Chainbreaker | |
|---|---|
| 'Tah-won-ne-ahs, Thaonawyuthe | |
 Chainbreaker, painted by John Phillips, 1845 | |
| Seneca leader | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Between 1737 and 1760 |
| Died | December 26, 1859 Allegany Reservation, New York. |
| Resting place | Hillside Haven Cemetery, Cattaraugus County, New York |
| Relations | Uncles, Cornplanter and Handsome Lake |
| Known for | Fought with the British at Battle of Oriskany, during the American Revolutionary War; fought with the Americans in the War of 1812 |
| Nickname(s) | Blacksnake, Governor Blacksnake |
Tah-won-ne-ahs or Thaonawyuthe (born before 1760, died December 26, 1859), known in English as either Chainbreaker to his own people or Governor Blacksnake to the European settlers, was a Seneca war chief and sachem. Along with other Iroquois war chiefs (most notably Mohawk leader Joseph Brant), he led warriors to fight on the side of the British during the American Revolutionary War from 1777 to 1783. He was prominent for his role at the Battle of Oriskany, in which the Loyalist and allied forces ambushed a force of Patriots.[1] After the war, he supported his maternal uncle, Handsome Lake, as a prominent religious leader. Chainbreaker allied with the United States in the War of 1812 and later encouraged some accommodation to European-American settlers, allowing missionaries and teachers on the Seneca reservation.
Importantly, he also led a successful postwar struggle in New York in the 1850s after white men illegally bought Seneca land. He helped gain a New York State Appeals Court ruling in 1861 that restored the Oil Springs Reservation to the Seneca.[2]
- ^ "Historic Seneca Leaders". Seneca Nation of Indians. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- ^ Hauptman 2008.