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The Indian tribes are continually
diminishing on the face of this continent. Some have already passed
entirely out of existence and are forgotten, who once inhabited this
part of the country; such as the Mawsh-ko-desh, Urons, Ossaw-gees--who
formerly occupied Saw-gi-naw bay; and the Odaw gaw-mees, whose principal
habitation was about the vicinity of Detroit River. They are entirely
vanished into nothingness. Not a single page of their history can be
found on record in the history of this country, or hardly an allusion to
their existence. My own race, once a very numerous, powerful and warlike
tribe of Indians, who proudly trod upon this soil, is also near the end
of existence. In a few more generations they will be so intermingled
with the Caucasian race as to be hardly distinguished as descended from
the Indian nations, and their language will be lost. I myself was
brought up in a pure Indian style, and lived in a wigwam, and have
partaken of every kind of the wild jubilees of my people, and was once
considered one of the best "Pipe" dancers of the tribe. But when nearly
grown up, I was invited by a traveling Protestant Missionary, whose name
was Alvin Coe, to go home with him to the State of Ohio, with the
assurance that he would give me a good education like the white man, and
the idea struck me that I could be really educated and be able to
converse with the white people. And although at that time (in the fall
of 1840) I missed the opportunity, the idea was never after off of my
mind. So some time afterwards I started out voluntarily to obtain an
education; and I had nearly succeeded in completing my professional
studies when I called away to come home and look after my aged father,
in 1850. And now I have four children, but not one of them can speak the
Indian language. And every one of the little Indian urchins who are now
running about in our town can speak to each other quite fluently in the
English language; but I am very sorry to add that they have also learned
profanity like the white children. For these reasons it seems desirable
that the history of my people should not be lost, like that of other
tribes who previously existed in this country, and who have left no
record of their ancient legends and their traditions.
Before proceeding to record the history of the Ottawa
of the State of Michigan, to whom I am immediately connected in their
common interests and their future destinies, I propose to rehearse in a
summary manner my nationality and family history. Our tradition says
that long ago, when the Ottawa tribes of Indians used to go on a warpath
either towards the south or towards the west, even as far as to the
Rocky Mountains, on one of these expeditions towards the Rocky Mountains
my remote ancestors were captured and brought to this country as
prisoners of war. But they were afterwards adopted as children of the
Ottawa, and intermarried with the nation in which they were captives.
Subsequently these captives' posterity became so famous among the Ottawa
on account of their exploits and bravery on the warpath and being great
hunters that they became closely connected with the royal families, and
were considered as the best counselors, best chieftains and best
warriors among the Ottawa. Thus I am not regularly descended from the
Ottawa nations of Indians, but I am descended, as tradition says, from
the tribe in the far west known as the Underground race of people. They
were so called on account of making their habitations in the ground by
making holes large enough for dwelling purposes. It is related that they
even made caves in the ground in which to keep their horses every night
to prevent them from being stolen by other tribes who were their
enemies. It is also related that they were quite an intelligent class of
people. By cultivating the soil they raised corn and other vegetables to
aid in sustaining life beside hunting and fishing. They were entirely
independent, having their own government and language, and possessing
their own national emblem which distinguished them as distinct and
separate from all other tribes. This symbolical ensign of my ancestors
was represented by a species of small hawk, which the Ottawa called the
"Pe-pe-gwen." So we were sometimes called in this country in which we
live the "Pe-pe-gwen tribe," instead of the "Undergrounds." And it was
customary among the Ottawa, that if any one of our number, a descendant
of the Undergrounds, should commit any punishable crime, all the
Pe-pe-gwen tribe or descendants of the Undergrounds would be called
together in a grand council and requested to make restitution for the
crime or to punish the guilty one, according to the final decision of
the council.
There were several great chieftains of the Undergrounds
among the Ottawa who were living within my time, and some are here
mentioned who were most known by the American people, particularly
during the war with Great Britain in 1812. Most of these chieftains were
my own uncles. One was called Late Wing, who took a very active part for
the cause of the United States in the war of 1812, and he was a great
friend to Governor Lewis Cass of Michigan. Wing was pensioned for life
for his good services to the United States. He was one of my father's
own brothers. Shaw-be-nee was an uncle of mine on my mother's side, who
also served bravely for the United States in the war of 1812. He
traveled free all over the United States during his lifetime. This
privilege was granted to him by the Government of the United States for
his patriotism and bravery. He died in the State of Illinois about
twenty years ago from this writing, and a monument was raised for him by
the people in that State. Wa-ke-zoo was another great chieftain who died
before my time in the country of Manitoba, out north. He was also one of
my father's brothers. It is related that he was also a prophet and a
great magician.
My own dear father was one of the head chiefs at Arbor
Croche, now called Middle Village or Good Heart, which latter name was
given at my suggestion by the Postoffice Department at Washington. My
father died in June, 1861. His Indian name was Macka-de-pe-nessy,
[Footnote: This name is written variously, the letters d, b, t, and p,
being considered identical in the Ottawa language.--Ed.] which means
Black Hawk; but somehow it has been mistranslated into Blackbird, so we
now go by this latter name. My father was a very brave man. He has led
his warriors several times on the warpath, and he was noted as one who
was most daring and adventurous in his younger days. He stayed about
twenty years in the country of Manitoba with his brother Wa-ke-zoo,
among other tribes of Indians and white fur-traders in that section of
the country. Many times he has grappled with and narrowly escaped from
the grizzly bear and treacherous buffalo which were then very numerous
in that portion of the country. This was about one hundred years ago. He
has seen there things that would be almost incredible at this present
age: liquor sold to the Indians measured with a woman's thimble, a
thimbleful for one dollar; one wooden coarse comb for two beaver skins;
a double handful of salt for one beaver skin--and so on in proportion in
everything else; the poor Indian had to give pile upon pile of beaver
skins, which might be worth two or three hundred dollars, for a few
yards of flimsy cloth. Englishmen and Frenchman who went there expressly
to traffic with the Indians, generally started from Quebec and Montreal,
leaving their families at home; but so soon as they reached this wild
country, they would take Indian wives. When they left the country, they
would leave their Indian wives and children there to shift for
themselves. Consequently there are in this region thousands of half
breeds, most beautiful men and beautiful women, but they are as savage
as the rest of the Indians. No white man there ever told these poor
Indians anything about Christianity, but only added unto them their
degradations and robbed them.
My father was once there left to perish on a lonely
island by the fur traders, not because he had done any crime, but simply
from inhuman cruelty and disregard of Indians by these white men. He was
traveling with these traders from place to place in a long bark canoe,
which was the only means of conveyance on the water in those days. It
appears that there were two parties, and two of these long bark canoes
were going in the same direction, one of which my father was paddling
for them. He was not hired, but simply had joined them in his travels.
But these two parties were thrown into a great quarrel about who should
have my father to paddle their canoe. Therefore they landed on this
little island expressly to fight amongst themselves; and after fighting
long and desperately, they left my poor father on this little island to
die, for they concluded that neither of them should take him into their
canoe. He was left to die! What must be the feelings of this poor
Indian, to whom life was as sweet as to any human creature? What revenge
should he take upon those traders? He had a gun, which he leveled at
them as they started off in their canoes. His fingers were on the
trigger, when suddenly a thought flashed across his mind--"Perhaps the
Great Spirit will be displeased." So he dropped his gun, and raised a
fervent prayer to the Almighty Ruler for deliverance from this awful
situation. After being several days on this little island, when almost
dying from starvation, fortunately deliverance came. He spied a small
canoe with two persons in it within hail. They came and took him off
from his dying situation. It was an Indian woman with her little son who
happened to travel in that direction who saved my father's life.
From this time hence my father lost all confidence in
white men, whatever the position or profession of the white man might
be, whether a priest, preacher, lawyer, doctor, merchant, or common
white man. He told us to beware of them, as they all were after one
great object, namely, to grasp the world's wealth. And in order to
obtain this, they would lie, steal, rob, or murder, if it need be;
therefore he instructed us to beware how the white man would approach us
with very smooth tongue, while his heart is full of deceit and far from
intending to do us any good.
He left Manitoba country about 1800, or about the time
when the Shawanee prophet, "Waw-wo-yaw-ge-she-maw," who was one of
Tecumseh's own brothers, sent his emissaries to preach to the Ottawa and
Chippewa in the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan, who advised the
Ottawa and Chippewas to confess their sins and avow their wrongs and go
west, and there to worship the Great Spirit according to the old style
as their forefathers did,2
and to abandon everything else which the white man had introduced into
the tribes of Indians, to abandon even the mode of making fire, which
was by flint and steel, and to start their fires by friction between the
two pieces of dry wood as their forefathers made their fires before the
white people came to this country, and to eat no flesh of domestic
animals, but to eat nothing but wild game, and use their skins for their
wearing apparel and robes as the Great Spirit designed them to be when
He created them. He taught them that the Great Spirit was angry with
them because they conformed to the habits of the white man, and that if
they did not believe and practice the old habits, the Great Spirit would
shake the earth as an evidence that he tells them the truth. A great
many Ottawa believed and went far west accordingly. And it happened
about this time the earth did quake in Michigan; I think, if I am not
mistaken, the earth shook twice within a year, which is recorded in the
annals of this country. At the earthquake many Indians were frightened,
and consequently many more believed and went west; but nearly all of
them died out there because the climate did not agree with them. Saw-gaw-
kee--Growing-plant--was the head chief of the Ottawa nation of Indians
at that time, and was one of the believers who went with the parties out
west, and he also died there.3
This is the second time that the Ottawas were terribly reduced in
numbers in the country of Arbor Croche.
2. The worship of the Great Spirit
consisted mostly in songs and dancing accompanied with an Indian drum,
which has a very deep and solemn sound, an not very large, about a foot
in diameter. I used to think that the sound of it must reach to the
heaven where the Great Spirit is.
3. Footnote: This Chief Saw-gaw-kee was Ne-saw-wa-quat's
father, the last head chief of Little Traverse. Ne- saw-wa-quat was the
only child remaining alive of the whole family of Saw-gaw-kee. Therefore
the child was brought back to this country and was the last head chief
of Little Traverse, now Harbor Springs.
Index
Chippewa History |
Ottawa History
Native American Nations
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