The Prophet

The Prophet (born c. March 1768, Old Chillicothe, Ohio—died 1834, Argentine, Kan., U.S.) was a North American Indian religious revivalist of the Shawnee people, who worked with his brother Tecumseh to create a pan-tribal confederacy to resist U.S. encroachment in the Northwest Territory.

The Prophet’s declaration in 1805 that he had a message from the “Master of Life,” followed by his accurate prediction of a solar eclipse in 1806, caused a great stir among the tribes. He advocated a return to distinctively indigenous ways of life and rejected colonial customs such as the use of alcohol, clothing made of textiles rather than animal skins and furs, the concept of individual ownership of property, and intermarriage with those of European descent. The Prophet engaged his followers by describing the supernatural contacts he instigated through incantations and dreams; witch burning was a feature of his program. In November 1811, while Tecumseh was away, The Prophet allowed the Shawnees to be drawn into military action with Gen. William Henry Harrison; their ensuing defeat on the Tippecanoe River thoroughly discredited The Prophet and destroyed the pan-tribal confederacy.