Wahweveh

Wahweveh (Black Eagle) was an Oregon Walpapi (Mountain) Snake, an offshoot of the powerful Hunipui (Bear Killer) Snakes, whom settlers came to call "Hooneybooey", all of whom were Shoshoni. He was head war chief in the final phase of the Shoshoni Rebellion, which phase would become known to Americans as the Sheepeater War of 1879. Little is known of Wahweveh's early life. His full siblings were Chief Paulina, Bright Eyes, and Puna (Cactus Fruit). His half-brother was Weahwewa (Wolf Dog).

Black Eagle was also known as Kwahu (Eagle Eye), a name he shared with another warrior, Igrai or Kwahu (Eagle Eye). Both men were properly Seewookie Snakes, a Shoshoni word meaning that they lived in mountainous forested areas, but Igrai belonged to the Idaho Weiser Mountain Snakes, an offshoot of the equally powerful Tukapui (Sheep Killer) Snake war tribe. White settlers consistently and incorrectly referred to this tribe the Tukaricka or Sheep Eaters.

In 1871 in the Blue Mountains, Wahweveh and his hunting party met Felix Brunot, the newly appointed, first-and-only president of the newly created Board of Indian Commissioners. Brunot and his heavily armed escort were enroute across Eastern Oregon from Warm Springs Reservation to Fort Hall Reservation during a whirlwind tour of the Pacific Northwest reservations. In 1872, Wahweveh hid in the Seven Devil Mountains at the border of Idaho and Oregon, where he was joined by Pony Blanket, and Beads. Bad Face and Yellow Jacket settled in Nevada, while Has No Horse and Wahweveh's half-brother Weahwewa (Wolf Dog) (with whom Wahweveh was often confused) both refused to vacate the Ochoco Mountains. In June of 1876, he was involved in the disastrous Battle of the Rosebud. The Western Shoshoni Big Lodge, White Knife, Robber, and Bear Killer warrior societies, under war chiefs Chochoco (Has No Horse) of the White Knives and Kotsotiala (Buffalo Horn) of the Robbers joined forces with General Crook's 1100 strong column of warriors against the Sioux led by Crazy Horse. Two hundred Eastern Shoshoni under Washakie also joined in the fight on Crook's side. They met at the headwaters of the Rosebud on June 16, 1876. Washakie's party included Wahweveh, and Wahi (Fox) from the Malheur Reservation, both armed with first-hand information about Crazy Horse's plan to rid the Black Hills of white men. On June 7, 1878, during the leadup to what became known as the Bannock War, Malheur Reservation Indian agent William Rinehart reported to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that Wahweveh, with 55 braves, had picked up supplies and was heading east. On Saturday, June 22, 1878, Black Eagle rescued the severely injured Pony Blanket (Egan) from the battlefield, saving his life, but signaling the near end of Egan's tenure as war chief. By July, news of a new Tukadika (Mountain Sheep Killer) Snake outbreak in Idaho drew Wahweveh and his Bear Killer Snake dog soldiers into that battlefront. On August 13, 1878 Cheegibah (Leggins), the son of Natchez (Boy) and grandson of Chief Winnemucca the Younger, Oytes (Left Hand), the grandson of Owitze (Twisted Hand), and Ochiho (Red Willow) the son of Chochoco (Has No Horse) rode into the Malheur Indian Agency with sixty warriors and gave themselves up in surrender to American troops. They were immediately arrested. Under intense interrogation, Leggins identified ranking war chiefs as follows: Oytes (Left Hand), Bannock Joe Pohave (Racehorse), Captain Bearskin Honalelo (Little Bearskin Dick), Big John Ponce (Three Coyotes), Eagle Eye Wahweveh (Black Eagle), Charley Chongyo (Pipe), D.E. Johnson, Beads, and Surger Wahi (Fox) . Most of the leaders that Leggins named were shot in 1878. Lieutenant Colonel Forsyth reported that his troops had killed Wahweveh (Black Eagle) on July 31, 1878, but in spring of 1879, Wahweveh and medicine chief Tamanmo (Black Spirit), with a few Snake dog soldiers, raided a mining camp on the Oregon-Idaho border and killed several Chinese laborers. American troops under several leaders responded with a series of battles that became known to history as the Sheepeater War. Black Eagle was killed in late August of 1879 on the south fork of the Salmon River.