Notes for Marie Louise TACUMWAH

Chandonai Genealogy

Notes for Marie Louise TACUMWAH

Tacumwah means On the other side.

Tacumwah controlled the portage of goods and furs along a seven mile trail from the bend of the St. Mary's River to the Little River and from the Maumee to the Wabash. She employed a number of French Canadians and Miamis to transport the goods. Tacumwah's post was located about 25 miles from Jean Baptiste's post at Miamitown.

Chaput notes that Henry Hay's journal of his trip from Detroit to the Mississippi records many details of Miami life. Hay's comments about Tacumwah and her son, demonstrated the strong influence that she had on Jean Baptiste, guiding him in the intricacies of frontier economics and politics. Hay noted that "the young man is so very very bashful that he never speaks in council, his mother who is very clever is obliged to do it for him." Hay added that "she has been a very handsome woman."

Rafert states that Miami women, such as Tacumwah, acted as a regent for young chiefs, directing their affairs until they were ready to take on the role of chief.

According to an oft repeated story, Tacumwah encouraged John Baptiste to rescue a white captive who had been condemned to burning at the stake. At a signal from Tacumwah, John Baptiste leaped into the flames and cut the cords that bound the captive. The Miamis regarded this act as so heroic that they proclaimed Jean Baptiste as chief.

Sources:
Stewart Rafert, The Miami Indians of Indiana A Persistant People, p. 48, 103
Jacob Piatt Dunn, True Indian Stories, p. 44 - 45
Valley of the Upper Maumee River, Brant & Fuller, 1990 (reprint) p. 179
History of Miami County, p. 255
Donald Chaput, The Family of Drouet de Richerville, Merchants, Soldiers and Chiefs of Indiana," 1978, p. 112 - 113.
Sources:

Title: Descendants of P'Koum-Kwa & Aquenackqua
Author: Sammye Leonard Darling
Publication: e-mails & http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/d/a/r/Sammye-Darling/index.html?Welcome=1081006928 - see FamilyTreemaker site for Sammye's sources
Repository:
Call Number:
Media: Electronic
Title: True Indian Stories
Author: Jacob Piatt Dunn
Publication: Sentinel Publishing Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1909
Repository:
Call Number:
Media: Book
Page: 44
Title: History of Miami County Indiana
Publication: Brant & Fuller, Chicago, 1887
Repository:
Note: Burton Collection, Detroit Public Library
Call Number:
Media: Book
Page: 255
Title: The Miami Indians of Indiana A Persistent People
Author: Stewart Rafert
Publication: Indiana Historical Society Press, 1996
Repository:
Note: Personal Collection
Call Number:
Media: Book
Page: 48

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