“Leadership” discusses leadership within the Eastern Shawnee tribe by exploring the history of tribal leaders and government structure. This theme will also consider the Eastern Shawnee’s relationship with other tribal nations as well as the United States.
Chapter 1: A Patriot Defamed: Captain Lewis, Shawnee Chief – R. David Edmunds, Watson Professor of American History, University of Texas at Dallas
What qualities and characteristics make a good leader? This chapter discusses the events and difficulties that Captain Lewis faced as he and his contemporaries tried to contend with the changing and tumultuous period between the 1790s and 1820s. In the span of thirty years everything changed and culminated with the removal of tribal people to lands west of the Mississippi. Edmunds captures this emotional and tragic time in a way that shows the reader the strength and resilience of the leaders fighting for their people.
Chapter 7: Tribal, Federal, and State Laws Impacting the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, 1812 to 1945 – Robert J. Miler, Professor at Arizona State University and Chief Justice of the Grand Ronde Tribe Court of Appeals
In this chapter, Robert J. Miller explores how constitutional and legal provisions adopted by the US and Oklahoma governments between 1812 and 1945 effected the Eastern Shawnee Tribe. He meticulously provides evidence and analysis throughout the sections of this chapter showing “how the Eastern Shawnee Tribe and people governed themselves and regulated their actions in Ohio and in the Indian Territory.” Interactions between tribal delegates and the treaties of this period give insight into how tribal leadership has evolved, and the forces that made that evolution necessary.
Chapter 8: Chiefs of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe – Chief Glenna Wallace
Written by Chief Glenna Wallace, this chapter offers a beginning to the discovery of an accurate list of Eastern Shawnee chiefs from the early 1800s to present day. She begins the honored registry with Civil John, the first chief of the Mixed Band (Seneca and Shawnee) in Indian Territory. Ironically, Civil John was not Shawnee. He was Seneca and held the unique position of being the last chief in Ohio and the first chief in Indian Territory. Following Civil John, the narrative progresses through the lives of six more chiefs culminating in the adoption and ratification of the tribe’s first Constitution and By-Laws in 1939. With the new Constitution comes a new era for the Eastern Shawnee and Walter L. Bluejacket becomes the first Chief of the Eastern Shawnee in “modern times”. Sadly, Walter Bluejacket only served a brief tenure as he passed away a mere nineteen months after the Constitution was adopted (eight months after the charter was ratified). Nine chiefs followed Bluejacket’s administration, and each are discussed in succession. The narrative concludes with Charles Enyart, the tenth Chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. Though this is an incomplete list, it is Chief Glenna’s hope that this chapter will encourage and inspire others to continue to fill in the gaps and “discover those missing footprints that helped to build the unique red road of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.”