Little Billy (Seneca chief)
Little Billy (died 1834, in Buffalo, New York[1]) was a chief of the Seneca Nation of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), also known as Tishkaaga, Gishkaka, Juskakaka, and Jishkaaga. He was a signer of several treaties with the United States government, including the Treaty of Canandaigua in 1794, and the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797.[2][3]
Little Billy, along with Cornplanter, was a Chief Warrior of the Seneca. His name means Green Grasshopper,[4] or Katydid.[1]
In the lead-up to the War of 1812, on September 8, 1812, he addressed the Seneca leaders in Buffalo to encourage them to volunteer in support of the Americans, saying: "The path of peace is broken in every part."[5] He distinguished himself in the war, including taking part in the successful American attack against the British at Fort George, Ontario, on August 17, 1813.[2]
An annuity of $50 was appropriated to Little Billy by federal statute in 1832[6] and 1833.[7]
Little Billy died at "the Seneca village, Buffalo Creek, December 28, 1834",[1] was originally buried in the Old Mission burying ground in Buffalo,[8] and later reburied, along with Red Jacket, Young King, Destroy Town, Captain Pollard, Pollard's wife Catherine and granddaughter, Tall Peter, and nine others[9] (possibly including Two Guns, Twenty Canoes, John Snow, and White Chief[1]), in Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery in 1884.[10][11]
His date of birth is unknown, but he was apparently quite old at the time of his death. He is asserted to be the "Jes-ka-ka-ke" who guided George Washington on his mission to Fort Duquesne in 1753,[1] implying that he may have been born around 1735.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e United States National Museum, United States National (1886). Report Upon the Condition and Progress of the U.S. National Museum During the Year Ending June 30, Part 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 163. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ a b "Receipt Buffalo, [N.Y.], 1830 June 5". Newberry Library. Retrieved Apr 9, 2021.
- ^ Carroll, Kurt (30 November 2020). "Treaty of Canandaigua, 1794". International Association of Law Libraries. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ "Canandaigua Treaty". Oneida Nation. Retrieved Apr 9, 2021.
- ^ Parker, Arthur C. (1916). "The Senecas in the War of 1812" (PDF). Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association. 15: 78–90. JSTOR 42889521. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ "An act making appropriations for Indian annuities, and other similar objects, for the year 1832, 22nd Congress, 1st sess, ch 124" (PDF). Library of Congress. June 4, 1832. p. 527.
- ^ "An act making appropriations for Indian annuities, and other similar objects, for the year 1833, 22nd Congress, 2nd sess, ch 40" (PDF). Library of Congress. February 20, 1833. p. 616.
- ^ "The Old Mission Cemetery at East Buffalo". Buffalo Express. 13 Jun 1874. Retrieved Apr 9, 2021.
- ^ "The Graves of Red Jacket". Western New York Heritage. Retrieved Apr 9, 2021.
- ^ "Strange Rites". The Buffalo Weekly Express. Oct 16, 1884.
- ^ Quigley, Donald; Hauptman, Lawrence M. (Summer 2016). "Great Iroquois Runners: Lewis "Deerfoot" Bennett and Tom Longboat". American Indian. 17 (2). Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ Washington, George; Royster, Paul (ed.) (1754). The Journal of Major George Washington (1754). Macmillan. p. 12. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
{{cite book}}:|first2=has generic name (help) - ^ However, Washington describes Jeskakake as "old" in 1753[12]
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