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40 Real People Executed for Witchcraft

Tim Flight October 15, 2019 27 min

2. Leatherlips, a Native American leader, lost his life after unfounded witchcraft allegations in 1810

Three Huron-Wyandot chiefs from the Huron Reservation depicted in a painting made in London, 1825. Wikimedia Commons

Leatherlips, leader of the Wyandot Indians, made himself really unpopular in the late 18^th century. He wished to cooperate with white settlers, and agreed to a truce with them, the Treaty of Greenville, in 1795. He also sold Wyandot land to the whites, angering two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa. As revenge, the brothers accused Leatherlips of witchcraft, and enough Native Americans resented the peaceful leader to try him. They found Leatherlips guilty in 1810, and he died by tomahawk at the age of 78 in Ohio.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk