Black Hawk on his Great-Grandfather
My great-grand-father, Nanamakee, or Thunder, according to the tradition given me by my father, Py-e-sa, was born in the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, where the Great Spirit first placed the…
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Black Hawk’s Autobiography by Black Hawk and Antoine LeClaire.
I was born at the Sac village on Rock River in the year 1767, and am now in my 67th year. My great-grand-father, Nanamakee, or Thunder, according to the tradition given me by my father, Py-e-sa, was born in the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, where the Great Spirit first placed the Sac nation, and inspired him with a belief that, at the end of four years, he should see a white man, who would be to him a father.
Consequently he blackened his face and ate but once a day, just as the sun was going down, for three years, and continued dreaming throughout all this time, whenever he slept. The Great Spirit again appeared to him and told him that, at the end of one year more, he should meet his father, and directed him to start seven days before its expiration, and take with him his two brothers, Na-mah, or Sturgeon, and Pauk-a-hum-ma-wa, or Sunfish, and travel in a direction to the left of sun-rising. After pursuing this course for five days, he sent out his two brothers to listen if they could hear a noise, and if so, to fasten some grass to the end of a pole, erect it, pointing in the direction of the sound, and then return to him.
Early next morning they returned, and reported that they had heard sounds which appeared near at hand, and that they had fulfilled his order. They all then started for the place where the pole had been erected. On reaching it, Nanamakee left his party and went alone to the place from whence the sounds proceeded, and found that the white man had arrived and pitched his tent.
When he came in sight, his father came out to meet him. He took him by the hand and welcomed him into his tent. He told him that he was the son of the king of France; that he had been dreaming for four years; that the Great Spirit had directed him to come here, where he should meet a nation of people who had never yet seen a white man; that they should be his children and he should be their father; that he had communicated these things to the king, his father, who laughed at him and called him Mashena, but he insisted on coming here to meet his children where the Great Spirit had directed him. The king had told him that he would find neither land nor people; that this was an uninhabited region of lakes and mountains; but finding that he would have no peace without it, he fitted out a nap-e-qua, manned it, and gave him charge of it. He had immediately loaded it, set sail, and had now landed on the very day that the Great Spirit had told him he should meet his children. He had now met the man who should, in future, have charge of all the nation.
He then presented him with a medal which he hung around his neck. Nan-a-ma-kee informed him of his dreaming, and told him that his two brothers remained a little way behind. His father gave him a shirt, a blanket, and a handkerchief besides a variety of other presents, and told him to go and bring his brethren. Having laid aside his buffalo robe and dressed himself in his new dress, he started to meet his brothers. When they met, he explained to them his meeting with the white man and exhibited the presents that he had made him. He then took off his medal and placed it on his elder brother, Na-mah, and requested them both to go with him to his father.
They proceeded thither, were ushered into the tent, and after some brief ceremony his father opened a chest and took presents therefrom for the newcomers. He discovered that Nan-a-ma-kee had given his medal to his elder brother, Na-mah. He told him that he had done wrong; that he should wear that medal himself, as he had others for his brothers. That which he had given him was typical of the rank he should hold in the nation; that his brothers could rank only as civil chiefs, and that their duties should consist in taking care of the village and attending to its civil concerns, whilst his rank, from his superior knowledge, placed him over all. If the nation should get into any difficulty with another, then his puc-co-ha-wam-a, or sovereign decree, must be obeyed. If he declared war, he must lead them on to battle; that the Great Spirit had made him a great and brave general, and had sent him here to give him that medal and make presents to him for his people.
His father remained four days, during which time he gave him guns, powder, lead, spears, and lances, and taught him their use, so that in war he might be able to chastise his enemies, and in peace, they could kill buffalo, deer and other game necessary for the comforts and luxuries of life. He then presented the others with various kinds of cooking utensils and taught them their uses. After having given them large quantities of goods as presents, and everything necessary for their comfort, he set sail for France, promising to meet them again, at the same place, after the 12th moon.
The three newly made chiefs returned to their village and explained to Muk-a-ta-quet, their father, who was the principal chief of the nation, what had been said and done.
The old chief had some dogs killed and made a feast preparatory to resigning his scepter, to which all the nation were invited. Great anxiety prevailed among them to know what the three brothers had seen and heard. The old chief arose and related the sayings and doing of his three sons, and concluded by saying that the Great Spirit had directed that these, his three sons, should take the rank and power that had once been his, and that he yielded these honors and duties willingly to them, because it was the wish of the Great Spirit, and he could never consent to make him angry. He now presented the great medicine bag to Nan-a-ma-kee, and told him that he cheerfully resigned it to him. ‘It is the soul of our nation; it has never yet been disgraced, and I will expect you to keep it unsullied.”
Some dissensions arose among them in consequence of so much power being given to Nan-a-ma-kee, he being so young a man. To quiet them, Nan-a-ma-kee, during a violent thunderstorm, told them that he had caused it, and that it was an exemplification of the name the Great Spirit had given him. During the storm, the lightning struck and set fire to a tree near by, a sight they had never witnessed before. He went to it and brought away some of its burning branches, made a fire in the lodge, and seated his brothers around it opposite to one another, while he stood up and addressed his people as follows:
“I am yet young, but the Great Spirit has called me to the rank I hold among you. I have never sought to be more than my birth entitled me to. I have not been ambitious, nor was it ever my wish while my father was yet among the living to take his place, nor have I now usurped his powers. The Great Spirit caused me to dream for four years. He told me where to go and meet the white man who would be a kind father to us all. I obeyed. I went, and have seen and know our new father. You have all heard what was said and done. The Great Spirit directed him to come and meet me, and it is his order that places me at the head of my nation, the place which my father has willingly resigned.
‘'You have all witnessed the power that has been given me by the Great Spirit, in making that fire; and all that I now ask is, that these my two chiefs, may never let it go out, and that they may preserve peace among you and administer to the wants of the needy. Should an enemy invade our country, I will then, and not until then, assume command, and go forth with my band of brave warriors and endeavor to chastise them.”
At the conclusion of this speech every voice cried out for Nan-a-ma-kee. All were satisfied when they found that the Great Spirit had done what they had suspected was the work of Nan-a-ma-kee, he being a very shrewd young man.
The next spring, according to promise, their French father returned, with his nap-e-qua richly laden with goods, which were distributed among them. He continued for a long time to keep up a regular trade with them, they giving him in exchange for his goods their furs and peltries.
Black Hawk, and Antoine LeClaire. Black Hawk’s Autobiography; Through the Interpretation of Antoine LeClaire. American Publishing Company, 1912.
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
