Wakatomika
Wakatomika was the name of two 18th century Shawnee villages in what is now the U.S. state of Ohio. The name was also spelled Wapatomica, Waketomika, and Waketameki, among other variations, but the similar name Wapakoneta was a different Shawnee village.
The first Wakatomika was located along the Muskingum River, near present-day Dresden, Ohio. In August 1774, during Dunmore's War, Wakatomika and four other Shawnee villages in the area were destroyed by Virginia colonial militia in an expedition led by Angus McDonald.
In 1782, another Shawnee Indian village by the name of Wapatomica was located in present-day Logan County, Ohio, about halfway between West Liberty, Ohio and Zanesfield, Ohio.[1] A historical marker exists to commemorate Wapatomica. However, there is no access to the actual the site without permission from the Ohio Historical Society. In fact, a flag pole with a concrete base was erected at Wapatomica in the 1920s. The base read: This monument marks the location of the stake where captives were burned. The circle was used for war, religious, and pleasure dances. Location of the council house. Simon Kenton ran the gauntlet here in 1778. This monument erected August 31, 1922. The flag pole was struck by lightning, however, which damaged the concrete base. In July, 2010 the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Ohio Historical Society erected a new memorial marker on a hill near the intersection of CR 5 and 29, but kept the original marker, even though it was in poor shape.
After Dunmore's War, the residents of Wakatomika resettled further west. A new Wakatomica was established by 1778 on the Mad River in present-day Logan County. This village was destroyed in 1786 during an expedition led by Benjamin Logan at the outset of the Northwest Indian War.
The name "Wakatomika" continues to be used for a number of place names, including:
- Wakatomika, Ohio, a populated place
- Wakatomika Creek
- Little Wakatomika Creek
- Camp Wakatomika, a Girl Scout camp in Licking County, Ohio
References
- ↑ Butterfield, An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky Under Col. William Crawford in 1782, 345–347.
- Butterfield, Consul Willshire. An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky Under Col. William Crawford in 1782. R. Clarke & Co, 1873.
- Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, ed. Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8061-2056-8.