Levi Colbert
| Levi Colbert | |
|---|---|
| Itawamba, Itte-wamba Mingo | |
| Chickasaw leader | |
| Succeeded by | George Colbert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1759 Muscle Shoals, Alabama |
| Died | June 2, 1834 Buzzard Roost, Alabama |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Resting place | Oakwood Cemetery, Tuscumbia, Alabama |
| Spouse(s) | Ishtimmarharlechar, Temusharhoctay 'Dollie' (Schtimmarshashoctay), Mintahoyo House (Minto-Ho-Yo) of Imatapo, Seletia Colbert |
| Relations | Brother, George Colbert, Nephew, Holmes Colbert |
| Children | Sons, Martin, Charles, Alex, Adam, Lemuel, Daugherty, Ebijah, Commodore and Lewis; Daughters, Charity, Mariah, Phalishta and Asa |
| Parents | James Logan Colbert and Sopha Minta Hoye |
| Nickname(s) | "Okolona" ("calm or peaceful") |
Levi Colbert (1759–1834), also known as Itawamba in Chickasaw, was a leader and chief of the Chickasaw nation. Colbert was called Itte-wamba Mingo, meaning bench chief. He and his brother George Colbert were prominent interpreters and negotiators with President Andrew Jackson's appointed negotiators involved to Indian Removal. Jackson insisted that the Chickasaw cede their traditional lands and move to a new location west of the Mississippi River. The US Indian Agent Levi Colbert (Itawamba) had the most contact with was John Dabney Terrell, Sr. of Marion County, Alabama.
Levi Colbert was of six sons of James Logan Colbert (1721 - 1784), a North Carolinian of Scots ancestry, had with his second wife Sopha Minta Hoye, a Chickasaw. Colbert was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He and his mixed-race siblings grew up bilingual and were educated in both Chickasaw and European-American traditions. According to the entry in the Chickasaw Hall of Fame, he was born in the Chickasaw Nation, in what is now Alabama, in 1759. He and his siblings grew up bilingual, educated in both Chickasaw and European-American traditions. When Levi Colbert assumed the title of head chief of the Chickasaw Nation, he was living at that time on the bluff west of the Chickasaw Indian trading post known as Cotton Gin Port, established near the old cotton gin and where there was a large spreading oak known as the council tree.
As the Chickasaw had a matrilineal kinship system of descent and inheritance, children were considered to belong to the mother's clan. They gained their status through her, and hereditary leadership for males was passed through the maternal line.
...
Wikipedia