 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Black Fox (c. 1746-1811), also calledEnola, was aCherokee leader during theCherokee–American wars. He was a signatory of theHolston Treaty, and later became aPrincipal Chief of theCherokee Nation.
Named at birth Enola (also rendered Inali or Enoli), Black Fox was born about 1746.[1][2] He was a brother-in-law ofChickamauga Cherokee leader,Dragging Canoe, and accompanied him on his migrations south to theLower Towns during the Cherokee–American wars. Black Fox was the "Beloved Man" (headman) ofUstanali, an importantNative American settlement site which is located in what is todayNew Town in northwesternGeorgia.[3] As the fight with the frontier Americans drew to a close, he was one of the signers of the Treaty of Holston (July 2, 1791), an attempt at ending hostilities in theHolston River region.
In 1801 Black Fox was named by the council of chiefs of the Lower and Upper Towns to succeedLittle Turkey as Principal Chief of the original Cherokee Nation.[4] The majority of Cherokee at that time lived in the Lower Towns. They were more isolated from European-American contact and tended to be more conservative, maintaining traditional practices and language.[citation needed]
During his term in office, Black Fox was the leading negotiator for the Cherokee people with theUnited States federal government. He is noted for relinquishing nearly 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2) of land in what is todayTennessee and Alabama (under the treaty of January 7, 1806), for which he was given a lifetimeannuity of $100.[2] A controversial leader, Black Fox was deposed for a period, only to later be reinstated as Principal Chief in a compromise between two regional factions of Cherokees.
In 1807,Doublehead, who was then speaker of the National Council, signed a treaty without the authority of the council, ceding all Cherokee land west and north of the Tennessee River to the United States. This was land which for centuries had been used for foraging by the Cherokee. A separate arrangement reserved certain parcels of land for use by Doublehead and his relatives. Black Fox confirmed Doublehead's treaty, however, afterReturn J. Meigs, the United States Indian Agent, promised Black Fox he would receive $1,000 in cash and a regular annuity thereafter.[4] Doublehead was killed shortly thereafter for what many Cherokee viewed as a traitorous act.
In 1808, Black Fox andThe Glass (Tagwadihi), another leading chief in the Lower Towns, weredeposed by the "young chiefs." These were men mostly from the Upper Towns, led byJames Vann andMajor Ridge. The driving force of this revolt was due largely to the peoples' resentment of the National Council's domination by older leaders of the Lower Towns, as well as disagreement over the many recent land cessions. Some of the leadership of the Upper Towns were multiracial in ancestry; in addition, their communities were more closely engaged by trade and other links with those of the American settlers, whose frontier had continuously encroached on Cherokee territory. The Upper Town chiefs acquiesced to these territorial changes and desired to work more closely with the Americans.
Black Fox and The Glass were eventually reinstated in a compromise agreement between these two competing factions. This put an end to the councils of the Lower Towns meeting alternately inWillstown (nearFort Payne, Alabama) andTurkeytown (near present dayCentre, Alabama), which were presided over by The Glass. Black Fox continued in the role of chief until the 1810 bureaucratic split with the "Old Settlers" then living in the west, remaining chief only of the people of the Cherokee Nation–East thereafter.
As the leading member of the National Council, and strongly influenced by the murder of Doublehead, Black Fox signed the law to end the Cherokee tradition of clan revenge in 1810. Upon his death the following year, he was succeeded by Principal ChiefPathkiller.
| Preceded by | Principal Chief of the original Cherokee Nation 1801–1810 | Succeeded by Title ceased to exist |
| Preceded by Title did not exist | Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation–East 1810–1811 | Succeeded by |