Uploaded July 2020 | Updated September 2026, 6 minutes ago
Check out The Original Tombstone Tourist website at thetombstonetourist.com/graves/red-jacket for the complete biography and more exciting content!
Red Jacket was born in 1750 in upper New York State near Canoga, Seneca County, New York. His father was a Cayuga and his mother was a Seneca of the Wolf Clan. At age 10, he was given the name Otetiani or "always ready." Upon reaching manhood, he was called Sagoyewatha (Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha) which means "he keeps them awake," and he became chief of the Seneca tribe. As the chief of the Wolf Clan, Red Jacket advocated social harmony through temperance. The name "Red Jacket" was given to him by the British soldiers who gave him a "red coat," when he fought with the British against the colonies.
There is a disagreement among historians. Some call him a great orator who built a great relationship with the white politicians in Washington. Others found the Seneca chief whose magnificent oratory masked his schemes to maintain his position despite double-dealing against his people’s interests. Red Jacket constantly sought to portray himself as a bitter enemy of the whites. Yet, while he publicly opposed land sales in 1787, 1788, and 1790, he secretly signed the property cessions to protect his prestige with the Americans. Later, however, he seems to have become more sincere in protesting white influence on Seneca customs, religion, and language. He vehemently opposed missionaries’ living on Indian lands, and he vainly attempted to preserve Indian jurisdiction over criminal acts committed on Indian property.
Despite his strict instructions that his body must never be removed from his tribal grave site, he was dug up and interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Near the entrance, his massive monument can be found at Section 12, Lot 1-W PT, Space 1.
#famousgraves #gravesite #grave #cemetery #cemeterylovers
Check out The Original Tombstone Tourist website at thetombstonetourist.com/graves/red-jacket for the complete biography and more exciting content!
Red Jacket was born in 1750 in upper New York State near Canoga, Seneca County, New York. His father was a Cayuga and his mother was a Seneca of the Wolf Clan. At age 10, he was given the name Otetiani or "always ready." Upon reaching manhood, he was called Sagoyewatha (Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha) which means "he keeps them awake," and he became chief of the Seneca tribe. As the chief of the Wolf Clan, Red Jacket advocated social harmony through temperance. The name "Red Jacket" was given to him by the British soldiers who gave him a "red coat," when he fought with the British against the colonies.
There is a disagreement among historians. Some call him a great orator who built a great relationship with the white politicians in Washington. Others found the Seneca chief whose magnificent oratory masked his schemes to maintain his position despite double-dealing against his people’s interests. Red Jacket constantly sought to portray himself as a bitter enemy of the whites. Yet, while he publicly opposed land sales in 1787, 1788, and 1790, he secretly signed the property cessions to protect his prestige with the Americans. Later, however, he seems to have become more sincere in protesting white influence on Seneca customs, religion, and language. He vehemently opposed missionaries’ living on Indian lands, and he vainly attempted to preserve Indian jurisdiction over criminal acts committed on Indian property.
Despite his strict instructions that his body must never be removed from his tribal grave site, he was dug up and interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Near the entrance, his massive monument can be found at Section 12, Lot 1-W PT, Space 1.
#famousgraves #gravesite #grave #cemetery #cemeterylovers
