Skenandoa

John Skenandoa /ˌskɛnənˈdoʊə/ (c. 1706 – March 11, 1816), also called Shenandoah /ˌʃɛnənˈdoʊə/ among other forms, was an elected chief (a so-called "pine tree chief") of the Oneida. He was born into the Iroquoian-speaking Susquehannocks, but was adopted into the Oneida of the Iroquois Confederacy. When he later accepted Christianity, he was baptized as "John", taking his Oneida name Skenandoa as his surname. Based on a possible reconstruction of his name in its original Oneida, he is sometimes called "Oskanondonha" in modern scholarship; his tombstone bears the spelling Schenando /ˈʃɛnənˌdoʊ/.