Moraviantown, Ontario. October 5, 2013 marked two centuries (twenty decades) since Tecumseh (my Shawnee Grandma Bessie’s pronunciation was Tecumthé) fell in battle near the Thames River, and passed to the spirit world. His remarkable life began under the sign of a great comet in 1768, and he worked tirelessly to unify all Indian nations in a great confederacy of nations, in common cause against a common colonizing foe.

He is commonly known as a “warrior,” and is often wrongly called a “war chief.” He was fierce and fearless in battle, yet he was also a person of great heart and compassion. He was a warrior because he experienced to the core of his being the great wrongs committed by the white Christians against our nations and peoples. From a young age he was committed to fighting against the colonizers who were waging ceaseless war against our nations as a result of their greed and religious zealotry. He experienced first- hand their desire to destroy us and take over all our valuable lands and resources, worth trillions of dollars in their monetary terms.

Today we honor Tecumseh’s great Life, and his vision of unified Indian nations all across and throughout Great Turtle Island. A few of the words attributed to him state: “Oh that I could make the destiny of my People as great as the conceptions of my mind when I think of the spirit of the universe. I would not then come to Governor Harrison and ask him to tear up the treaty [of Greenville], but I would say to him: ‘Sir, you have the liberty to return to your own country.’”