Tragedy: Leatherlips of the Wyandot, 1810

Witchcraft was considered in Native society as serious a crime as it would have been in Puritan New England, a capital offense.  And, analogous to European and Puritan witch hunts, it was at times a too convenient excuse to throw at a political enemy or anyone else who was in the way of a powerful enemy.

Leatherlips (1732-1810) was a Wyandot leader who found out the hard way not to oppose Tenskwatawa of the Shawnee, or to appear too accommodating to Settlers in general and William Henry Harrison in particular.  Leatherlips, also known as Long Grey Hair, was a member of the Porcupine Clan of the Wyandot.  He was a close friend and colleague of Tarhe, whom we've already met.  He was related to other Wyandot leaders such as Roundhead, Split Log and Batisse.  Roundhead was a trusted lieutenant of Tecumseh and was killed at the Battle of the Thames in 1813.  Some believe that it was Roundhead's body that was misidentified as Tecumseh and mutilated by Harrison's soldiers.  If that was the case, it might have been a piece of karma.

Leatherlips was known for his friendly disposition toward Whites.  He had been a signatory of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 and of several of Harrison's treaties with Natives in Ohio and Indiana.  He was one of the few Native leaders whom Harrison seemed to genuinely get along with.  However, his attitude toward Whites put him at variance with Tecumseh's up and coming movement, particularly Roundhead, sometimes described as a half-brother or a cousin.  Letherlips actively opposed Tecumseh's movement and was called out as a witch by Tenskwatawa.  Witchcraft accusations often surface in moments of crisis, when people are searching for someone or something to blame for a given situation.  In their desire to purge themselves of contamination by the Whites, some of Tenskwatawa's followers were determined to root out any witches among them who might pose a supernatural threat to the cause. 

Roundhead took up the rumors.  His motivation may have been genuine anger that Letherlips was willing to accommodate the Settlers.  Or, it may have been a convenient means to get rid of a rival.  Roundhead ordered a picked group of Wyandot warriors to arrest Leatherlips, carry out a trial and an inevitable death sentence.  Word of the accusation reached local settlers, who tried to intercede with the Wyandots sent to kill Leatherlips, who was by now almost 80 years old.  But they had their orders and Leatherlips met the verdict and sentence bravely.  He was allowed a final meal and meeting with his family, an opportunity to dress in his finest regalia and pray before he was struck in the back of the head with a tomahawk and finished with a mercy stroke.  His death was witnessed by Natives and Settlers alike.  The tragedy took place near what is now Dublin, Ohio, near the Olentangy Caverns.  A sculpture honoring Leatherlips now stands near the site of his death.