Chief Thunderwater: An Unexpected Indian in Unexpected PlacesOn June 11, 1950, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an obituary under the bold headline “Chief Thunderwater, Famous in Cleveland 50 Years, Dies.” And there, it seems, the consensus on Thunderwater ends. Was he, as many say, a con artist and an imposter posing as an Indian who lead a political movement that was a cruel hoax? Or was he a Native activist who worked tirelessly and successfully to promote Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, sovereignty in Canada? The truth about this enigmatic figure, so long obscured by vying historical narratives, emerges clearly in Gerald F. Reid’s biography, Chief Thunderwater—the first full portrait of a central character in twentieth-century Iroquois history. Searching out Thunderwater’s true identity, Reid documents Thunderwater's life from his birth in 1865, as Oghema Niagara, through his turns as a performer of Indian identity and, alternately, as a dedicated advocate of Indian rights. After nearly a decade as an entertainer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Thunderwater became progressively more engaged in Haudenosaunee political affairs—first in New York and then in Quebec and Ontario. As Reid shows, Thunderwater’s advocacy for Haudenosaunee sovereignty sparked alarm within Canada’s Department of Indian Affairs, which moved forcefully to discredit Thunderwater and dismantle his movement. Self-promoter, political activist, entrepreneur: Reid’s critical study reveals Thunderwater in all his contradictions and complexity—a complicated man whose story expands our understanding of Native life in the early modern era, and whose movement represents a key moment in the development of modern Haudenosaunee nationalism. |
Contents
Thunderwater and Clevelands Indians | |
Thunderwater and the Council of the Tribes | |
The Thunderwater Movement | |
Thunderwaterism and the Response of Canadas Indian | |
Dirty Tricks and the End of the Thunderwater Movement | |
Libel in Louisville | |
Trials and Tribulations | |
An Unexpected Indian in Unexpected Places | |
Notes | |
Bibliography | |
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Chief Thunderwater: An Unexpected Indian in Unexpected Places Gerald F. Reid No preview available - 2022 |
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adoption and membership Affidavits Akwesasne American Indian ancestry Ancestry.com attorney band council elections Brant Buffalo Canada Canadian Caughnawaga century certificates Chief Keokuk Chief Thunderwater Chief Thunderwater’s claim clan Cleveland Plain Dealer convention Courier-Journal cultural Delisle Department of Indian deposition Duncan Campbell Scott efforts family history File Folder Fox Tribe grand councillor Grand River Haudenosaunee communities Haudenosaunee political Herald-Post hereditary chiefs incorporate the Council Indian Act Indian Act system Indian Affairs Indian agent Indian Department officials Indian Department’s Iroquois Jacobs June June 11 Kahnawake Lakota letter libel Louisville McLean Meskwakis Mohawk tribe Moses Keokuk mother newspaper October October 26 Oghema Niagara Ohio Ojibwe Oklahoma Ontario organization Parker peace chief Peter Sands Regis reserve reported Sac and Fox Sauk Seneca Six Nations Confederacy superintendent testified Thunderwater movement Thunderwater supporters Thunderwater’s Thunderwater’s home Tonawanda traditional government trial Tuscarora Tyendinaga United States Federal WRHS wrote York