Black Fox (Cherokee chief)

Black Fox (c. 1746-1811) (also known as Enoli^[1] or 'Inali^[2]) was a brother-in-law of Dragging Canoe. He was a signatory of the Holston Treaty (2 July 1791). Black Fox was chief of Ustanali town and was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1801 to 1811.

He was the leading negotiator for the Cherokee with the United States federal government during his term of office. Black Fox was noted for relinquishing nearly 7,000 square miles (18,000 km²) of land in what is today Tennessee and Alabama, under the treaty of January 7, 1806, for which he was given a lifetime annuity of $100.^[2] A controversial leader, he was deposed for a period, only to later be reinstated as Principal Chief, in a compromise between two regional factions of Cherokees. Black Fox initiated the tribal law putting an end to the Cherokee blood law tradition of clan revenge for infractions by individuals.

Principal chief

Black Fox was a leader of the Cherokee from the native village of Ustanali, in the Lower Towns area (it was located in what today is northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and their adjoining areas of southeastern Tennessee). He is associated historically with the group known as the Chickamauga, but these were fully Cherokee, not a separate people or band. They fought with colonial settlers in the Holston area.

In 1801 Black Fox was named by the council of chiefs of the Lower and Upper Towns to succeed Little Turkey as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.^[3] The majority of Cherokee lived in the Lower Towns; they were more isolated from European-American contact and tended to be more conservative, maintaining traditional practices and language.

In 1807, Doublehead, who was then speaker of the National Council, signed a treaty without the authority of the council, ceding all Cherokee land west and north of the Tennessee River. A separate arrangement reserved certain parcels of land for use by Doublehead and his relatives. Black Fox confirmed Doublehead's treaty after Return J. Meigs, the United States Indian Agent promised that Black Fox would receive $1,000 in cash and a regular annuity thereafter.^[3]

During his tenure, Black Fox signed several treaties with the United States government on behalf of the Cherokee Nation. He ceded large amounts of land that had served as traditional foraging areas.

Deposed

In 1808, he and The Glass (Tagwadihi), another leading chief of the Lower Towns chief, were deposed by the "young chiefs". These were men mostly from the Upper Towns, led by James Vann and Major Ridge. The driving force of this revolt was due largely to the peoples' resentment of the National Council's domination by older leaders of the Lower Towns, as well as disagreement over the many recent land cessions. The men of the Upper Towns were multiracial in ancestry; in addition, their communities were more closely engaged by trade and other links with those of the American settlers, whose frontier had begun to encroach on Cherokee territory. The Upper Town chiefs wanted to acknowledge changes and work more closely with the Americans.

Reinstated

In 1810, Black Fox and The Glass were both reinstated in a compromise agreement between these two competing factions. This led to an end of the councils of the Lower Towns meeting alternately in Willstown (near Fort Payne, Alabama) and Turkeytown (near present day Centre, Alabama), which were presided over by The Glass.

As the leading member of the National Council, Black Fox signed the law to end the Cherokee tradition of clan revenge. The following year, upon his death, he was succeeded by Chief Pathkiller.

Legacy

• Black Fox's early hunting camp was located on Lost Creek, in White County, Tennessee. The first European-American settlers in the middle district of Tennessee called one of the principal trails in the county "Black Fox Trail".
• They named a large group of springs at what is now Murfreesboro, Tennessee "Black Fox Springs".

• The community of Black Fox in modern Bradley County, Tennessee and its elementary school are named for him. Local historians say he had lived in the area but they are unsure of the dates.

• The historical Black Fox Crossing ford of the Clinch River between Claiborne and Grainger counties is now covered by the impounded waters of Norris Lake in Tennessee.

• The community of Inola, Oklahoma was named for him; his Cherokee name was Enoli. The town was designated as the site of Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, but community opposition forced the Public Service Company of Oklahoma to cancel its plans.^[1]

References

• Brown, John P. "Eastern Cherokee chiefs", Chronicles of Oklahoma 16:1 (March 1938) 3-35 (retrieved August 18, 2006).
• McLoughlin, William G. Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. [sic] (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).
• http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/cherokee/cherokeechiefs.htm
• http://www.dreamwater.org/jaget/page48.html