Pekowi

Pekowi was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the Chalahgawtha, Mekoche, Kispoko, and Hathawekela. Together these divisions formed the loose confederacy that was the Shawnee tribe.

All five Shawnee division names have been spelled in a great variety of ways. Variations of the name "Pekowi" are reflected in many place names in the United States, including Piqua, Pickawillany, Pickaway, and Pequea.

Traditionally, Shawnee ritual leaders came from the Pekowi patrilineal division.[1]

From 1737 to about 1750 the Pekowi were led by Peter Chartier, a fur trader of French and Pekowi parentage. Chartier was the grandson of Straight Tail Meaurroway Opessa.[2] In 1710 he married his cousin, Blanceneige-Wapakonee Opessa. Chartier opposed the sale of rum in Shawnee communities in Pennsylvania, and this brought him into conflict with the colonial governor, Patrick Gordon.[3] In 1745 Chartier led some 400 members of the Pekowi to Lower Shawneetown and then to Kentucky where they founded the community of Eskippakithiki. Members of the Pekowi led by Chartier fought on the side of the French at the Battle of Fort Necessity in 1754.[4]

The Shawnee village of Peckuwe, which was located at 39°54.5′N 83°54.68′W near Springfield, Ohio was home to the Peckuwe and Kispoko Divisions of the Shawnee Tribe until Battle of Piqua, August 8, 1780. The Piqua Sept of Ohio Shawnee Tribe have placed a traditional cedar pole in commemoration, located "on the southern edge of the George Rogers Clark Historical Park, in the lowlands in front of the park's 'Hertzler House.'"[5]

References
  1. John E. Kleber (18 May 1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 815. ISBN 978-0-8131-2883-2. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  2. Don Greene, Shawnee Heritage II: Selected Lineages of Notable Shawnee (Lulu.com: Fantasy ePublications, 2008), Lulu.com: Fantasy ePublications, 2008; pp. 44-45 and 70.
  3. Stephen Warren, Worlds the Shawnees Made: Migration and Violence in Early America, UNC Press Books, 2014 ISBN 1469611732
  4. Charles Augustus Hanna, The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Volume 1 The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Putnam's sons, 1911
  5. "Peckuwe Shawnee Memorial Marker". HNdb.org, The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 2013-02-17.



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