Belt medal presented to Tecumseh, Shawnee, Great Lakes region
Medium:Silver, engraved with Royal Arms of George III
Geography: British, awarded at Fort Malden
Date: 1812
Object number: 911.3.182
Credit Line: Oronhyatekha Collection; gift of the Independent Order of Foresters
Gallery Location:Daphne Cockwell Gallery dedicated to First Peoples art & culture
DescriptionThe silver medal is engraved with the Royal Arms of George III and with the name of Chief Tecumseh, the Shawnee leader of a First Nations confederacy and ally of the British in the War of 1812. According to oral tradition, the medal was awarded to Tecumseh by General Sir Isaac Brock at Fort Malden (Amherstburg) in 1812. Tecumseh died on the battlefield at the Battle of the Thames (Moraviantown) on October 5, 1813. This medal is part of the Oronhyatekha Historical Collection which is one of the ROM's founding collections. Dr. Oronhyatekha (1841 - 1907) was a member of the Mohawk Nation who earned an M.D. from the University of Toronto in 1866, and went on to become the Head of the Independent Order of Foresters. In the speech read by the Duke of Connaught at the opening of the ROM on March 19, 1914, Dr. Oronhyatekha is singled out for his collection of objects "which will cause his name to be blessed as long as the Museum stands."
Oronhyatekha Collection catalogue: "Tecumseh belt medal. This belt medal, four inches in diameter, is made of a plate of coin silver bearing the Royal Mint mark, deeply moulded at the edges and the surface hand engraved. Obverse - Arms of Great Britain. Reverse - Plain, with two loops for fastening to the belt or Council wampum."
