orig. Tenskwatawa
born с March 1768, Old Chillicothe, Ohio
died 1834, Argentine, Kan., U.S.
North American Indian leader.
The brother of Tecumseh , he maintained a strong following among the Shawnee on the strength of his 1805 declaration that he had received a message from the "Master of Life" and had contact with the supernatural. Advocating a return to traditional ways of life, he rejected the white man's introduction of alcohol, textile clothing, and individual ownership of property, and he worked with Tecumseh for an Indian confederacy to resist U.S. encroachment on Indian land. In Tecumseh's absence he allowed the Shawnee to be drawn into and defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811).