A new musical written by award-winning songwriter and country superstar, Becky Hobbs together with co-playwright, Nick Sweet, is based on the life of Becky’s 5th-great grandmother, Nancy Nanyehi Ward.
Nanyehi means “she who walks among the spirit people.” Legend has it that a white wolf appeared near her place of birth. This was very significant to the Cherokee people. White was the color that symbolized peace, and Nanyehi was born into the Wolf Clan, one of the most prominent of the seven Cherokee clans. Many Cherokee women joined their husbands. She was beside him biting bullets to make them more deadly,” Hobbs said. “And when Kingfisher died she took up his rifle and led them to victory.”
For helping win the battle against the Creeks she was named “War Woman”. She was also granted a power not even given to the chiefs: She could determine the fate of captives, whether they be killed, enslaved, released or adopted into the tribe. Nanyehi then used her powerful position of War Woman to promote peace between the Cherokees and the white settlers, the British, the French and other tribes.