Charles Renatus Hicks (December 23, 1767 – January 20, 1827) (Cherokee) was one of the three most important leaders of his people in the early 19th century, together with James Vann and Major Ridge.
Hicks supported a Moravian mission school in Cherokee territory in order to formally educate the tribe's children.
Nan-Ye-Hi and her brother Gunrod were the children of a Jennie (Oconostota) Taylor, a Cherokee woman, and Jacob (aka Johann) Conrad, a Swiss immigrant.
Gunrod married Onai (Cherokee), and had several children: Hair Conrad, Rattlinggourd, Terrapin Head, Young Wolf, and Quatie.
Hicks fought with United States troops and southern militia under General Andrew Jackson against the Creek Red Sticks (the conservative faction) in the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend in what is now central Alabama.
Allied with other former warriors James Vann and Major Ridge, Hicks formed a triumvirate with them; they were among the most influential younger leaders in the Nation.
[2] Hicks was extremely well-read and acculturated, and had collected one of the largest personal libraries in North America at the time, public or private.
In an 1826 letter[3] to John Ross, whom he was grooming as a future Principal Chief, Charles Hicks recounted the history of the Cherokee tribe.
He related events from his youth, including his encounters with the chiefs Attacullaculla and Oconostota, and early European trader Cornelius Dougherty, as well as stories of traditions.
[4] After the "revolt of the young chiefs" two years later, partly over land deals, Hicks became the de facto head of government, with Pathkiller serving as a figurehead.