Do-Hum-Me

Do-Hum-Me (c. 1825–March 9,1843) was a Sauk woman who performed at P. T. Barnum's Barnum's American Museum in Manhattan with her husband, Cow-Hick-Kee, shortly after the couple married in 1843. She quickly became popular for both her performances and the obvious affection she and her husband showed one another, which contemporary writers frequently remarked upon. Her burial at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn attracted widespread attention, and her monument became one of the cemetery's best-known landmarks. Her grave was later written about by Walt Whitman and inspired Carlos D. Stuart's poem Dohummee. Early life Do-Hum-Me was the daughter of the chief of the Sauk Native American tribe. According to her gravestone, her father's name was Nan-Nouce-Push-Ee-Toe. Some sources state that her mother died when Do-Hum-Me was seven years old, and Nan-Nouce-Push-Ee-Toe raised her with great love and affection.

Career In 1843, she accompanied her father in a trip to Princeton, New Jersey for treaty negotiations. While there, she met and fell in love with a young member of the Iowa tribe named Cow-Hick-Kee. Contemporary accounts described her father, Nan-Nouce-Push-Ee-Toe, and her husband, Cow-Hick-Kee, as overcome with grief during the funeral. Her grave became the best known and most frequently visited in the cemetery.

Do-Hum-Me continued to be remembered long after her death. The poet Walt Whitman later wrote about her grave, and Carlos D. Stuart commemorated her in his poem Dohummee.