Shawnees were Algonquian-speaking people from the Ohio Valley who moved to places like Kentucky and Pennsylvania in the 1600s due to Iroquois attacks. They returned in the 1700s and took part in conflicts such as the French and Indian War and Pontiac’s Rebellion to defend their hunting lands.

During the American Revolution, Chief Cornstalk tried to stay neutral, but after his death in 1777, many Shawnees joined the fight against settlers. Fighting continued until their defeat at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, leading to the 1795 Treaty of Greenville.

In the early 1800s, Shawnee leaders Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh started an ultimately unsuccessful movement to protect their land in Indiana, though it had little direct impact on West Virginia.