Metea

{{Short description|Chief of the Potawatomi in the 1800s}} {{about||the Belgian trade union|Metea (trade union)|the location in the United States|Metea, Indiana}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Metea | image = Metea.jpg | caption = Metea portrait by Samuel Seymour | birth_name = | birth_date = {{circa|1778}} | birth_place = United States | death_date = May 5, 1827 ({{abbreviation|approx.|approximately}} 49) | death_place = Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = Native American chief | title = Chief | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Chief Metea''' or '''Me-te-a''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|m|ə|.|'|t|i|.|j|ə}};<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keeney |first=Jenna |date=2013-11-01 |title=It's Metea, not Metea |url=https://meteamedia.org/565/spotlight/metea-metea/ |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=Metea Media}}</ref> Potawatomi: ''Mdewé'';  "Sulks") ({{Circa|1778}}-1827) was one of the principal chiefs of the Potawatomi during the early 19th century, described as a "warrior, spiritualist and orator".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=CPN Public Information Office |first= |date=2018-09-07 |title=The United States' handling of the "Indian problem" |url=https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2018/09/07/the-united-states-handling-of-the-indian-problem/ |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=Potawatomi.org |language=en}}</ref> He frequently acted as spokesman at treaty councils.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} His village, Meskwawasebyéton, was located on the St. Joseph River near the present-day city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Metea |url=https://www.potawatomiheritage.com/encyclopedia/metea-to-sulk/ |access-date=2026-04-12 |website=CPN Cultural Heritage Center |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Secunda |first=Ben |date=2008 |title=The Road to Ruin? "Civilization" and the Origins of a "Michigan Road Band" of Potawatomi |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20174261 |journal=Michigan Historical Review |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=118–149 |issn=0890-1686}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Dunn |first=Jacob Piatt |date=1912 |title=Indiana Geographical Nomenclature |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27785375 |journal=The Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=109–114 |issn=0147-2259}}</ref>

Metea was born circa 1778. He led various battles against the encroaching Americans, including during the War of 1812, in which he allied with the Shawnee military leader Tecumseh. After experiencing many injuries, he took on a more diplomatic approach with the Americans,<ref name=":0" /> including speaking against the Treaty of Chicago.<ref name=":1" /> He acted as principal Potawatomi informant to William Keating during the 1823 expedition into the Indiana Territory by Major Stephen Long.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}} Through treaty negotiations, Metea advocated for Indigenous education,<ref name=":0" /> as well as ongoing annuities for the Indigenous people living on the land.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Hunter |first=Juanita |date=1987 |title=The Indians and the Michigan Road |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27791091 |journal=Indiana Magazine of History |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=244–266 |issn=0019-6673}}</ref>

Metea died at Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1827.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vogel |first=Virgil J. |date=1962 |title=Indian Place Names in Illinois, Part III |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40190339 |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984) |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=271–308 |issn=0019-2287}}</ref> According to the United States, his death was caused by accidental ingestion of poison, which he mistook for whiskey following a conversation with US dignitaries. It is more likely that he was assassinated.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}

==Legacy== Metea has been commemorated through the naming of multiple locations, including Metea, Indiana, a small town in Cass County, Indiana.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Powell, Jehu Z. |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_exgVAAAAYAAJ |title=History of Cass County Indiana: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |year=1913 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_exgVAAAAYAAJ/page/n518 483]}}</ref> Metea County Park and Nature Preserve in Allen County, Indiana and Metea Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois are also named after Metea.

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.gbl.indiana.edu/Pot2/TS_2a.html#thirt Miami Indians Ethnohistory Archives]{{Dead link|date=April 2026}} *[https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.99.168.22?destination=portraits/search%3Fpage%3D5%26edan_q%3DArtists%26edan_fq%255B0%255D%3Dtopic%253A%2522Costume%2522%26edan_fq%255B1%255D%3Donline_visual_material%253Atrue%26edan_fq%255B2%255D%3Dculture%253A%2522Native%2520Americans%2522%26edan_local%3D1 National Portrait Gallery]

Category:1827 deaths Category:Chiefs of the Potawatomi Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Native American people from Indiana