Little Billy (died 1834, in Buffalo, New York[1]) was a chief of the Seneca Nation of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), also known as Tishkaaga, Gishkaka, Juskakaka, and Jishkaaga. He was a signer of several treaties with the United States government, including the Treaty of Canandaigua in 1794, and the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797.[2] [3]
Little Billy, along with Cornplanter, was a Chief Warrior of the Seneca. His name means Green Grasshopper,[4] or Katydid.
In the lead-up to the War of 1812, on September 8, 1812, he addressed the Seneca leaders in Buffalo to encourage them to volunteer in support of the Americans, saying: "The path of peace is broken in every part."[5] He distinguished himself in the war, including taking part in the successful American attack against the British at Fort George, Ontario, on August 17, 1813.
An annuity of $50 was appropriated to Little Billy by federal statute in 1832[6] and 1833.[7]
Little Billy died at "the Seneca village, Buffalo Creek, December 28, 1834", was originally buried in the Old Mission burying ground in Buffalo,[8] and later reburied, along with Red Jacket, Young King, Destroy Town, Captain Pollard, Pollard's wife Catherine and granddaughter, Tall Peter, and nine others[9] (possibly including Two Guns, Twenty Canoes, John Snow, and White Chief), in Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery in 1884.[10] [11]
His date of birth is unknown, but he was apparently quite old at the time of his death. He is asserted to be the "Jes-ka-ka-ke" who guided George Washington on his mission to Fort Duquesne in 1753, implying that he may have been born around 1735.