Cherokee Folk Figure. Born Nanye'hi, which roughly translates to "One who goes about," in the Cherokee settlement of Chota, Tennessee, she was the daughter of Tame Doe of the Wolf Clan. She married for the first time in her teens, a warrior called Kingfisher. By the time she was eighteen they had two children; Ka-ti and Hi-s-ki-ti-hi. In 1755 at the Battle of Taliwa against the Creek, she fought by her husband's side. When he was killed, she took up his musket and rallied the Cherokee warriors to victory. Because of her bravery in battle, Nanye'hi was named Ghi-ga-u, or Beloved Woman of the Cherokee, which granted her the right to head the Women's Council and sit on the Council of Chiefs. She was also awarded the authority to grant pardon. Within four years she married Bryant Ward, an English trader, and took the English name Nancy. They had one daughter. In 1780, she wielded the right of the Beloved Woman and spared white captive, Lydia Bean, from death. Bean stayed with her savior for some time, introducing her to the arts of weaving and the making of butter and cheese. After Bean was repatriated, Ward brought dairy cattle to the Cherokee and introduced dairying to her people. She spoke eloquently at the 1781 Little Pigeon River treaty negotiations, and again at the Treaty of Hopewell negotiations in 1785. With the changes in Cherokee government and American expansion after the Hiwassee Purchase of 1819, Ward left Chota and settled on the Ocoee River near present-day Benton where she operated an inn on the Federal Road until her death. A Tennessee chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is named in her honor. Vonore, Tennessee holds an annual Nancy Ward Cherokee Heritage Days celebration in her honor.
Cherokee Folk Figure. Born Nanye'hi, which roughly translates to "One who goes about," in the Cherokee settlement of Chota, Tennessee, she was the daughter of Tame Doe of the Wolf Clan. She married for the first time in her teens, a warrior called Kingfisher. By the time she was eighteen they had two children; Ka-ti and Hi-s-ki-ti-hi. In 1755 at the Battle of Taliwa against the Creek, she fought by her husband's side. When he was killed, she took up his musket and rallied the Cherokee warriors to victory. Because of her bravery in battle, Nanye'hi was named Ghi-ga-u, or Beloved Woman of the Cherokee, which granted her the right to head the Women's Council and sit on the Council of Chiefs. She was also awarded the authority to grant pardon. Within four years she married Bryant Ward, an English trader, and took the English name Nancy. They had one daughter. In 1780, she wielded the right of the Beloved Woman and spared white captive, Lydia Bean, from death. Bean stayed with her savior for some time, introducing her to the arts of weaving and the making of butter and cheese. After Bean was repatriated, Ward brought dairy cattle to the Cherokee and introduced dairying to her people. She spoke eloquently at the 1781 Little Pigeon River treaty negotiations, and again at the Treaty of Hopewell negotiations in 1785. With the changes in Cherokee government and American expansion after the Hiwassee Purchase of 1819, Ward left Chota and settled on the Ocoee River near present-day Benton where she operated an inn on the Federal Road until her death. A Tennessee chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is named in her honor. Vonore, Tennessee holds an annual Nancy Ward Cherokee Heritage Days celebration in her honor.
Bio by: Iola
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