Toonahowie, Forever Young

A Young Toonahowi

​One of the tragic stories of Savannah involved the Native American Toonahowie. Toonahowie was the nephew of Senauki the wife of the legendary mico Tomochichi of the Yamacraw tribe. It was Tomochichi who greeted General James Oglethorpe when he came to Savannah. Mary Musgrove and Tomochichi were the ones who paved the way for Oglethorpe and his colony to peacefully coexist with the Creeks. Tomochichi had seen the writing on the wall before and after the Yemassee War the last effort of the Creeks to demand justice from the South Carolinians by war. He had not fought in the war (one of the reasons he was on bad terms with the Creek leadership) and was now promoting with this new tribe an attempt to live in harmony with the English. In the Disputed lands he hoped that their disputes could be solved with mutual respect and justice. In the Creek Confederacy they traced their lineage through the woman. For some reason not clear Tomochichi and Senauki never had children. So Toonahowie was chosen by the two of them to be groomed as the mico of the tribe. The grooming of Toonahowie became more important with the advent of Oglethorpe and his colony. The colonists would make the job of mico more complicated. Now not only would he have to learn how to function as mico in the Creek Confederacy but also how to politic with the newly arrived colonists. To make his training more important and expedient Tomochichi was of advanced age when Oglethorpe and the colonists arrived.

The colonists were now in what was once referred to as the Disputable lands. This land they once had the freedom to roam was now changing to the more settled lands. This would mean the need to navigate the lands with the colonists tendencies to expand and accumulate as much land as possible for private use. Private use was a concept the Native Americans did not have. Land was communal among the tribes private land was small if any.

His training now involved learning English from Mary Musgrove and observing Tomochichi and his relations with the English. He was no longer on a similar track as the other young male tribe members and leaders. He would even attend church services to understand the English better. Tomochichi would even take him on his trip to England. He needed to have familiarity with the Trustees and their manners and ways of beings. It was there he would meet the young heir of the Earl of Cumberland. This would later lead him to suggest naming Cumberland Island after him. The English after all loved having things named after them. He also learned the art of diplomacy. While Senauki dressed as the English on the trip not to offend their sensibilities.  Tomochichi and he maintained their native attire. As leaders of the tribe they would not dress as the English but as the representatives of a proud Creek nation. It was the soft and hard approach to diplomacy.

He even exhibited his own growing diplomatic expertise. When he asked the Trustees for guns for his young tribal members so they could hunt and defend themselves and the colonists form other more hostile tribes the Trustees seem reluctant and on the verge of saying no. Thus, later in the meeting he picked up an available Bible read from it and then quoted the Lord’s Prayer to the astonished Trustees. They marveled that the ‘savages’ could be civilized and later would approve the guns that Toonahowie requested. Toonahowie was fast developing diplomatic ties and knowledge. He was the hope for the Creeks and Yamacraw tribes. Of course, becoming a leader of the Yamacraws required more than quoting Scripture. He also had to show the qualities of being a leader and among the different criteria for leadership in a Creek tribe was the need to prove yourself as a warrior. The same
thing has helped various presidents in our own society be recognized for their leadership qualities.

Toonahowie could be found in the forefront with his tribe members in the skirmishes with the Spanish. At the battle of the Bloody Marsh he led a heroic charge to make the Spanish retreat. He was shot in his right arm in the charge not flinching he changed his weapon to his other arm and continued in the charge. This was the battle that would become the last foray into Georgia territory by the Spanish. He continued to recruit soldiers from the Creeks for the colonist’s defense and lead them on scouting missions. It was on one of these missions that he was captured by another tribe. His tribe members tracked down Toonahowie and his captors to rescue him.  Unfortunately, Toonahowie was killed in the skirmish in this rescue attempt.

He was in his early twenties when this occurred. The hopes of his tribe and to a lesser extent the Creek nation that rested on him were lost. Although the Trail of Tears would not be denied. He may have negotiated a better world for the Creeks. So that is why I term the story of his life ‘Forever Young’.

 May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

The dreams of a united English and Yamacraw existence died that day. That dream would never grow old it would always be the hope of a young tribe left unfulfilled. After Toonahowie’s death the Yamacraws would slowly disperse into other tribes further west. Even his aunt, the great Senauki daughter of the ‘royal family Brims’ of the Creek nation and wife of the mico Tomochichi buried in the center of Savannah, would be treated ill by the English. They impeded on her promised land with settlers who showed no regards for the Creeks. When she took her grievance to Savannah’s court they denied her appeal because she as a Native American had no standing in Georgia. There was no Toonahowie to stand with her. The dream of Tomochichi would forever be deferred.
What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--
And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?
Langston Hughes

​The Forever Young Toonahowie and the dreams of the Creeks would now only lead to a trail of tears.

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