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A RESOLUTION honoring Shawnee Chief Nonhelema Hokolesqua as part of 1
Women's History Month. 2
WHEREAS, Nonhelema Hokolesqua was a tall, powerful Shawnee woman born in 3
1718. She spent a portion of her life in Pennsylvania where she married. By 1750, 4
Nonhelema Hokolesqua was a village chief; and 5
WHEREAS, when Nonhelema Hokolesqua's first husband died in 1754, she 6
remarried and relocated to the Ohio and Kentucky area. Ori ginally Shawnee and Eastern 7
Cherokee territory, Kentucky was overtaken by the Iroquois during the early years of the 8
French fur trade. As Iroquois power waned in the early 18th century, the Shawnee and 9
Cherokee reestablished their presence; and 10
WHEREAS, No nhelema Hokolesqua became a wife, a chief, an overseer of 11
domestic productions, and a warrior. This was all made possible through the Shawnees' 12
view of the world as a system of balance. As in most other Native American cultures, 13
such balance among the Shaw nees assured prosperity, and while not ensuring gendered 14
equality, it made gendered hierarchy difficult. Shawnee women exerted life -power as 15
producers of crops, clothes, domestic goods, and children; and 16
WHEREAS, this role as producers of crops gave women economic power. This 17
elevated Shawnee women's status compared to their white counterparts and some Eastern 18
tribes. Shawnee women could also serve alongside or as chiefs, both in war and peace. 19
Nonhelema Hokolesqua was one such chief, whose primary responsibilities are recounted 20
as domestic affairs, planting, harvesting, and organizing feasts; and 21
WHEREAS, Nonhelema Hokolesqua became a diplomat and war chief. Accounts 22
from white settlers of meeting with Shawnee detail how Shawnee welcomed women to 23
negotiation meetings, stating "some women were wiser than some men," as well as tales 24
of women in battle during the French and Indian War of the 1760s. Nonhelema 25
Hokolesqua became such a warrior, she was cited for her bravery for her role in the 26
Battle of Busy Run i n 1763. Early settlers named the village she presided over in her 27
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honor; and 1
WHEREAS, by the mid -1770s, Nonhelema Hokolesqua returned to being a peace 2
chief, warning settlers of impending attacks. European men expected to interact with 3
other men, requiring Shawnee women to give up many traditional roles. A pattern found 4
among the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Creeks during that era. It is plausible that 5
Nonhelema Hokolesqua's abandonment of the war chief role resulted from European 6
dismissal of her in a man's role; and 7
WHEREAS, eventually Nonhelema Hokolesqua's town was abandoned and the 8
tribes migrated northwestward. As settlers continued to push, Nonhelema appealed to the 9
Continental Congress for a 2,000 acre grant in Ohio on which to settle, in compensation 10
for losses she incurred and her efforts to preserve peace. Rather than grant her request, 11
the response of the Congress was to send her one dress of clothes per year and one ration 12
of provisions each day for the remainder of her life; and 13
WHEREAS, a year later, an American army raided Nonhelema Hokolesqua's 14
village, killing their leader and taking Nonhelema and her daughters captive. Shawnee 15
oral tradition says that they cut the then 73-year-old's fingers off her right hand; and 16
WHEREAS, th e life on Nonhelema Hokolesqua embodies the transition from 17
colonization to eradication. She was among the last to remember when women held 18
social, political, and economic power. She was among the last to act as chief in both war 19
and peace, to preside over her people, and negotiate or fight for their safety and right to 20
live; and 21
WHEREAS, the story of Nonhelema Hokolesqua remains a testament to the 22
millions who came before colonizers ever set eyes upon the land that would become 23
Kentucky; 24
NOW, THEREFORE, 25
Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 26
Kentucky: 27
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Section 1. The Senate hereby honors Shawnee Chief Nonhelema Hokolesqua as 1
part of Women's History Month. 2
Section 2. When the Senate adjourns this day, it does so in honor and memory 3
of Shawnee Chief Nonhelema Hokolesqua. 4
Section 3. The Clerk of the Senate is directed to transmit a copy of this 5
Resolution to Senator Reginald Thomas for delivery. 6