Shingas (fl. 1740-1763), was a leader of the Delaware (Lenape) people in the Ohio Country and a noted American Indian warrior on the western frontier during the French and Indian War. Dubbed "Shingas the Terrible" by Anglo-Americans during the war, Shingas led devastating raids against white settlements; the colonial governments of both Pennsylvania and Virginia responded by offering rewards to anyone who would kill him. Events May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I. October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Lenape or Lenni-Lenape (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans) were, in the 1600s, loosely organized bands of Native American people practicing small-scale agriculture to augment a largely mobile hunter-gatherer society in the region around the Delaware River, the lower Hudson River, and western Long Island Sound. ... The Ohio Country, showing the present-day U.S. state boundaries The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory) was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... The French and Indian War is the American name for the decisive nine-year conflict (1754-1763) in North America between Great Britain and France, which was one of the theatres of the Seven Years War. ... State nickname: The Keystone State Other U.S. States Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Official languages None Area 119,283 km² (33rd)  - Land 116,074 km²  - Water 3,208 km² (2. ... State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Official languages English Area 110,862 km² (35th)  - Land 102,642 km²  - Water 8,220 km² (7. ...

Background

Shingas, a member of the Delaware Turkey clan (or phratry), was a nephew¹ of Sasoonan (also known as Allumapees), a leader who was regarded by Pennsylvania authorities as the Delaware "king." This title had no traditional meaning for the Delawares, who lived in autonomous villages. However, since British colonial governments preferred to deal with a single leader rather than numerous village elders, Sasoonan emerged as the Delaware "king." Pennsylvania officials found Sasoonan useful because he could be induced (with the help of abundantly free liquor) to sign away Indian lands.² A phratry is an anthropological term for a kinship division consisting of two or more distinct clans which are considered as single unit, but which retain separate indentities with the phratry. ...

Sasoonan died in 1747, and Shingas's brother Pisquetomen was designated as Sasoonan's successor. However, Pisquetomen, who was intelligent, strong-willed, and spoke English, was not easily manipulated, and so Pennsylvania officials refused to recognize him as "king." As a result, Pisquetomen and his brothers Shingas and Tamaqua abandoned Pennsylvania, leading their people over the Allegheny Mountains and settling at Kittanning on the Allegheny River.³ // Events January 31 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital April 9 - The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat was beheaded by axe on Tower Hill, London, for high treason; he was the last man to be executed in this way in Britain May 14 - First battle of Cape... Tamaqua is a borough located in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. ... The Allegheny Mountains are a part of the Appalachian mountain range located in the eastern United States. ... Kittanning was an 18th century Native American village in the Ohio Country, located on the Allegheny River at present-day Kittanning, Pennsylvania. ... The Allegheny River (historically, especially in New York state, also spelled Allegany River) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 325 mi (523 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. ...

French and Indian War

Even on the other side of the mountains, the western Delawares were still caught between three powerful empires: the British colonies, New France, and the Six Nations of the Iroquois. The Iroquois at this time claimed sovereignty over the Delawares, a dubious claim that British officials recognized in order to strengthen ties with the Iroquois — usually at the expense of the Delawares. In an attempt to assert control over the western Delawares, the Iroquois leader Tanacharison (the "Half-King"), dubbed Shingas the "king" of the Delawares in an important treaty conference at Logstown in May of 1752. British officials approved this "coronation," but would come to regret it, as Shingas proved just as difficult to control as his brother. Betsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies. ... New France (French: la Nouvelle-France) describes the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763. ... The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. ... Tanacharison or Tanaghrisson (c. ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

The great struggle between Great Britain and France for control of the interior of the North American continent (the "French and Indian War") began near Shingas's village close to the forks of the Ohio River. Like most Delawares, Shingas and his villagers stayed neutral in the early stages of the conflict, declining to assist George Washington at Fort Necessity in 1754 and the Braddock Expedition in 1755. The Delawares had no desire to be French subjects either, but when France asserted dominance in the region after Braddock's defeat, the Delawares reluctantly aligned themselves with the French. Carl D. Perkins Bridge in Portsmouth, Ohio with Ohio River and Scioto River tributary on right. ... George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) was an American planter, political figure, and military leader. ... Fort Necessity was a British fortress west of the Pennsylvania colony. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Route of the Braddock Expedition. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Shingas took part in the brutal backcountry war with the British colonies, leading raids deep into the Pennsylvania and Virginia settlements. The colonies were unable to mount an effective resistance to the hit-and-run tactics of the Indians, though the destruction of Shingas's base of operations in the Kittanning Expedition in 1756 surprised the Delawares and compelled them to move further west, settling in what is present-day Ohio. A peace faction led by Shingas's brother Tamaqua soon gained ascendancy. Though the brothers apparently always worked in harmony, Tamaqua, known to the whites as "the Beaver" or "King Beaver," would eventually eclipse his brothers in fame and influence. The Kittanning Expedition, also known as the Armstrong Expedition, was a raid during the French and Indian War that led to the destruction of the Native American village of Kittanning, which had served as a staging point for attacks by Delaware (Lenape) and Shawnee warriors against European-American colonists in... 1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: The Buckeye State Other U.S. States Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Governor Bob Taft (R) Official languages None Area 116,096 km² (34th)  - Land 106,154 km²  - Water 10,044 km² (8. ...

In 1758, Pisquetomen was dispatched to the east to help negotiate the Treaty of Easton, which effectively ended the war for the Delawares, and enabled British General John Forbes to capture Fort Duquesne without interference from local Indians. Fearing retribution because of his actions in the war, Shingas kept a low profile. 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Treaty of Easton was an colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 between the colonial British colonial government of the Province of Pennsylvania and the Native American tribes in the Ohio Country, including the Shawnee and Lenape. ... John Forbes (5 September 1707 – March 11, 1759) was a British general in the French and Indian War. ... An artist’s rendering of Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ...

Final years

The British built Fort Pitt on the ruins of Fort Duquesne, to the consternation of the local Delawares, contributing to the outbreak of Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763. Fort Pitt was besieged by the Delawares; Shingas may have participated in the fighting at this time. He and Tamaqua unsuccessfully tried to convince the British at Fort Pitt to withdraw, but the fort was relieved by an expedition led by Henry Bouquet. Shingas and Tamaqua, who advised accommodation with the British, began to lose influence to more militant Delaware leaders. Shingas disappears from the historical record around 1764; some have speculated that he may have contracted smallpox from blankets distributed to the Delawares from Fort Pitt during the war, but there is no clear evidence that he (or anyone else for that matter) died as a result of the incident. Fort Pitt was a fort in what is now Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. ... Pontiacs Rebellion was a war launched in 1763 by Native Americans (American Indians) who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region and the Ohio Country after the British victory in the French and Indian War. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Henry Bouquet (1719 – September 2, 1765) was a noted British army officer in the French and Indian War and Pontiacs War. ... Tamaqua is a borough located in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a highly contagious disease unique to humans. ...

Notes

Note 1: Weslager (185), McConnell and White (259) write that Shingas was a nephew of Sasoonan; Lambert and Franks say they were brothers. Note 2: McConnell, p. 12. Note 3: Weslager, p. 208.

References

• Franks, Kenny A. "Tamaqua" in American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 1999.

• Lambert, Paul F. "Shingas" in American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 1999.

• McConnell, Michael N. A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.

• Weslager, C. A. The Delaware Indians. New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1972.

• White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815. New York, 1991.