Who Did Dragging Canoe Marry?

Dragging Canoe was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and US settlers in the Upper South. Born in 1738, Dragging Canoe was a few years older than his cousin Nancy Ward, daughter of Tame Doe and Attakullakulla, Dragging Canoe’s father. He was the son of diplomat Little Carpenter and advocated for the Cherokee to move further down the Tennessee River into modern-day Chattanooga and adopt the policy of attack and retreat.

Dragging Canoe married Nionee Ollie Ani wa ya Canoe (born Paint Clan) in 1735, and their only child was Jemima Hardin. Dragging Canoe sent war parties to East and Middle Tennessee, Georgia, and other Indian nations threatened by American settlements in Ohio. He publicly rebuked elders, including his father, for exchanging their hunting grounds for worthless goods. Impressed by his tenacity, Attakullakulla granted him permission to go on the war party if he could carry the canoe over the portage.

Dragging Canoe’s family relationships were complicated, and his son, Dragging Canoe, was the first leader of the Chickamauga faction of the Cherokee tribes. His marriage was permissible because the individuals involved were Cherokee.

Family relationships can be complicated, and Dragging Canoe’s marriage to Rutha Rowland was permissible due to the individuals’ backgrounds. Other notable couples include Harvey Lafayette Phipps, Jinsey Cox, and Sarah Sally Ridley. Dragging Canoe was born in 1745 and died in 1836.