Salonitah
Salonitah | |
|---|---|
| Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians | |
| In office 1870–1875 | |
| Preceded by | Yonaguska |
| Succeeded by | Lloyd Welch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1796 |
| Died | 1880 |
| Nationality | Cherokee |
Salonitah, or Flying Squirrel, was the second Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, from 1870 to 1875, and first chief elected under the new Cherokee constitution.[1]
Son of Cherokee leader Junaluska, Salonitah was born in 1796 and later on married Sali (Sally), daughter of Yonaguska, and were the parents of at least five children.[2]
Salonitah first appear in records during the pursuit of Tsali during Cherokee removal in 1838; he was the leader of a group of Cherokees who went out to hunt for Tsali for the U.S. Army.[3] Upon Yonaguska's passing in 1839, Salonitah, who at this point was Chief of Paint Town, laid claim as Chief of the mountain refugees, while William Holland Thomas became a key liaison between the whites and Cherokee. The justification given was that Salonitah was very suspicious of whites who claimed to speak for the Cherokees, especially William Holland Thomas.[4] In 1870, Salonitah became the first chief elected under a new Cherokee constitution; during his tenure he saw to the adoption of a new constitution for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (officially recognized by the U.S. Congress as a separate entity from their brethren in Oklahoma in 1868).[4][5]
According to the mortality schedule of the 1880 U.S. Census, Salonitah died of typhoid in April, 1880.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Conley, Robert J. (December 16, 2007). A Cherokee Encyclopedia. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 9780826339539.
- ^ "Chief Salonitah "Flying Squirrel" Oo-co-la-hoh". Geni.com. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ Finger, John R. (1984). The Eastern Band of Cherokees, 1819-1900. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 24, 67. ISBN 9780870494109.
- ^ a b Giddens, Elizabeth (February 16, 2023). Oconaluftee: The History of a Smoky Mountain Valley. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 72, 160. ISBN 9781469673424.
- ^ Anderson, William L.; Wetmore, Ruth Y. (2006). "Cherokee". State Library of North Carolina. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ Nonpopulation Census Schedules for North Carolina, 1850-1880, Mortality and Manufacturing; Archive Collection: M1805, United States census, 1880; Ocona Lufty, Swain, North Carolina; roll 5,.