Red Jacket (c. 1750 – January 20, 1830), known as Otetiani in his youth and Sagoyewatha after 1780, was a Native American of the Seneca tribe’s Wolf Clan. The Seneca word, Sagoyewatha, translates approximately as he keeps them awake, alluding to his great oratory skills.

Red Jacket urged neutrality during the American Revolutionary War, but finally accepted the majority decision of the Iroquois League, to which the Seneca and six other tribes were aligned. With them, he joined the side of the British Empire, but throughout the war continued to maintain his stance of negotiation over battle. It was during this war that he gained his English name, receiving a red dress uniform jacket, which became his trademark, by a British officer impressed with Sagoyewatha’s leadership qualities.

Red Jacket, most famous for his oratory skills, stood as a powerful spokesman for his people in a time during which their lands were taken and their traditional ways of life were dying. In this manner he was much loved. He strongly opposed the Americanization of his people, yet at the same time engendered conciliatory relations with the U.S. government. He is well known for his strong stance against Christianity, yet his opposition was not of the religious beliefs themselves, only against the attitude of the Christians who attempted to force their religion upon the Natives. During a council of chiefs of the Six Nations in the summer of 1805, he delivered a response to the missionary Mr. Cram, who had spoken of the work he proposed to do among them;

“Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the Book?…Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion or take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own.”

The Buffalo Historical Society honored Red Jacket with a memorial statue sixty years after his death. Erected in 1890, a quote excerpted from Red Jacket’s last words are etched upon its base:

When I am gone and my warnings are no longer heeded, the craft and avarice of the white man will prevail. My heart fails me when I think of my people so soon to be scattered and forgotten.

Red Jacket shared a common sentiment with many of his contemporaries such as Joseph Brant, Cornplanter, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, and Cornstalk, among others. They all stood in the precarious position of attempting to preserve traditional ways of Native American life while learning how to either live alongside the white man or make it in his world.

Red Jacket was named the Seneca chief in 1791, when the tribe became disillusioned by Chief Cornplanter’s nonresistance to American expansion onto traditional lands. Red Jacket’s more militant stance urged the continuance of hostilities against the settlers. A staunch and passionate advocate of tradition, he resisted the Americanization of his people throughout most of his life. Red Jacket was particularly resistive to the attempts at Christian conversion. However, in later years he established a conciliatory relationship with the American government and accepted his wife’s conversion to Christianity.

Red Jacket, who lived in one of the most dynamic periods of American history, died on January 20, 1830, at the Seneca tribal village near Buffalo New York and is interred in that city’s Forest Lawn Cemetery.

References

Red Jacket Biography from New World Encyclopedia under a Creative Commons by-sa 3.0 license.