The Shawnee Tribe in Central Pennsylvania

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The Shawnee Tribe in Central Pennsylvania

His name is Wautheeweela. It means Bright Horn, referring to horns on a deer. He is ten years old, and ready to make his journey to prove his manhood. He and other boys from his Shawnee tribe have been physically toughened and taught to be independent since an age of around six. In winters, they have had to break the ice to jump into the freezing river to continue their daily routine of learning to survive with Nature and its elements. Now will be his test of endurance. He is sent into the woods with a bow and arrow and told not to come back until he had shot something to eat. His face is blackened with charcoal, a sign to all who saw him that he is on his quest and cannot be helped. He would not end up like his friend, Little Wildcat Alford, who went two days alone in the woods without food, and became to weak too shoot, but did manage to kill a quail and return as a man (Wallace, 1970). Bright Horn was better then that, mentally and physically, and has waited for this day to come. Face blackened and weapon in hand, he heads out of his tribe's settlement. He must be smart. He walks along the creek with many bends, the Conodoguinet, until the sun reaches the land. Now he rests on the bank, throwing pebbles into the creek, watching little fish swim around with no apparent direction what so ever. He waits until nightfall to move inland a little bit, to scout out a spot where animals might come to the creek. He sets himself up against a tree and falls asleep. He awakes with a crackling of a twig. A full moon is shining, creating many eerie shadows on the ground. He waits patiently to see what is approaching. He sees a reflection of an eye, a greenish glow coming from it. It is deer comin...

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...he whites at first, and coexisted with them for a few years, until, like so many tribes of North America, were pushed out of their home lands and given lands out West. The Shawnees were placed in Oklahoma in the year 1867 (Johnson, 1937). A census taken in 1970 showed that their were only 2,208 Shawnees remaining in the United States (Johnson, 1937).

Works Cited

Cadzow, Donald A. Susquehannock Indians of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Historical Commission. 1936.

Harvey, Henry. History of the Shawnee Indians. Ephraim Morgan and Sons. 1855.

Johnson, Michael. The Native Tribes of North America: A Concise Encyclopedia. Macmillan Publishing. 1937.

Trowbridge, C.C. Shawnese Traditions: C.C. Trowbridge's Account. University of Michigan Press. 1939.

Wallace, Paul A. Indians in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 1970.

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