Inspirational characters who authored astonishing stories long forgotten or destroyed affected the establishment of the United States. One of them is named Tamanend.
According to a report, he was a Delaware Lenni Lenape Chief in the 17th century who befriended English Quaker William Penn, who colonized the area in 1682. The Chief became known as King Tammany or Saint Tammany.
The Founding Fathers and other patriots of their day considered Tammany the “Patron Saint of America” for his support of the American Revolution.
Washington’s Pennsylvanian soldiers were reportedly the first to fly banners reading “St. Tamanend” in 1892, as documented by Leon Nelson Nichols in “The History of Tammany.”
According to Nichols, the enthusiasm for Saint Tamanend quickly spread to other units, and eventually, the entire American army looked at the chief as its patron.
According to DelawareTribe.org, Tamanend was instrumental in fostering amicable ties between indigenous communities in what would become Pennsylvania and the English colonists who brought the state into existence.
After motivating American patriots in the eighteenth century, Tammany went on to affect American politics in the decades that followed and was glorified in American popular culture, particularly on the apparel of professional sports teams, far into the 20th century.
The first American opera, at the John Street Theater in Manhattan, was “Tammany: the Indian Chief,” in 1794.
Tammany is a character in James Fenimore Cooper’s seminal 1826 American book, “The Last of the Mohicans.”
The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, has a statue of Tammany that acts as a guard.
Tammany Hall, one of the most influential Democrat Party groups in New York City’s history, was named after him.
From 1933 until 1936, the Boston Redskins called Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, their home. The franchise was relocated to Washington, DC, by Marshall in 1937. “Redskins” was the name, and Tammany was on the emblem.
However, this honor to the American patron saint has been criticized in more recent times.
In 2020, Tammany was axed. The Redskins caved to popular pressure in a country where people have lost interest in and the understanding of their diverse cultural roots.
The Washington Redskins renamed themselves the Washington Commanders in 2022.
