Tecumseh's Bones

John Steckley teaches in the Human Studies Program at Humber College in
Toronto. He is the author of Beyond Their Years: Five Native Women’s
Stories.

Tecumseh (1768–1813) was a great Shawnee leader born in Ohio. The
tales of his life are so mythologized in both Canada and the United
States, by both Natives and non-Natives, that it is often very difficult
to separate fact from fiction when interpreting his story. One of the
most fascinating aspects of his life is what happened immediately after
he died. We know that he died in the Battle of the Thames, near Chatham,
Ontario, on October 5, 1813. From there mythology takes over.

In this book, Guy St-Denis takes on the daunting task of sorting
through the various conflicting 19th- and early 20th-century tales of
what happened to Tecumseh’s bones. Reported resting places range from
the reserve community of Walpole Island in Lake St. Clair to a park area
in London, Ontario. St-Denis is to be commended for presenting and
critically assessing the various reports. Further, his knowledge of
local history is solid.

At times, Tecumseh’s Bones reads like a good murder mystery. (While
the location of the bones remains unknown, St-Denis leaves us with one
CSI-style clue at the end.) Less appealing is the author’s tendency to
get bogged down in the details of small-town efforts to erect monuments
memorializing Tecumseh. Finally, 83 pages of endnotes is far too much;
the material should have been worked into the main body of the text.