What was nancy ward known for

Soldiers invaded Cherokee territory from Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina in , and destroyed all the major Cherokee towns except Chota, which was spared out of respect for Nanyehi.

The fighting between the Cherokee and the Americans dragged on throughout the American Revolution, with Tsiyu Gansini always agitating for more war, and Nanyehi continually working toward peace. In , Nanyehi addressed the U. She believed that peace would come only if Native people and white settlers saw themselves as one people, and she thought only the women on the two sides could make this happen.

Regardless, her reputation continued to grow, and, as the fighting became fiercer, American commanders made a point of helping Nanyehi and her family escape. At this meeting, the Cherokee learned about the resolution of the American Revolution, and the Cherokee laid out their full grievances to the representatives of the new nation.

A new treaty was signed, and Nanyehi spoke to give the treaty her blessing. Shortly thereafter, her daughter with Bryan Ward married the Virginia Indian commissioner, creating a new tie between the two nations. Nanyehi played a critical role in moving the Cherokee Nation away from their traditions and toward a more Westernized way of life.

She is credited with introducing slaveholding, cattle farming, dairy production, and spinning to her community, and her attitude of acceptance toward white settlers gave them the ability to encroach on Cherokee territory.

Today some Cherokees consider her a traitor, while Tsiyu Gansini is considered a hero for advocating armed resistance. Nanyehi believed that peace would come only if Native people and white settlers saw themselves as one people, and she thought only the women on the two sides could make this happen. Fighting between the Cherokees and settlers continued, and representatives from both nations signed many treaties that white settlers ignored. Some Cherokee decided that the best course of action was to sell their remaining land to the settlers or the government in exchange for land farther west, but this was a controversial decision.

In , some Cherokee leaders signed a treaty that gave away a large portion of land in modern day Alabama in exchange for land in Arkansas. The Cherokee National Council called the treaty treason. We have raised all of you on the land which we now have. We know that our country has once been extensive, but by repeated sales has become circumscribed to a small track.

Your mothers, your sisters ask and beg of you not to part with any more of our land. But the land sales continued. By age seventeen she had two children, Five Killer and Catherine. When he fell in battle, she sprang up from behind a log and rallied the Cherokee warriors to fight harder.

Taking up a rifle, she led a charge that unnerved the Creeks and brought victory to the Cherokees. In this powerful position, her words carried much weight in the tribal government because the Cherokees believed that the Great Spirit frequently spoke through the Beloved Woman. She had complete power over prisoners. Bryant Ward, an English trader who had fought in the French and Indian War, took up residence with the Cherokees and married Nancy in the late s.

Ward had a wife, but since Cherokees did not consider marriage a lifelong institution, the arrangement apparently presented few problems. Ward and her English husband lived in Chota for a time and became the parents of a daughter, Betsy. Out of respect for Ward, he left her village alone.

In , she warned the settlers of an impending attack by the Cherokee and asked for peace, this time by personally meeting with the leaders. In July of , the settlers ordered the Cherokee to conduct a peace treaty and selected Ward to lead the negotiations. Ward said in part of her speech:. You know that women are always looked upon as nothing; but we are your mothers; you are our sons. Our cry is all for peace; let it continue.

This peace must last forever. Let your women hear our words. After hearing her speech, the commissioners rewrote their demands, allowing the Cherokee to retain some of their lands. The two factions continued negotiations, but the murder of a Cherokee chief in ended the chances of fair peace negotiations.

The Cherokee tried to assimilate into what was becoming mainstream society, yet they continued to lose more and more land to the colonists. As more and more settlers came into eastern Tennessee, Nanyehi must have become disenchanted with her belief in friendship with Whites.

I have great many grandchildren which I wish them to do well on our land. In , Ward again warned the settlers again of an impending attack by the Cherokees and asked for peace, this time by personally meeting with the leaders. Her warning did not end the bloodshed but did keep her and her family from becoming prisoners when her whole village was captured. In July of , the settlers ordered the Cherokee to conduct a peace treaty and selected Ward to lead the negotiations.

Our cry is all for peace; let it continue. This peace must last forever. Let our sons be yours. Let your women hear our words. The two factions continued negotiations but the murder of a Cherokee chief in ended the chances of fair peace negotiations. The Cherokees tried to assimilate into what was becoming mainstream society, yet they continued to lose more and more of their lands to the Euro-Americans.

I have great many grand children [sic] which I wish them to do well on our land. Ward was the last Beloved Woman of the Cherokees. By , the lands she grew up on were sold and she was forced to relocate. She ran an inn for travelers the remaining three years of her life. Ward died in It is on Highway North, near Benton, Tennessee.