Elias Boudinot [Buck Watie, or Gallegina] (ca. 1802–June 22, 1839)

Elias Boudinot was an early spokesman for the Cherokees from the mid-1820s to 1835 when he signed the removal treaty at New Echota. After that he was one of the leaders of the Treaty Party of Cherokees. His most famous work is An Address to the Whites, published in 1826. A religious tract with the title Poor Sarah is also attributed to him, but it is likely that it was written by someone else and that Boudinot translated the piece into Cherokee. Perhaps best known as the first editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first American Indian newspaper, Boudinot contributed a number of original pieces to its pages. In addition, he contributed to periodicals issued on the Eastern Seaboard. He is recognized today as one of the first American Indians to write and publish in English.