Tecumseh had opposed the sale and cession of
lands to the United States, and he declared it to be his unalterable
resolution to take a stand against the further intrusion of the whites
upon the soil of his people.
So menacing had the Indians become in the Spring of 1810, that General
W.H. Harrison, a son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and then governor of the Territory of
Indiana, invited the brothers to a council at Vincennes, in August.
Tecumseh appeared with four hundred well-armed warriors. The inhabitants
were greatly alarmed at this demonstration of savage military power.
Harrison was cool and cautious, while the bearing of the chief was bold
and haughty. He refused to enter the place appointed for holding the
council saying:
"Houses were built for you to hold councils in; Indians hold theirs in
the open air." He then took a position under some trees in front of the
house, and, unabashed by the large concourse of white people before him,
he opened the business with a speech marked by great dignity and native
eloquence. When he had concluded, one of the governor's aids said to
him, through an interpreter, as he pointed to a chair by the side of
General Harrison:
"Your father requests you to take a seat by his side."
The chief drew his blanket around him and, standing erect, said, with a
scornful tone:
"My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother; on her
bosom I will recline;" and he seated himself on the ground.
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