Big Bear's Den 
For Boy Scouts and Reenactors interested in 18th and early 19th century Eastern Woodland Indians.
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BE-ZO-NE'
(Shawnee for Hello)
The 2008 season at Boonesboro Village was magnificient!!!
Our second year of having campers with us in the village was a major success.
We are already making plans for the 2009 Season and you should too.
Already scouts are signing up for the program at
Boonesboro Village and Camp Daniel Boone.
Camp Daniel Boone is a Boy Scout Camp Located in the Great Smoky Mountains ~ 45 minutes west of Ashville, NC.
The Bear is a Spirit Guide.
The Bear teaches and protects.
That is what you will find here in
In the den you will learn about the Eastern Woodland Tribes, with a emphasis on the Shawnee; their culture and history.
The den will help you protect the history of a people wrapped in the turmoil of war and the attempts of several powerful nations to cause the total collapse of their way of life.
My name is Shemaqua; 'Big Bear' in the words of the Shemanese (Long Knives a.k.a. Americans). I am of Shawnee, Cherokee, Scots, Scots-Irish, Irish, English, Welsh, German, French, and Dutch decent (1/4 of my ancestors were Shawnee and Cherokee). I am a professional Living Historian. I give history tours, present programs on 18th and early 19th century history, culture and crafts and portray people of the period of both Indian and European decent. I am an instructor for the Boonesboro Village Program at Camp Daniel Boone near Asheville, NC for the Boy Scouts where I teach Indian crafts and culture for two months each summer. I try to be historically accurate, not politically correct. Native American is not an 18th century appellation. The people were referred to as Indians and that is the term I will use throughout this site.
nteresting Fact - The term Indian actually comes from an English misunderstanding of a Spanish document. Columbus knew he was not in India. He actually thought he might be in islands off the Big Island of Cipango(Japan). The Priest with Columbus referred to the people they met on those islands as "In Dios," (of God). It was the English that misunderstood the term and began calling them Indians.
Interesting Fact - How did the "New World" come to be known as "America?"
From "Word Origins - An Exploration and History of Words and Language" Wilfred Funk, Random House(c)1950
"Amerigo Vespucci, or Americus Vespucius, ... the Florentine navigator... In the year 1503... sent his old patrons, the then ruling Medici of Italy, an account of his four alleged voyages to the New World ... His narration of the supposed voyage of 1497 was translated by a young geographer and map-maker, Martin Waldseemueller ... The young author had been so deeply impressed by the writing of Americus Vespucius, ... that he labeled a piece of the land America, ... The origin of the name, Americus, is Germanic. ... and the connotations of the name are heroism and leadership ..."
Interesting Fact - If you put the two facts above together, American Indian means "God's Heroic Leaders ."
Interesting Fact - I use the words "alleged" and "supposed" when speaking of A.V. because the best evidence now says that Amerigo Vespucci was a liar and never sailed to the New World. He probably sailed to North Africa or the Canary Islands, sat around for awhile went back to Italy and reported to the Medici's that he had mapped the New World after stealing all of the work of Columbus.
Their are many, but most definitely not all, in the Native community
that find reenacting this period of their history to be offensive.
Their are many that even find the use of the term "Indian" offensive.
While I don't agree with their point of view, on an intellectual level, I can understand it.
Like the object of many impersonators, I feel that impersonation is the highest form of flattery
if that impersonation is done well .
If you have read the Interesting Facts above, you already know my feelings on the term "Indian."
In the course of your studies,portrayals, participation in dance or Scout ceremonies,
should you encounter individuals that are offended by your actions,
please do not argue with them!
Politely state that it is not your intention to offend anyone
and remove yourself from the situation.
Read on! You will find more tidbits like this scattered throughout Big Bear's Den.
The opinions expressed in this website are those of the author and do not represent the view of any particular tribe or other individual. Some of the pages in this website are quite large and may take a few moments to load, especially if you have a dial-up connection to the web. The two Wiki Links near the top, middle and bottom of this page will appear on every page for further research. Both are excellent sources for information and words you may not understand. If you think of things you would like to see added to this site, let me know and it will be considered. Throughout this site you will find numerous links to other sites with useful information. All of the text links will be in WHITE and Underlined. If you see numbers following the initial link, each oneof those numbers is an additional link. While I cannot vouch for every site being up and running all the time, I do try to stay on top of the active and inactive sites. If you find any broken Links, please let me know. In addition to the sites linked in my text, please visit my LINKS page where you will also find an extensive Reading List. Many more useful links will be found there. We are under some limitations as to how big the site can be unless funds can be raised to support the project. If you are able to make a contribution to the cause, e-mail me to notify me of your intent and I will be in touch. I will not be available during the months of June and July. Your help in this regard will be greatly appreciated! Thank You!
Note for Parents
It is my desire to make this site as "Kid Friendly" as possible. The language I use is rated for an eighth to ninth grade reading level and may cause a mental stretch for some younger children. Hopefully they will come to you for things they do not understand. The mental stretch is intentional. I feel it is part of the educational process. I also wish to point out that some of the sites I have linked to deal with some contemporary "Indian Issues" and may be difficult for some younger children to comprehend. Please don't be afraid to discuss these issues with your children and please e-mail me if you need any help with talking points. While I have reviewed each of these sites myself and have not yet found any major problems, I would like for you to e-mail me if you find any language on any of the sites that you find objectionable and the removal of that link will be considered.
Now that we've gotten all the instructions, advisories and disclaimers out of the way, we can get
back to 
the business of having fun with learning. That is really what all of this is about. If you can't have fun while learning something new, what's the point in learning it anyway. I have always believed that learning should be fun. I just couldn't get some of my teachers to agree with me. I've also always believed that learning new things must start with the history of that thing. When learning Math, you begin with the theories of Mathematicians that came before. When you study geology, you start with the history of the earth. You can't study genetics without knowing about Mendel's peas and you definitely can't learn about people without knowing their History. Our subject happens to be Eastern Woodland Indians, but the process is no different than it would be for any people anywhere in the world. The subject of this website centers on the 18th and early 19th centuries. If you wish to look into the ancient past of the indigenous people, it is an interesting story. I will begin things with only a cursory look at the post Columbian history of North America.
In 1492 "Columbus sailed the ocean blue," but he wasn't the first. In 1620, the "Pilgrims," or more accurately "Puritans," landed at "Plymouth Rock," but they weren't even the first English to arrive in the "New World." Throughout the 16th century, Englishmen and other Europeans had been visiting the coast of North America and, of course, the Spanish were already established in the Caribbean, Central and South America and they were making inroads into North America through Florida and the Gulf Coast. In 1607, the first permanent English settlement was established on the "James River" in a land they called "Virginia". They built a fort they called "Jamestown."( Jamestown 2007 Link, Jamestown Settlement Link) With this act the invasion of the land we know as the United States of America began in earnest. It was the tribes of the Eastern Woodland Indians that met these English. At times the relationship was peaceful and at times it wasn't. I do think it is fair to say that relationships were always guarded on both sides. By the middle of the 18th century, many wars had been fought between whites and Indians and between whites and other whites with both sides using Indians as auxiliary forces. The war we know as the French & Indian War (1754 - 1763) was actually the fourth such war between the English and the French, dating back to the previous century, both sides using Indians as auxiliaries. In Europe this fourth F&I War was known as the Seven Years War, but here in the colonies it actually lasted nine years.
In October 1753, George Washington was assigned by Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia to warn the French to leave Virginia. At that time Virginia was laying claim to all the lands west of the Allegheny River in what is now western Pennsylvania. The French did not leave the region and in April 1754, Washington was sent back to the frontier with two companies of militia and defeated a small force of the French thus starting a war which really became the First World War as it ultimately involved all the major powers in Europe with theaters of combat all around the globe. The final treaty of peace did not come between the whites until 1763. For the Indians, while many treaties were signed at the time and many more have been signed since, the war continued, by some accounts, for almost another one hundred and fifty years. Some say the war continues to this day.
At this point we reach one of the notable (notable by the Whites anyway) points in Shawnee history. In 1769, the Shawnee captured an exploring party led by Daniel Boone. They made the whites take them to all their camps, where they destroyed or confiscated all the whites' property. The Shawnee then released the party unharmed, kindly supplying each member with a pair of moccasins, a gun, and a doeskin for patch leather, so that they would survive their trip home. The frontiersmen, however, were not impressed by the treatment they received; on the contrary, they were incensed at being kicked off land to which they believed the Shawnees had no valid claim.
When Daniel Boone was taken prisoner again in 1778 he was adopted by Chief Chiungalla, or "Black Fish", and given the name 'Sheltowee' meaning 'Big Turtle.' He stayed with the tribe for three months. The Shawnee considered him to be one of their own and when he ran away from the tribe to go back to the whites the Shawnee considered Boone a traitor. His sympathies had always remained with the whites. When Boone discovered that the Shawnees were planning to attack Boonesboro, a station in Kentucky that had been founded by and named after him, he escaped in time to warn the inhabitants and help them defend the fort.
During the American Revolution, the Indians continued to play a role. The Mohawk and most of the major tribes sided with the British. The Oneida, Lenapi and Stockbridge, among others, played a role for the Americans. The Shawnee continued to raid frontier settlements somewhat independent of anyone, but almost all the tribes suffered at the hands of whites during and after the war. From the Revolution, in fact almost from 1607, through the War of 1812 (which lasted from 1812 to 1815), up to the Indian Removals of the 1830's (see Links Below), war between the English colonies and later, the United States and one or more of the Eastern Woodland Tribes was continuous. Only after driving the tribes out of the Eastern Woodlands did the wars in the east end. They then became The Indian Wars of the Old West, but that is another story.
Wikipedia - War of 1812 The Shawnee in the War of 1812 The Creek War The Indian Removal Act The Trail of Tears
A Shawnee History
The Shawnee were and are Algonquian speakers. The name Shawnee comes from the Algonquian term "Shawun" meaning "south" or "Shawunogi" meaning "southerner." The French called the Shawnee "Chaouanons." The Iroquois, with whom the Shawnee historically maintained a hostile relationship, among other names, called them "ontwaganha," meaning "those who utter unintelligible speech." Other names: Ani-Sawanugi (Cherokee), Chaskpe(French), Satana (Iroquois), Shawala (Lakota), and Savannah or Savannuca (South Carolina colonists). The Shawnee prefer to call themselves the Shawano - sometimes given as Shawanoe or Shawanese. In fact there are some 150 different names and spellings that have been used to refer to the Shawnee.
The Shawnee are identified with the group of Central Algonquians which include the Miami, Kickapoo, Illiniwek, and Sauk and Fox. The original home of the entire Algonquian stock lay somewhere in the eastern Canada from The Hudson Bay area southward. It is thought that the Shawnee were one of the earliest groups to move south from this region. However, the precise route taken, the length of time spent in migration, and even the approximate time of departure are unknown. Thus it is difficult to separate fact from fiction when dealing with tribal legend and tradition.
The Walam Olum, the migration legend of the Delaware, gives a clue about the time of the Shawnee migration to the south: "When Little Fog was chief, many of them [Delaware] went away with the Nanticoke and Shawnee to the land in the south." The date of this 
occurrence is estimated at about 1240 A.D.
Some of the Shawnee have preserved a tradition of migrating from the Atlantic down the Saint Lawrence to the Great Lakes. So perhaps they moved east first then came back west and south.
The Kickapoo and the Shawnee share a legend about their separation. The split was caused by a hunters' quarrel over the division of some roasted bear paws. The only difference as told by the two tribes is who is credited with the blame. A commander of a frontier post in the 1820's, tells of a Shawnee chief who describes the same incident except that it was the Saux from which the Shawnee separated.
Before the arrival of Europeans the various Shawnee divisions were located in the northeastern part of the Great Lakes region, for their strongest cultural affiliations are with the Huron, Seneca, Winnebago, Ojibwa, Delaware, and Nanticoke. From here the Shawnee apparently continued in a southwesterly direction. The Ohio Valley yeilds the strongest archaeological evidence of late prehistoric 
Shawnee occupation.
By the 1650's the Shawnee were living in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Quarrels with neighboring tribes caused their dispersal, scattering the bands of Shawnee from the Gulf Coast to the Delaware valley along the Atlantic coast. Those living in Georgia and South Carolina assisted the English in their wars against the Westos. Others went first to Illinois, then returned to Pennsylvania and Maryland, settling near their "grandfathers," the Delawares. By 1725 most of the southern bands had rejoined their kinsmen in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Pressure from the expanding white frontier and from the Iroquois caused the Shawnee to move westward, where they established new villages in the Wyoming and Susquehanna valleys.
Shawnee cosmology asserted that they were chosen by the Master of Life to occupy the center of the earth (the Shawnee homeland) and to bring harmony to the universe. The Master of Life provided the Shawnee with sacred bundles containing objects possessing a power that could be used for good. He also gave them a series of laws instructing the Shawnees how to live. If the tribe used the sacred bundles properly and followed the precepts of Shawnee law, they would prosper and their world would be orderly.
Discipline among the Shawnee was paramount. Shawnee children were taught that good conduct would earn a reward and bad conduct would bring sorrow. They were also taught "Do not kill or injure your neighbor, for it is not him that you injure, you injure yourself. But do good to him, therefore add to his happiness as you add to your own. Do not wrong or hate your neighbor, for it is not him you wrong, you wrong yourself. But love him, for Moneto ("Master of Life") loves him also as he loves you". The Shawnee never applied it towards the white man. 
The Shawnee, like other tribes had women chiefs. Just like male cheifs they were separated according to peace and war functions.
They held a great deal of power and their decisions on questions of peace and war carried equal weight.
The subject of a book by James Alexander and Dark Rain Thom,
Nonhelema known to the whites as the "Grenadier Squaw" was the cheif of her own village on the Scioto River. She was not unattractive, she stood six and a half feet tall and had a well formed body in good proportion to her height. She was the sister of Hokolesqua, "Cornstalk." She married Moluntha. When Logan raided their village in October 1786, Moluntha surrendered after being assured that no harm would come to him or his wives. But one officer, when hearing that Moluntha had been at the battle of Blue Licks, burried a tomahawk in his skull, killing him instantly. Moluntha had fallen with the safe conduct pass still in his hand. Nonhelema had shrieked with rage and launched herself at the white man, but the guards leaped upon her and, with difficulty, brought her to the ground, subduing her.She was released in December 1786, very thin and drawn, as she was kept in confinement the whole duration of her captivity because of the whites being uncomfortably aware of the warriorlike fighting ability of this powerful woman.
Chiefs served as judges of offenses of a criminal nature, appointing others to take care of lesser matters. The word of the Chief was law. Any refusal to obey the Shawnee code of behavior was punished with a severe beating or death. Anyone who refused to accept the punishment for a crime was ostracized, a punishment considered worse than death. Shawnee had more respect for fellow tribe members than for property. Decietfulness or slander among tribe members was a crime. Nonpayment of debts was not. The creditor was simply allowed to take whatever property would cover the debt. Theives were given three chances. If a person stole a fourth time, he was tied to a post and whipped. If it continued, the thief's fate was put in the hands of those he stole from - normally the victim would ambush and shoot the thief.
Most infractions of the law, from petty theft to murder, were normally handled by the accused and the accuser or their families. Often wrong doings were atoned by feasts and presents
in proportion to the nature of the offense and the rank and sex of the injured party.The worse infraction was considered the killing of a woman.
For this infraction, the shawnee demanded double atonement, since a woman bore children.
Tecumseh, born in 1768 in the Ohio valley, was a leader, but never a cheif. It was the custom among the Shawnee that any warrior could ask to lead a raid and if given permission by the council and could recruit a force, would do just that. At a very early age, Tecunseh gained a reputation as a fighter and never had any trouble recruitig warriors. As a result he led many raids into Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia against white settlements. Tecumseh was also an eloquent speaker and often served as the spokesman for the Shawnee at councils between white officals and the tribes of the Ohio Valley. His white contemporaries, both British and American, described him in glowing terms and since his death historians have echoed their praises. Tecumseh's attempts to unite the western tribes seemed both persceptive and logical. He obviously was a magnetic individual, a leader whose personal qualities attracted large numbers of followers and enabled him to forge them into a multitribal confederacy.
"We must be united
We must smoke the same pipe
We must f ight each other's battles
And more than that, We must love the Great Spirit."
--Tecumseh --
-His appeal to other tribes to join his confederacy.-
Contact Information
Shemaqua
127-A King Henry Way
Williamsburg, VA
23188-1903
Phone - 757.253.6999
E-Mail - shemaqua@cox.net
.Copyright by D. E. Warden II
aka Shemaqua
& bigbearsden.org
2009