Ten Bears

Ten Bears (1872)

Ten Bears (German: Ten Bears ; actually: Parrywasaymen ; * around 1790; † November 23, 1872 in Fort Sill , Oklahoma ) was a chief of the Yamparika - Comanches .

Ten Bear's life is shaped by the early days of American Indian reservation policy. Although he was not classified as a good warrior, Ten Bears was considered a moving speaker with his poetic language among both the Indians and the whites. At the same time, he possessed pronounced leadership qualities with his diplomacy. Around 1860 he was elected chief of the Yamparika after the death of his predecessor. On July 27, 1853, he had already signed the Fort Atkinson (Iowa) peace agreement with other Indian tribes as Para-sar-a-man-no . Desiring land concessions, he first visited Washington, DC on March 27, 1863 , but the US government made no significant concessions.

It was not until October 14, 1865, that Ten Bears signed a contract on the Little Arkansas River in Kansas , through which the Comanches in southwestern Oklahoma were assigned an Indian reservation in Fort Sill. During the Medicine Lodge Conference , at which the aim was to end the Indian attacks on the construction of the Kansas Pacific Railroad (see Treaty of Medicine Lodge ), he gave a particularly emotional speech in October 1867 when he discovered that he hated it was to have to live in a reservation because he "[...] was born without fences and free breathing was possible everywhere [...] I want to die there, and not within walls." But his attempts at negotiating were unsuccessful because the government insisted that the Comanches had to give up their own territory because of the new reservation. A negotiating commission asked the Yamparika Comanches, Cheyenne , Southern Arapaho and Kiowa Apaches to settle together in the large reservation. All the chiefs of the above-mentioned tribes signed the peace treaty on October 21, 1867, and in December 1868 the march into the reservation took place. Ten Bears was already old when the United States resettled the Comanches on reservations. Shortly before his death, Ten Bears returned to Washington in September 1872 with Chief Tosawi of the Penateka-Comanches and other chiefs, but the promises made by the government were not kept. When the Indian delegation in Washington was received in full honor by President Ulysses S. Grant , he asked Ten Bears and Towasi not to resettle any further. One effect of the meeting was the estrangement of both Comanche tribes. While Lone Wolf returned as a hero, Ten Bears was ignored. Ten Bears died that same year in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in late 1872.

Others

The former chief lives under the German translation Ten Bears in the 1990 film The Dances with the Wolf when he presents Dunbar ( Kevin Costner ) with the Morion of a Spanish conquistador. In the film, Ten Bears is portrayed - historically incorrect - as the chief of the Lakota - Sioux .

"Ten Bears" also appears in a supporting role in the film "Der Texaner" (Engl .: The Outlaw Josey Wales) from 1976 (directed and leading role: Clint Eastwood). He was played by Will Sampson .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dee Brown, Hampton Sides: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West , 2009, p. 292 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
2. ↑ Dee Brown, Hampton Sides: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West , 2009, p. 15 f. ( limited preview in Google Book search).
3. ^ Abraham Lincoln : The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln . Volume 6. 2008, p. 153 ( limited preview in Google book search).
4. ↑ AllExperts about Ten Bears ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.