Rising Winds (Part 7)

Grube was eventually replaced in Meniolagomeka by Abraham Bühninger, a Moravian missionary from Bülach (near Zürich), Switzerland. From him we have a sketch of the settlement and a list of its residents. From his accounts we also know that Teedyuskung was no longer living at Meniolagomeka, but instead had moved to the larger settlement at Gnadenhütten. At Gnadenhütten, Teedyuskung watched as more and more of his family's tribe were baptized into the Christian faith. The Moravians hesitated to receive him into the faith, however, because of what the missionaries called his, "wavering disposition." They said that he was "unstable as water, and like a reed shaken by the wind." By all accounts, Teedyuskung had an alcohol problem, and by his own admission, he "had been a very bad man all [his] life and had no power to resist evil." He was given a period of probation by the Moravians before they would baptize him. Eventually, however, they acquiesced and Teedyuskung was baptized as "Gideon" by Bishop Cammerhoff on March 12, 1750.

The winds of discontent, however, were just beginning to rise, and Teedyuskung's baptism

did little to fortify his character. He continued to make long forays into the forest, visiting the tribes to the North and West in Mahoning and Shamokin. He heard stories of increasing conflicts with white settlers. And his loyalties began to feel increasingly disordered. The Delawares had always been the most humble of the Six Nations of Indians, and as they were increasingly Christianized, they were often considered second-rate in the civilized world as well. Teedyuskung felt at home in neither the white Christian world nor in the disappearing world of the Native Americans. When he learned that white settlers from Connecticut might be trying to claim Indian lands in the Mahoning Valley, he gathered 70 Indians from the more than 400 at Gnadenhütten and moved north to that area. He had begun to seize a larger leadership role in the community, calling himself "King Teedyuskung," and decided that by settling there, he could defend the lands that the Pennsylvania legislature had given to his people.

The group that left Gnadenhütten with Teedyuskung was comparatively small, but it probably displeased the Moravian elders. They had little time to reflect on it, however, because at the same time they were dealing with a land conflict. The land along the Aquashicola had been purchased by Richard Peters, a Philadelphia cleric and Secretary of the Provincial Council. Mr. Peters was determined to sell the land to the growing numbers of Protestant German settlers who were coming to the United States during the tumultuous period directly preceding the Seven Years' War. The Moravians tried to purchase the land from Mr. Peters, but he refused, and insisted on evicting them. Since Teedyuskung had recently departed Gnadenhütten, there were huts available, and the Moravians eventually agreed to resettle the Meniolagomeka Indians there.

This eviction was the first clear violation of the terms of the Walking Purchase, and ran counter to the promise by the Pennsylvania Legislature that no Indians North of the Blue Mountain would be forced to leave their plantations. When word of it reached Teedyuskung, he said that, "The words of Brother Onas [that is, the Pennsylvania Legislature] come only from the outside of his teeth. I will talk so too."