Tamaqua was born and raised in the Tulpehocken Creek Valley, in Berks and Lebanon counties, on the upper Schuylkill River, with his uncle Sassoonan (Allumapees) and his brothers Shingas, Nenatcheehunt, and Pisquetomen.
One source reports that Tamaqua had a son, who took Hugh Gibson captive in July, 1756, outside Robinson's Fort[7] near present-day Southwest Madison Township, Pennsylvania.
He reminded Andrew Montour that "it would take some time to consider on a Man that was fit to undertake to rule a Nation of People" such as the Lenape,[1] "but that as soon as possible they would make a selection.
Shingas was absent from the treaty conference, so Tamaqua "stood proxy for his brother and was presented with a lace hat and jacket and suit.
In August 1754, over two hundred Ohio natives met at George Croghan's home at Aughwick, to complain about this act, which would force the Lenape to move westward into French territory.
[12]: 55–56 Tamaqua addressed both Conrad Weiser, who was acting in the capacity of a representative of Pennsylvania governor Robert Hunter Morris, and the Six Nations, reminding them of their obligations and that the Lenape looked to the Haudenosaunee for protection.
Tamaqua pleaded that because of the French presence in the Ohio country, "we desire you therefore Uncle to have your Eyes open, and be Watchful over us your Cousins, as you have always been heretofore."
Tamaqua then reminded Weiser of Pennsylvania's fair treatment of his people from the time "William Penn first appeared in his Ship on our Lands" and was accepted by the Lenape and Five Nations into a union of "lasting Friendship."
He asked Weiser to tell Governor Morris that "we desire that you will look upon us in the same Light, and let that Treaty of Friendship made by our Forefathers on both sides subsist.
His nonparticipation in the war lent him greater credibility in later years during peace negotiations, whereas Shingas and Pisquetomen were both remembered for their raids on Pennsylvania settlements.
[12]: 161 Tamaqua was sensitive to his sudden rise in influence, and in August, 1758, he made a point of complaining that peace negotiations were undermined by the advance of Forbes' army to Loyalhanna (to begin construction of Fort Ligonier), noting that "if you had brought the news of peace before your army had begun to march, it would have caused a great deal more good.
"[12]: 166 Tamaqua was also anxious to obtain a guarantee that the English would prevent colonial settlers from moving into Lenape territory, a concern voiced by Pisquetomen when he asked two British soldiers who accompanied Christian Frederick Post, "...whether the General will claim the land as his own, when he should drive the French away.
[3] In the following months through the spring of 1759, Tamaqua worked to arrange councils, meeting with Kickapoos and Kaskaskias from the Illinois country as well as natives from throughout the Great Lakes to communicate the substance of the Easton Treaty and Bouquet's messages.
[24] On 7 February 1759, Colonel Hugh Mercer received a report from a Mohican scout that he had observed "at the Salt Spring above Kaskaskias [Kuskuskies] a large number of [French] troops."
At this council on February 24, he announced that the Delawares wanted to move in order to avoid any fighting between the French and the British, stating, "The Six Nations and you desire that I would sit down and smoke my pipe at Kuskusky.
Mercer reportedly replied, "Your Brothers, the English, desire to see you live in Peace and Happiness, either at Saucunk, Kuskusky, or wherever you think proper, and by no means intend to Limit you to one Place or another.
Tamaqua, accompanied by Shingas, Keekyuscung, Nenatcheehunt, Guyasuta, Killbuck, and Captain Pipe, was the principal speaker on the native side.
While Tamaqua and Shingas opposed the attacks against British forts and settlements in the Ohio, they could not persuade Lenape warriors to refrain from fighting.
Following the defeat of combined Native American forces at the Battle of Bushy Run in August, 1763, Lenape warriors largely withdrew from the fighting.
After Bouquet's military left the region in 1765, the three leaders called a western Lenape council meeting to discuss tribal concerns regarding a settlement with the British.
James Kenny, a Quaker frontiersman who was hired by Israel Pemberton Jr. to bring supplies to the Lenape and Shawnee in western Pennsylvania,[24] describes him as "a steady, quiet, middle-aged man of a cheerfull disposition but low stature.