Post by Dietmar on Dec 3, 2009 12:12:34 GMT -5
In the photo thread uploaded by HinTamaheca there are some photographs of Chief Abram B. Burnett aka Nan-Wesh-Mah, a prominent leader of the Potawatomis.
Here is a wonderful website dedicated to this Chief, a good starting point for further research on this man:
www.wiskigeamatyuk.com/index_start.html
Here is a wonderful website dedicated to this Chief, a good starting point for further research on this man:
www.wiskigeamatyuk.com/index_start.html
Chief Abram B. Burnett, born Nan-Wesh-Mah, was a full blooded Potawatomi Indian born in November, 1812 on the north side of the Tippecanoe River near a little placed called Muncie in the state of Indiana. As a young boy, he moved from Muncie up to the Potawatomi Village on the St. Joseph River between the mouth of the St. Joseph River and a little village called Niles in the state of Michigan. Soon, a young Nan-Wesh-Mah and his family would leave the Niles and move to Bertrandsville, Michigan, where his biological father, Chief Shau-Uque-Be, was killed. Nan-Wesh-Mah's biological mother, Cone-Zo-Quah, and his biological grandfather, Chief Chebaas, who was the father of his mother, then took him to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where the three of them took up residence with a young Nan-Wesh-Mah's mother, Cone-Zo-Quah's, first cousin, Abraham Burnett. Abraham Burnett was a son of Chebaas' sister, Kaukema (Cakimi) and her husband, William Burnett, a known trader. Abraham Burnett was known to have ran a trading post near the army fort. Nan-Wesh-Mah soon started attending Rev. Isaac McCoy's Mission School at Ft. Wayne between 1819 - 1820 and soon after at only 8 years of age in 1821, he would serve as Rev. Isaac McCoy's guide and important interpreter sitting in on important counsels with the Chiefs all throughout Indiana and Michigan. [...]
Chief Abram B. Burnett was noted as a remarkable man, a fine person, intelligent, who was honest and strictly upright and honorable. He was documented as an astonishing and incredible sight, standing a full 6' - 6'1" in height and a giant in weight and muscle weighing 450 lbs. In his later years it was known that his great weight made it exceedingly uncomfortable for him to get around as he weighed 496 lbs. at the time of his death. By foot or horseback he travelled his entire life. But as his age and weight increased, he was no longer capable. His only means of transportation was by way of a buckboard wagon that he could only mount himself into with a pair of steps which he carried with him in the wagon for the purpose. It was known by many that in life there was nothing the chief feared, especially no man. The only person he feared was his tiny German wife who would give him an earful when he came home drunk of whiskey. He was noted as the strongest and largest man in Kansas and was challenged by many in fun and would take to the challenges by lifting objects of incredible weight for the amusement of others. He was a man of strongly marked Indian features that was documented as a prominent figure among the Potawatomis as a mediator and leader in all counsels. Although he never said much, he brooded long and bitterly over the wrongs of his race.