Inevitably, the contrasts between the tactics of the Prophet and Tecumseh have invited comparisons. For many years, historians saw Tecumseh as a towering figure who advocated the most effective response to white pressure on tribal lands. Perhaps because white historians lived in a nation whose story centered on the union of one nation from out of many, they tended to sympathize with Tecumseh's ideas of a Pan-Indian confederacy and military resistance under a centralized authority. From this perspective, the Prophet was a minor figure whose ideas were irrelevant and doomed to failure.

More recently, historians have challenged the prominence given to Tecumseh over his brother. The Prophet's religious message, these revisionists point out, was much more in harmony with Indian cultures. As a result, the Prophet attracted a much large following. Tecumseh's idea of a Pan-Indian confederacy, in contrast, ran counter to Indian cultures, bypassed traditional sources of authority within individual tribes, and ignored long-standing hostility among various tribes. Ironically, his ideas were closer to those of white society. Indeed, it was for precisely this reason that American officials had a high opinion of Tecumseh and historians since have been sympathetic: he responded to the northwestern tribes' situation the way whites would have. But within the context of tribal cultures, the Prophet's movement had a much greater impact.

1			Read the two articles about Tecumseh and the Prophet written by a linguist who speaks the Shawnee language. As was the case in chapter 2, we are dealing with a case where recent generations of scholars have delved into language as a means of gathering additional knowledge about historical events. How does the author's understanding of the Shawnee language influence his interpretation of Tecumseh and the Prophet? What other factors seem to influence his interpretation? How convincing is his case that understanding the language should significantly alter our understanding of the ideologies and actions of these two leaders? http://www.shawnee-traditions.com/Tecumseh.html http://www.shawnee-traditions.com/Tenskwatawa.html