Sassoonan facts for kids

Sassoonan or Allumapees (c. 1675 - 15 October, 1747) was a Lenni Lenape chief who lived in Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was known for his negotiations with the Provincial government of Pennsylvania in several land purchases. He was a respected leader until political intrigue and migration of the Lenape into the Ohio Country diminished his influence. He died in Shamokin in 1747. After his death the Lenape were without a chief until 1752, when the Iroquois half-king Tanacharison appointed Shingas to represent them at the Logstown Treaty conference. He was a son of Tamanend, also known as "Tammany," a well-respected Lenape sachem known as a lover of peace and friendship.

After 1728, Sassoonan is often referred to as "Allumapees," (sometimes written "Olumapies," with a variety of other spellings). According to one source, this was actually a title, not a proper name: "Olomipees meant 'preserver of the records,'" and was given to "a head chief of the Delawares." A few sources also refer to him as "Weheequickhon," or "Wikwikhon," although this is disputed and the name may refer to someone else.

Lenape chief

Sassoonan's name first appears in the colonial records on July 25, 1709, when he attended a conference in Philadelphia together with Passakassy, Owechela and Skalitchy, all four of whom were then described as "chiefs of the Delaware Indians settled at Peshtang, above Conestogoe, and other adjacent places." He was with Owechela and Skalitchy at another conference in Philadelphia in July, 1712. The next conference was on 14 June, 1715, when he arrived with the Shawnee chief Opessa Straight Tail (his son-in-law) and met with Deputy Governor Charles Gookin. In the minutes, Sassoonan is reported as saying "that their [the Lenape's] late king, Skalitchy, desired of them that they would take care to keep a perfect peace with ye English." Sassoonan was the head of the Lenape delegation at this conference, and this statement indicates that Sassoonan had become chief after Skalitchy's death between 1712 and 1715.

Friendship with the colonial authorities

By the mid-1730s hundreds of new settlements across Pennsylvania were creating conflicts with the Lenape and Shawnee residents. The clearing of farmland and increased hunting killed and drove off game, leading to hunger among Native American communities that subsisted largely on game during the winter months. Sassoonan wanted to maintain good relations with the colonial government in order to ensure respect for indigenous land rights, but the colonists viewed him as "now become very weak, and the other Old people with him, as well as himself, poor and necessitous," with less influence among his people and thus unlikely to pose a threat to colonial expansion.

Sassoonan was also seeking trade goods to redistribute among his people as a means of maintaining influence among them, as "A younger set of men were coming into power among the Lenape," and more of them were migrating with their families westward into the Ohio Country where hunting was good and there were no English settlements. The Pennsylvania authorities also wanted to keep the Lenape from moving into the Ohio Valley, where they would be more likely to become French allies, therefore Sassoonan was presented with frequent gifts. On a visit to Philadelphia in August, 1736 he was presented with "four strouds, four blankets, four duffels, four shirts, twenty pounds of powder, fifty pounds of lead, one dozen tobacco tongs, one dozen knives, tobacco and pipes, one hundredweight of bread, [and] five gallons of rum." On another visit to Philadelphia in October, 1738 he was given "Six Strowd Matchcoats, Twelve Duffells, Twelve Blankets, six hatts, Four shirts, Fifty Pounds of Powder and as much lead, a Dozen of knives, [and] a Gross of Pipes with Tobacco." Sassoonan visited Philadelphia again in August, 1740, stating "Your young men have killed so many deer, beavers, bears, and game of all sorts that we can hardly find any for ourselves." He was provided with even more generous gifts on this occasion, although instead of rum, he was presented with a horse, saddle and bridle.

The area acquired by the Penns under the Walking Treaty of 1737, northern Delaware River sources along northeast border between the colonial Province of Pennsylvania and West New Jersey in the Province of New Jersey (shaded)

On 12 July, 1742 Sassoonan attended a conference in Philadelphia, accompanied by Nenatcheehunt, to resolve differences over the occupation of lands ceded under the Walking Purchase of 1737 but which the Lenape were refusing to leave, stating that the purchase had been unfairly negotiated. They "had even declared their intention to maintain possession by force of arms." Present at the conference were 230 Iroquois, whose leader Canassatago rebuked the Lenape, calling them women and ordering them to move westward to "Wyomink or Shamokin" and leave their traditional homeland along the Delaware River, adding: "We charge You to remove instantly. We don't give you the liberty to think about it...This String of Wampum serves to forbid You, Your Children and Grand Children, to the latest Posterity, for ever, medling in Land Affairs...Depart the Council and consider what has been said to you." The Lenape did eventually migrate to Shamokin and the Wyoming Valley, and despite Sassoonan's efforts, many moved further westward into the Ohio River Valley.

Peace negotiations, 1743

After a series of violent conflicts between Indians and white settlers, Meshemethequater, Sassoonan and other chiefs from the Six Nations (including Shikellamy), the Tuscaroras, and the Lenape met with Conrad Weiser and Andrew Montour at Shamokin on 4 February, 1743, and received wampum from Weiser, who was trying to persuade the Shawnees not to attack English traders living on the Allegheny, to prevent war from erupting. Ultimately, the negotiations were successful.

Later life and death

In June, 1745, Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg, Conrad Weiser and David Zeisberger visited Sassoonan at Shamokin. The bishop wrote: "[Myself] and Conrad crossed the river to visit the Indian King [Sassoonan] who lives there, and had the honor to smoke a pipe with him." The bishop described "Allummapees" as "very old, almost blind, and very poor; but withal has still power over, and is beloved by his people and is a friend of the English."

On his death, many Lenape moved to communities on the Allegheny and the Ohio, such as Kittanning, Logstown, and Kuskusky.

Succession

After Sassoonan's death, three of his nephews, Shingas, Tamaqua (King Beaver), and Pisquetomen, succeeded him as sachems. Pisquetomen was initially designated by Sassoonan himself as his successor, however he was intelligent, strong-willed, spoke English, and was not easily manipulated, and so Pennsylvania officials refused to recognize him as "king." James Logan also wanted a leader with the determination to bring those Lenape who had migrated to Ohio back to the Susquehanna region, and felt that Pisquetomen would be unable and unwilling to attempt this. Logan and Conrad Weiser actively tried to promote Lappapitton (also spelled Lappachpitton) as successor, describing him as "an Honest, true-hearted man" with "very good Natural Sence," but Lappapitton declined, saying (according to Weiser) that "he is afraid he will be Envy'd and consequently bewitched by some of the Indians."

For several years after Sassoonan's death there was no recognized Lenape leader, until the Logstown Treaty of 1752, at which the Iroquois insisted that Tanacharison, the Seneca leader in charge of supervising the Lenape, select a leader. Arguing "that is our right to give you a King" to represent the Lenape in "all publick Business," Tanacharison chose Shingas, who was relatively obscure and seemed acceptable to the Pennsylvania government, although they later came to regret the choice when Shingas began a series of bloody raids against English settlements at the start of the French and Indian War.

Family

Some sources list Quenameckquid (known as Charles) and Yaqueekhon (known as Nicholas) as Sassoonan's brothers. One of Sassoonan's daughters (sometimes referred to as Polly) married Opessa Straight Tail in 1711 after Opessa resigned his chieftainship and took refuge in Shamokin. Sassoonan's granddaughter, who is sometimes referred to as Madelina, married Andrew Montour.