The Indigenous Women Who Brokered Peace
Long before the American Revolution, colonists were upset by how the British government managed the relationships between British colonists and Indigenous tribes. The Crown was concerned about the violence between white settlers and Native peoples, especially on the frontiers, and tried to keep the two groups apart through the Proclamation of 1763. When the American Revolution began, many assumed that Indigenous peoples would side with the British. But many Native Americans tried to avoid the conflict or, like the Cherokee nation, were divided over whom to support.
Nanyehi was a beloved political leader of the Cherokees who sought to broker peace between American settlers and the Cherokee people during the American Revolution. While Nanyehi’s cousin and his son prepared to drive out white settlers in any way possible, Nanyehi helped white settlers evacuate before a Cherokee raid and saved a captured white woman named Mrs. William Bean from being burned alive.
As fighting between the settlers and the Cherokees dragged on, Nanyehi worked for peace. In 1781, she addressed the U.S. commissioners who were working with Cherokee leaders to negotiate a treaty to end the fighting. She believed that peace would come only if Native peoples and white settlers saw themselves as one people, and she believed that only the women could make this happen.
Map of the southeastern United States and Indigenous nations.
TAKE NOTES
Now that you've learned about women brokering peace during the American Revolution, add to your notes about their participation on the “Brokering Peace” line.
