By Dennis McCaslin - Today in Fort Smith
I-na-du-na-i, (or in English, "Goingsnake" ) was born approximately 1758 near the present Tennessee/North Carolina boundary that meets Notteley Reservoir, Georgia. He was known to be a great orator and political leader.
He was a tribal town chief in 1814 and among the seven hundred Cherokees who fought against the Creeks with General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, along with John Ross, Sequoyah, White Path and others.
After the war he returned to his home, "Goingsnake's Town" in Georgia. The Cherokee community, at that time and still today, is comprised of citizens living in homes scattered over a wide area.
In 1808, the Cherokee Nation back east was divided into eight districts and
Goingsnake was a representative from Amohee District who received one dollar per day while serving on the National Council.
At the time, Pathkiller was the Chief, and a young man named John Ross was President of the National Committee. In 1827, Ross was elected Chief and Going Snake was elected Speaker of the Council.
When the Cherokees began their forced removal, known as the Trail of Tears, Goingsnake came with the group headed by John Benge, which left Georgia on September 28, 1838.
William Shorey Coodey, who was present at one of the departures on the Trail of Tears, wrote to a friend describing what he saw:
“At length the word was given to move on. I glanced along the line and the form of Goingsnake, an aged and respected chief whose head eighty summers had whitened, mounted his favorite pony, passed before me and led the way in silence. At this very moment a low sound of distant thunder fell upon my ears. The sun was unclouded, and no rain fell. I almost thought it a voice of Divine indignation for the wrongs done my poor and unhappy countrymen, driven by brutal power from all they loved and cherished in the lands of their fathers to gratify the cravings of avarice.”
In a petition presented to Congress and President Jackson, John Ross expressed the inadequacy of the government agent's arrangements for the July 1835 Cherokee Council meeting at Running Waters (current-day Rome, GA).
Representatives had to sleep on the ground in close proximity to their hobbled horses. To indicate how severe the conditions were, Ross stated that Going Snake's horse got loose and stepped on his head while he slept.
Although his injuries were initially thought to be serious, Goingsnake eventually recovered sufficiently to continue the meeting.
In early January of 1839, Goingsnake arrived on Ward Branch in Indian Territory, just a few miles southwest of Cincinnati, Arkansas and about six miles north of present Westville. It was here he built his cabin. He died shortly after his arrival in the Indian Territory, although the date is not known.
One of his last duties was to meet at the general convention between the eastern and western Cherokee on the Illinois River in Tahlequah on July 12, 1839. By November, a new Speaker had been elected.
When districts were established in the western Cherokee Nation in 1840, the Goingsnake District (now part of Adair County) was named in his honor.
A street in Tahlequah was also named after him He was buried near his cabin, and the grave site , located on private property on the Farley farm in the area, was later marked .with a tombstone bearing the inscription:
"Chief Goingsnake, Famous Cherokee Orator, Born 1758"
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