The Shawnee Leader Who Almost Built A Native American Nation — And Why His Plan Was The Last Real Chance

The Treaty Of Fort Wayne And The Principle Of Land As Commons

It is worth returning to Tecumseh’s land philosophy in more detail, because it represents one of the most sophisticated political arguments made by any Indigenous leader in the history of the United States.

The Treaty of Fort Wayne of 1809 — the treaty that Tecumseh most directly opposed — illustrates the system he was fighting.

Harrison had negotiated with chiefs of the Delaware, Potawatomi, Miami, and Eel River peoples, obtaining their agreement to cede approximately three million acres of land in Indiana Territory.

Some of the chiefs who signed had genuine authority within their nations.