Dragging Canoe Cherokee (1738 - 1792)

Born 1738 in Overhill Settlements, Cherokee Nation

Husband of U ga lo gv Cherokee — married 1751 in Overhill Settlements, Monroe, Tennessee

Died 1 Mar 1792 at about age 54 in Lookout Town, Cherokee Nation (East)

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Biography

Dragging Canoe Has No Known Living Descendants

Dragging Canoe (Tsi yi gun si ni) was a prominent Cherokee chief during the second half of the 18th century. Unlike his father, Attakullakulla, who was known as a diplomat, Dragging Canoe was known for his military leadership. Born about 1740 in one of the Cherokee Overhill towns, his mother’s name is unknown.

A previous version of this profile claimed she was Nionne Ollie, but there is no historical documentation of her identity.

He had three brothers, The Badger, Little Owl, and Turtle-at-home. ^[1][2]

A possibly apocryphal story explains his name as follows: As a young boy he asked his father to go along on a raid. He was told he was too young and could not come until he was able to carry a canoe with the other men. The men set out on the raid, but when they reached the first creek they found the boy dragging a canoe behind him and thus he received his adult name. ^[3] By about 1760 Dragging Canoe had become the war chief of the town of Malaquo, part of his father’s territory. ^[4]

Dragging Canoe’s wife is unknown; some have called her U ga lo gv Leaf Pathkiller.^{[citation needed]}

He had a son known as Young or Little Dragging Canoe.^[5]

White settlers continually encroached on Cherokee lands and the Cherokee were forced over and over to cede away their land. As Dragging Canoe grew up he saw the effects on the Cherokee Nation. He first appears in the historical record at the Sycamore Shoals conference in March of 1775. Against the advice of many, including Dragging Canoe, Oconostota’s wife, and the white interpreters, Oconostota, Attakullakulla, and the Raven signed away all the Cherokee claims to land between the Ohio River and the Cumberland Divide. A furious Dragging Canoe is reported to have said, “You have bought a fair land, but there is a black cloud hanging over it. You will find its settlement dark and bloody.” ^[6]

For the next year and a half, Dragging Canoe fought with other Cherokee to keep out any additional white settlers, but after many Cherokee towns were destroyed and the older leaders made peace with the Americans in October of 1776, Dragging Canoe and a number of young chiefs withdrew to an area on Chickamauga Creek. After those towns were destroyed by Americans, Dragging Canoe and his followers moved farther down the Tennessee River, establishing five new towns near what is today Chattanooga, Tennessee. ^[7]

For 15 years, Dragging Canoe led the group which became known as the Chickamaugas in a relentless fight against the Americans, ignoring boundaries, treaties, and other agreements. Following the murders of Chiefs Old Tassel and Abram, many more young Cherokee joined him. ^[8] He also allied with like-minded Shawnee, Creek, and Choctaw.^[9]

Although younger men such as John Watts, Bob Benge, and Doublehead were becoming more prominent, Dragging Canoe remained their leader until his sudden death in March, 1792. His death was reported as the result of excessive celebration of a Chickamauga victory near Nashville, although he also was apparently suffering from the effects of an untreated wound at the time. He is believed to have been buried at Running Water Town.^[10] The long war against the whites finally ended in 1794 with the Conference at Tellico Blockhouse, agreed to by Dragging Canoe’s successor John Watts and other Cherokee chiefs. ^[11]

Research Notes

Dragging Canoe was widely admired and in later years there were many unrelated men who went by the name of "Dragging Canoe." They can be found on Cherokee censuses and rolls but they have no connection to the Chief who died in 1792.

A previous version of this profile attached two additional offspring, but he had only one known child. Therefore, the following two daughters have been detached:

1. Sarah Fivekiller Brown
2. Abigail Roark

Others also believe he had a daughter Jemima who married a Harding. But even the Journal of Cherokee Studies disclaims anything other than the one son, who had no descendants.^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Brown, John P. Old Frontiers. Southern Publishers Inc., Kingsport, TN. 1938. p. 270
2. ↑ Klinck and Talman, eds. The Journal of Major John Norton 1816. The Champlain Society, Toronto, 1970, p. lxvi
3. ↑ Evans, E. Raymond. Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Dragging Canoe, Journal of Cherokee Studies, Winter, 1977. pp. 176-189, p. 176
4. ↑ Brown, Old Frontiers p. 5
5. ↑ Brown, Old Frontiers, p. 339
6. ↑ Evans, p. 179, quoting a 1777 deposition of Samuel Williams in Virginia State Papers, Vol. 1 image at cloud
7. ↑ Hoig, Stanley. The Cherokees and their Chiefs. University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, 1998. P. 65-66
8. ↑ Hoig, Cherokees and their Chiefs, p. 73
9. ↑ Brown, Old Frontiers p. 329
10. ↑ Brown, Old Frontiers, pp. 329-330
11. ↑ Brown, Old Frontiers, pp. 433-438
12. ↑ "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Dragging Canoe" in Journal of Cherokee Studies, Winter, 1977. pp. 176-18

See Also:

• Dragging Canoe, War Chief of the Cherokee (Wikipedia)
• Dragging Canoe mentioned in "More Anomalous Mitochondrial DNA Lineages In the Cherokee" by Donald N. Yates. (Accessed 13 Feb 2022) at https://dnaconsultants.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/More-Anomalous-Mitochondrial-DNA-Lineages-in-the-Cherokee.pdf NOTE: Dragging Canoe has no known descendants other than his son, (who also had no known descendants); this Yates article is not accurate. Yates uses the DNA of people who have no documented connection to Draggin Canoe.