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By Brian J. Evans "My son, you are now flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. By the ceremony which was performed this day, every drop of white blood was washed out of your veins; you are taken into the Shawnee nation and initiated into a warrior sept; you are adopted into a great family and now received with great seriousness and solemnity in this room and presence and place of a great man." - a Shawnee Indian in Allan Eckert's nationally acclaimed books, The Frontiersmen and Blue Jacket War Chief of the Shawnees. It is this sort of writing, not the phlegmatic writing of history textbooks, that brings history itself back to life. It was this story, the adventure of a young white boy turned Shawnee warrior, that made so many want to learn more. But, it was also this story that somehow sparked a controversy; a controversy that overshadows history itself. Today, the more significant events in the life of Blue Jacket have taken the back seat to a dispute concerning the color of his skin. And that is sad - sad that the color of a man's skin can take precedence over the role he played in history. The controversy surrounding the life of Blue Jacket has evolved into a bitter, begrudging "war" fought mostly by historians, genealogists and authors. To my knowledge, no author has written on this topic without some sort of criticism for taking one side or another. By no means is anyone perfect. It is also my knowledge that no authors intentionally desire to misrepresent the truth - whether or not they are inclined to believe things happened one way or another. The true interest in research should always be to discover the truth about the past. That should be the only motivating factor. Metaphorically speaking, the life of Blue Jacket is a puzzle, a mystery if you will. For decades historians, authors and genealogists have worked tirelessly to put that puzzle together. Today, there are still missing pieces. While I do not consider myself an expert, much of the information presented in this series stems from the research of those who I do consider experts. This is a presentation of their findings and mine. It is up to date with what has recently been uncovered. However, as you read this, more evidence is being uncovered. In this modern controversy, concerning the color of Blue Jacket's skin, there is far more to the issue than meets the eye. Although little was known or written about the Shawnee warrior, from sparse documentation historians are able to determine basic facts about his remarkable career as a Shawnee warrior. What really happened will never be fully understood. It can be interpreted and interpretations will always vary in this dispute. When it comes to history, one can argue something happened one way or another. Hopefully, that argument helps bring out the truth. I encourage those who read this series, to follow it to the end, where the essence of the story unravels. I gave this series the title Blue Jacket: A warrior in shadows, because Blue Jacket's life is so sparsely documented and he has been misunderstood in more ways than one. Among all the various arguments about Blue Jacket, I have been able to ascertain one constant in all the works depicting the famous Shawnee war chief. The legend of Blue Jacket is like no other. May his legacy live on ... Special thanks to: John Sugden, Robert Van Trees, Richard Pangburn, Helen Tanner, Carlyle Hinshaw, Donna Spencer, Roger Nimps, Jerry Winkleman, Jim Zehringerr and Hal Sherman - among others. (Brian J. Evans is a staff writer at the Examiner and may be reached at 592-3060, extension 118, and at bevans@examiner.org.) |
