This is the story of the famous and controversial Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha, ca. 1750–1830), whose passionate and articulate defense of the old ways won the admiration of many but also earned him the enmity of Chiefs Joseph Brant and Cornplanter. Red Jacket received a medal from George Washington as a token of friendship. He is remembered as a vocal and persistent opponent of foreign encroachment on the Iroquois, protesting bitterly against the sale of tribal lands and involvement in European-American disputes, missionary activities, and various efforts to “civilize” the Iroquois.
Arthur C. Parker, a renowned scholar of the Iroquois and a member of a distinguished Seneca family, offers an engaging and highly readable account of Red Jacket’s life. The biography follows Red Jacket from his early years along the Genesee River through the invasion of Seneca lands during the Revolutionary War, the Big Tree Treaty of 1797, and the rise of the prophet Handsome Lake. Parker (1881–1955) has authored several books on the Iroquois, including Seneca Myths and Folk Tales (Nebraska 1989).