CRIDERSVILLE, OH (WLIO) - A free lecture gave a first-person perspective on the history and leadership of Shawnee Native American Chief Black Hoof.
The Cridersville Historical Society invited a historian to teach everyone about decades' worth of events that shaped the lives of settlers and natives in our own region. The speaker, Rusty Cottrel, was dressed in period-accurate Native American clothing. Both natives and Europeans actually wore clothes from each other, after realizing through trade, the advantages of both. Cottrel explains that from a distance, it would be nearly impossible to tell the difference between a Native American and a European based on what they were wearing.
Unlike Chief Tecumseh, who believed in fighting to the death to drive away settlers, Chief Black Hoof worked for diplomacy, even siding against Tecumseh and with the early Americans in the War of 1812.
"Black Hoof, a much older man, had seen a lot of the misery that that kind of approach had caused, especially with his people. Young people starving to death, warriors who got killed in war, did not come back, they could not support families, couldn't establish permanent villages because they were constantly on the move associated with the warfare, and he decided there's got to be a better way," explained Cottrel.
The lecture was also recorded to be used for future lessons in local schools.
