John Tanner (captive)

John Tanner (c. 1780 – c. 1846), known also by his Ojibwe name Shaw-shaw-wa-ne-ba-se ("The Falcon", Zhaashaawanibiisi in modern spelling),[a] was captured by Odawa Indians as a child after his family had homesteaded on the Ohio River in present-day Kentucky.

Titled A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, it was a popular success and remains an important historical record.

He was badly mistreated during the first two years of captivity but then was sold to Netnokwa, an Odawa woman who adopted Tanner and treated him more kindly.

She helped him gain the skills he needed to survive and encouraged him in rites of passage such as killing a bear and participating in his first war party.

[2] When Tanner lived among Ojibwe and Saulteaux, their traditional life-style as hunters and trappers in the northern forests was beginning to change.

Deceitful traders, a shortage of game, and the introduction of firearms and alcohol all had a negative impact on Ojibwe living in the region.

In 1817, Selkirk employed Tanner as a guide and they set out to recapture Fort Douglas from the English fur trading North West Company.

Published in 1830, A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner was a popular success as well as an important and detailed historical record of the Ojibwe people during a critical period of change.

On 19 July 1831, on the way back to Sault Saint Marie from dealing with the publication of his book, Tanner encountered political scientist and philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville on the ferry from Detroit and gave him a copy of his Narrative.

[7] This was a significant encounter, for Tanner's book provided the basis for Tocqueville's understanding of Indigenous societies in the North American wilderness and is quoted in his Democracy in America.