Teedyuscung
Encyclopedia
Teedyuscung was known as King of the Delawares. He worked to establish a permanent Lenape
(Delaware) home in eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh
, Susquehanna
and Delaware River
valleys. Teedyuscung participated in the Treaty of Easton
which resulted in the loss of any Lenape claims to all lands in Pennsylvania. Following the treaty the Lenape were forced to live under the control of the Iroquois
in the Wyoming Valley near modern day Wilkes-Barre
. Teedyuscung was murdered by arsonists on April 19, 1763 as he reportedly lay asleep as his cabin burned around him. This marked the beginning of the end of the Lenape presence in Pennsylvania. Teedyuscung's son Chief Bull conducted a raid on the Wyoming Valley that was part of a greater Indian uprising that resulted in the Lenape being forced to move west of the Appalachian Mountains
by the Royal Proclamation of 1763
, New Jersey
. He was raised among a group of Lenape
who were acculturated
to the ways of the colonists by the time he reached adulthood. Teedyuscung and his family wore European-style clothing and used other European goods in their daily lives. Many of them had converted to Christianity
and spoke English. Liquor introduced by traders deeply affected the rest of Teedyuscung's life. The Lenape were driven out of the Trenton area by 1730 and Teedyuscung migrated with his wife and son to a piece of land located near the confluence
of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers in what is now Northampton County
, Pennsylvania
.
.
The Lenape lost most of the Lehigh Valley
following the Walking Purchase
of 1737. Teedyuscung remained with his fellow Lenape until 1749 or 1750 when joined the Moravian Church at Lehighton
. He did not remain with the Moravians for long. His biographer, Anthony Wallace, wrote, Teedyuscung left the Moravian settlement in 1754 and settled farther north in the Wyoming Valley
. It was while living among other displaced Indians that Teedyuscung would declare himself "King of the Delawares" and assume a vital role in the negotiations between the Natives of Pennsylvania and the colonial government in Philadelphia.
which claimed the Wyoming Valley and all of Northern Pennsylvania. From the west were the French
and their Indian allies who sought to prevent British expansion into the mountains of Pennsylvania. And from the south came colonists with land grants from the colonial government in Philadelphia. The Lenape were also under pressure from a severe drought that affected their crops. Teedyuscung had turned to the Pennsylvania colonial government for aid. Pennsylvania referred him to the Iroquois Six Nations government. Despite the fact that Teedyuscung's people were being attacked by French allied Indians, the Iroquois ordered Teedyuscung to not fight back. The Iroquois were of no help and Governor Robert Morris
was of little help. He and the colonial assembly could not agree on terms by which to aid the Lenape. Ultimately Teedyuscung chose to align his warriors with the western Delaware and French.
Teedyuscung and other leaders commenced periodic raids on colonial settlements in Eastern Pennsylvania. The Natives sought retribution for the series of "purchases" that resulted in massive loss of land to the colonists. Finally Teedyuscung and other leaders met in conferences in Philadelphia and Easton
.
At the 1758 negotiations for the Treaty of Easton
, Teedyuscung claimed to be the only person who could convince the French allied Delaware Indians on the western borders of the colonies to stop their raids against the British colonists. He also claimed to be the "King of the Delawares" and that he represented the Six Nations of the Iroquois, the Shawnee
, the Mahican
, and the Christian Munsee
. In exchange for his work he sought a promise from the Pennsylvania government that the lands of the Wyoming Valley would be reserved for the displaced Indians of the area. The talks at Easton lasted 14 days. Teedyuscung agreed to peace with Pennsylvania in exchange for a promise that his people would be permitted to live in the Wyoming Valley. An official inquiry into the legality of the Walking Purchase
was also promised.
Teedyuscung encountered opposition in the talks at Easton and in the period following the talks with the family of William Penn
and the Iroquois Confederacy that he claimed to "represent" in the negotiations. The powerful Iroquois Confederacy claimed the Wyoming Valley and that the Lenape simply lived there with its permission. A combination of competing interests lead to the eventual demise of Teedyuscung and his settlement at Wyolutimunk.
settled lands in Pennsylvania that were part of their charters. The competing interests of the Iroquois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Virginia did not allow Teedyuscung and his people to live in the peace that was promised.
Teedyuscung was a casualty of the peace that brought about the end of the French and Indian War
in Pennsylvania. The colonists agreed to pull back from settlements in the Ohio country in exchange for peace east of the Appalachians. The Iroquois refused to grant a permanent home for Teedyuscung and his people in the Wyoming Valley. The promised investigation into the Walking Purchased was passed from the colonial government in Philadelphia to the British government in London
where it was eventually dropped. Teedyuscung was left unsupported and unprotected. On April 19, 1763 his cabin and the village of Wyolutimunk was burned to the ground by arsonists. Teedyuscung was asleep in his cabin at the time and perished in the blaze. The residents of Wyolutimunk fled and settlers from the Susquehanna Company of Connecticut soon took their place. Teedyuscung's dream of a Lenape home in the Wyoming Valley ended with his death.
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(Delaware) home in eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, is a river located in eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. Part of the Lehigh, along with a number of its tributaries, is designated a Pennsylvania Scenic River by the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources...
, Susquehanna
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
and Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
valleys. Teedyuscung participated in the Treaty of Easton
Treaty of Easton
The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War . Briefly, chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, Lenape-Delaware, Shawnee and others, agreed to be allies of the British colonies during the...
which resulted in the loss of any Lenape claims to all lands in Pennsylvania. Following the treaty the Lenape were forced to live under the control of the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
in the Wyoming Valley near modern day Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
. Teedyuscung was murdered by arsonists on April 19, 1763 as he reportedly lay asleep as his cabin burned around him. This marked the beginning of the end of the Lenape presence in Pennsylvania. Teedyuscung's son Chief Bull conducted a raid on the Wyoming Valley that was part of a greater Indian uprising that resulted in the Lenape being forced to move west of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
by the Royal Proclamation of 1763
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
Early life
Teedyuscung, whose name means "as far as the wood's edge", was born circa 1700 near TrentonTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. He was raised among a group of Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
who were acculturated
Acculturation
Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and...
to the ways of the colonists by the time he reached adulthood. Teedyuscung and his family wore European-style clothing and used other European goods in their daily lives. Many of them had converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and spoke English. Liquor introduced by traders deeply affected the rest of Teedyuscung's life. The Lenape were driven out of the Trenton area by 1730 and Teedyuscung migrated with his wife and son to a piece of land located near the confluence
Confluence (geography)
In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...
of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers in what is now Northampton County
Northampton County, Pennsylvania
As of the 2010 census, the county was 86.3% White, 5.0% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 2.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 2.2% were two or more races, and 3.8% were some other race. 10.5% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.As of the census of...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Leadership of the Lenape
After Teedyuscung moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, he came in contact with fellow Lenape who had not become accustomed to the ways of the colonial settlers. These Lenape still practiced many of the ceremonies and rituals of their ancestors. Teedyuscung became a spokesman for the Lenape who were forced to negotiate with the government of Colonial PennsylvaniaProvince of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in British America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II...
.
The Lenape lost most of the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
following the Walking Purchase
Walking Purchase
The Walking Purchase was a purported 1737 agreement between the Penn family, the proprietors of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape . By it the Penn family and proprietors claimed an area of 1,200,000 acres and forced the Lenape to vacate it...
of 1737. Teedyuscung remained with his fellow Lenape until 1749 or 1750 when joined the Moravian Church at Lehighton
Lehighton, Pennsylvania
Lehighton is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, north by west of Philadelphia. In the past, it developed early industries because of water power from the Lehigh River. With the location of a repair facility here and its regional operations, the Lehigh Valley Railroad became for years a...
. He did not remain with the Moravians for long. His biographer, Anthony Wallace, wrote, Teedyuscung left the Moravian settlement in 1754 and settled farther north in the Wyoming Valley
Wyoming Valley
Wyoming Valley is a region of northeastern Pennsylvania. As a metropolitan area, it is also known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, after its principal cities, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre....
. It was while living among other displaced Indians that Teedyuscung would declare himself "King of the Delawares" and assume a vital role in the negotiations between the Natives of Pennsylvania and the colonial government in Philadelphia.
Conflict with Neighbors
Colonists continued to move onto Indian lands throughout eastern Pennsylvania and the Indians of the Wyoming Valley began to fight back. The Lenape in the Wyoming Valley felt pressure from three fronts. From the east came settlers from ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
which claimed the Wyoming Valley and all of Northern Pennsylvania. From the west were the French
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and their Indian allies who sought to prevent British expansion into the mountains of Pennsylvania. And from the south came colonists with land grants from the colonial government in Philadelphia. The Lenape were also under pressure from a severe drought that affected their crops. Teedyuscung had turned to the Pennsylvania colonial government for aid. Pennsylvania referred him to the Iroquois Six Nations government. Despite the fact that Teedyuscung's people were being attacked by French allied Indians, the Iroquois ordered Teedyuscung to not fight back. The Iroquois were of no help and Governor Robert Morris
Robert Hunter Morris
Robert Hunter Morris, born 1700 in Trenton, New Jersey, died 27 January 1764 in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, was a prominent governmental figure in Colonial Pennsylvania, serving as governor of Pennsylvania and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court....
was of little help. He and the colonial assembly could not agree on terms by which to aid the Lenape. Ultimately Teedyuscung chose to align his warriors with the western Delaware and French.
Teedyuscung and other leaders commenced periodic raids on colonial settlements in Eastern Pennsylvania. The Natives sought retribution for the series of "purchases" that resulted in massive loss of land to the colonists. Finally Teedyuscung and other leaders met in conferences in Philadelphia and Easton
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
.
At the 1758 negotiations for the Treaty of Easton
Treaty of Easton
The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War . Briefly, chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, Lenape-Delaware, Shawnee and others, agreed to be allies of the British colonies during the...
, Teedyuscung claimed to be the only person who could convince the French allied Delaware Indians on the western borders of the colonies to stop their raids against the British colonists. He also claimed to be the "King of the Delawares" and that he represented the Six Nations of the Iroquois, the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
, the Mahican
Mahican
The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
, and the Christian Munsee
Christian Munsee
The Christian Munsee were a group of Lenape native American Indians, primarily Munsee-speaking, who converted to Christianity, following the teachings of the Moravian missionaries...
. In exchange for his work he sought a promise from the Pennsylvania government that the lands of the Wyoming Valley would be reserved for the displaced Indians of the area. The talks at Easton lasted 14 days. Teedyuscung agreed to peace with Pennsylvania in exchange for a promise that his people would be permitted to live in the Wyoming Valley. An official inquiry into the legality of the Walking Purchase
Walking Purchase
The Walking Purchase was a purported 1737 agreement between the Penn family, the proprietors of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape . By it the Penn family and proprietors claimed an area of 1,200,000 acres and forced the Lenape to vacate it...
was also promised.
Teedyuscung encountered opposition in the talks at Easton and in the period following the talks with the family of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
and the Iroquois Confederacy that he claimed to "represent" in the negotiations. The powerful Iroquois Confederacy claimed the Wyoming Valley and that the Lenape simply lived there with its permission. A combination of competing interests lead to the eventual demise of Teedyuscung and his settlement at Wyolutimunk.
Demise of Teedyuscung
The Iroquois were not pleased that Teedyuscung claimed to negotiate on their behalf and they refused to recognize the Lenape claim to any lands in the Wyoming Valley. The Quaker founders of Pennsylvania were losing control of their colony. As pacifists they did not fight against those who were willing to fight for the colony and settle on lands that the Quakers had promised to the Indians. The Colonies of Virginia and ConnecticutConnecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
settled lands in Pennsylvania that were part of their charters. The competing interests of the Iroquois, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Virginia did not allow Teedyuscung and his people to live in the peace that was promised.
Teedyuscung was a casualty of the peace that brought about the end of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in Pennsylvania. The colonists agreed to pull back from settlements in the Ohio country in exchange for peace east of the Appalachians. The Iroquois refused to grant a permanent home for Teedyuscung and his people in the Wyoming Valley. The promised investigation into the Walking Purchased was passed from the colonial government in Philadelphia to the British government in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where it was eventually dropped. Teedyuscung was left unsupported and unprotected. On April 19, 1763 his cabin and the village of Wyolutimunk was burned to the ground by arsonists. Teedyuscung was asleep in his cabin at the time and perished in the blaze. The residents of Wyolutimunk fled and settlers from the Susquehanna Company of Connecticut soon took their place. Teedyuscung's dream of a Lenape home in the Wyoming Valley ended with his death.