Antonga Black Hawk

Antonga Black Hawk

Antonga, or Black Hawk (b. c. 1830- d. 26 September 1870), was a nineteenth-century war chief of the Ute Tribe in what is the present-day state of Utah. He led the Utes against Mormon settlers and gained alliances with Paiute and Navajo bands in the territory against them during what became known as the Black Hawk War in Utah (1865–1872). Although Black Hawk made peace in 1867, other bands continued raiding until the US intervened with about 200 troops in 1872. Black Hawk died of tuberculosis in 1870, before the war's end.

The names "Black Hawk" and "Antonga" by which he was known are not Ute Indian names. "Black Hawk" was a name that Brigham Young, in jest, called the Ute leader. Young’s term became the name by which he is now most commonly known. In fact there were some three or more Indians the whites referred to as Black Hawk in Utah history. It is reminiscent of Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk and Fox Indian tribes (Mesquaki) and the Black Hawk War of 1832 in Illinois, where the Mormons had migrated from.

To the Mexicans he was known as "Antonga", also not a Ute name. The Utes had long established trade relations with the Mexicans. Utah's Black Hawk was born into a family of legendary leaders and known to the Utes as Nuch; he was so named in honor of his people the Nuchu, a sacred name the Utes call themselves. Chief Walkara, Chief Yenewoods, Chief Sanpitch, Chief Sow e ett, Chief Tabby, Chief Old Elk, Chief Kone, Chief Colorow, Chief Old Uinta, and Chief Mountain are just a few of Chief Nuch's blood relations, according to living descendants of Nuch (Black Hawk).