George W. Harkins
Encyclopedia
George W. Harkins was an attorney and prominent chief of the Choctaw
tribe during the Indian removal
s. Elected as principal chief after the national council deposed his maternal uncle, Greenwood LeFlore
, in 1834 Harkins was elected judge of the Red River District in Indian Territory
. In 1850, he was chosen as chief of the Apukshunnubbee District
(one of three) of the Choctaw Nation, where he served until 1857.
, chief
of the Choctaw. Harkins learned from both his cultures, but identified as Choctaw first and foremost.
Harkins was educated at Centre College
in Danville, Kentucky
. He earned a law degree from Cumberland University
.
as chief because of his having signed the treaty for removal. They elected George Harkins, who belonged to the same clan and was a nephew of LeFlore through his mother; in the Choctaw matrilineal system, the mother's clan was most important to a person's status. To proceed with Indian Removal
, President Jackson
refused to recognize Harkins’s authority with the tribe.
After Indian Removal, Harkins rose in influence in the tribe. In 1834, he was elected judge of the Red River District in Indian Territory
. The council of chiefs of the Apukshunnubbee District
elected him as principal chief of the District (which was one of three in the Nation), where he served from 1850–1857. The districts represented the longstanding geographic and political divisions that had existed in the tribe in the Southeast. Gradually, in Indian Territory, they became less important.
After the Chickasaw
achieved independence as a nation in Indian Territory, separating from the Choctaw in 1856, Harkins lived in the Chickasaw Nation. A well-known speaker, he was called the “Rawhide Orator.”
," denouncing the removal of the Choctaw, was widely published in American newspapers. To this day it is widely regarded as one of the most important documents of Native American
history.
Harkins wrote in part:
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
tribe during the Indian removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
s. Elected as principal chief after the national council deposed his maternal uncle, Greenwood LeFlore
Greenwood LeFlore
Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs...
, in 1834 Harkins was elected judge of the Red River District in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
. In 1850, he was chosen as chief of the Apukshunnubbee District
Apukshunnubbee District
Apukshunnubbee District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the Second District, it encompassed the southeastern one-third of the nation....
(one of three) of the Choctaw Nation, where he served until 1857.
Early life and education
George Washington Harkins was born into a high-status Choctaw clan through his mother, Louisa "Lusony" LeFlore. His father was John Harkins, a European American. His oldest maternal uncle, traditionally the most important mentor to a boy child, was Greenwood LeFloreGreenwood LeFlore
Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs...
, chief
Chief
- Title or rank :* Chiefs of the Name, the head of a family or clan* Chief executive officer, the highest-ranking corporate officer of an organization* Chief Master Sergeant, in the United States Air Force* Chief of police, the head of a police department...
of the Choctaw. Harkins learned from both his cultures, but identified as Choctaw first and foremost.
Harkins was educated at Centre College
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
in Danville, Kentucky
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,218 at the 2010 census.Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boyle and Lincoln counties....
. He earned a law degree from Cumberland University
Cumberland University
Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...
.
Marriage and family
Harkins married a total of three women: Lilly Spring, Mary Wilson and Lily Folsom, whose mother was part-Choctaw and from a prominent clan. He had several children with them who survived to adulthood: Richard, Sarah, Catherine, Ellen, David Folsom "Dave" Harkins (1828 - 1879), Susan (b. 1830- ), Cornelia, Henry Clay Harkins (1833-1886), Loren (b. 1835- ), and Mary Jane Harkins (b. 1837- ). All belonged to their mother's clans and gained status in the tribe through them.Career
In October 1830, the national council deposed Greenwood LeFloreGreenwood LeFlore
Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs...
as chief because of his having signed the treaty for removal. They elected George Harkins, who belonged to the same clan and was a nephew of LeFlore through his mother; in the Choctaw matrilineal system, the mother's clan was most important to a person's status. To proceed with Indian Removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
, President Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
refused to recognize Harkins’s authority with the tribe.
After Indian Removal, Harkins rose in influence in the tribe. In 1834, he was elected judge of the Red River District in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
. The council of chiefs of the Apukshunnubbee District
Apukshunnubbee District
Apukshunnubbee District was one of three administrative super-regions comprising the former Choctaw Nation in the Indian Territory. Also called the Second District, it encompassed the southeastern one-third of the nation....
elected him as principal chief of the District (which was one of three in the Nation), where he served from 1850–1857. The districts represented the longstanding geographic and political divisions that had existed in the tribe in the Southeast. Gradually, in Indian Territory, they became less important.
After the Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
achieved independence as a nation in Indian Territory, separating from the Choctaw in 1856, Harkins lived in the Chickasaw Nation. A well-known speaker, he was called the “Rawhide Orator.”
Influence
Harkins' 1831 "Farewell Letter to the American PeopleFarewell Letter to the American People
The "Farewell Letter to the American People" was a widely published letter by the Choctaw Chief George W. Harkins in 1832. The letter denounced the removal of the Choctaw Nation to Oklahoma. The letter is still considered one of the most important documents in Native American history....
," denouncing the removal of the Choctaw, was widely published in American newspapers. To this day it is widely regarded as one of the most important documents of Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
history.
Harkins wrote in part:
See also
- ApuckshunubbeeApuckshunubbeeApuckshunubbee was one of three principal chiefs of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or Okla Falaya District in present-day Mississippi...
- PushmatahaPushmatahaPushmataha , the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the nineteenth century. Many historians considered him the "greatest of all Choctaw chiefs"...
- MosholatubbeeMosholatubbeeMushulatubbee was the chief of the Choctaw Okla Tannap , one of the three major Choctaw divisions during the early 19th century...
- Greenwood LeFloreGreenwood LeFloreGreenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs...
- Peter PitchlynnPeter PitchlynnPeter Perkins Pitchlynn , or Hat-choo-tuck-nee , was a Choctaw chief of Choctaw and Anglo-American ancestry...
- Phillip MartinPhillip MartinPhillip Martin was the democratically elected Tribal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a federally recognized American Indian tribe of 8,300 enrolled members living on or near 30,000 acres of reservation land in east central Mississippi...
- List of Choctaw Treaties