This is a very brief history of the Shawandasse or Shawnee Indian tribes. Shawnee was the name given to the Shawandasse by the Kentuckians. The tribe originated in the Yucatan Peninsula where they were eventually enslaved. Around 900 a.d. approximately 5,000 decided that "enough was enough"---they would no longer be slaves for anyone!! They simply left in the middle of the night, one by one and two by two, and started north.

The tribe split into two groups at the present border between the United States and Mexico. One group migrated to the north and one group migrated to the east. Around the year 1669, the two groups (as if destiny awaited them) were joined together again in the area of present day northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. From this area the Indians were gradually pushed inland by white settlers; however, they maintained trade routes to the South for the securing of the conch shells and other necessities. Our history has established that these trade routes were maintained as late as 1780.

By the early 1700's, the Shawnee had settled around the area of what is now Chillicothe, Ohio. They were primarily farmers, fishermen, and hunters, who became warriors when necessary. They were more family oriented than most Indian tribes and built "towns" with a central meeting place or lodge and a playing field for sports.

They had a very definite spiritual life, which emphasized each individual's relationship with nature and his relationship with his family and tribe. For example, during the hunger moon (that is the winter months when the hunting is not good and the food supply runs low), if a hunter killed an animal, it was shared with everyone in the tribe, so all would have a few bites of meat and some broth. The hunter was allowed to keep the choicest cut of the animal and his family was allowed to tan the hide for use in making clothing. To illustrate their concept of nature, consider this: they believed that "earth" was the mother of all else, therefore, they saw themselves as the "stewards of the land". The Europeans, on the other hand, felt that man held dominion over the earth. It was inevitable then, that these two cultures would clash because they disagreed totally on how the earth should be shared, treated and used.

To give you an idea of the importance to the Shawnee of nature and physical fitness, I will tell you two short stories of "the Pawakah" and "the vision quest".  At approximately age 8 every boy was required to seek his Pawakah. For four moons (that's four months) the boy would get up each morning and walk (or run) to the river and jump in; get out and walk (or run) back to his lodging. The seeking of the Pawakah usually began in October and ended in January. At the end of the four months the young boy (who is now accustomed to the cold outside and the cold water of the river) must go to the river and jump in and get out four times. The first three times, he simply jumps in and gets out. But on the fourth time, he must jump in, dive to the bottom of the river and grab whatever he can get his hands on from the bottom, then return to the surface, climb out and run to his lodge and warm up. The tribal medicine man or "shaman" looks at what he has brought up from the river bottom and interprets its meaning.

A second ritual of the coming of age of Shawnee Indian boys is the vision quest. Usually at approximately the age of fourteen, the boy goes into the wilderness alone with nothing but his hunting knife to meditate and await the vision that will help him determine what he is supposed to do with his life. At the time the boy completes the vision quest, he is accepted into an adult role through ceremonial rituals of the tribe.

These are but two of the customs of the Shawnee. You will learn more about the Shawnee throughout this training course.

We will be using some Shawnee words during the Okama course. Here are a few of the most important, but there are many more in the Shawnee Glossary. The word "bezone" means "hello". Learn it and use it when greeting each other. Another word you will want to use is "tanakia" which means "so long" or "goodbye". Perhaps most important is the word for "friend" which is "nekah". So the expression "Bezone, nekah!" means "Hello, friend!!, and "Tanakia, nekah!" means "So long, friend!".

So for now, I say to all of you... "Tanakia, nekah!