Miami Legend of the Sandhill Crane

Miami Legend of the Sandhill Crane (HMB5B)

Location: Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Allen County
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Country: United States of America
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N 41° 5.121', W 85° 8.3'

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Inscription
Long before settlers appeared on the scene, the American Indian people here used the sandhill crane as a symbol for their tribe. Early British and American officials referred to the people we know as Miami as "Twightwees" in various spellings such as the English "Twaatwaa", "Tweeghtwees" or "Twicktwigs." A legend about how the name became associated with Miamis extends deep into the early history of its people. It is said that the early Miamis were making war with the Cherokee, when on one occasion the Cherokee decided to counterattack. Carefully planning their tactics, the Cherokee tracked the Miamis to an open prairie where they observed two sandhill cranes. Driving the cranes ahead toward the Miami, the large birds called out "twau, twau, twau," and took to the air in a great rush. At this, the Miami turned their attack on the ambushing enemy. A survivor of the Cherokee war party made it back to his village and reported that his companinons had been defeated by the "Twau Twaus" who could fly and were impossible to defeat. From that time, the Miamis who took their name from the Twau Twau or Twightwees held the sandhill crane as a special totem at the confluence of the rivers. Americans eventually adopted the spelling from the French, but changed the pronunciation to "Miami" whose tribal symbol is tshe tsha kwan, or sandhill crane
Details
HM NumberHMB5B
Tags
Placed ByCity of Fort Wayne and Superior Essex
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, September 7th, 2014 at 5:52am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16T E 656370 N 4549901
Decimal Degrees41.08535000, -85.13833333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 41° 5.121', W 85° 8.3'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds41° 5' 7.26" N, 85° 8' 18.00" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)260
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 303 S Clinton St, Fort Wayne IN 46802, US
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