John Ross (Cherokee chief)

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John Ross (Cherokee chief) bigraphy, stories - Cherokee chief

John Ross (Cherokee chief) : biography

October 3, 1790 – August 1, 1866

John Ross (October 3, 1790–August 1, 1866), also known as Guwisguwi (meaning in Cherokee a "mythological or rare migratory bird"), was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828–1866, serving longer in this position than any other person. Described as the Moses of his people,Hicks, p. 353 Ross influenced the former Indian nation through such tumultuous events as the relocation to Indian Territory and the American Civil War.

Rise to national leadership

A young John Ross

Political apprenticeship

The years 1812 to 1827 were a period of political apprenticeship for Ross. He learned how to conduct negotiations with the United States and the skills required to run a national government. After 1814, Ross’s political career as a Cherokee legislator and diplomat progressed with the support of individuals such as the Principal Chief Pathkiller,, University of Oklahoma Press, 1981, p. 65 Assistant Principal Chief Charles R. Hicks, and Casey Holmes, an elder statesman of the Cherokee Nation, as well as the women elders of his clan.

By 1813, as relations with the United States became more complex, older, uneducated chiefs such as Pathkiller could not effectively defend Cherokee interests. The ascendancy of Ross indicated Cherokee recognition that an educated, English-speaking leadership was of national importance. Both Pathkiller and Hicks believed Ross could be a future leader of the Cherokee Nation, and they trained him for this work. Ross served as clerk to Pathkiller and Hicks, where he worked on all financial and political matters of the nation.Moulton, John Ross, Cherokee Chief, p. 23. They also steeped him in Cherokee tradition. In a series of letters to Ross, Hicks outlined what was known of Cherokee traditions.The Papers of Chief John Ross, Volume I, 1807–1839, p. 32.

In 1816, the chief’s council named Ross to his first delegation to Washington. The delegation of 1816 was directed to resolve the sensitive issues of national boundaries, land ownership, and white encroachment on Cherokee land. Of the delegates, only Ross was fluent in English, making him the central figure in the negotiations. This was a unique position for a young man in Cherokee society, which traditionally favored older leaders.Moulton, John Ross, Cherokee Chief, p. 15, Fred O. Gearing, Priests and Warriors: Social Structures for Cherokee Politics in the Eighteenth Century, (Menasha, Wisconsin: 1962), p. 40.

In November 1817, the Cherokee formed the National Council. Ross was elected to the thirteen-member body, where each man served two-year terms. The National Council was created to consolidate Cherokee political authority after Andrew Jackson made two treaties with small cliques of Cherokee representing minority factions. Membership in the National Council placed Ross among the ruling elite of the Cherokee leadership. The majority of the men were wealthy, mixed-race and English-speaking, unlike most of the Cherokee, who still spoke only Cherokee.

Assumption of leadership

In November 1818, on the eve of the General Council meeting with the US Indian agent Joseph McMinn, who dealt with the Cherokee, Ross was elevated to the presidency of the National Committee. He held this position through 1827. The Council selected Ross because they perceived him to have the diplomatic skill necessary to rebuff US requests to cede Cherokee lands. In this task, Ross did not disappoint the Council. McMinn offered $200,000 US for removal of the Cherokee beyond the Mississippi, which Ross refused.Moulton, John Ross, Cherokee Chief, p. 20.

In 1819, the Council sent Ross to Washington, D.C.. He assumed a larger leadership role. The purpose of the delegation was to clarify the provisions of the Treaty of 1817. The delegation had to negotiate the limits of the ceded lands and hope to clarify the Cherokee’s right to the remaining lands. John C. Calhoun, the Secretary of War, pressed Ross to cede large tracts of land in Tennessee and Georgia. Such pressure from the US government continued and intensified. In October 1822, Calhoun requested that the Cherokee relinquish their land claimed by Georgia, in fulfillment of the United States’ obligation under the Compact of 1802. Before responding to Calhoun’s proposition, Ross first ascertained the sentiment of the Cherokee people. They were unanimously opposed to further cession of land.