Donacona
Donacona. A Huron chief found by Jacques Cartier, in 1535, residing with his people at the junction of St Croix and St Lawrence rivers, Canada. Although Cartier was well received and kindly treated by this chief, he managed, partly by stratagem and partly by force, to convey the latter aboard his vessel and carry him to France where he soon died.
Half King
Half King (Petawontakas, Dunquad, Dunquat, Daunghquat; Delaware name, Pomoacan). A Huron chief of Sandusky, Ohio, who flourished during the latter part of the Revolutionary war. Under employment by the British he aided the Delawares in their resistance to the encroachment of the white settlements beyond the Allegheny mts., and it was through his intervention that the Moravians of Lichtenau were saved from massacre by the Indians in 1777. According to Losk’el 1 he was joined by a large number of warriors, including Huron, Ottawa, Chippewa, Shawnee, and others, besides some French, and his influence as a disciplinarian was such that he kept this mixed assemblage in good order, permitting no extravagance on their part. Sometimes more than 200 warriors lay all night close to Lichtenau, but they behaved so quietly that they were hardly perceived. Loskiel also says that Half King “was particularly attentive to prevent all drunkenness, knowing that bloodshed and murder would immediately follow.” He insisted on the removal of the Christian Indians from the vicinity of Sandusky, believing it to be unsafe for them to remain there; he also protected the Moravians and their converts from mal treatment when the missionaries were sent to Detroit. Under the name Daunghquat he signed the treaty of Ft McIntosh, Ohio, Jan. 21, 1785. The treaties of Greenville, Ohio, Aug. 3, 1795; Ft McIntosh, July 4, 1805; Greenville, July 22, 1814, and Spring Wells, Sept, 8, 1815, were signed by Haroenyou (Harrowenyou), his son, not by himself; but the name “Dunquad or Half King” is appended to the treaty of Miami Rapids, Ohio, Sept. 29, 1817. (C. T.)
Citations:
- Missions United Brethren, pt. 3, 127, 1794[↩]