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from Bataille, Gretchen M. (ed.), Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, [New York & London: Garland Publishing, 1993] pp. 272-274

Ward, Nancy [NANYE-HI, ONE WHO GOES ABOUT] (c. 1738-1824), the last "Beloved Woman" of the Cherokees, was born at Chota, the sacred "Mother Town" of the Cherokees. She was born into the Wolf Clan and was the niece of Attakullakulla, a prudent chief who allowed Moravian missionaries into the Cherokee country, only after exacting a promise that they would build schools to teach his people about the ways of the whites. Ward, sometimes called "Wild Rose," is first noted at the Battle of Taliwa in 1755. She was married to Kingfisher, a warrior who was killed in this skirmish with the Creeks. Fighting along side him, Ward became enraged at the Creeks for his death, and she rallied the Cherokee forces to a decisive victory. For her heroism, she was named "Beloved Woman," a title reserved for wise women who have distinguished themselves in battle or who have been the wives or mothers of great warriors.

      In her role as Beloved Woman, Ward performed such duties as sitting in General Council (where she had full voice and vote), heading the Women's Council, preparing the Black Drink for the Green Corn (busk) ceremony, and acting as a negotiator in treaty parlays. It is noted that in meeting with John Sevier to strike peace terms wit the Americans (Little Pigeon River, Tennessee, 1781), she was appalled that he had no women negotiators. He was as appalled that she was trusted with such an important task. It has been recorded that she admonished him to return to his people and explain the terms to the women, saying, "Let your women hear our words."

      As a Beloved Woman, Nancy Ward also had the right to save a captive already condemned to death. In 1780 she saved the life of Mrs. Bean, a white woman captive about to be immolated. Ward nursed her back to health and then set her free, but not before Mrs. Bean had introduced Ward to the art of weaving in the manner of the whites and to raising cattle for dairying. While these innovations are attached to the name of Nancy Ward with great honor, there is at least one other that calls forth great shame, for Nancy Ward was the first Cherokee to have black slaves.

      Many years of broken promises on the part of the Americans eventually took their toll on Ward's credulity, and by the Cherokee Council of 1817, she was no longer advising peace. She told the younger people not to cede any more land because already the talk of Indian removal west of the Mississippi was being heard and believed. Fearing removal in her lifetime, Ward took to the trade of innkeeping and married a white man, Bryan (Briant) Ward. They kept a small inn on the Ocowee river's Womankiller Ford. She bore three children and became prosperous before her death in 1824. Her son, Fivekiller, was with his mother at her death and reported that a white light ascended from her body and flew into the sacred mound at Chota, the same mound destroyed by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam Project of the 1970s and 1980s. Nancy Ward is buried somewhere near present-day Vonore, Tennessee. Many honors have been bestowed in her name since her death. Among these, the Nashville, Tennessee, chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is named for her.

- Cynthia Kasee

References

      Dockstader, Frederick J., ed., Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977

      Felton, Harold W., Nancy Ward: Cherokee. New York: Dodd Mead, 1975

      McClary, Ben Harris. "The Last Beloved Woman of the Cherokees." Tennessee Historical Society Quarterly 21 (1962): 352-64.

      Tucker, Norma. "Nancy Ward, Ghighau of the Cherokees." Georgia Historical Quarterly 53 (June 1969): 192-200

      Woodward, Grace Steele. The Cherokees. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963

      Note: an e-mail correspondent indicates that Ward was actually buried near the town of Benton, Tn and has an historical marker placed on it.

For More Information

      Woman Spirit

      All Things Cherokee

      D. Ray Smith's Nancy Ward Page

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