Tecumseh's Vision, finis

A second link to Tecumseh's Vision, and some questions to ponder about historical sources and historical interpretation.

As you saw in the video (and as you've probably already surmised, since Ohio isn't part of a Native American confederacy), this political movement does not end well for Tecumseh or Tenskwatawa. Tecumseh is killed at the Battle of the Thames, and Tenskwatawa was forced to live in exile in Canada until the 1820s, when he made a deal with the governor of the Michigan Territory Lewis Cass to try to persuade the remaining contingent of Shawnees at Wapakoneta to move west of the Mississippi River.

The narrative of Tecumseh's Vision follows the standard narrative of events, as well as the narrative of the books you've been reading for the class. That should also come as no surprise, as all three authors--Colin Calloway, R. David Edmonds, and John Sugden, were three of the principal scholars who acted as advisors for the project, and provided much of the narrative that was just viewed. That standard narrative argues that the principal force behind this Native American confederacy was Tecumseh, that Tenskwatwa was an important factor in drawing Native Americans to the cause, but lost influence after Battle of Tippecanoe, and remained a non-factor for the rest of the campaign.

In part this narrative has been shaped by events that occurred after Tecumseh died. William Henry Harrison prevailed in the end, and later his presidential campaign was boosted by the perception of his "victory" at Tippecanoe. That narrative has also been shaped by the sources that historians have used to explain the events. There is, of course, Harrison's first-hand account of the battle, which he initially proclaimed as a great victory to his superiors in Washington, D.C. Another source of information about the brothers was a man named Anthony Shane (nee Antoine Chene), a man of mixed French and Ottawa Indian parentage, who claimed to be well-acquainted with Tecumseh--and who despised Tenskwatawa. A second close witness was a man named Stephen Ruddell, who was captured by a Shawnee war party and adopted by the brother's clan. Ruddell grew into adulthood with them, and only reluctantly left the tribe. While sounding like an ideal source, Ruddell wasn't interviewed until later in life (by a man named Benjamin Drake, who wrote the earliest biography of the brothers), and historians have since concluded that he was being somewhat cagey with Drake, fearing reprisals for some of the actions he took part in--and the expectations of his audience, since by that time Tecumseh's reputation had been growing in mythical proportions. The other source of information is the interview Tenskwatawa did with C.C. Trowbridge, who was Lewis Cass' assistant. Unfortunately for us, Trowbridge was more interested in learning about older Shawnee traditions than ascertaining any information about the relationship between the two brothers. The other sources of information include Moravian missionaries and other whites, who observed from afar, and often with little understanding. As we re-examine this narrative, we will also be re-examining the evidence, and discussing how it can be re-interpreted.