Yonaguska
Yonaguska, known in English as Drowning Bear, was a Cherokee chief and reformer who served as head chief of the Cherokee Middle Towns from around 1800 until his death. He is considered the first Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Yonaguska is best known for his successful resistance to Indian removal and his temperance movement among the Oconaluftee Cherokee. While other Cherokee were forcibly removed during the Trail of Tears in 1838, Yonaguska secured exemption for his people by invoking their status as North Carolina citizens under the Treaty of 1819. His adopted son, William Holland Thomas, served as the tribe's attorney and purchased land on their behalf, forming the basis of what became the Qualla Boundary.
Early life
The exact date and place of Yonaguska's birth are unknown. Charles Lanman, who visited the eastern Cherokee a decade after the chief's death, reported that Yonaguska was "born in this mountain land" and died "in the seventy-fifth year of his age." Most sources estimate his birth around 1760.As a young man, Yonaguska witnessed the Rutherford Expedition of 1776, when General Griffith Rutherford and his North Carolina militia burned 36 Cherokee towns. The Cherokee had allied with the British during the American Revolution, and colonial forces sought to discourage their participation in the conflict.
Yonaguska was described as strikingly handsome, strongly built, and standing tall. He struggled with alcohol addiction as a young man, an experience that later informed his temperance advocacy.
Leadership
Yonaguska served as head chief of the Cherokee Middle Towns from around 1800. He consistently advocated for peace with the United States while firmly opposing any cession of Cherokee lands.Refusal of Tecumseh's alliance (1811)
In 1811, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh traveled through the Southeast seeking to build a pan-Indian alliance with the British against the United States. Yonaguska played a prominent role in the meeting between Cherokee chiefs and Tecumseh, which resulted in the Cherokee's refusal to join the alliance. This decision kept the Cherokee out of Tecumseh's War and maintained peace with the American government.Treaty of 1819 and citizenship
Under the Treaty of 1819, Yonaguska and the heads of more than fifty families living along the Oconaluftee, Tuckasegee, and Little Tennessee rivers between the Balsam and Cowee mountains withdrew from the Cherokee Nation. They received individual reservations of 640 acres each and became citizens of North Carolina and the United States.Yonaguska's reservation was located on Governors Island at the confluence of the Oconaluftee and Tuckasegee rivers. In 1820, he sold his reservation for $1,300 and moved to Quallatown.
Adoption of William Holland Thomas
Yonaguska's clan adopted William Holland Thomas, a European-American youth who worked at the trading post at Quallatown and learned the Cherokee language. Thomas learned Cherokee customs and, around 1831, became the tribe's legal representative at Yonaguska's request. Though sometimes called the "white chief" of the Cherokee, modern scholars note that Thomas served as the tribe's attorney and agent but "...was never actually a chief of any Cherokee band."Temperance movement
During the late 1820s, the extension of state laws over the Cherokee Nation freed traders from restrictions on liquor sales. Unscrupulous land speculators used alcohol to convince Cherokee people to sell their lands illegally.According to William Holland Thomas, in 1830 Yonaguska assembled the Oconaluftee Cherokee and announced he had been "considering and devising ways to promote their happiness in the future." Citing the Catawba Indians, who had been nearly exterminated, "as evidence of the injurious effects of intemperance," Yonaguska encouraged his people to refrain from alcohol.
He then had Thomas write out a pledge: "The undersigned Cherokees, belonging to the town of Qualla agree to abandon the use of spiritous liquors." Yonaguska signed first, followed by all residents of the town. Those who broke the pledge were subject to whipping. In 1838, Thomas credited Yonaguska with the Oconaluftee Cherokee's "present state of improvement" due to his devotion to temperance.
Resistance to removal
Opposition to the Treaty of New Echota
When the Cherokee Nation Council convened at the capital city of New Echota in 1835 to sign a treaty ceding all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi River, Yonaguska did not attend. He vehemently opposed removal. After a minority faction led by Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot signed the Treaty of New Echota, Yonaguska dispatched Thomas to Washington, D.C., to protect the Oconaluftee Cherokee's interests.1837 Memorial
In 1837, Yonaguska and fifty-nine other Oconaluftee Cherokee submitted a memorial to the federal commissioners appointed to carry out the Treaty of New Echota, stating their opposition to removal. The commissioners acknowledged that under the 1819 treaty, the Oconaluftee Cherokee had withdrawn from the Cherokee Nation and become citizens of North Carolina. They granted the memorial and exempted the Oconaluftee Cherokee from forced removal.According to Thomas, Yonaguska's resistance stemmed from his belief that North Carolina was "better and more friendly disposed to the Red Man than any other" state, and that westward removal would only lead to further displacement. Yonaguska expressed skepticism about federal promises, reportedly stating that government assurances were "too often broken; they are like the reeds in yonder river—they are all lies."
Cooperation with U.S. military
Yonaguska demonstrated his loyalty to North Carolina and the federal government by ordering his warriors to assist U.S. troops in capturing Cherokee who had hidden in the mountains to avoid removal. For this assistance, he received a commendation from Colonel William L. Foster, commanding officer of the Fourth U.S. Infantry.Views on Christianity
The missionary Samuel Goodenough worked with Elias Boudinot to translate and print the Gospel of Matthew in Cherokee using the Cherokee syllabary. Yonaguska insisted on hearing it read to him before allowing its circulation among his people. He reportedly commented: "Well, it seems a good book—strange that the white people are no better, after having had it so long." Despite this observation, Yonaguska approved distribution of the scriptures to his people.Death and succession
Shortly before his death in April 1839, Yonaguska was carried into the townhouse at Soco, where he gave a final address. He warned his people against ever leaving their homeland. Wrapping his blanket around him, he quietly lay back and died at approximately 75 to 80 years of age. Yonaguska was buried beside Soco Creek, about a mile below the old Macedonia mission, marked by a mound of stones.The question of succession was disputed. While Yonaguska reportedly commended Thomas to his people, Salonitah, who was married to Yonaguska's daughter Sally, also claimed leadership. Officially, Salonitah is recognized as the second Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Family
Yonaguska was probably one of the last Cherokee leaders to practice polygamy. He was survived by two wives and many children.Known children include:
- Big Witch, born c. 1796
- Sally, born c. 1797, married Flying Squirrel
- Jenny, born c. 1802
- Tiyahah, born c. 1808
Legacy
Mount Yonaguska, located on the Haywood–Swain County line in North Carolina, is named in his honor.
A North Carolina historical marker near Bryson City commemorates his life and leadership.