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Yonaguska
Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
In office 1824–1839
Preceded by
Office established
Succeeded by
Salonitah
Personal details
Born
1759 Anson County, North Carolina, British America
Died
1839 Soco, North Carolina, U.S.
Nationality
Cherokee
Yonaguska (1759–1839), who was known as Drowning Bear (the English meaning of his name), was a leader among the Cherokee of the Lower Towns of North Carolina.[1][2][3]
During the Indian Removal of the late 1830s, he was the only chief who remained in the hills to rebuild the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, joined by others who had escaped or eluded the United States soldiers. Before that time, he had adopted William Holland Thomas as his son; the fatherless European-American youth was working at the trading post and had learned Cherokee. Yonaguska taught him Cherokee ways and, after Thomas became an attorney, he represented the tribe in negotiations with the federal government. Thomas was never a Chief of any Cherokee band but played important roles. Thomas bought land and established a Cherokee reserve for the tribe's use at what is now the Qualla Boundary, the territory of the federally recognized tribe in North Carolina.
During his life, Yonaguska was a reformer and a prophet; he was a leader who recognized the destructive power of the white man's liquor and the settlers' insatiable greed for Cherokee lands.
^Spires, Derrick R.; Roberts, Christina; Rezek, Joseph; Murison, Justine S.; Mielke, Laura L.; Looby, Christopher; Lazo, Rodrigo; Knight, Alisha; Hsu, Hsuan L. (2022-04-13). The Broadview Anthology of American Literature Volume B: 1820 to Reconstruction. Broadview Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-77048-826-7.
^Ricky, Donald (2001-01-01). Encyclopedia of Georgia Indians: Indians of Georgia and the Southeast. Somerset Publishers, Inc. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-403-09745-6.
^Heard, Joseph Norman (1987). Handbook of the American Frontier: The northeastern woodlands. Scarecrow Press. p. 403. ISBN 978-0-8108-1931-3.
Yonaguska (1759–1839), who was known as Drowning Bear (the English meaning of his name), was a leader among the Cherokee of the Lower Towns of North Carolina...
befriended and later adopted by the chief/headman of the local Cherokees, Yonaguska. He was later adopted into the tribe as a whole. Although it was later...
Principal Chief. The position had existed in the east since the time of Yonaguska. Their descendants make up the members of the federally recognized Eastern...
Yonaguska (1759–1839) was a leader of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina. In 1819, after several years of alcoholism, Yonaguska experienced...
notable Cherokee historic figures, including Sequoyah, Junaluska, Chief Yonaguska a.k.a. Drowning Bear, and William Holland Thomas. The Western North Carolina...
Celo Knob Luftee Knob Marks Knob Big Cataloochee Mount Hardison Mount Yonaguska Mount Ambler Mount Hardy Mount Mitchell State Park Great Smoky Mountains...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
starvation. Both John Ross, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and Yonaguska, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, condemned Tsali's actions...
century female chief White Plume, Kaw chief Yellow Bird, Walla Walla chief Yonaguska, Cherokee chief William Weatherford, Muscogee Creek chief White Hair (Pawhuska)...
Nation (1907–present) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824–present) Yonaguska (1824–1839) Salonitah, or Flying Squirrel (1870–1875) Lloyd R. Welch (1875–1880)...
Nation (1907–present) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824–present) Yonaguska (1824–1839) Salonitah, or Flying Squirrel (1870–1875) Lloyd R. Welch (1875–1880)...
the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Principal Chief Yonaguska, with the help of his adopted European American son William Holland Thomas...
dignity by reverting to traditional customs and ceremonies. Tenskwatawa, Yonaguska, and George Copway sought to achieve this by establishing alcohol-free...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
Nation (1907–present) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824–present) Yonaguska (1824–1839) Salonitah, or Flying Squirrel (1870–1875) Lloyd R. Welch (1875–1880)...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
the field started to close and Yonaguska took the lead. Point Given battled back and started to pull clear of Yonaguska, only to be passed in the final...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
not subject to removal. In North Carolina, about 400 Cherokee led by Yonaguska lived on land along the Oconaluftee River in the Great Smoky Mountains...
Nation (1907–present) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824–present) Yonaguska (1824–1839) Salonitah, or Flying Squirrel (1870–1875) Lloyd R. Welch (1875–1880)...
and state citizens, not subject to removal. About 500 Cherokee led by Yonaguska lived on land along the Oconaluftee, which was owned by William Holland...
John Looney John Rogers Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824-present) Yonaguska William Holland Thomas Tsaladihi Gerard Parker Joyce Dugan Patrick Lambert...
19th-century Native American prophets, including Neolin, Handsome Lake, Yonaguska, Tenskwatawa, Tavibo and his son Wovoka, and Smohalla, all of whom had...
Nation (1907–present) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (1824–present) Yonaguska (1824–1839) Salonitah, or Flying Squirrel (1870–1875) Lloyd R. Welch (1875–1880)...
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