Black Swamp Heritage Articles
Bill Oliver
31 March 2002
Vol. 1, Issue: #13
Excerpt:
Tecumseh grew into a man who possessed an intangible,
and undescribable aura of a leader to follow anywhere,
anytime. They say that there were many women who
wished to become the wife of Tecumseh. He did accept a
maiden to cook for him, and attend to his needs, but
without the ritual of marriage.
Tecumseh did marry Mohnetohse and she gave birth to a
son who was named Mahyawwekawpawe. He invoked the
ancient Shawnee marital law, to divorce her because she
did not take care of their son. He took his son and
put him into the raising care of his sister,
Tecumapese, ordering Mohnetohse to be away from him
forever.
Upon the urging of his tribesmen, he married second,
Mamate, a slightly older woman in order to relieve his
sister of taking care of his son. However, when Mamate
gave birth, she was so weak that she soon died in the
night.. Tecumseh named this son Naythawaynah the
Panther Seizing Its Prey, and Tecumapese was now in
charge of raising both sons.
In an earlier article it was mentioned of a possible
potential marriage to a frontiersman's daughter,
Rebecca Galloway. This is only one of stories about
this romantic leader of Indians. Another rumored
relationship, or marriage, though not proven, is that
Tecumseh as a young man married a girl named Tompkins
here in northwest Ohio and that there were children who
retained the name Tompkins.
