Tomochichi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tomochichi and his nephew, Toonahawi

Tomochichi (to-mo-chi-chi') (c. 1644 - October 5, 1739) was a sixteenth century Creek leader and the head chief of a Yamacraw town on the site of present day Savannah, Georgia.

Although much of his early life is unknown, Tomochichi was exiled from the Creek nation for unclear reasons and, along with several followers, first settled what is now Savannah, Georgia. Tomochichi created the Yamacraw tribe from Creek and Yamasee and settled on the bluffs of the Savannah River.

By the time of the establishment of the colonial charter of Georgia in 1732 (the colonial charter was contributed in the same year), Tomochichi remaining a lifelong friend of the early English colonists, helping the settlers in Georgia negotiate a treaty with the Lower Creeks (as well as settling previous disagreements with the Creek).

Tomochichi wanted his people to be educated. He worked with Benjamin Ingham, a friend of John Wesley and Charles Wesley, to create an Indian school at Irene that opened in September 1736.

He was taken to England by colonial governor James Edward Oglethorpe in 1734, where he was entertained, given presents as well as a portrait painted of him and his nephew. Upon his death on October 5, 1739, Tomochichi was given a public funeral by the colony. A mound of stones covered his gravesite. Senauki, his wife, and his nephew, Toonahowi, were left in charge of the tribe. On April 21, 1899, a monument to his memory was erected by the Colonial Dames of America. The Georgia Historical Commission placed a memorial in Savannah's Wright Square, also.

[edit] References

Lafarge, Oliver. A Pictorial History of the American Indian. New York: Crown Publishers, 1957.
Grant, Bruce. The Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian. New York: Wings Books, 2000. ISBN 0-517-69310-0
Sweet, Julie Anne. "Tomochichi (ca. 1644-1739)". Georgia Humanties Council and the University of Georgia Press, 2008. New Georgia Encyclopedia. [www.georgiaencyclopedia.org].