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R. David Edmunds. The Shawnee Prophet. University of Nebraska Press, 1983. 260 pp.
R. David Edmunds is a professor of history at Indiana University. He has also taught history courses at Berkeley and Texas Christian University. Dr. Edmunds has also penned many other books, such as which include The Potawatomis: Keepers of the Fire, and Tecumseh and the Quest for Indian Leadership. R. David Edmunds has a wife named Jeri and a daughter named Katie.
The book begins by providing the reader with enough background information to follow the imigration and leaders of the Ohio Valley Indians. We are told of the French, British and American government attitudes toward the Indians. They were used as pawns against each other. The governments would attempt to buy the Indians for fighting loyalty. Better for the Indians to fight the enemy then to risk their own soldiers lives. The more they bribed the Indians the more the Indians came to depend on the white man's help. They were no longer self sufficient.
Next, the reader enters a section of horrible truths of how the Indians were cheated out of their land and birthrights. The white man forced their way onto the Indian lands. They would cede them certain amounts of property and expect them to go no further. Then when the population of the town would grow, the government would bribe or trick the Indians into moving farther and farther west. Many tribes were moved out of their homelands by greedy government Chiefs. Chiefs who had forsaken their heritage for the wealth and/or support of the government. Many Indians felt abandoned and isolated and were looking for a sign of hope towards their own salvation.
The vulnerability of the Indians led to the growth of the Shawnee Prophet's movement. The Shawnee Prophet was an old drunken Indian whom one night seemingly died then came back to life. Upon his arrival back into the world he claimed to have seen the Master of Life. He said he was chosen to spread the word of the Master. The Prophet told of how the white men were sons of the Great Serpent, and that the Indians were to give up their firewater. He also said that the Indians had to once again adopt their traditional self sufficient ways and give up the white man's help. They were to work on Tribal peace in the Indian Nation, and were to avoid the white man, and the white man's war. Many Indians thought the Prophet was the answer to their prayers and flocked around in his village located at Greenville.
Village grew at an alarming rate. There was not enough food to feed those who lived at Greenville along with those who visited. The Prophet now had to go to the "evil" white man to ask for help. They were happy to help because the numerous Indians at Greenville frightened them. They were afraid that they were gathering for a battle. The Prophet was becoming a government recognized leader. Something that he very much liked. With the continuing growth of Greenville, the Prophet was forced to ask for even more help from the white man. This time the government was not pleased. The large numbers of Indians were to frightening. This time they tried to bargain with a treaty to move the Indians farther west. They refused to move and the white man planned a battle to force the Indians to move. The prophet was not a warrior nor had he ever been a warrior. The Indians lost the battle because of this. He had promised them a false victory. The result from this and following battles were the loss of popularity for the Prophet.
Over the years the Prophet was thought of as a false prophet. For a few years the governments still recognized him as having some power, but soon realized he did not. After a stay in Canada the Prophet returned to help the American government persuade the Indians to move farther west. While doing this he was showered with wealth. Eventually many Indians did move west. The Prophet set up his own village but it was nearly empty and after a few months. When the indians of the village left, He was forced to go to another nearby Shawnee village to live till he later passed on.
The author provides the reader with many actual facts of Indian movement westward and the Shawnee Prophet's part in this. He attempts to tell us of the hardships the Indians endured. It also seems that part of his message is to show us how the governments used them for their own foolish needs. R. David Edmunds tells of the weakness of the Indian spirit as the white man made them less self sufficient. He needed to show this so the reader could understand easy acceptance of the Shawnee Prophet and his message. The big picture shows the misuse of the Indians and their lands.
The source material used by the author is a combination of primary and secondary sources. R. David Edmunds material is very well balanced considering how long ago these events took place. Using an array of material allows the author to write as accurate account of the Indian movement and the Prophet's part as possible. Secondary sources accounted for most of the author's sources. There are a vast array of these because of the popularity of the Indians' involvement in our past.
I found this book to be very interesting and educating. The author supplied us with many truthfully horrible facts involving the treatment of the Indians. He did not interject his own feelings on the subject, he let the facts speak for themselves. I believe the book to be very fair. The author allows you to decide for yourself the importance of the Shawnee Prophet's role in Indian history. This book appears to have much historical value.
