Interesting quotes from Tecumseh (an Indian Moses)

• Cheesekau dedicated himself to training his brother in all phases of Indian life. He passed on to Tecumseh all he knew. The young warrior taught him keenness of observation, how to bear pain and how to face danger without fear. He also taught Tecumseh the mastery of self and his passions, which he could not let control him.
• His graceful sister, Tecumapese, also taught him important things. She taught him to be compassionate, particularly to those less fortunate than himself. She also taught him to be honest in all things, and to speak the truth in all matters. Tecumapese taught him that cruelty to man or animals degraded a person and that stealing or cheating brought dishonor to the soul. One of the most important lessons she taught her younger brother was respect for his elders and for authority.
• Crawford was stripped naked and tied to a large post projecting several feet from the ground. Then, the helpless man was whipped unmercifully with switches and sticks wielded by a crowd of angry women. At sunrise on June 13, a circle of firewood three feet high was piled around Crawford for about eight feet around. A large crowd of Indians assembled and Chief Pipe moved into the center. He raised his arms for silence and began to speak. He talked for several minutes, describing the Moravian massacre and the crimes of the Pennsylvanians. His voice was often choked with anger and emotion. When he had finished speaking, he walked over to Crawford and gleefully sliced off his ears. As blood streamed down each side of his head, women came with torches and lighted the fire in several places. Within a few minutes, the skin on Crawford’s back, legs and buttocks had blistered and turned into charred crisps. When the fire died down, Crawford was still alive and knelt by the stake. Hot coals were thrown on his back and head. Several hours passed. More wood was piled around Crawford and another fire was lit. Finally, Crawford, skin dropping from his body, curled around the stake, groaned pitifully, and laid quiet. (Tecumseh was 14 when this happened)
• On returning to the camp, he discovered that some of his men had killed McIntire. He reproached the killers bitterly, called them cowards and remarked that he would take them home “where the squaws can protect you against your enemies. But you will never ride with me again because I cannot look upon your faces.” He then promised to kill the next man who harmed a prisoner
• Wawilloway was well acquainted with Wolf; he shook hands with him and asked about his family. Wolf asked him if the Indians were ready to start a war. “No, no!” said Wawilloway. “White men and Indians are now one – all brothers.” Wolf told him about the murder of Herrod, and Wawilloway was much surprised at this news. “Maybe whiskey, too much to drink,” suggested Wawilloway. “Or maybe a white man killed Herrod.” Wawilloway turned to go and Wolf shot him in the back.
• “When they withdraw themselves to the culture of a small piece of land, they will perceive how useless to them are the extensive forests and they will be willing to parcel them off in exchange for necessaries for their farms and families… To promote this, we will push our trading houses and be glad to see good and influential individuals among them in debt, because we observe when those debts go beyond what the individual can pay, they become willing to lop them off with the cession of lands.” –Thomas Jefferson
• More whiskey casks were rolled out and a drunken frolic followed… while Harrison rode back to Vincennes with his paper that transferred 3 million acres on the Wabash and White Rivers to the U.S. Government. He later wrote Eustis that “the compensation given for the land is as low as could be made.” He stated that he was anxious to set up a sales office and begin settling families on the new tract. The land which Harrison purchased for a total of $10,550 would sell for the regular price of $2 an acre, a profit for the government of almost $6million.
• By the spring of 1810, Tecumseh had close to 2,000 warriors in the Prophet’s Town. They began to stock-pile weapons and ammunition, and their athletic games took on the appearance of military drill. Another 4 to 5,000 lived within a few miles of the Prophet’s Town.
• “But your father wishes you to sit by his side,” counters the interpreter. “My father! The Great Spirit is my father! The earth is my mother and on her bosom I will repose.”
• “how can we trust the white people? When Jesus Christ came on earth, you killed him and nailed him to a cross. You thought he was dead but you were mistaken.”
• It would be with great reluctance that he would make war on the United States, he said, because he did not wish to see more burned villages and dead young men, red or white. He said he was not an enemy of the 17 Fires, but the land grabbing must stop.