Mekoche

Catecahassa, Mekoche Shawnee head civil chief in the Ohio Country

Mekoche (or Mequachake, Shawnee: mecoce) was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. The other four divisions were the Chalahgawtha, Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela. (All five division names have been spelled in a great variety of ways.) Together these divisions formed the loose confederacy that was the Shawnee tribe.

Traditionally, Shawnee healers came from the Mekoche patrilineal division.

The Lower Eastern Ohio Mekoce Shawnee is an unrecognized tribe in Southern Ohio and West Virginia. The tribe, which filed a Letter of Intent to Petition on 3/5/2001, founded The Inter Tribal Learning Circle in 1991, which holds cultural events at Fort Ancient in Lebanon, Ohio.

Macochee Creek, a small stream that meets the Mad River at West Liberty, has its headwaters located around Pickrelltown, Ohio.

Pigeon Town, a town of the Shawnee Mekoche division, was located on Mad River, 3 miles northwest of West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio.

Notable Mekoche

• Black Hoof
• Chief Russell "Logan" Sharp (1953-2010), a Lower Eastern Ohio Mekoce Shawnee from Wilmington, Ohio conducted a Peace Tree Ceremony at West Virginia University in 2009, and lectured on “The Struggle of Non-federally Recognized Natives.”