Cunne Shote, Cherokee Chief, by Francis Parsons (English), 1762, oil on canvas, Gilcrease Museum

Conocotocko[a] /ˌkʌnəkəˈtoʊkoʊ/ (Cherokee: ᎬᎾᎦᏙᎦ, romanized: Gvnagadoga, "Standing Turkey"), also known by the folk-etymologized name Cunne Shote,[b] was First Beloved Man of the Cherokee from 1760. He succeeded his uncle Conocotocko I (or "Old Hop") upon the latter's death. Pro-French like his uncle, he steered the Cherokee into war with the British colonies of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia in the aftermath of the execution of several Cherokee leaders who were being held hostage at Fort Prince George. He held his title until the end of the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1761, when he was deposed in favor of Attakullakulla.

Standing Turkey was one of three Cherokee leaders to go with Henry Timberlake to London in 1762-1763, the others being Ostenaco and Pouting Pigeon.

In 1782, he was one of a party of Cherokee which joined the Delaware, Shawnee, and Chickasaw in a diplomatic visit to the Spanish at Fort St. Louis in seeking a new avenue of obtaining arms and other assistance in the prosecution of their ongoing conflict with the Americans in the Ohio Valley. The group of Cherokee led by Standing Turkey sought and received permission to settle in Spanish Louisiana, in the region of the White River.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Conocotocko and his uncle Conocotocko I bore the same name. Conley's Cherokee Encyclopedia says the name "has suffered perhaps the worst indignities of any Cherokee name of this period" due to its many and sometimes aberrant spellings.[1] Spelling variations include Canackte, Canacaught, Canacackte, Canacockte, Caneecatee, Cannacaughte, Conarcortuker, Concauchto, Connagatucheo, Connecocartee, Connecorte, Connecortee, Connecote, Connetarke, Connocotte, Connocte, Conocortee, Conocotocho, Conogotocke, Conocotocko, Conogotocho, Conogotocka, Conogotocke, Conogotocko, Conogtoco, Cunigatogae, Cunnacatoque, Cunnicatoque, Guhna-gadoga, Kanagagot, Kanagagota, Kanagataucko, Kanagatoga, Kana-gatoga, Kanagatucko, Kanetekoka, and Kunagadoga.
  2. ^ Cunne Shote is a corruption of his Cherokee name mistakenly based on French Chote, "Chota" (the de facto capital of the Cherokee).[2]

References

  1. ^ Conley 2007, p. 108.
  2. ^ American Scene 1977, p. 11: "The title, 'Cunne Shote,' is a misnomer. In Cherokee, his name is rendered 'Kanagagota [sic].' [Francis] Parsons relied on a colonial corruption, 'Cunnicatoque,' which he abbreviated to 'Cunne' and to which he added the word 'shote,' a corruption of Chote, a town in the Cherokee Nation, to get his title. In this way Kanagagota (Standing Turkey) became Cunne Shote (Turkey of Chote)"; Nies 1996, p. 188: "When he went to London in 1762 with other Cherokee leaders, and had his portrait painted, the artist misunderstood his name as Cunne Shote, a mispronunciation of the chief's name and the Cherokee capital, Echota."
  3. ^ Tanner 1978, pp. 95–103; Cherokee 1978, p. 99.

Bibliography

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