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‍   This is a tough decision.  Mecina has been like a father to me whose instruction I usually would follow without hesitation, but he does not want to join with Black Hawk’s forces and defend our land. This seems odd to me. Mecina has been resisting the white man’s government vigorously ever since the 1819 Treaty of Edwardsville supposedly ceded our land along the Sangamon River in return for land in Missouri Territory.

 

‍     Mecina scoffed with derision when a government agent read us a description of the promised new land.

 

“Beginning at the confluence of the rivers Pommes de Terre and Osage; thence, up said river Pommes de Terre, to the dividing ridge which separates the waters of Osage and White rivers; thence, with said ridge, and westwardly, to the Osage line; thence due north with said line, to Nerve creek; thence, down the same, to a point due south of the mouth of White Clay, or Richard Creek: thence, north, to the Osage river; thence, down said river, to the beginning:Provided, nevertheless,That the said tribe shall never sell the said land without the consent of the President of the United States.”

 

‍     Mecina angrily told the agent that the Treaty of Edwardsville was not binding on him because he had never signed it.   He demanded to know what right the government had;

 

‍ "to purchase lands from the Red Skins, because it was very injurious to the Indians to sell, swap, or buy any treaty surrendering Kickapoo lands. I cannot say this land belongs to me; I can't say my body belongs to me, it belongs to the Great Spirit'.' Those Kickapoos who signed the treaty had violated sacred laws. "I thought the Great Spirit was mad because there was a shaking of the earth;' and I thought it was because the Red Skins was such fools as to sell their lands. The Great Spirit shook the land after we sold because He was angry, and I am afraid of Him:’

 

‍    Now Mecina has totally changed and argues that fighting the white man has gained our people nothing but loss of land and misery.   Now he says he has learned of a path of peace taught by the Prophet Kenekuk that has yielded years of freedom for the Vermillion Kickapoo people. Mecina wants us to leave our land here and join with the Prophet who teaches,

 

‍ "Every red and white man is my brother, and I desire to be united with them in friendship, and for this reason I am afraid of nothing”

 

‍     Macina said Kenekuk's followers were not worried about losing their land as long as they obeyed Kenekuk’s teachings to work hard, scorn alcohol, be faithful husbands and fathers, and attend Church on Sundays.

 

‍     Macina also explained that Kenekuk had recently met with the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, William Clark, in St. Louis and assured him of the desire of the Vermillion River Kickapoo to live peacefully.  

 

"My father, you call all the redskins your children. When we have children, we treat them well. That is the reason I make this long walk to get you to take pity on us:' Because they had thrown all  their  badness away and kept the good path: they should be allowed to keep their lands. …”When I talked to the Great Spirit; He did not tell me to sell my lands, because I did not know how much was a dollar's worth, or the game that runs on it. If He told me so, I would tell you today.' And since God owned the land, how could mere men buy and sell it?  Some of our chiefs said the land belonged to us, the Kickapoos, but The Great Spirit told me that no people owned the lands-that all was His. …  You must  treat the Indians fairly; let them remain on the lands of their fathers  Avoid angering God,  for everything belongs to the Great Spirit. If He chooses to make the earth shake, all the skins, white and red, can not stop it.”

 

‍    Macina told us that Clark warned the prophet that as long as they lived on the Vermillion;

 

"You will be involved in brawls with the whites, owing to the restless disposition of some of your people and ours,” 

 

‍    But significantly Clark made no demands for an immediate removal and decided to let the peaceful Kickapoo Indians stay in the Vermillion River area. 

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‍     So one choice I have is to go with Macina to live among our Vermillion Kickapoo brothers and sisters.  The other choice is to join with Black Hawk and defend the land here.

 

‍    Black Hawk  has been leading Sauk, Fox, and other warriors against his people's enemies for nearly fifty years.  His desire is not personal glory, horses, captives, and scalps as white men claim, but freedom and peace on the lands of the Winnebago prophet.  The Prophet White Cloud, a Sac chief, does not favor accommodating the white man. He tells us to strictly adhere to our father’s traditions.  He prophesied to Black Hawk that if he makes a firm stand, so many warriors will join his effort that the Americans will not dare to try and force them to leave.

 

Do I stay or do I go.  

A really tough decision for a 13 year old.

 

 

 

 

PS: As it turned out it mattered little which choice was made.

‍ Indiana Governor Posey and Governor Edwards of Illinois were furious over Superintendent Clark’s leniency towards the Kickapoo.  They were deadset on relocating all tribes west of the Mississippi.   They got their wish when Andrew Jackson took office and signed “The Indian Removal Act"     on May 28, 1830.