Episodi

  • Tomochichi forged a Yamacraw people - and lost a nation

    Tomochichi forged a Yamacraw people - and lost a nation
    Oct 15 2026
    A ninety‑five‑year‑old exile stood on the Savannah bluffs and forged a new Yamacraw people - what did it cost him?

    Tomochichi forged a Yamacraw people - and lost a nation

    In this episode, we follow the late life of Tomochichi as he builds a new community on the Savannah bluffs, mediates between Creek political culture and incoming British settlers, and negotiates nine years of daily diplomacy to keep two worlds from collapsing into violence. How did one man make a nation, and what was sacrificed to do it?

    Person: Tomochichi
    Date: 1739 (burial procession), circa 1644 (approximate birth)
    Location: Savannah bluffs on the Savannah River
    Event: Founding of the Yamacraw and negotiations with James Oglethorpe
    Person: James Oglethorpe

    - Exiled from the Creek nation decades earlier, Tomochichi gathered roughly two hundred Creek and Yamasee followers and chose ancestral bluffs near trade routes to found the Yamacraw.
    - He named the new group Yamacraw and positioned them where river memory and British commerce intersected, a deliberate geopolitical choice.
    - In 1733 Oglethorpe arrived with about 114 colonists under a 1732 royal charter for the Georgia buffer colony and required land, peace, and a mediator.
    - Initial diplomacy relied on bilingual mediators Mary Musgrove and John Musgrove; Tomochichi weighed trade, standing, and protection before agreeing to the settlement.
    - For nine years Tomochichi conducted continuous, careful diplomacy-shaping power as a tool to prevent the collapse he had already survived.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • The speech that kept Keokuk alive - and cost him his homeland

    The speech that kept Keokuk alive - and cost him his homeland
    Oct 14 2026
    A Sauk leader's bones vanish beneath a city that bears his name - what did it cost him to speak for his people?

    The speech that kept Keokuk alive - and cost him his homeland

    In this episode, we trace the life and disappearance of Chief Keokuk from his birth on the Rock River to the empty grave that bears his name, following the decisions and speeches that shaped his path. How did a man who argued his authority into being live on as a place-name while his body remained missing?

    Person: Keokuk
    Location: Rock River; Saukenuk; Washington; Kansas; Keokuk, Iowa
    Date: born c. 1780; reburial organized 1883; statue installed 1913; died June 1848
    Topic: disappearance of Keokuk's remains; leadership and treaty negotiations

    - Born around 1780 near the Rock River, Keokuk rose without hereditary rank by persuading communities with speech and judgment.
    - He stayed in Saukenuk during the War of 1812, organized village defense through words, and is credited in some accounts with fighting then switching sides.
    - Keokuk traveled to Washington at least four times, including his first visit in 1824, to observe, argue, and negotiate land terms for his people.
    - In 1883 a judge in Iowa organized a solemn reburial of bones believed to be Keokuk’s in the city that already carried his name.
    - More than a century later forensic analysts determined those bones belonged to a significantly younger man, and Keokuk’s real remains have never been found.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The guns he surrendered left his nation defenseless for generations

    The guns he surrendered left his nation defenseless for generations
    Oct 13 2026
    A sachem who surrendered his guns and made peace for his people is gone from his land; what did it cost him?

    The guns he surrendered left his nation defenseless for generations

    In this episode, we tell the life of Wonalancet, the Pennacook sachem born near Pawtucket Falls, and trace the choices he made to protect a confederation shrinking under disease and colonial pressure. We follow the moments when he surrendered weapons, negotiated with English officials, and accepted missionary presence - and ask what those decisions demanded of him and his people.

    Person: Wonalancet
    Person: Passaconaway
    Location: Pawtucket Falls, Merrimack River
    Date: 1619-1697
    Event: Surrender of firearms in 1637

    - At age eighteen Wonalancet, his wife, and children were arrested and the Pennacook surrendered every firearm they possessed.
    - Passaconaway unified dozens of villages as bashaba and later instructed Wonalancet to not fight the English.
    - Epidemics between 1616-1619 and a 1633 outbreak devastated coastal Algonquian populations, reshaping Pennacook society.
    - Wonalancet cultivated a friendship with Daniel Gookin and allowed John Eliot’s praying town at Wamesit to be established near his birthplace.
    - By 1653-1660 Wonalancet worked to rebuild trust and cooperative structures despite the permanent loss of the confederation’s guns.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The shot to his back that ended a ninety‑two‑year rule

    The shot to his back that ended a ninety‑two‑year rule
    Oct 12 2026
    An armed guard shot a sick, ninety‑two‑year‑old Opechancanough in Jamestown - what did it cost him and the Powhatan confederacy?

    The shot to his back that ended a ninety‑two‑year rule

    In this episode, we trace the life and capture of Opechancanough and the events that led to his public parade and guarded confinement in Jamestown. We follow his rise from Pamunkey sachem to paramount chief, the political landscape of the Tidewater, and the choices that left him vulnerable to that final shot.

    Person: Opechancanough
    Date: 1646
    Location: Jamestown
    Event: Parade, guarded confinement, and shooting of a captive
    Topic: Powhatan Confederacy leadership and English colonial interactions

    - Born in 1554, he grew up as the younger brother of Wahunsonacock and within a powerful Powhatan political network.
    - He became sachem of the Pamunkey River peoples and a senior military and political leader by 1607.
    - He launched three wars against the English colony across nearly four decades and personally captured Captain Carl Smith.
    - Historians debate whether he was the same man as Don Luis who traveled to Spain and returned in 1570s, or a close relative connected to that story.
    - In 1646 he was paraded through Jamestown, kept alive under armed guard, and then shot in the back by the guard outside his cell.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The intercepted courier who revealed Denonville's secret cost Kondiaronk exile

    The intercepted courier who revealed Denonville's secret cost Kondiaronk exile
    Oct 11 2026
    A Wendat leader at Michilimackinac learns of a secret French peace and seizes a courier - but what did it cost him?

    The intercepted courier who revealed Denonville's secret cost Kondiaronk exile

    In this episode, we follow the choices Kondiaronk made at Michilimackinac after intercepting a French message and how those decisions reshaped alliances in the upper country. The episode traces the road he traveled from warrior and negotiator to the moment his actions set off a chain of events that would take years to play out.

    Person: Kondiaronk
    Location: Michilimackinac / the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan
    Date: 1688 (interception and ambush); 1701 (funeral procession, August 2)
    Topic: interception of a courier, ambush of an Onondaga delegation, and subsequent exile
    Event: Kondiaronk leading a war party, intercepting a message revealing Denonville’s secret, then ambushing the Onondaga delegation

    - Kondiaronk, a Wendat leader born around 1649, had been negotiating regional tensions since at least 1682.
    - In 1687 Denonville recruited Wendat warriors with a vow of no separate peace, promising a unified offensive.
    - In spring 1688 a French courier intercepted Kondiaronk en route to Fort Frontenac with news Denonville had secretly negotiated with the Haudenosaunee.
    - Kondiaronk halted his march, positioned warriors on the road, and ambushed the approaching Onondaga delegation, capturing survivors and killing one chief.
    - He then told the prisoners that Denonville had ordered the ambush, a move that set in motion political consequences leading to his exile.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 min
  • The title that erased her name and cost her voice

    The title that erased her name and cost her voice
    Oct 10 2026
    A female Algonquian leader signs a 1639 deed transferring lands that become Greater Boston - but her personal name is erased; what did it cost her?

    The title that erased her name and cost her voice

    In this episode, we trace the life and authority of the woman who governed the Missitekw territory and signed the 1639 land deed, exploring how English recordkeeping replaced her identity with titles and translated complex Algonquian roles into familiar words. What does the absence of her name on the deed tell us about power, translation, and loss?

    Person: Saunkskwa / Squa Sachem (title used in the deed)
    Date: 1639 (deed signing); circa 1610s-1690s (lifetime context)
    Location: Missitekw river system (later Greater Boston: Newton, Arlington, Somerville, Malden, Charlestown)
    Event: 1639 land deed transferring lands that would become core Greater Boston
    Scholar: Lisa Brooks (title recovery); Ellen Knight (colonial documentation); Jim Porter (place-name research)

    - She was born around 1690? (Transcript gives circa 1690 context for origin of narrative) - raised within the Pawtucket Confederation by the Missitekw river system.
    - She married Nanepashemet and, after his death in 1619, inherited leadership under Massachusett custom as squa sachem.
    - English records translated and recorded her authority with terms like "Squa Sachem" and "The Massachusetts Queene," replacing her Algonquian title.
    - The 1639 deed she signed legally transferred thousands of acres encompassing five modern towns but lists only her title, not her personal name.
    - Scholars recover different meanings: Lisa Brooks identifies her as saunkskwa (female chief in her own right), while colonial documents and translators framed her role through widowhood and European analogies.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 min
  • The river crossing she reversed that kept her people alive and cost her exile

    The river crossing she reversed that kept her people alive and cost her exile
    Oct 9 2026
    Lozen rode chest‑deep into the Río Grande, reached the far bank, then turned her horse back toward the approaching U.S. cavalry-what did it cost her?

    The river crossing she reversed that kept her people alive and cost her exile

    In this episode, we tell the story contained in eyewitness testimony about a single, decisive choice by Lozen of the Chihenne Apache: why she crossed toward danger and then returned into it, and how that moment fits into the wider struggle to keep her people alive. What did that decision require and what did it demand from her leadership?

    Person: Lozen
    Event: Río Grande river crossing where she turned back
    Person: James Kaywaykla (witness; boy on far shore)
    Person: Victorio (Lozen’s brother and band leader)
    Author: Eve Ball (collected Kaywaykla’s testimony)

    - A boy named James Kaywaykla watched from the far shore as Lozen rode chest‑deep through the Río Grande and recorded the moment decades later.
    - Lozen served as a warrior and tactical leader in the Victorio War (1879-1881), scouting, raiding for horses and ammunition, and holding positions in combat.
    - Testimony collected by historian Eve Ball portrays Lozen as “my right hand” to Victorio, “strong as a man, braver than most,” and central to strategic decisions.
    - The Chihenne were removed from Ojo Caliente to the malarial San Carlos Reservation in 1877, prompting Victorio’s departure and the subsequent campaign.
    - Witnesses describe Lozen performing a ritual-arms extended, prayer to Ussen, rotating-to locate enemy forces, a practiced method relied on during movements and engagements.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 min
  • Awashonks lost her son's trust - and her land's sovereignty

    Awashonks lost her son's trust - and her land's sovereignty
    Oct 8 2026
    A female sachem in Little Compton signs with Plymouth and watches her son sell tribal land - what did it cost her?

    Awashonks lost her son's trust - and her land's sovereignty

    In this episode, we follow Awashonks, saunkskwa of the Sakonnet, through a decade of meetings, signed agreements, family conflict, and court records that reveal shifting power. It traces how decisions inside her nation and interventions by Plymouth Colony put her authority and her people’s land at stake, and asks what she was protecting - and from whom.

    Person: Awashonks
    Location: Little Compton, Rhode Island
    Date: July 24, 1671; 1674; 1675
    Event: Articles of Agreement signed with Plymouth; Mammanuah’s land sale; Plymouth court assault case
    Topic: Sakonnet leadership, colonial pressure, intra-community conflict

    - She earned the title saunkskwa through decisions and leadership, not inheritance.
    - On July 24, 1671 Awashonks signed the Articles of Agreement requiring disarmament and surrender of accused men.
    - In 1674 her son Mammanuah secretly offered Sakonnet land to English buyers without consulting her.
    - She ordered Mammanuah restrained for overstepping community authority and he sued her for assault in Plymouth court.
    - Plymouth reduced an original fine from five hundred pounds to five, acknowledging her standing while asserting judicial authority.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min