Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elias Boudinot
|
|
|---|---|
| ᎦᎴᎩᎾ ᎤᏪᏘ | |
.jpg)
Muriel Wright Collection,
Oklahoma Historical Society |
|
| Born | 1802 Oothcaloga, Cherokee Nation (present-day Calhoun, Georgia), U.S.
|
| Died | June 22, 1839 (aged 36–37) |
| Resting place | Worcester Mission Cemetery, Park Hill, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Other names | Buck Watie |
| Spouse(s) |
Harriet Boudinot
(m. 1823; died 1836)Delight Boudinot
(m. 1837) |
| Children | Elias C. Boudinot (son) |
| Relatives | Stand Watie (brother) |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Elias Boudinot (Cherokee: ᎦᎴᎩᎾ ᎤᏩᏘ, romanized: Gallegina Uwati; 1802 – June 22, 1839), also known as Buck Watie, was an important writer, newspaper editor, and leader of the Cherokee Nation. He was born and grew up in Cherokee territory, which is now part of Georgia.
Elias Boudinot came from a well-known family. He had both Cherokee and European ancestors. He went to school at the Foreign Mission School in Connecticut. He was one of several leaders who believed that the Cherokee people needed to adopt some American ways to survive. He played a big role during the time when the Cherokee were forced to move to Indian Territory.
In 1826, Boudinot married Harriet R. Gold. She was from a famous family in Cornwall, Connecticut. He met her while he was a student there. His marriage, like his cousin John Ridge's marriage a year earlier, caused some debate in the town. To protect their future children, the Cherokee National Council made a law in 1825. This law said that children of Cherokee fathers and white mothers would be full citizens of the Cherokee Nation.
Boudinot and other Cherokee leaders believed that moving their people was unavoidable. This was because many United States settlers were moving onto their lands. He and some allies signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835. They hoped to get the best deal for their people. But John Ross, the Principal Chief, and most full-blood Cherokee strongly opposed giving up their lands. The next year, the Cherokee were forced to give up most of their lands in the Southeast. They had to move west of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory in the late 1830s.
After Harriet died in 1836, Boudinot moved with his children to Indian Territory. In June 1839, after the forced move, he and three other leaders who signed the treaty were killed. This happened in Indian Territory. His children were sent to live with his wife's parents in Connecticut. They went to school there. Boudinot's son, Elias Cornelius Boudinot, later became a lawyer. He returned west and became active in tribal politics.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Elias Boudinot was born in 1802. His Cherokee name was Gallegina. He was born into a leading Cherokee family in their territory, which is now Georgia. He was the oldest of nine children. His mother, Susanna Reese, had both Cherokee and European ancestors. When his father, Uwati, became a Christian, he took the name David Uwatie. Elias's younger brother was Degataga, known as Stand Watie. Stand Watie later became a leader during the American Civil War. Elias and his brothers were nephews of Major Ridge and cousins of John Ridge.
Gallegina Watie, the Ridges, John Ross, and others became important leaders of the Cherokee Nation in the early 1800s. They all had some European-American education. Tribal chiefs wanted these young men to learn how to deal with the United States government.
Elias's Christian education began when he was six years old. He studied at a local Moravian missionary school. In 1812, he joined the Spring Place school. Around this time, Cherokee leaders asked the government for help to educate their children. They wanted their children to learn about white civilization.
In 1817, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) opened the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut. This school was for promising students from other cultures, including Native American cultures. In 1818, Elias Cornelius, an agent from ABCFM, chose Gallegina Watie, John Ridge, and others to go to this school. On their way there, they met famous American leaders like Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.
In Burlington, New Jersey, the young men met Elias Boudinot. He was the president of the American Bible Society. He was also a former member of the Second Continental Congress. Watie and Elias Boudinot were impressed with each other. Watie asked for permission to use Elias Boudinot's name, and he agreed. When Watie started at the Foreign Mission School, he began using the name Elias Boudinot. He used this name for the rest of his life.
In 1820, Boudinot became a Christian. He liked the idea of universal love. His Christian beliefs guided his work with the Cherokee Nation. In 1824, Boudinot helped translate the New Testament into Cherokee. It was printed using the syllabary created by Sequoyah.
Marriage and Family Life
While studying in Connecticut, Boudinot met Harriet Ruggles Gold. She was from a well-known local family who supported the Foreign Mission School. Her family often invited Boudinot and other Native American students to their home. After Boudinot returned to the Cherokee Nation due to illness, he wrote letters to Harriet.
His cousin John Ridge also went to the school. In 1824, John Ridge married a local young woman. This caused a lot of controversy in Cornwall, as many townspeople did not approve. After the Ridges moved back to New Echota, the Cherokee National Council passed a law in 1825. This law gave full Cherokee citizenship to children of a Cherokee father and a white mother.
In the Cherokee culture, children traditionally belonged to their mother's clan. They got their status from their mother's people. The Cherokee had always accepted mixed-race children of Cherokee mothers and white fathers. But, without the new law, the children of Ridge and Boudinot would not have had a place in Cherokee society. This was because white women were considered outsiders. The law was passed to protect the status of their future children.
When Boudinot and Gold first announced their engagement, her family and the church strongly opposed it. There were also local protests. Harriet insisted and finally got her parents' permission. They were married on March 28, 1826, at her home. The strong opposition to this marriage, which was the second between a Cherokee student and a white woman, led to the closing of the Foreign Mission School.
The Boudinots moved back to New Echota. They had six children who survived: Eleanor Susan, Mary Harriett, William Penn, Sarah Parkhill, Elias Cornelius, and Franklin Brinsmade Boudinot. Five of their children later married and had their own families.
Harriet Boudinot died in August 1836. She likely died from problems after childbirth. She passed away a few months after her seventh child was stillborn.
Career as a Newspaper Editor
After returning to New Echota, Boudinot was chosen by the Cherokee General Council in 1828. He became the editor of a new newspaper. This was the first newspaper published by a Native American nation. He worked with his friend Samuel Worcester, a missionary and printer. Worcester had new printing types made for the Cherokee syllabary. In 1828, they printed the Cherokee Phoenix in both Cherokee and English. Most articles were in English, but about 16 percent were in Cherokee.
The newspaper aimed to explain the Cherokee people to European Americans. It also showed that the Cherokee had an admirable civilization. The Council also wanted the Phoenix to unite the Cherokee people across the Southeast. The newspaper regularly published new laws and political news for the Cherokee Nation.
Between 1828 and 1832, Boudinot wrote many articles against Indian Removal. This policy was suggested by Georgia and supported by President Andrew Jackson. After Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States put more pressure on the Cherokee. President Jackson wanted to move the Cherokee and other Southeastern peoples from their homelands. This would make land available for European-American settlers.
For about four years, Boudinot's articles argued that Georgia's actions ignored the Constitution and past treaties. He said this would harm Cherokee progress and threaten the unity of the United States. Boudinot's articles showed how the Cherokee were adopting American ways. They were converting to Christianity, getting Western education, and becoming farmers. He criticized how the language of treaties was twisted by those who wanted Indian Removal.
In 1832, Boudinot was on a speaking tour in the North to raise money for the Phoenix. He learned that the US Supreme Court had supported the Cherokee's rights to their land within Georgia. But he soon found out that President Jackson still wanted Indian Removal. Because of this, Boudinot started to believe that the Cherokee should try to get the best possible terms from the U.S. government by signing a treaty. He thought moving was unavoidable. His new view was strongly opposed by many Cherokee.
The National Council and John Ross, the Principal Chief, were against removal. Most of the people also opposed it. Former allies in the Cherokee government turned against Boudinot and other "treaty advocates." These included John Ridge and Major Ridge. Opponents questioned their loyalty and stopped them from speaking in councils. Ross told Boudinot to stop publishing articles that supported removal in the Cherokee Phoenix. In protest, Boudinot resigned in the spring of 1832. Ross's brother-in-law, Elijah Hicks, became the new editor.
In 1959, Elias Boudinot was honored in the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame for his work with the newspaper.
Important Writings
The Cherokee Phoenix Newspaper
The Cherokee Phoenix was the first newspaper published by a Native American tribe. It gave a voice to people who were being forced to become "outsiders." The first edition was printed on February 21, 1828. The Cherokee Phoenix office often received letters from about 100 other newspapers. It was respected across the United States and Europe. In 1829, the newspaper's name changed to the Cherokee Phoenix and Indians’ Advocate. This showed Boudinot's goal to influence people outside the tribe. Boudinot often wrote articles about Indian Removal.
"An Address to the Whites" (1826)
Boudinot gave this speech in Philadelphia on May 26, 1826. He talked about how the Cherokee were similar to white people. He also explained how the Cherokee were adopting parts of white culture. Boudinot was raising money for a Cherokee national academy and printing equipment for the newspaper. He wanted support for "civilizing" the Cherokee. After the speech, he published it as a pamphlet with the same title. "An Address to the Whites" was very popular and helped raise a lot of money.
Influence on Indian Removal Policy
The policy of Indian Removal came about because gold was found in Cherokee territory. Also, the cotton industry grew, and European Americans strongly desired land in the Southeast. European Americans did not like that the Cherokee controlled their lands, and conflicts increased. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 said that all Native American peoples living east of the Mississippi River should be moved west. Most of the Cherokee, led by Chief John Ross, were against this act. However, Boudinot started to believe that Indian Removal was unavoidable. He thought the best thing was for the Cherokee to secure their rights through a treaty. He believed this should happen before they were forced to move against their will.
Boudinot used all his writing and speaking skills to try and influence the Indian Removal policy. But many within the Cherokee Nation disagreed with him. He criticized Chief John Ross, who opposed his ideas. Ross had ordered Boudinot to stop publishing his views favoring removal in the newspaper.
In 1832, Boudinot resigned as editor of the Cherokee Phoenix. He said his salary was too low, he had health problems, and the Cherokee Nation could not provide enough supplies for the newspaper. However, in a letter to John Ross, he said he could no longer serve because he could not print what he believed was true about the dangers of continuing to oppose removal. Ross and the council accepted his resignation. Elijah Hicks was appointed to run the newspaper. Although Hicks was a good businessman, he had no newspaper experience. The Cherokee Phoenix soon declined and stopped publishing on May 31, 1834.
Moving to Indian Territory
Boudinot and other Treaty Party leaders signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835. This treaty gave up all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi River. Most of the Cherokee delegation opposed this treaty, and Principal Chief John Ross did not sign it. However, the U.S. Senate approved the treaty. After this, facing strong anger among the Cherokee, many of the signers and their families moved to Indian Territory. They joined the "Old Settlers" who had moved there in the 1820s.
Between 1838 and 1839, the U.S. Army forced the Cherokee and their slaves from their homes in the Southeast. They made most of them move west to Indian Territory (which is now eastern Oklahoma). The Cherokee called this journey the Trail of Tears.
After his wife's death in 1836, Boudinot needed to move himself and his children. He sent his son, Cornelius, to live with a family in Alabama for medical treatment. Another son traveled west with the Ridge family. The rest of the children went to school at Brainerd while Elias left the territory. Elias first visited Harriet's parents in the North. Then, he joined a group that included John Ridge and traveled to the Western Cherokee Nation. This area was set up by "Old Settlers" in what is now northeast Oklahoma. Two months later, he wrote to Harriet's parents that he had married Delight Sargent. She was a woman from New England who had been a teacher at New Echota. He received $500 from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to build a small house near his friend Samuel Worcester in Park Hill. Reunited with his friend, Boudinot returned to translating the Gospel.
The "Old Settlers" and John Ross's supporters could not agree on uniting the Nation after moving to Indian Territory. Some of Ross's supporters secretly planned to kill Treaty Party leaders. This was because of the hardships of the Removal. They also wanted to remove them as political rivals and make the Old Settlers obey. On June 22, 1839, a group of unknown Cherokee killed Boudinot outside his home. They also killed his cousin and uncle, John and Major Ridge, on the same day. His brother Stand Watie was attacked but survived.
Ross denied any connection to the killings. However, Stand Watie blamed the Principal Chief. After these murders, followers of Watie and Ross fought violently for years. Stand Watie killed a man he saw attack his uncle Major Ridge. Watie was found not guilty because he acted in self-defense. At his trial, his nephew, Elias Cornelius Boudinot, represented him. Elias Cornelius Boudinot became a lawyer in Arkansas after being raised by his mother's family and educated in the East.
The violence continued until 1846, when the U.S. government helped negotiate a peace treaty. The deep anger contributed to divisions within the tribe during the American Civil War. The fighting and divisions after the forced move added to the Cherokee Nation's troubles.
During the Civil War, the Nation split into two groups. Stand Watie and most of his supporters sided with the Confederacy. He served as an officer in their army. Ross and his supporters sided with the Union. Many Union supporters had to leave Indian Territory during the war for their safety. They returned after the Union won, and Ross was the only chief recognized by the U.S. government.
See also
In Spanish: Elias Boudinot para niños
- Timeline of Cherokee removal
- Treaty of New Echota
