17 Facts About Shikellamy

Shikellamy, spelled Shickellamy and known as Swatana, was an Oneida chief and overseer for the Iroquois confederacy.

Shikellamy was an important figure in the early history of the Province of Pennsylvania and served as a go-between for the colonial government in Philadelphia and the Iroquois chiefs in Onondaga.

Shikellamy welcomed Conrad Weiser to Shamokin and served as Weiser's guide on his journeys into the frontier of Pennsylvania and New York.

The Quaker leadership in Philadelphia soon realized that Shikellamy was an important Indian leader and he was invited back to the capital in 1729.

Shikellamy had originally lived in a Shawnee village in the vicinity of modern Milton, along the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Shikellamy was rewarded for his efforts in the Walking Purchase and other treaties by the colonial government of Pennsylvania.

The Count believed that Shikellamy, who had converted to Christianity, could serve as a vital agent of change in converting all Indians to the Christian faith.

Shikellamy permitted the Moravians to maintain an outpost at Shamokin and served as an emissary between the Moravians and Madame Montour's village of Otstonwakin at the mouth of Loy ck Creek and French Margaret's village at the mouth of Lycoming Creek.

Shikellamy permitted the Moravians to stay at Shamokin because he believed that they had the Indians' best interest at heart.

Shikellamy knew that, unlike other white men, the Moravians had no interest in the Indians' furs and did not want to take their land, nor did the missionaries give Shikellamy's people any alcohol.

Shikellamy so admired the Moravians that he permitted them to stay in his home, lent them horses for work, and helped them build their homes.

Shikellamy's wife is known as Neanoma, a Cayuga whom he married in New York State a dozen years before removing to Pennsylvania.

Shikellamy was named for my great-uncle, the immortal Cayuga orator.

Shikellamy was a large, strong man, not dark in color, and with grey eyes.

Shikellamy wore a red cap much the same as the white hunters do now.

Shikellamy was a very old man when I was very young, but I recall what he looked like.

In Berks County, there was a local Boy Scout camp named after Shikellamy that closed in 1978.