Nenetooyah Iskagua Cherokee (abt. 1740 - aft. 1800)

Died after 1800 after about age 60 in Cherokee Nation (East)

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Biography

Nenetooyah was Cherokee.

Nothing is known of the family of Bloody Fellow, a Cherokee chief. He was a prominent chief who participated in treaty negotiations and was often a spokesperson for the Nation. He was supporter of Dragging Canoe and a leader of the Chickamauga faction. In 1788 he led a party that attacked a white settlement called Gillespie's Fort. Women and children were killed in the attack, but Bloody Fellow wrote to John Sevier,

"The Bloody Fellow's talk is that he is now upon his own ground. He is not like you are, for you kill women and children and he does not... you beguiled [Tassel], that was your friend and wanted to keep peace; but you began it, and this is what you get for it. When you move off the land, then we will make peace... " ^[1]

Bloody Fellow was a reluctant signer of the 1791 Treaty of Holston and was one of a delegation sent to Philadelphia in December of that year to renegotiate the terms. As a result of his participation in the treaty negotiations he was given a new name of "Iskaqua" or "Clear Sky." ^[2]

After Dragging Canoe died and John Watts became chief of the Chickamauga, he had had enough of the war and spoke against further actions. ^[3]

The war ended in 1794 and the Cherokee gradually made peace with white encroachment. One of the last records of Bloody Fellow was a meeting in September of 1800 with a group of Moravian missionaries who hoped to open a mission and school in the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee were very skeptical and wanted assurances from the missionaries that they would feed and clothe their Cherokee students. Bloody Fellow spoke and said,

"there are probably people among [you] rich enough to clothe their children, but most of [the Cherokee] are poor and their children go without clothes. How would it look to have a crowd of naked children sitting in school with books in their hands? The children would freeze and it just wouldn't be proper. We can probably get along without clothes at home, we have sweathouses there and on cold nights we can put the children in there. " ^[4]

Bloody Fellow's exact date of death is unknown.

Sources

1. ↑ Maryland Gazette, November 27, 1788. images at Gazette ($)
2. ↑ American State Papers, Second Congress, Second Session. Indian Affairs, Vol. 1, p. 245 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsplink.html#anchor Letter
3. ↑ Hoig, Stanley W. The Cherokees and Their Chiefs. University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville. 1998. pp. 80-85
4. ↑ Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 1, p. 200