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Leatherlips
Wyandots were decimated by disease and a disastrous war with the Five Nations of the Iroquois. Forced out of their homeland near Lake Superior, they moved to the Iroquois hunting ground of Ohio country. Wyandot Chief Shateyaronyah (known by American settlers as Chief Leatherlips) was an important leader of the Wyandots. He also was a signer of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 and encouraged cooperation with white settlers near the end of his life. That policy of accommodating American settlers ultimately led to conflict with a movement led by two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa (The Prophet). Tenskwatawa reacted strongly against Leatherlips and condemned him to death. The charge The Prophet brought against Leatherlips was witchcraft, which was punishable by death. The real cause was the stand he took with his tribe to prevent the war which Tecumseh and The Prophet were then endeavoring to bring about between the Indians and the British on one side, and the Americans upon the other, It was simply a political murder.
On June 1, 1810 six Wyandots traveled to what is now Dublin, just north of Columbus and announced the death sentence to the 63 year old chief who was living there. Although white settlers led by Benjamin Sells pleaded for the old chief and attempted to bribe the death squad, the trial and sentencing were swift. After clothing himself in his finest attire, Leatherlips, joined by his executioners, sang the death chant and prayed. He was then repeatedly struck by tomahawk and his body placed in a prepared grave which he knelt in front of before the execution.
According to the book This is Ohio by Grace Goulder, the execution took place at the entrance to the caves that are now known as the Olentangy Indian Caverns, located north of Dublin, Ohio and south of Delaware, Ohio. According to information from the Olentangy Indian Caverns, the caverns were used by the Wyandot people up until 1810 as a shelter from the weather and a place to seclude themselves from another nearby tribe, the Delaware people. However, there is also a marker at the corner of Stratford Avenue and Riverside Drive indicating that location as the execution and burial site.
On River Road, south of the Columbus Zoo at Scioto Park is an abstract stone sculpture created as a memorial of Leatherlips.
Leatherlips Sculpture
7377 Riverside Drive
Dublin, Ohio 43016
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