395 Richs Dugway Rd, Rochester, NY 14625, United States
Jesse Cornplanter at Elison Park in Rochester, New York, on September 25, 1937, participating in a ceremony that awarded the Seneca Silver Star to Keppler for his years of service.
Gallery of Jesse Cornplanter
1937
395 Richs Dugway Rd, Rochester, NY 14625, United States
Jesse Cornplanter at Elison Park in Rochester, New York, on September 25, 1937, participating in a ceremony that awarded the Seneca Silver Star to Keppler for his years of service.
Gallery of Jesse Cornplanter
1937
395 Richs Dugway Rd, Rochester, NY 14625, United States
Jesse Cornplanter at Elison Park in Rochester, New York, on September 25, 1937, participating in a ceremony that awarded the Seneca Silver Star to Keppler for his years of service.
Gallery of Jesse Cornplanter
Jesse Cornplanter
Gallery of Jesse Cornplanter
Jesse Cornplanter
Gallery of Jesse Cornplanter
Jesse Cornplanter
Gallery of Jesse Cornplanter
1913
Jesse Cornplanter (center) in the silent film, Hiawatha.
395 Richs Dugway Rd, Rochester, NY 14625, United States
Jesse Cornplanter at Elison Park in Rochester, New York, on September 25, 1937, participating in a ceremony that awarded the Seneca Silver Star to Keppler for his years of service.
395 Richs Dugway Rd, Rochester, NY 14625, United States
Jesse Cornplanter at Elison Park in Rochester, New York, on September 25, 1937, participating in a ceremony that awarded the Seneca Silver Star to Keppler for his years of service.
395 Richs Dugway Rd, Rochester, NY 14625, United States
Jesse Cornplanter at Elison Park in Rochester, New York, on September 25, 1937, participating in a ceremony that awarded the Seneca Silver Star to Keppler for his years of service.
Jesse Cornplanter was an American actor, artist, and writer. As an author, he wrote Legends of the Longhouse, which records many Iroquois traditional stories.
Background
Jesse Cornplanter was born on September 16, 1889, in New York. He was the son of Nancy Jack and Edward Cornplante, the last direct descendent of Cornplanter, the Seneca war chief during the American Revolutionary War. His Seneca name was Hayonhwonhish. Cornplanter had six sisters and three brothers, but only two of his sisters, Carrie and Anna, survived until 1918 when Carrie died.
Education
Jesse Cornplanter's formal education hasn't progressed past the third grade.
Career
During World War I, Jesse Cornplanter enlisted in the United States Army in 1917 and served in Europe until 1919. He was part of Company G, 147th Infantry, 37th Division. Cornplanter was wounded during the war and received the Purple Heart.
Within his tribe, Jesse Cornplanter held many respected positions, including the ceremonial chief of the Long House and the chief of New Town, a traditional village. He sang for the Great Feather Dancer and was a head singer for many ceremonies.
In 1901 the Seneca Director of the Rochester Museum, Arthur Parker, commissioned Jesse Cornplanter to sketch scenes of contemporary Seneca life. It launched an eight-year collaboration between the two men. Forty-five of these drawings are in collection SC12845 at the New York State Library.
Additionally, Jesse Cornplanter was an actor. In 1906, he was part of the Hiawatha pageant for many months. His tours took place in the United Kingdom and Europe, and his performances were favorably noted. Moreover, he got a part in Frank E. Moore's silent film Hiawatha, released in 1913. It was the first film, including Native Americans in the cast. The film was received pretty well, compared to other contemporary Hollywood films that portrayed Native Americans.
As a teenager, Jesse Cornplanter was gaining recognition for his masterly portrayals of his tribe. He didn't have formal art training, but that did not prevent him from obtaining acclaim. Cornplanter illustrated Iroquois Indian Games and Dances, a book depicting Iroquois's life, on behalf of Frederick Starr, The Code of Handsome Lake, a book written by his father, Edward Cornplanter (Seneca name Sosondowah), and Arthur Parker, and his own book, Legends of the Longhouse, published in 1938.
It's believed that Jesse Cornplanter's paintings were in the Iroquois Realist Style following in a painting tradition dating back to the 1820s work by Tuscarora brothers David and Dennis Cusick. Furthermore, Cornplanter was also a traditional woodcarver and greatly influenced successive generations of Haudenosaunee artists.