Tecumseh - Family Background

Family Background

Tecumseh's father was Puckshinwa (in Shawnee, Puckeshinwau, meaning "Alights from Flying", "Something that drops" or "I light from flying", also known as Puckeshinwa, Pucksinwah, Pukshinwa, Pukeesheno, Pekishinoah, Pooksehnwe and other variations), a minor Shawnee war chief of the Kispoko ("Dancing Tail" or "Panther") band and the Panther Clan of the tribe. According to some sources, Puckshinwa's father was Muscogee (Creek) and his mother was Shawnee. Either because his father died when he was young or because among the Creeks a husband lives with his wife's family, Puckshinwa was considered a Shawnee. According to John Sugden, however, "the truth about Puckeshinwau's ancestry must remain a mystery", and he reports further period testimonies stating that the Kispoko chief "was reputed to have had a British father (presumably a trader)".

Tecumseh's mother was Methotaske (in Shawnee, Methoataaskee, meaning " Lays Eggs in the Sand" or "A turtle laying eggs in the sand", also known as Methoataske, Meetheetashe, Methotase and Methoatase), Puckshinwa's second wife. She is believed to have been Shawnee through her father and her mother, possibly of the Pekowi band and the Turtle Clan. Some traditions hold that she was Creek, because she had lived among that tribe prior to marriage; some hold that she was Cherokee, having died in old age living among that tribe; still others hold that she was a white captive, as family stories claim that Puckshinwa had been married to a white captive.

Shawnee lineage was recorded paternally, which made Tecumseh a member of the Kispoko.

At the time Tecumseh's parents married, their tribe was living somewhere near modern Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The tribe had lived in that region alongside the Creek tribe since being driven from their homes in the Ohio River Valley by the Iroquois (based in New York and Pennsylvania) during the 17th-century Beaver Wars.

About 1759, the Pekowi band decided to move west into the Ohio Country. Not wanting to force his wife to choose between him and her family, Puckshinwa decided to travel north with her. The Pekowi founded the settlement of Chillicothe where Tecumseh was likely born. During the 1760s, Puckshinwa took part in the French and Indian War.