Tenskwatawa

Tenskwatawa (also called Tenskatawa, Tenskwatawah, Tensquatawa or Lalawethika) (January 1775 – November 1836) was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe, known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was a brother of Tecumseh, leader of the Shawnee. He was originally given the name Lalawethika ("He Makes a Loud Noise" or "The Noise Maker"). He denounced white Americans as children of the Evil Spirit and mobilized the Native Americans in the Midwest to fight them, but his movement was defeated during the War of 1812 when his brother was killed, and he went to the area now known as Argentine, Kansas.

Tenskwatawa's mother was Methoataske (or Methoataaskee, meaning "[One who] Lays Eggs in the Sand"), who was believed to be either Muscogee Creek, Cherokee, or Shawnee, possibly of Pekowi division and the Turtle Clan.

Even though he quickly became famous later on in life, Tenskwatawa spent his early years unpopular and drunk. Part of a set of triplets born to Puckeshinwa and Methoataske in 1768 in Ohio, Tenskwatawa was unlucky from the start. Before Tenskwatawa was born, Puckenshinwa, a leader of the Kispokotha division of the Shawnee Tribe, was killed by a British soldier in the Battle of Point Pleasant. Methoataske was so frightened by the American Revolution, and so depressed by the death of her husband that she fled back to her Creek relatives, leaving Tenskwatawa and his siblings in the care of their older sister, Tecumpease. Tenskwatawa and his triplet brother (the other triplet died during birth) were the youngest of the three daughters and five sons. Tenskwatawa was especially unpopular. While Chiksika, his oldest brother and a leading warrior, would take his brothers out to hunt and fight in small battles, Tenskwatawa would stay behind because he lacked the skills his brothers possessed. Tecumseh, one of the oldest, was an especially gifted athlete, and became the favorite of most of the tribe. Left alone and insecure, Tenskwatawa attempted to make up for his athletic deficiencies by constantly boasting and making up stories about how talented and important he was, but this only resulted in him picking up the name Lalewethaka, which means "Noisemaker."

Combined with his unpopularity and isolation, Tenskawatawa was almost pushed to a breaking point when he blinded himself in his right eye while playing with a bow and arrow. His depression led him to alcoholism in his teenage years, much to the dismay of the woman he married soon after. His depression worsened and he became an alcoholic as time went on because he could not provide for his wife and children. His luck began to change when he went to his first battle, the Battle of Fallen Timbers, in 1794, led by two of his brothers, Tecumseh and Sauwauseekau. Even though they were unsuccessful, Sauwauseekau was killed, and Tecumseh refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville, Tenskwatawa took the battle as a chance to re-insert himself back into society. A few years later, he moved with Tecumseh to a town in Indiana, where they started a small Shawnee village. It was in this village that the man formerly known as Lalewithaka became "The Prophet."

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