He grew up among the Upper Creek in present-day Alabama and, as an adult, became part of the "Red Sticks", a group that opposed assimilation and worked to revive traditional practices. During the Creek War (1813–1814), he led Red Sticks warriors and survived the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. To carry out punishment for the crime of an unauthorized land cession, in 1825 Menawa led about 150 lawmenders in an attack on chief William McIntosh, who had signed the Treaty of Indian Springs that year without the consent of the Creek National Council. They killed him, burned his mansion, and confiscated his property, including livestock and 100 slaves.