History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan

History of the Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians of Michigan

The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians
of Michigan, by Andrew J. Blackbird Copyright laws are changing all
over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country
before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project
Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan
Author: Andrew J. Blackbird
Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6988] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on February 20,

2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OTTOWA
AND CHIPPEWA OF MICHIGAN ***

This eBook was produced by Michelle Shepard, Juliet Sutherland,
Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

HISTORY OF THE OTTAWA AND CHIPPEWA INDIANS OF
MICHIGAN;
A GRAMMAR OF THEIR LANGUAGE, AND PERSONAL AND
FAMILY HISTORY OF THE AUTHOR,
BY ANDREW J. BLACKBIRD,
LATE U.S. INTERPRETER, HARBOR SPRINGS, EMMET CO.,
MICH.

INTRODUCTION
Andrew J. Blackbird, the author of this little book, is an educated
Indian, son of the Ottawa Chief. His Indian name is
Mack-aw-de-be-nessy (Black Hawk), but he generally goes by the
name of "Blackbird," taken from the interpretation of the French
"L'Oiseau noir." Mr. Blackbird's wife is an educated and intelligent
white woman of English descent, and they have four children. He is a
friend of the white people, as well as of his own people. Brought up as
an Indian, with no opportunity for learning during his boyhood, when
he came to think for himself, he started out blindly for an education,
without any means but his brains and his hands.
He was loyal to the Government during the rebellion in the United
States, for which cause he met much opposition by designing white
people, who had full sway among the Indians, and who tried to mislead

them and cause them to be disloyal; and he broke up one or two
rebellious councils amongst his people during the progress of the
rebellion.
When Hon. D. C. Leach, of Traverse City, Mich., was Indian Agent,
Mr. Blackbird was appointed United States Interpreter and continued in
this office with other subsequent Agents of the Department for many
years. Before he was fairly out of this office, he was appointed
postmaster of Little Traverse, now Harbor Springs, Mich., and
faithfully discharged his duties as such for over eleven years with but
very little salary.
He has also for several years looked after the soldiers' claims for
widows and orphans, both for the whites as well as for his own people,
in many instances without the least compensation, not even his stamps
and paper paid. He is now decrepit with old age and failing health, and
unable to perform hard manual labor.
We therefore recommend this work of Mr. A. J. Blackbird as
interesting and reliable.
JAMES L. MORRICE, Treasurer of Emmet County.
C. P. NEWKIRK, Principal Harbor Springs Public Schools.
CHARLES R. WRIGHT, Ex-President Harbor Springs.
CHARLES W. INGALLS, Notary Public for Emmet Co.
ALBERT L. HATHAWAY, County Clerk, Emmet County.
WM. H. LEE, Probate Clerk and Abstractor of Titles.
ARCH. D. METZ, Deputy Register of Deeds.
WILLARD P. GIBSON, Pastor Presbyterian Church.
WILLIAM H. MILLER, U.S.A.

PREFACE.
I deem it not improper to present the history of the last race of Indians
now existing in the State of Michigan, called the Ottawa and Chippewa
Nations of Indians.
There were many other tribes of Indians in this region prior to the
occupancy of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of this State, who have
long ago gone out of existence. Not a page of their history is on record;
but only an allusion to them in our traditions.
I have herewith recorded the earliest history of the Ottawa tribe of
Indians in particular, according to their traditions. I have related where

they formerly lived, the names of their leaders, and what tribes they
contended with before and after they came to Michigan, and how they
came to be the inhabitants of this State. Also the earliest history of the