronze busts by Griffin Chiles.
Photo courtesy of Griffin and Hampton Chiles
The career of this sculptor began at an early age: drawing at two and a half, painting religious murals in churches at the age of ten and creating her first sculpture when she was fourteen. This first sculpture was reminiscent of the sculpture of Maillol, although at this time, the young artists had not seen this great sculptor's work. Later, an art teacher in the upper grades, recognizing her ability, arranged for a scholarship in sculpture at the University of Louisville, Kentucky.
When very young, Griffin had always been deeply aware that the ground beneath her feet, the state of Kentucky, was the hunting ground of the Cherokee and the Shawnee. Also, the many beautiful parks in Louisville, laid out by Marquis de Lafayette, carried the names of well-known Native American tribes -- Shawnee, Iroquois, Algonquin, Cherokee and Seneca. It was here that empathy for these noble and courageous people began.
Her pursuit of study led to New York and then France. She always worked from live models, even when forced to look beyond sculpture for a steadier income. In time, the painting of portraits in oils and pastels led back to the sculpture of portraits both living and posthumous.
Griffin's sculpture of the Stephen Collins Foster is in the rotunda of the Foster Memorial on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Her commissioned bronze portrait of a renowned economics professor stands at Penn State. A bronze portrait of an esteemed professor of anatomy was unveiled in the Medical School of the University of Louisville. A sculpture of the founder of the International Grocer's Alliance (IGA) was commissioned by the corporation with 100 castings to be given as President's Awards in this country and around the world.
Ultimately, the sculptor began the sculpture portraits of Native Americans, and these, along with portraits of other famous individuals, are in museums, historical societies and universities across the nation, in State Capitols, banks and foreign countries.
Griffin eventually created 52 Native American bronzes. Much research preceded each sculpture and had led her as far west as Arizona and Montana, upstate New York and Canada and as far south as Florida. Her plans were to represent as many tribes as possible. In appreciation, in the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina, in 1996, before the joint tribal councils of the Oklahoma Cherokees and the Eastern Band of the Cherokees, they bestowed upon this sculptor the highest honor when they made her an honorary member of the Cherokee Tribe. Although many awards and honors had been received as her career moved forward, nothing could match the deep emotion felt when given this unexpected honor.
It was taking bronze as far as it would go and with as much skill as a sculptor's hands and heart possessed, to have retained for all time the emotion in these faces in a world where two cultures clashed.
Amadine Griffin Chiles was born on January 13, 1925 in Louisville, Kentucky, and died on February 10, 2009 in Norfolk, Virginia.
References
Amadine Griffin Chiles obituary. Daily Press Obituaries. 13 - 14 February 2009, online archives
(https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailypress/obituary.aspx?n=amadine-g-chiles&pid=124063630).
Chiles, Hampton, and Griffin Chiles. The American Indians : Bronze Sculptures by Griffin. Hampton and Griffin Chiles, 1999.
Edmund (or Edmond) Adams, Jr. served as chief of the Upper Mattaponi, one of many members of the extended Adams family to serve in that capacity. The Upper Mattaponi are urban, non reservated Indians whose origins can be traced to the Mattaponi and Pamunkey reservations. Many live near Richmond but retain strong ties to King William Count and Indian View Baptist Church in King William.
Edmund, one of 10 siblings, grew up on a watermelon farm operated by his father and mother near the church. In addition to serving the tribe, he worked as a millman with Circle Woodworking in King William.
The Upper Mattaponi were committed to education and built the Sharon Indian School next to the church in 1919. That is likely where Edmund received his early education. The school closed for a time and is now used as a community center.
Records could not be located that define Edmund Adams' service as chief, but historical documents and newspaper clippings indicate he was a leader of the tribe in the 1980s and 90s.
Note about the sculpture: Griffin Chiles' bust of Chief Adams is rooted in a romanticized image of Native Americans common in Euro-American that emerged in the 19th century.
Sources: Obituary of Susie Gaynell Henshew (Edmund's mother), Virginia Museum of Natural History
Webster "Little Eagle" Custalow served as chief of the Mattaponi Indian Tribe for 25 years and devoted his life to serving his community in numerous ways.
The youngest of 10 siblings, Chief Little Eagle was born in 1912 on the Mattaponi Reservation and resided there until his death in 2003 at the age of 90. He was the son of Chief Haskanawanaha George Forest Custalow and was said to be a descendent of Pocahontas.
As a child, Webster Custalow went to a one-room reservation school and completed six grades before setting off on a career as a logger and timberman. He also ran a trucking company. He became assistant chief of the Mattaponi in King William County, Virginia in 1949 and was elected chief in 1977.
When the General Assembly honored Chief Little Eagle in 1994, the resolution detailed his public service: "Chief Little Eagle Webster Custalow has worked unstintingly to improve the health and living standards of the Mattaponi reservation, implementing a change from shallow to deep wells to provide purer domestic water supplies, spearheading efforts to relocate the King William County landfill that was contaminating the reservation's water supply, supervising the rehabilitation and replacement of older housing on the reservation, restoring the tribal community building to accommodate pottery making and other craft work, and building a fish hatchery on the reservation to spawn and hatch shad; and ... dedicated himself to improving the environment, working to restore the osprey and bald eagle to the King William County area and the shad supply to Virginia's rivers, and to preserve the ecology of the Mattaponi River generally."
Chief Little Eagle also served on boards to improve health care and child care for the Mattaponi and surrounding communities, leading the General Assembly to praise him for "a distinguished career of public and community service." The inscription on his gravestone marker reflects his devotion to the Mattaponi and the wider community:
OH! THOU GREAT SPIRIT, I WILL REST BESIDE THEE WHERE THOU COUNCIL FIRE BURNETH FOREVER IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
Note about the sculpture: Griffin Chiles' bust of Chief Little Eagle Custalow is rooted in a romanticized image of Native Americans common to Euro-American that emerged in the 19th century.
Sources: Family obituary, House Joint Resolution 22 of 1994
The Rappahannocks first spoke to Captain John Smith in 1608 at Cat Point Creek along the river bearing their name. The captain referred to them as Tappahannocks. They had 13 villages south of the river in Richmond County and at least two on the north side. By 1658 they had been moved off the river.
The Rappahannocks eventually were relocated on a 3,500-acre reserve at Indian Neck. The reserve, established by a 1677 treaty, was then terminated by the Colonial Council six years later. Descendants of those first families remain in the area to this day. Incorporated in 1921, the Rappahannocks operated tribal schools until 1962. In 1993 the tribe built a cultural complex on its land at Indian Neck in King and Queen County.
Today the tribe has about 300 members, and Chief G. Anne Richardson is the first female chief for the Virginia tribes since the mid-1600s. A nonprofit organization, the tribe seeks to preserve its culture and educate Virginians about the role it played in the U.S. history.
Tribal housing and economic-development projects are in the works. Since the Rappahannocks are of the "Beaver Clan," they are developing a land-use plan that, from an aerial view, will reflect the shape of a beaver.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Queen Anne Richardson of the United Rappahannock Tribe.." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
The name Pocahontas is a nickname. Her real name was Matowaka, and she was to become the most famous woman in early American history. Pocahontas was a young girl when the first English colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia. Living with her father, Chief of the Powhatan, Pocahontas began making visits to the nearby English colony. She became friendly with Captain John Smith, and a father-daughter relationship developed.
A few months after the English colony of Jamestown was formed, their food supplies were depleted; soon half of the colonists were dead. Pocahontas set about getting the Indians, especially her half-brother, to give the colony corn and fish. At the time, the English were neither incapable of planting crops nor able to hunt in order to be self-sustaining. Captain John Smith later said Pocahontas was "the instrument that saved the colony from death, famine and utter confusion."
Due to the conflict between the Indians and the settlers, Smith was taken captive. After a meal, Chief Powhatan and the other decided on Smith's fate. He was forced to kneel, and the Indians stood over him with heavy clubs. At this time, Pocahontas rushed to John Smith's side and, with emotion, pleaded with the chief to spare her father's life. Smith was released and showed great gratitude to Pocahontas for the remainder of her days.
A few years later she married John Rolfe, one of the most significant men of the colony. Rolfe, through the aid of the Indians, learned how to raise tobacco, which was to become the colony's great cash crop. Sometime later, Rolfe took his new wife to London. With her regal appearance, courtly manners and excellent use of the English language, she was well received by the Queen. She was baptized as the Lady Rebecca. In a sense, as a young Indian woman, Pocahontas ceased to exist.
On the way back, while sailing down the Thames, she became sick, and the ship had to dock at the town of Gravesend. She soon died and was buried at St. George's Church. She was 21 at the time of her death. Indians were said to be susceptible to smallpox, which was speculated to be the cause of her death.
Rolfe left his young son, Thomas, in the care of a friend and sailed back to America. Thomas came to this country when he was 21 and married an English woman, Jane Poythress. They have a number of descendants in Virginia.
Some American Indians today have a different viewpoint of Pocahontas. They believe she was taken in by the English and betrayed her people. The American Indians are well known for their generosity and willingness to share with others. This may well account for the young Indian's desire to help the colonists during their period of great need.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Pocahontas of the Powhatan Tribe." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
In 1607 the Chickahominy Indians were one of about 30 Virginia tribes to greet English settlers on the Virginia shore. They were also one of the first tribes to trade with the colonists and declare themselves subjects of the English crown.
The Chickahominy were allies of the powerful Chief Powhatan and remained independent, although they shared similar cultures. By siding with the English, the tribe maintained some distance and protection from Chief Powhatan.
In 1614 the Chickahominy signed a treaty with Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of the Jamestown Colony. This treaty, like those to come, failed to protect the lands of the Chickahominy. Vast acres of Indian land were deeded to colonists who depleted the Indians' hunting grounds, stole their food and murdered them.
In 1616 Captain George Yeardley replaced Dale as governor. He expected the treaty to continue, but they colony grew and demanded more food. When the Indians wouldn't deliver corn, Yeardley gathered 100 soldiers and fired on the Chickahominy, killing dozens and wounding and capturing others. When Yeardley retreated, the Chickahominy fled to the protection of the Chief Powhatan.
After this turmoil, the tribes joined forces. On March 22, 1622, led by Opechancanough, Powhatan's successor, the tribes simultaneously attacked the English settlements and killed 347 settlers, about one-third of the colony. Jamestown's residents, warned of the uprising, escaped. But in reprisal, they launched an all-out war, killing Indians and burning vilages. By 1644 the colonists had nearly annihilated the Eastern Indian tribes.
The population plummeted from 10,000 under Chief Powhatan to a mere 15 warriors and 75 tribal members by 1686. The once-powerful Powhatan Confederacy disbanded, and tribes scattered. The Chickahominy were pushed north of the York River to lands occupied by the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Indians. Quakers had moved onto the Chickahominy lands but were constantly harassed and eventually departed. That allowed the Chickahominy to return to their ancestral lands, but the tribe remained small.
In 1705 Thomas Jefferson wrote in his "Notes on Virginia" that the tribe had all but ceased to exist. In the early 1900s the Chickahominy made diligent efforts to expand their numbers, with a focus on family ties, education and a strong sense of religion. They are now one of the largest, most successful tribes in Virginia and were recognized by the Commonwealth in 1983.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Chief Arthur L. 'Lone Wolf' Adkins: Chickahominy Tribe." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
The Chickahominy Tribe has a long history but has not always flourished. In 1793 a Baptist missionary named Bradley took refuge with the tribe, married a Chickahominy woman and converted the tribe to his beliefs. He was later adopted into the tribe, and for centuries the Chickahominy have embraced the Baptist religion and centered their lives on the church and education.
In the early 1800s the tribe lost its language, and its culture was in decline. In the early 1900s a movement for renewal gave rise to two branches of the tribe, one centered in the Charles City area and the other in New Kent. The tribal members in the New Kent area established their own governing body, and in 1915 the Bradley family pulled away and called itself the Eastern Chickahominy Tribe with Edward P. Bradley as its first chief.
The focus on education was reflected in the establishment of a school named "Tsena Commocko" or Long House and Place of Ceremonies. It was a one-room schoolhouse with one teacher and seven grades located along Route 60 in the Windsor Shades area. Until the 1940s there were no high schools, and yet state law prevented Indian children from attending white schools. Many went to Bacone Junior College in Oklahoma. A high school was finally added in 1959.
In 1972 Chief Marvin Bradley took leadership of the tribe and emerged as a young, forceful advocate of education, equal employment opportunity and historical accuracy in textbooks. For example, those books in the 20th century portrayed American Indians as savages who killed without cause. Bradley realized fierce battles had taken place between his people and the colonists and knew as well that history favors the victors. With no written language to record history from its perspective, the Chickahominy people have suffered due to prejudice and hardship.
But the tribe is surviving. It owns 2,500 acres in Charles County, including land with housing for young couples and families. And the culture is also alive. In 1952 the Chickahominy Fall Festival was established and brings tribes together to honor traditions. The Chickahominy dancers have also traveled to Europe to perform, along with other Virginia tribes.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Chief Marvin Bradby: Chickahominy, Eastern Division." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
The Pamunkey Indians have continuously inhabited the same lands since the Ice Age. It wasn't until the 1600s, though, that their legal status was established through treaties with the king of England. They were one of the most powerful of the Powhatan Chiefdom. In fact, Chief Powhatan and his daughter, Pocahontas, lived among the Pamunkey.
In the late 1600s, frontier attacks against Virginia's Indians grew into a rebellion against royal authority. Colonists tested their fragile peace with the Indians by demanding their land and engaging in acts of violence. As the campaign against the Pamunkey escalated, the tribe fled to a hideout in the Great Dragon Swamp between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. When discovered, they offered no resistance but were massacred.
The Powhatan territory encompassed most of Virginia's coastal plains, from North Carolina to Washington, D.C. The Pamunkey reservation today is along the shores of the Pamunkey River adjacent to King William County. It consists of 1,200 acres, including 500 acres of wetlands. The chief and a handful of council members make up the governing body.
Using dark clay from the river's shoreline, the Pamunkey have practiced pottery-making throughout their history. The tradition continues today, and the Pamunkey Indian Museum, located on the reservation, houses their finest, most beautiful work.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Chief William P. Miles: Pamunkey Indian Tribe." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
The Nansemond Indians were part of the Powhatan Empire of Eastern Virginia in the early 1600s during the settling of Jamestown Colony. The Nansemond lived along the banks of the Nansemond River that was named after them in the present village of Chuckatuck, in the city of Suffolk. At the time of the Jamestown Colony the Nansemond Tribe had a population of about 1,200 with 300 bowmen. They had several villages along the banks of the Nansemond River, with their king living on Dumpling Island.
Jamestown was suffering a from a severe food shortage in 1608. Captain John Smith sent 71 parties up the Nansemond River to trade and bargain for food and grain. This was somewhat successful; however, the more the colonists, the more they wanted. Finally, the Nansemond refused to trade away further food supplies, because they feared they might not have enough to last them. The colonists then raided the Nansemond villages, burned their houses and canoes and took the grain by force.
In the following years, the settlers began moving in and pushing the Nansemonds from their villages. The tribe split, with one group moving westward toward the Courtland area along the Nottaway River, where the last Nansemond Reservation was sold in the late 1700s. The other group, known as the Christianized Nansemonds, settled on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in the present day area of Bowers Hill in Chesapeake.
A church and school were built in 1850 as a mission for the Nansemond Indians. On the grounds today resides the Indian United Methodist Church, where the tribe holds its monthly tribal meetings. The Nansemond Indian Tribe received state recognition in 1985.
Chief Earl L. "Running Deer" was a direct descendent from the 1638 marriage of Kezish and John Bass. Kezish was the daughter of the King of the Nansemonds, Robin the Elder. Running Deer became chief in 1960 at the passing of his father, Jesse L. Bass.
Although not afforded a formal education, Chief Running Deer accomplished much. He was a successful farmer and great hunter of the Dismal Swamp. He retired from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard after 30 years of service.
Although he experienced harsh racial discrimination against the Indian people, he always remained proud of his heritage. He was a great leader of his tribe and an inspiration to all who knew him. His greatest loves were his family, his church and his tribe. His spirit will forever dance in the hearts of his people, and his memory will remain in the minds of all who knew him.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Earl 'Running Deer' Bass." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
The Monacan Tribe has lived in the piedmont and mountain areas of Virginia and West Virginia for more than 1,000 years. They are woodland Indians, and long before the arrival of Europeans, they cultivated a variety of foods, hunted and fished. At the time of Captain John Smith's landing at Jamestown, the Monacan Confederacy may have had 10,000 or more members. Recognized by the Virginia General Assembly in 1989, the tribe today has about 700 members with most living in the Amherst County and Lynchburg area.
When the tribe was at its largest, the Monacans were known for honoring their ancestors, holding women in high esteem and giving them an important place in their ritual life. Women were not treated as the property of men, common at the time in European countries, and they made most decisions affecting the tribe except for those connected to warfare.
The Monacan people practiced social and ceremonial dances and were known for their intricate and beautiful religious rituals. Those often lasted through the night with poetic singing and drumming. They also developed a vast knowledge of medicine and used herbs, roots and barks to cure ailments and injuries. The tribe's medicine men and women were believed to possess divine powers given to them in visions. The people worshipped a single creator, as they do today.
Respect for all forms of life was of particular importance, and members worked to maintain a healthy balance with the world and within the community. Today, as always, the Monacans foster a close relationship to the land.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Chief Kenneth Branham: Monacan Indian Tribe." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
Goingback Chiltoskey was born in the Smoky Mountains near Cherokee, North Carolina, on April 20, 1907. With a surname that is the Anglicization of the Cherokee name "Utsvdv Tsilandoosgi," he was his parents' 10th and last child. His mother spoke only Cherokee, and it was the only language he spoke as a child.
One of Chiltoskey's earliest memories is the gift of a pocketknife from his older brother. That early whittling led to a lifetime of woodcarving. He didn't go to school until he was discovered one day by truant officers who took him to a boarding school in Cherokee. He ran away twice but eventually finished ninth grade. He then attended Parker High School in Greenville, South Carolina. The school had a good reputation for woodcarving, and people began to discover the young artist and buy his carvings. With the help of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Chiltoskey attended Haskell Institute, a tribal school in Kansas.
After graduation, he studied carpentry, silversmithing and Navajo jewelry-making at the Indian Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He later studied at Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Chicago Art Institute.
Chiltoskey returned to Cherokee to teach woodcarving while his own works earned awards, an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum and international acclaim.
As World War II loomed, he was hired by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the War Department. As a model-maker at Fort Belvoir, he crafted invasion maps and bombing targets, including one used in Japan prior to the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Following his time in Washington, Chiltoskey returned to Cherokee, resuming his career as a mountain woodcarver. He died November 12, 2000.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Goingback Chiltoskey." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
Chief Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota, born in what is now South Dakota in 1830. The Indians lived by hunting the buffalo, which provided them with food, clothing and tipis. They followed the buffalo across the Plains. However, after the comingh of the horse, they could travel much faster and the horse made their hunting much easier. There were many battles among the various tribes on the Plains, with raids to get new horses. Revenge directed toward these raiding tribes created a never ending number of battles. When Chief Sitting Bull was 14, he was "counting coup," a term used by the Indians when a young brave would ride up next to an enemy and strike him with a coup stick. Acts of bravery were highly regarded in young people.
As more and more settlers and soldiers moved across the Plains, bloody and violent battles continued to increase. When the railroad was run through the Indian territory, the Indians increased their attacks. It was a time when people who had lived in this country for thousands of years felt their very existence threatened by a people they could not understand. Sitting Bull sent a summons to the Sioux and Cheyenne Bands, imploring them to come to a War Council on Rosebud Creek in Montana. Thousands came and the Indians moved to a campsite on the west bank of the Little Big Horn. When attacked by the United States Cavalry, thousands poured into the battle on June 25, 1876.
Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, the famous Indian fighter, had made a grievous mistake in judgment, which cost him his life, along with 220 soldiers. The cattle was Custer's last stand and is now known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Crazy Horse and other War Chiefs had engaged the enemy, while Chief Sitting Bull directed the battle from his war horse, some distance away.
Sitting Bull knew he would never be left to live in peace, and later moved to Canada. In time, the Canadian Government worried about having so many Indians within its borders and asked him to move back to the United States. The fifty year old Chief Sitting Bull was arrested in what [is] now North Dakota. Although Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer started the battle, Chief Sitting Bull was arrested for killing Custer and placed in prison for almost two years.
After his release from prison, Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Later, when the new religion of the Ghost Dance was formed, Chief Sitting Bull was again arrested and later, killed by two Indian officials.
References
Chiles, Griffin. 1997. "Chief Sitting Bull of the Lakota Sioux." In The American Indians: Bronze Sculptures, edited by Griffin Chiles and Hampton Chiles. Norfolk, VA: Griffin & Hampton Chiles.
The Seneca, also referred to as O-non-dowa-gah or the "Great Hill People," resided between Central and Western New York, from the Finger Lakes area to the Genesee Valley, their villages industriously secured, their people great in agriculture, hunting, and fishing (Seneca Nation of Indians, 2020). As a tribe often prepared for adversaries, the Seneca were just as gifted in oratory and diplomacy, their strong traits having combined to establish them as the sixth nation of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations well before the settlers established a constitution (2020). Their locale solidified them as the "Keeper of the Western Door" (2020).
Sagoyewatha, the Seneca chief and orator, came to rise in the American Revolution. As a native of Central New York and originating as a member of the Seneca Wolf clan, Sagoyewatha had been appointed by the British as a messenger toward the beginning the of the war (Seneca Nation of Indians, 2020). Under this auspice, he was given a red jacket that he wore all the time, earning himself the title "Red Jacket" (2020). As an ally with the United States during the War of 1812, Red Jacket and the Seneca Tribe proved successful soldiers in the battles of Fort George (17 Aug 1813) and Chippawa (5 July 1814) (2020). However, Red Jacket, having assessed the complaints and conditions of both his unit and the Iroquois of Upper Canada after having suffered heavy casualties at Chippawa, spoke on their on their behalves in withdrawing from a non-Indian war (2020).
References
Seneca Nation of Indians. (2020). Cuture. Retrieved from: https://sni.org/culture/
Seneca Nation of Indians. (2020). Historic Seneca Leaders. Retrieved from: https://sni.org/culture/historic-seneca-leaders/
Sequoyah, a craftsman and creator of the Cherokee writing system, was born in 1775 in Tuskegee, a Cherokee town in what is now Martin County, Tennessee. His name has also been spelled Sequoya or Sequoia and Cherokee Sikwayi. He was also called George Gist because he was probably the son of Virginia fur trader Nathaniel Gist.
Sequoyah had many talents. He was a silversmith, a painter, and a warrior who served with the U.S. Army in the Creek War of 1813-14. Sequoyah never learned to read, write or speak English. He believed White people had superior power because they had a written language and could more easily share knowledge than people who relied on worth of mouth and memory.
In a process that took about 12 years, Sequoyah developed a system of writing for the Cherokees although many were suspicious and thought it was a form of sorcery. He first used pictographs and then created 86 symbols representing the syllables of Cherokee spoken language. He used English, Greek and Hebrew letters as a foundation.
It caught on quickly. By 1821, Sequoyah was living with the Cherokees in Arkansas and they transmitted messages to Cherokees living in the east. He taught his daughter, Ayokeh, and other young people to write. Because the system was simple, it was easy to learn and widely adopted in schools and with book and newspaper publishers.
In 1824, Sequoyah was given a medal in honor of the syllabary by the Eastern Council of the Cherokees and he is said to have worn it the rest of his life. In 1825, the Cherokee Nation officially adopted his writing system.
In the 1830's, Sequoyah moved to a location in present day Oklahoma and traveled frequently as he tried to reunite his splintered tribe and reunify the Eastern Cherokees and the Western Cherokees. Sequoyah died in about 1843 and his home in Oklahoma is now National Historic Landmark.
While his name was given to the giant redwoods of California, his greatest legacy is his writing system. It was so popular and effective that it inspired many others to create languages. Sequoyah's gift to his people became the model for more than 60 languages around the world
Note about the sculpture: Griffin Chiles' bust of Sequoyah is rooted in a romanticized image of Native Americans common in Euro-American that emerged in the 19th century.
Sculpture and research provided by Griffin Chiles
Jay Bear Claws is a member of the Tuscarora Clan. The Tuscaroras lived in the eastern part of what now North Carolina.
When the first settlers came to this area, the Tuscaroras were friend and helpful. As time passed, the settlers began taking advantage of the Indians; and this conflict erupted into the Tuscarora War. When Indian children were captured an sold as slaves, the Iroquois Confederacy welcomed the Tuscarora as part of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Senencas offered them land and the Tuscaroras moved north, never to return.
Jay Bear Claws is known as a spiritual warrior who travels the world and teachs the religious and spiritual beliefs of the American Indian. These native people divided the mind into two parts - the spiritual and the physical mind. The first was pure spirit, concerned only with the essence of things; and it was this he sought to strengthen by spiritual prayer. The rites of the physical worship were symbolic.
The American Indians believed that the spirit pervades all creation and that everything possessed a soul, although not necessarily a soul conscious of itself. The tree, the waterfall, the grizzly bear - each was an embodied force, and as such, an object of reverence.
The Indian loved to come into sympathy and spiritual communion with his brothers of the animal kingdom. He had faith in their instincts, as if a mysterious wisdom given from above; and while he humbly accepted the sacrifice of their bodies to preserve his own, he gave homage to their spirits in prescribed prayers and offerings.
The Indian was a logical and clear thinker upon matters with thin scope of his understanding. The Indian never doubted the immortal nature of the spirit or soul of man, but neither did he care to speculate on its state or condition in a future life. The idea of a "happy hunting ground" is modern and probably borrowed or invented by the white man. The primitive Indian was content to believe that the spirit, which the "Great Mystery" breathed into man, returned to Him who gave it. After it was freed from the body, it was everywhere and pervaded all nature. Yet it often lingered near the grave or "spirit bundle" for the consolation of friends and was able to hear prayers.
In 1855, Chief Seattle said, "Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Your time of decay may be distant, but it will surely come, for even the white man whose God walked and talked with him as friend with friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny."
"We speak of the dead. Dead did I say? There is no death, only a changing of worlds" (Chief Seattle, 1853).
References
Chief Seattle. (1853). "The Indians' Night Promises to be Dark." In Indian Oratory: Famous Speeches by Noted Indian Chieftains. Edited by W.C. Vanderwerth. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 118-122.
Sculpture and research provided by Griffin Chiles
Whether referred to as "The People" or the "Marsh People," the Cheyenne dwelled among the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, having descended from a line of Angonquin-speaking people known as the Chaa (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, 2020). The Cheyenne, in terms of both circumstance and location, share a similar story with the Arapaho, or the Hinono'ei, who were forced from their territoriy in the late 17th century by White setllers (2020). Both tribes had to abandon a sedentary lifestyle centered on farming in exchange for learning to make weapons and hunting horse and buffalo (2020). Upon having settled further toward the Great Plains, both groups became allies within the 19th century, hunting and cultivating a livelihood together (2020).
The Cheyenne and Arapaho are both federally recognized as one nation in present day (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, 2020). Fred Bushyhead served as their chief for more than half a century, and his perspective keeps truth grounded in the remaining strands of the Cheyenne-Arapaho culture. At a hearing for Muskogee and Anadarko Area Indian Tribes of Oklahoma before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs in August of 1955, Bushyhead argued in the case of marginalized American Indian students in Oklahoma: "You either support the child on the average level of El Reno student, or give us our Cheyenne-Arapaho boarding school, 12 grades, with vocational and agricultural training, where at least from 12 grades we will have a stepping stone if we want to go on to college [or] at least we will have a trade to give us a self-sustaining living" (141).
References
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, 2020. Tribal history. Retrieved from: https://cheyenneandarapaho-nsn.gov/project/tribal-history/
Muskogee and Anadarko Area Indian Tribes, Oklahoma: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, 84th Congress, First session pursuant to H. Res. 30, 139-141 (1955).
