John Skenandoa, called Shenandoah among other forms, was an elected chief of the Oneida.
11 Facts About Skenandoa
1.
2.
Skenandoa was born into the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannocks, but was adopted into the Oneida of the Iroquois Confederacy.
3.
Skenandoa met George Washington, who wrote at least one letter of recommendation for him.
4.
Skenandoa was born in 1710 into the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannock people, located in present-day eastern Pennsylvania.
5.
Skenandoa was adopted into the Oneida people, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.
6.
Skenandoa was said to have saved German colonists in German Flatts, in the Mohawk Valley, from a massacre.
7.
In part due to the friendship with Kirkland, Chief Skenandoa favored the patriot colonials and led the Oneida to be their allies during the Revolutionary War.
8.
Skenandoa led many Oneida to fight against the British and their Iroquois allies, who came from four nations of the Confederacy.
9.
Chief Skenandoa commanded 250 warriors from the Oneida and Tuscarora tribes.
10.
Mohawk war leader Joseph Brant, who allied with the British during the revolution, had Skenandoa jailed at Fort Niagara for a period in 1779 during the war when the Oneida chief was on a peace mission to the Iroquois.
11.
Skenandoa is referred to in the title and lyrics of the folk song "Oh Shenandoah".