Major Ridge: Difference between revisions
==Background==
==Background==
===Early life===
===Early life===
Ridge was born about 1772 into the Deer [[clan]] of his mother, ”Oganotota” (O-go-nuh-to-tua), a Scots-Cherokee woman, in the Cherokee town of [[Great Hiwassee]], along the [[Hiwassee River]] (an area later part of [[Tennessee]]).[https://books.google.com/books?id=tsZ7HnAcvo4C&q=Pathkiller Thurman Wilkins, ”Cherokee Tragedy: The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People”], University of Oklahoma Press, 1989, p. 7 His father was believed to be full-blood Cherokee. Ridge’s maternal grandfather was a Scots trader who returned to Europe and left a Cherokee wife and daughter behind in America.Langguth, p. 29.
Ridge was born about 1772 into the Deer [[clan]] of his mother, ”Oganotota” (O-go-nuh-to-tua), a Scots-Cherokee woman, in the Cherokee town of [[Great Hiwassee]], along the [[Hiwassee River]] (an area later part of [[Tennessee]]).https://books.google.com/books?id=tsZ7HnAcvo4C&q=PathkillerThurman WilkinsCherokee Tragedy: The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a PeopleUniversity of Oklahoma Press1989p7 His father was believed to be full-blood Cherokee. Ridge’s maternal grandfather was a Scots trader who returned to Europe and left a Cherokee wife and daughter behind in America.Langguth, p. 29.
Ridge was the third son born, but the first to survive to adulthood. He had two younger brothers, one of whom became known as [[David Uwatie]] (or Watie). From his early years, Ridge was taught patience and self-denial, and to endure fatigue. On reaching the proper age, he was initiated as a [[warrior]].{{Cite Appletons’|wstitle=Ridge, Major|year=1900}} The Cherokee believed that a man’s achievements as a warrior were a sign of his spiritual power and part of his leadership.
Ridge was the third son born, but the first to survive to adulthood. He had two younger brothers, one of whom became known as [[David Uwatie]] ( Watie). From his early years, Ridge was taught patience and self-denial, and to endure fatigue. On reaching the proper age, he was initiated as a [[warrior]].{{Cite Appletons’|wstitle=Ridge, Major|year=1900}} The Cherokee believed that a man’s achievements as a warrior were a sign of his spiritual power and part of his leadership.
Until the end of the Cherokee – American wars, the young man was known as ”Nunnehidihi”, meaning “He Who Slays The Enemy In His Path” or “The Pathkiller” (not the same as another chief of the same name). Later Ridge was named ”Ganundalegi” (other spellings include Ca-Nun-Tah-Cla-Kee, Ca-Nun-Ta-Cla-Gee, and Ka-Nun-Tah-Kla-Gee), meaning “The Man Who Walks On The Mountain Top Ridge.” White men knew him by the simplified English name, “The Ridge”.Hicks, p. 19
Until the end of the Cherokee – American wars, the young man was known as ”Nunnehidihi”, meaning “He Who Slays The Enemy In His Path” or “The Pathkiller” (not the same as another chief of the same name). Later Ridge was named ”Ganundalegi” (other spellings include Ca-Nun-Tah-Cla-Kee, Ca-Nun-Ta-Cla-Gee, and Ka-Nun-Tah-Kla-Gee), meaning “The Man Who Walks On The Mountain Top Ridge.” White men knew him by the simplified English name, “The Ridge”.Hicks, p. 19
===Marriage and family===
===Marriage and family===
Cherokee leader (d. 1839)
Major Ridge, The Ridge (and sometimes Pathkiller II) (c. 1771 – 22 June 1839) (also known as Nunnehidihi, and later Ganundalegi) was a Cherokee leader, a member of the tribal council, and a lawmaker. As a warrior, he fought in the Cherokee–American wars against American frontiersmen. Later, Major Ridge led the Cherokee in alliances with General Andrew Jackson and the United States in the Creek and Seminole wars of the early 19th century.
Along with Charles R. Hicks and James Vann, Ridge was part of the “Cherokee triumvirate,” a group of rising younger chiefs in the early nineteenth-century Cherokee Nation who supported acculturation and other changes in how the people dealt with the United States. All identified as Cherokee; they were of mixed race and had some exposure to European-American culture. Ridge became a wealthy planter, slave owner, and ferryman in Georgia.
Under increasing pressure for removal from the federal government, Ridge and others of the Treaty Party signed the controversial Treaty of New Echota of 1835. They believed removal was inevitable and tried to protect Cherokee rights in the process. It required the Cherokee to cede their remaining lands in the Southeast to the US and to relocate to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Opponents strongly protested to the US government and negotiated a new treaty the following year, but were still forced to accept removal. Blamed for the ceding of communal land and the deaths of the Trail of Tears, Ridge was…
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