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Nancy Ward
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==Life== ''Nanyehi'' (meaning "one who goes about") was born c. 1738 in the Cherokee chief-city, [[Chota (Cherokee town)|Chota (or "town of refuge")]]. Today, that area is within [[Monroe County, Tennessee|Monroe County]], on the southeastern border of [[Tennessee]]. Her mother, a sister of [[Attakullakulla]],<ref name="TNEN">[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1464 Nancy Ward], Tennessee Encyclopedia</ref> was a member of the [[Cherokee clans#Aniwaya|Wolf Clan]].{{efn|Though Nanyehi's mother is often referred to by historians as "Tame Doe", the name has no historical sources; it is associated with an 1895 historical novel by E. Sterling King.<ref name= "ChkRose" />}}<ref name= "ChkRose">''The Wild Rose of Cherokee''; University Press; Nashville: University Press (1895)</ref><ref name= "pocwest">''Nancy Ward, The Pocahontas of the West''; University Press; Nashville: University Press (1895)</ref> According to Nanyehi's descendant, John Walker "Jack" Hildebrand, her father was "Fivekiller", who was a member of the [[Lenape|Lenape (Delaware)]] tribe.<ref name=autogenerated1>The Association of the Descendants of Nancy Ward, Biography of Nancy Ward, by David Hampton</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nanyehi-nancy-ward| title=Nanyehi (Nancy Ward)| website=National Women's History Museum| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180319085254/https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nanyehi-nancy-ward| archive-date=2018-03-19| url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn|Some Lenape had migrated west across the Appalachian Mountains to remove themselves from the encroaching White man, far from their traditional mid-Atlantic coastal territories.}} While a young teen, Nanyehi was married to ''Tsu-la'' (or "Kingfisher"). According to historian Emmet Starr, he was a member of the Deer Clan.<ref name = "starr"/> By the time she was 17, Nanyehi and Kingfisher had two children, Catherine ''Ka-Ti'' Walker and Littlefellow ''Hiskyteehee'' Fivekiller.<ref name="Nancy Ward">{{Cite web| url=http://staging.nyhistory.org/sites/default/files/newfiles/cwh-curriculum/Module%202/Life%20Stories/Nancy%20Ward%20Life%20Story.pdf?_ga=2.209447572.720116515.1533057046-1945344913.1453744769| title=Nancy Ward| website=New-York Historical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://cherokeeregistry.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=386&Itemid=580| title=Ward, Elizabeth Betsy of Wolf Clan| website=Cherokee Registry}}</ref> In the 1755 [[Battle of Taliwa]], when the Cherokee fought their traditional enemy, the [[Muscogee people|Muscogee (Creek) people]], Nanyehi accompanied her husband to the field, located in what is now northern Georgia. She chewed his bullets before he loaded his gun, so that the jagged edges would inflict more damage.<ref name = "starr">Starr, Emmet. ''History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore.'' Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Warden Company, 1921</ref> After Kingfisher was killed in the battle, Nanyehi picked up his rifle and led the Cherokee warriors to victory.<ref name=Moore>{{cite book | last1=Moore| first1=Lisa L.| last2=Brooks| first2=Joanna| last3=Wigginton| first3=Caroline| title=Transatlantic Feminisms in the Age of Revolutions| date=2012| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York| isbn=9780199743490| page=179| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=waFJTq5UuWoC&pg=PA179}}</ref> In the late 1750s, Nanyehi married an Irish trader, Bryant Ward. She became known as Nancy, an anglicized version of her name. The couple had a daughter together, Elizabeth "Betsy" Ward, who would one day marry General [[Joseph Martin (general)|Joseph Martin]]. Bryant Ward eventually left her, and returned to his base in South Carolina and his first wife.<ref name="NWHM" />{{efn|Bryant Ward's first wife was a woman of European descent. He was still married to her when he married Nanyehi.<ref name= "NWHM">{{cite web | title=Nanyehi (Nancy) Ward |url=https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nanyehi-nancy-ward|website=National Women's History Museum| access-date= 11 July 2018}}</ref>}} ===Beloved Woman and diplomat=== For her actions at the Battle of Taliwa, the Cherokee awarded her the title of [[Ghigau|''Ghigau'' (or "Beloved Woman")]]. This made her the only female voting member of the Cherokee general council.<ref name=Calloway>{{cite book | last1=Calloway| first1=Colin G.| title=The American Revolution in Indian Country : Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities |date=1998| publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press| location=Cambridge [u.a.]| isbn=9780521475693| edition=[Repr.]| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SQ0YG9ozB8C&pg=PA198}}</ref><ref name="Nancy Ward" /> She was also named the leader of the women's clan council that authorized her to become an ambassador and negotiator for all her people.<ref name=EB>{{cite web | title=Nancy Ward Native American leader| website=Encyclopædia Britannica| url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635787/Nancy-Ward}}</ref> Nanye'hi became a ''[[de facto]]'' ambassador between the Cherokee and the British and European Americans. She had learned the art of [[diplomacy]] from her maternal uncle, the influential chief ''[[Attakullakulla]]'' ("Little Carpenter").<ref name=James>{{cite book | last1=James| first1=Edward T.| last2=James| first2=Janet Wilson| last3=Boyer| first3=Paul S.| title=Notable American Women, 1607–1950 : A Biographical Dictionary| date=1974| publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.| location=Cambridge, Mass.| isbn=978-0674627345| edition=3rd print.| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVLOhGt1BX0C&pg=RA2-PA542}}</ref> In 1781, she was among the Cherokee leaders who met with an American delegation led by [[John Sevier]], to discuss American settlements along the [[Little Pigeon River (Tennessee)|Little Pigeon River]] in Tennessee. Nanyehi expressed surprise that there were no women negotiators among the Americans. Sevier was equally astonished that the Cherokee had entrusted such important work to a woman. Nanyehi reportedly told him, <blockquote>"You know that women are always looked upon as nothing; but we are your mothers; you are our sons. Our cry is all for peace; let it continue. This peace must last forever. Let your women's sons be ours; our sons be yours. Let your women hear our words."<ref name=Suzack>{{cite book | editor-last1=Suzack| editor-first1=Cheryl |title=Indigenous Women and Feminism: Politics, Activism, Culture| date=2010| publisher=UBC Press| location=Vancouver| isbn=978-0774818087| page=43| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzVpoB5KJs0C&pg=PA43}}</ref></blockquote> An American observer said that her speech was very moving.
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