Edith Turner facts for kids
Edith Turner (born around 1754 – died in 1838) was an important leader of the Nottoway people in Virginia. She was sometimes called "chief" or "queen" and was also known by her personal name, Wané Roonseraw. She played a big role in helping her community during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Life of a Nottoway Leader
Edith Turner lived in Southampton County, Virginia. She started dealing with land matters for her people as early as 1794. Her name first appeared in official records in 1792, when she signed a request to the Virginia General Assembly. In 1819, she married William Green, who was not a Native American.
A count of the tribe in 1808 showed that she worked by "knitting, sewing, and what is usual in common housewifery." It also said she had two Black workers who were hired for her by white helpers. People said she was very smart, even though she didn't have a lot of formal schooling. She was also good at talking in both English and the Nottoway language. We don't know much else about her personal life, like if she had children.
Helping Her Community
Edith Turner owned a successful farm. As a leader, she tried to get her people to use the farming methods that white settlers used. At that time, many Nottoway people didn't want to farm intensely. Because of this, they had to sell parts of their land to pay off debts. Turner tried to divide the land among individual families instead of keeping it all as one big tribal area. To do this, in 1821, she asked the Virginia General Assembly to split up the remaining reservation land among the people living there.
Turner also helped Nottoway children. She acted as a foster mother and spoke up for them. She successfully asked white helpers to bring four children back to the reservation.
Meeting Important People
In 1820, Edith Turner met Jedidiah Morse. He was traveling across the United States to study Native American tribes for the President. Morse called her the "reigning Queen" of the Nottoway tribe. He praised her intelligence and her good business sense.
Turner is also remembered as one of the last three people who could speak the Nottoway language. This language died out sometime before 1900. In 1820, she gave a list of Nottoway words to a surveyor named John Wood. This list eventually reached Thomas Jefferson, who shared it with Peter Stephen Du Ponceau. It is one of the best sources we have today about the Nottoway language.
She also knew many of her tribe's old stories and legends. She shared one of these stories with a writer, who then published it in a magazine in London in 1821. She taught Nottoway traditions to children. She also taught them how to live and succeed in a society mostly run by white people.
Edith Turner was the only person in her tribe at that time to write a will. This short document did not mention any relatives. It left most of her property to someone named Edwin Turner, but we don't know how they were related. Later, a chief named Walter David "Red Hawk" Brown III was a descendant of one of her foster children.
In 2008, Edith Turner was recognized as one of the Virginia Women in History by the Library of Virginia.
