Governor blacksnake
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The era following the American War of Independence was one of enormous conflict for the Allegany Senecas. There was then no Seneca leader more influential than Chief Warrior Cornplanter. Yet there has been no definitive treatment of his life–until now. Complex and passionate, yet wise, Cornplanter led his people in war and along an often troubled path to peace. This incisive biography traces his rise to prominence as a Seneca military leader during the American Revolution, and his later diplomatic success in negotiations with the Federal government. The book also explores Cornplanter’s dealings with other Native American councils and with his own people. It tells how Senecas faced heavy pressure to sell their lands, and how they concurrently embraced a reformed and revitalized Iroquois religion, as inspired by Cornplanter’s visionary half-brother, Handsome Lake.
Thomas S. Abler skillfully weaves together previously discordant strands of the Chief Warrior’s life into a concise, animated and enlightening portrait. Even as Cornplanter examines a critical period in American h
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Cornplanter
Cornplanter | |
|---|---|
Chief Cornplanter, portrait by Frederick Bartoli, 1796 | |
| Born | Between 1732 and 1746 Canawaugus (now part of Caledonia, New York) |
| Died | 1836 Cornplanter Tract, Pennsylvania |
| Other names | John Abeel, John O'Bail |
| Occupation | Seneca Leader |
| Known for | War chief during the French and Indian War. Fought with British during American Revolutionary War. Known for his diplomacy. Opposed liquor; worked with Quakers to bring farming to the Seneca. His home, the Cornplanter Tract, was flooded by Kinzua Dam. |
| Successor | Edward Cornplanter |
| Children | Henry Abeele, Edward Cornplanter |
| Parent(s) | Aliquipiso/Gahonnoneh (Seneca), Johannes Abeel (Dutch) |
John Abeel III or Gaiänt'wakê (Gyantwachia – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (Kaintwakon – "By What One Plants"),[1]generally known as Cornplanter was a war chief of the Seneca tribe. He was also Dutch. His father was a Dutch trader, and his mother was a Seneca woman.[2] He was born at Canawagus in New York. He fought in the French and Indian War a
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Cornplanter
Cornplanter (1732-1836) was a leading warrior and village leader among the Seneca, one of six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. He earned his role as leader largely through military command and personal influence, which attracted friends and relatives to live on his reserved lands.
Cornplanter was born sometime between 1732 and 1746, in the village of Conewaugus on the Genesee River in New York, the son of a Seneca woman and a Dutch trader named John Abeel (O'Bail). It should be noted that Lewis Henry Morgan erroneously states that it was Cornplanter's mother who was white rather than his father. This is important in that the Seneca, like other Iroquois people, are matrilineal, reckoning membership in the tribe through their mothers. Cornplanter had two half siblings who were born to his mother and a Seneca father: a brother, Handsome Lake, the Seneca prophet; and a sister who became the mother of Governor Blacksnake, the Seneca political leader. Little is known about Cornplanter during his early years, although many scholars contend that he was a warrior dur
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