COOSAPONAKEESA NATIVE AMERICAN NECKLACE

COOSAPONAKEESA INDIAN NECKLACE

Coosaponakeesa

Try saying that 3 times! A few years back I designated the name to another one of my pieces and wrote a post about the life of this courageous Yamacraw Indian woman. My friend, Gene, her many times great grandson, certainly inherited some of her qualities. You can read the post about her life as well as a bit about Gene's here.

Detail

"Her name was Princess Coosaponakeesa (“flying white horse”). She was the niece of emperor/warrior Brim of the Creek nation. It was that relationship that gave her the title, “princess.” Born in the 1700's, she was married 5 times. One of her husbands was John Musgrove, and she took the English name Mary Musgrove. She was a Yamacraw Indian of the Musogean tribe and the Wind clan, and she learned to speak English as well as Creek. She was the only Yamacraw Indian who spoke English at that time.

Close-up

When military leader James Edward Oglethorpe landed in Savanna, Georgia in 1733, he selected her as the cultural liaison between Colonial Georgia and the Creek nation. For her services as an interpreter, she was given the islands of Sapelo, Ossabow, and St. Catherines near Savanna, Georgia in 1760. Later, the English took the land away from her and she became very upset. She was thrown in jail at Ft. Fredrica where she caused a lot of trouble. Eventually, she was reimbursed for the loss of her land with 2000 pounds sterling from the auction sale of Ossabow and Sapelo. She lived into her late 80's, an age that very few reached at that time.

I used various Native American embellishments and turquoise in creating Coosaponakeesa. The focal point is one of my original hand sculpted faces. She is 2 1/2" wide x 6" high and 23" from the neck to top of her face.

I have priced her at just $89. If you wish to purchase, please just e-mail me and we can go from there. I prefer Paypal or checks. If you'd like more views, please click my etsy shop. I can ship out immediately.

Thanks so much for viewing.

Cheryl