Sons of Pucksinwa, a Shawnee chief killed in the battle of Point Pleasant, Tecumseh (Tikamthi or Tecumtha) and his brother Elskwatawa, known later as Tenskwatawa or the Prophet (circa 1768—circa 1834), were probably born near Old Chillicothe in Ohio. By 1805 the brothers headed a Shawnee band living primarily in Indiana, where the Prophet spearheaded a popular religious revival, one tenet of which was Indian self-sufficiency. Tecumseh, however, developed a broader political philosophy and proposed a program designed to halt western white settlement, an aim which was to be achieved through a great Indian confederacy against further land cessions, through refusal to trade for or use white men's alcoholic beverages, and through adoption of a self-sufficient agricultural life. To win support for his program Tecumseh not only conducted widespread negotiations with other tribes but also sought British approval, arms, and advice. While Tecumseh was visiting the southern tribes in 1811, the Prophet, in complete disregard of Tecumseh's instructions, allowed himself to be maneuvered by William Henry Harrison into the disastrous battle of Tippecanoe, which shattered Tecumseh's hope of pressing peacefully for an internationally guaranteed Indian territory. When the War of 1812 erupted, Tecumseh was commissioned a brigadier general in the British Army and fought with great courage until his death in the battle of the Thames (October 5, 1813). Known for his humanity, he was not present at the massacre at the Raisin River, and he was credited with saving the lives of American prisoners taken at William Dudley's defeat during the first siege of Fort Meigs. His arousal of the southern tribes in 1811 and the influence of his message helped to precipitate the Creek War of 1813.
