Chief Attacullaculla
Chief Attacullaculla
Chief Attacullaculla
Attacullaculla of Chota-Tenase, Principal Chief of the Cherokee, (ca. 1708–ca. 1777), also known as Little Carpenter,
was a leading chief of the Cherokee Indians from 1761 to around 1775. He was known to the British as the "Prince of
Chote-Tenase", or Prince of Chota, because his grandfather, Moytoy of Chota, had been the chief of the capital city,
Chota-Tanasi. His name is also spelled Attakullakulla. His son was Dragging Canoe.
According to James Mooney, his Cherokee name was "Ata'-gul-kalu", which could be translated "leaning wood", from
"ata" meaning "wood", and "gulkalu", a verb that implies something long and unsupported, leaning against some other
object. His name "Little Carpenter" came from a maternal ancestor, Thomas Pasmere Carpenter, and Englishman of
Norman descent.
Family tradition maintains that he was born on Seivers Island (near Chota) around 1708 to Nancy Moytoy (eldest
daughter of Moytoy I b. 1683) and her husband Moytoy IV. Moytoy IV was an Algonquin named White Owl Raven
Carpenter (also called Raven of Chota) who had been adopted by Moytoy II (Trader Tom Carpenter). He married
Nionne Ollie, who was the daughter of his cousin Oconostota (the marriage was permissible because they were of
different clans; he was Wolf Clan and she was Paint Clan). Among their children were Dragging Canoe and Dutsi,
through whom Major Ridge and David Watie were grandchildren of Attacullaculla.
He was a member of the Cherokee delegation that traveled to England in 1730. In 1736, he rejected the advances of the
French, who sent emissaries to the Overhill Cherokees. Three or four years later, he was captured by the Ottawa, allies
of the French, who held him captive in Canada until 1748. Upon his return, he became one of the Cherokees' leading
diplomats and an adviser to the Beloved Man of Chota.
In May 1759, following a series of attacks by settlers and Cherokees against each other, Attacullaculla joined a
delegation that went to Charleston to try to negotiate with South Carolina authorities. Governor William Henry
Lyttleton seized the delegates as hostages until the Cherokees responsible for killing white settlers were surrendered.
Having raised an expeditionary force, Lyttleton set out for Fort Prince George with the hostages in tow and arrived with
1700 men on December 9, 1759. Though freed soon after, Attacullaculla returned to Fort Prince George to negotiate for
peace, but his efforts were thwarted by the more hawkish Oconostota. The Cherokees gave up two individuals and
negotiated the release of a few hostages including Oconostota, who soon after lured Lt. Richard Coytmore out of the
fort, waving a bridle over his head, and incited Cherokee warriors hiding in the woods to fire upon and kill Coytmore;
white soldiers inside the fort then proceeded to murder all the Cherokees inside, and hostilities continued between the
Cherokees and Anglo-Americans.
He was actually a rather small man, not much over 5 feet. Most of the modern American History books contain the
name of this man as having fought with the Americans in the American Revolution. His son, Dragging Canoe fought
on the side of the British, the Chickamagua Cherokees.
His death is believed to have occurred either in 1775 or 1777, after which he was succeeded by his cousin, Oconostota
(who was also his father-in-law). Attacullaculla did not use the European title "Emperor of the Cherokees" that his
uncles had.
http://thejamesscrolls.blogspot.com/2009/04/chief-attakullakulla-little-carpenter.html