William McIntosh

Who was William McIntosh?

William McIntosh, also known as Taskanugi Hatke, was one of the most prominent chiefs of the Creek Nation between the turn of the nineteenth century and the time of Creek removal to Indian Territory. He was a leader of the Lower Towns, the Creek who were adapting European-American ways and tools. In 1817 he was implicated with David Brydie Mitchell, former Georgia governor and US Indian agent to the Creek, of smuggling African slaves in from Spanish Florida, in violation of US law against the international slave trade.

For decades, European-American historians attributed McIntosh's achievements and influence to his Scots/European ancestry; more recently, historians have understood how his power related to the Creek matrilineal culture and his heritage.