I represent Paya Mattaha. My name means “war leader,” or “war prophet.” I was a leader of the Chickasaw people in British West Florida. I began my career as a warrior, as most Chickasaw leaders did. I was once wounded by French grapeshot and barely survived it. After that I had a hatred of the French; I led war parties against them in the 1740s and this enmity led me to ally with the British later. In the 1750s I crafted a peace between the Chickasaw and the Choctaw people that brought decades of warfare to and end. By the 1760s I had risen to headman in charge of diplomacy and war, which empowered me to treat with leaders of other nations. I attended the 1772 “Indian congress” in Mobile with leaders of British West Florida. I presented several grievances I held against the British licensed traders, including that we were being given short measures and weights of goods, and that unlicensed traders came through who behaved badly and created disturbances among my people. I wanted those unsavory people removed from Chickasaw territory and prevented from coming among us. Governor Peter Chester granted my requests. During the Revolutionary War, I and my warriors disrupted American supplies from coming down the Mississippi River, a major thoroughfare.
Sources: 44, 55