The name Tecumseh means Panther Crossing. About the time of Tecumseh's birth in 1768, there was a meteor and the Shawnee believed that Tecumseh was going to become important. Tecumseh's father was a Shawnee chief and Tecumseh was one of eight children. His father was killed in battle fighting the Americans when Tecumseh was young and his older siblings raised him. The loss of his father at a ...