| “ | My forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence, he extended his lines to the head waters of Scioto; from thence, to its mouth; from thence, down the Ohio, to the mouth of the Wabash, and from thence to Chicago, on lake Michigan
— Little Turtle
|
” |
Mihšihkinaahkwa, known in English as Little Turtle, was a chief of the Miami people, and one of the most famous Native American military leaders of his time. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader than in the Old Northwest. "Michikinikwa led his followers in several major victories against United States forces in the 1790s during the Northwest Indian Wars, also called Little Turtle's War. In 1791, they defeated General St. Clair, who lost 600 men, the most decisive loss by the US against Native American forces ever.
In historical records, his name was spelled in a variety of ways, including Michikinikwa, Meshekunnoghquoh, Michikinakoua, Michikiniqua, Me-She-Kin-No, Meshecunnaquan and Mischecanocquah.
The name 'Little Turtle' is an English translation of his name in the Miami-Illinois language, mihšihkinaahkwa. In his language, the word names a species of terrapin, probably the Midland Painted Turtle. There is no diminutive on this name in the original Miami-Illinois.
Battle vs. Hongi Hika (by SPARTAN 119)[]
Little Turtle: 
Hongi Hika: 
Little Turtle and five Miami warriors crept through a swamp, planning to ambush a scouting party of US troops rumored to be in the area. Instead, he found a group of (VERY) lost Maori led by Hongi Hika.
Not knowing who the men were, Little Turtle gave a hand signal telling his men to stop. The Miami chief then fired his Kentucky rifle, hitting a Maori right in the head, killing him instantly . A second later, the other Miami warriors fired, most of the shots missing, but one hit a second Maori in the chest, causing him to clutch his chest before falling to his knees and dying
Hongi Hika and the Maori warriors retaliated, however, because of the lower accuracy of their trade muskets, most their shots missed. One bullet, however, hit its mark, and killed a Miami warrior.
After the initial volley, the the Maori charged. As he closed in, Hongi Hika himself raised his tupara and fired the second barrel and shot a Miami warrior at a range of less than ten feet.
A Maori warrior charged directly at Little Turtle with his Taiha, and swung it down at him. Little Turtle blocked the weapon with the barrel of his long rifle, and struck back with the butt, striking the Maori in the face, before holding onto the rifle one-handed and drawing his tomahawk with the other. The Miami chief buried the tomahawk blade into the Maori's forehead, killing him instantly.
To the right of Little turtle, a Maori attacked a Miami Indian with an iron hatchet, and struck him over head with the weapon, killing the man instantly. As the Maori charged at Little Turtle, however, a gunshot rang out, and the Maori fell face down on the wet ground, hit in the chest by a musket ball.
At the same time, a Miami Indian with a gunstock war club was engaged in a fierce duel with a Maori armed with an iron patu club. The Miami warrior ended the fight when he evaded a strike of the patu and brought down the spiked end of his war club, punching into the Maori's skull and killing him.
Hongi Hika tried to retreat, realizing he had lost all of his men, however, in the confusion of the sudden ambush, he found himself running right into Little Turtle himself. Hika readied his taiha and brought down the greenstone blade. Little Turtle sidestepped the attack, causing the blade of the taiha to strike a tree instead.
In the split second in which the blade was stuck in the tree, Little Turtle struck and swung his tomahawk down into the Maori leader's skull, killing him instantly. After Hongi Hika's body fell to the ground, Little Turtle pulled his tomahawk out of Hika's head and gave a loud war cry, joined by his two surviving warriors.
WINNER: Little Turtle
Expert's Opinion[]
Chief Little Turtle won this battle mainly because of the superior range of his firearms, the Kentucky Rifle in particular. Another major contributing factor to this victory was his mastery of guerilla warfare that allowed him to defeat a large American force.