Chainbreaker: Revolutionary War Memoirs of Governor Blacksnake (American Indian Lives) - Tapa dura

"Chainbreaker" is one of the earliest memoirs of an American Indian--a Seneca chief know as Governor Blacksnake to his white neighbors on the New York frontier. A fighter in the American Revolution, the old chief (who also went by the name Chainbreaker) had an exciting story to tell to his fellow Seneca, Benjamin Williams, in the mid-nineteenth century. His account is now published in its entirety for the first time, with extensive commentary by Thomas S. Abler setting the text in historical perspective.The narrative begins with a flurry of diplomatic activity as the English and the rebellious Americans eagerly seek alliances with the Senecas and other tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy. Only in 1777 did Iroquois warriors enter the conflict. Blacksnake describes the fighting as he saw it on such fields as Oriskany, Wyoming, and Newtown. Educated not only to the warpath but to the council fire, he is sensitive to the central role his people played in peace negotiations after the defeat of the British. He describes also the efforts of the Senecas to promote peace between the Americans and the still hostile Indians of the Ohio country. Blacksnake was well placed to make and observe history: One of his uncles was Cornplanter, a prominent figure during the Revolutionary War and its aftermath. Another uncle was the prophet Handsome Lake, whose vision in 1799 led to a revitalization of Seneca religion and culture and is recounted here. Blacksnake's story provides a rare Indian view of warfare and diplomacy during a time when the Six Nations of the Iroquois still played a major role in the history of North America.

Thomas S. Abler, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Waterloo, is the co-author of "A Canadian Indian Bibliography, 1960-1970" (1974).