Mikwendaagozi = IT IS REMEMBERED
Pre history according to the Anishinaabe has that the Gitchi Manito sent a great flood to cleanse the earth and Nanaboozhoo had a muskrat dive to retrieve soil from the water, which was placed on grandmother turtle's back to form the new land, known as Turtle Island.
Pre history according to the archelogical record, in a portion of the great lakes region, has the Old Copper Culture, the Laural Complex with the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung mound builders followed by the Black Duck tradition. Some believe the Chippewa Ojibwa have direct ties to the Black Duck tradition. Some also believe there are links between the Black Duck tradition and the Laural Complex. In addition it is known that the Chippewa Ojibwa carried copper nuggets in their medicine bags.
1600 Origins of the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatamies.[28]
1615 is the year that the Chippewa Ojibwa had first contact with a European when Samuel de Champlain arrived at a village they had on Lake Heron.
1622 -23 Étienne Brulé made contact with the tribe at Sault Ste. Marie and made a more extensive record of the contact.
1629 The inter-tribal Beaver Wars start lasting 75 years between the
Iroquois and the Chippewa.
ca.1634-39 The Battle of Skull Island and the Battles of Flint River, the Chippewa removed the Sauk from Michigan.[29][30]
1640 The Ojibwe are first mentioned in print in the French annual The Jesuit Relations as the "Banouichitigouin" or the "People of the Sault" which the French translated as the "Saulteaux".
1660 The Ojibwe, Chippewa, Mississauga and Sault tribes get firearms.
1662 Battle of Point Iroquois. The Chippewa annihilated a large Iroquois war party at Point Iroquois killing all but two to return with a warning, do not come again. The survivors ears and noses were cut off and the heads of the dead were were put on planted pikes as warnings.[31]
1670 By royal charter on May 2, King Charles II, founded The Hudson Bay Company as: "the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay". This act had a lasting impact on the Anishinaabe nation.
1671 Francois Daumont, Sieur de St. Lusson held the "The Pagent of the Sault", claiming the lands in North America for the King of France. Leaders of 15 different tribes were present. That included all three nations of the three council fires.
1674 A group of Nadouessioux arrived at Sault Ste. Marie to make a treaty with the tribes there and ended up all dead.
1678 The village of Chippeway, now Chippewa, Canada, is first seen in the historical record.[32]
1679 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, representing the French Crown brokered a peace agreement between the Sioux and Chippewa at Mille Lacs, Minnesota.[33]
1681 French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert created the congé system, which granted licenses to fur traders to travel inland and establish fur trading posts. Serviceing these posts created the voyageurs in the heartland of the Ojibwa. They adopted Ojibwa built canoes in multiple sizes as their primary mode of transport into the 1750s. Then a shop was set up to meet an increasing demand for canoes. The Maître/Montreal was 32-36' long, 6'wide, 600 lbs in weight, capacity: 3,500 lbs. Next came the "Bastard", 24' or 30' in length and the Canot du Nord 24'-27' that weighed 300 lbs. The smallest canoes were the 15-16' "Ojibwa"/"Express".[43] It could travel over a 100 miles a day with an experienced crew. The canoes were a credit to Ojibwa innovation, engineering and utilization of natural resources.[44] Many of the Frenchmen had Ojibwa wifes creating strong bonds to the Ojibwa community. Many of the furs the voyageurs transported had been collected by Ojibwa or Cree hunters.
1688 The Huron requested French Governor, Jacques-René de Brisay, Marquis de Denonville, remove the Mississaga the Huron beaver hunting grounds on the Ontario peninsula. St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people; p.46 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/bad1042.0001.001/86
1692 The French established a trading post at Shaugawaumikong with the Chippewa, which is La Pointe, Wisconsin today.
1693 Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, negotiated a Chippewa/Sioux peace treaty that lasted until 1736.[42][45] This period is much cited in Dacotah oral history.
1695 Chief Chingouabée, Chief of the Chippewas, went with Le Sueur to Montreal, to ask Count Frontenac's assistance in dealing with the Sauk and Fox tribes and to “pay his respects to Onontio, in the name of the young warriors of Point Chagouamigon...". It was an act of international diplomacy. Onontio was a title used by the tribes of the Great Lakes to refer to the governor of New France.
ca.1700 Chief O-ge-mah-be-nak-ke or Bald Eagle led 1500 warriors of the Mississauga Nation south to the lands vacated by the Neutrals and the Huron. The Iroquois had been responsible and tried to evict the Mississauga. They were hugely unsuccessful.
1701 Dish With One Spoon Treaty between the Chippewa and Iroquois or the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee. The agreement is also known as the Great Peace of Montreal. It was signed by 39 First Nations ending the Beaver Wars.
1702 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac wrote that the Saulteurs and Mississaguez combined to establish a village on the St. Clair River.
1703 Chippewa and Misisagué bands built a joint village, 12 leagues from Detroit, at the head of Lake St. Clair. An anonymous 1718 French report states that 60-80 men were at a site on an island in the river and it was being farmed. Harsen's Island fits this description for the U.S while Walpole Island fits for Canada. https://detroiturbanism.blogspot.com/2016/03/indian-villages-reservations-and-removal.html
1712-33 Beginning of the Fox Wars. The Fox (Meskwaki) went to war against he French and her allies over the fur trade. The allies were the Chippewa. While the Fox did not lose, their numbers were so reduced that they joined the Sac to become the Sac-Fox. tribe. Carver's map has a Road to War marked in Wisconsin for the Chippewea and the Fox & Dacotah.
1714-20 The Ottawa war Chief Pontiaic or Obwandiyag is believe to have been born in this time frame. His mother was Chippewa.
1718 The frenchman Monsieur de Sabrevois recorded the"Misisaguez" (Missassaugas) at Walpole Island in his "Mémoire sur les Sauvages du Canada".
ca. 1725 Battle of Point Prescott Wisconsin was a Chippewa victory with hundreds of Sioux dead.[46]
1736 The Chippewa formed an alliance with the Cree and Assiniboine swearing vengence for the Fort St. Charles beheadings by the Sioux.[42]
The Jean Baptiste de La Vérendrye party of 19 voyageurs were found decapitated. A party of Chippewa discovered the bodies according to a marker. (see gallery #6)
1740s The Ojibwa-Iroquois War began, lasting until 1801. No intertribal war is comparable for numbers involved. The Chippewa would leave their mark on Iroquois expansionism in 1662 with a huge victory. The Ojibwa Chippewa - Dacotah Sioux hostilities has no camparables for duration. The Jesuits believed it was going on when they first arrived at Sault Ste. Marie in the 1640s. Daniel Greysolon Sieur du Lhut brokered a Chippewa Sioux peace agreement in 1679. Hostilities were recorded again in the 1730's lasting intermittently until 1871.
1740s Northwestern Confederacy had it's beginnings and included southern bands of the Chippewa or Ojibwe.
1740 Robert Navarre, worked at Fort Pontchartrain, Pays d'en Haut (Detroit, Michigan), New France, as the intendant of civil affairs Détroit, (the royal notary), Province of Québec. He reported a large Chippewa village at "Mingo Town" in the mid-1740s numbering 2,000. The word "Mingo" was typically used to refer to the Iroquois. Today that would be near Brecksville Ohio in the Cuyahoga Valley. Ohio has maintained this history at the local level. A villiage was named Chippewa on the Lake. Chippewa Lake was named for the tribe. The Ohio Salt Company at Wadsworth, 25 miles from Brecksville, named a brand of salt for the Chippewa.
"A Survey of Prehistoric People in the Cuyahoga Lands," https://sites.google.com/site/deepcovercleveland/home/prehistoric-indian-earthworks-in-the-city-of-cleveland-and-environs
1742 Battle of the Brule was a decisive Chippewa victory over the Sioux.
1743 Auguste Chouteau wrote that the Potawatomi from near Detroit with Ottawa and Chippewa moved to Chicago and along the Illinois River.
1745 Battle of Strawberry Island. The Chippewa evicted the Sioux from Lac du Flambeau. The island became hallowed ground in remembrance of the warriors lost there.
1745 A permanent village at Lac Courte Oreilles at the headwaters of the Chippewa River was established according to the Milwaukee Public Museum.
1747 Mississauga Chief Macqua Medah, or Bear's Oil had his village on Conneaut creek near Lake Erie in Ohio. Another Mississauga village is believed to have been to the west on Ohio's Grand River.
ca.1748 Battle of Smokey Hill Island in Wisconsin, 300 Chippewa & 10 French vs. 300 Winnebago (Ho-chunk) was a Chippewa victory. There were superstitions that the White deer and the Hairy man/monster haunted the island so people only went there during daylight.
1748 Hudson Bay Co. trading policy: 12 beaver pelts = gun with a 4 foot barrel, 11 beaver pelts = 3 1/2 foot barrel, 10 pelts = 3 foot barrel and 1 beaver pelt = 1 1/2 pounds of powder, or 5 pounds of shot or 20 French flints.
ca. 1750s The Huron people became allies of the Three Fires Council.[47]
ca. 1750s A Saulteaux-Cree alliance defeated the Sioux, giving the name Sioux Narrows to the site of the battle. The Northwest Co. had a trading post closeby on Whitefish Lake where Whitefish Bay 32A reserve is now.
1750 Battle of Kathio the Milles-Lacs band evicted the Dacotah from what they call their "homeland".
1750 Last battle between the Ojibwa and Iroquois.
In Chippewa oral history the Gros Ventre are "the men of the olden time" or "men of the old days" and are associated the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Oral history has it being their ancestral lands.
1751 The Potawatomi and Chippewa attacked the Illini in northern Illinios.
1752 Battle of Pickawillany The French with 250 Ottawa and Ojibwa led by Chief Pontiac and Charles de Langlade captured the fort and attacked the Maimi Pickawillamy village begining the French Indian Wars. Sources state they celebrated with ritualic cannabilism.[48] The Maimi Chief had said he would never trade with the French and died for it.
1755 According to Alfred C Ferrell, in 1904. the Ojibwa were with a Sieur de La Come at the Battle of Lake George, which was indecisive. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85053117/1904-07-28/ed-1/?sp=3&q=chippewa+fight+the+sioux&r=0.263,0.107,0.601,0.29,0
1755 The Indian Department was established to oversee relations between the British Crown and the First Nations of North America.
1755 Battle of the Monongahela Was a victory for the French and their native allies including the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi with Seur de La Comeagain and led by Charles de Langlade. At the time future President George Washington was a civilian aide-de-camp to British General Braddock.
1756 Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that saw the Council of Three Fires side with the French. In the end the French lost removing them from North America. The Ojibwa lamented the French loss as they saw the French as more respectfully than the British. Before that happened they supported the French against the British.
* Capt. Charles Michel de Langlade had a Ottawa mother, but he recruited and led Chippewa with his Ottawa into battle at:
1757 Siege of Fort William Henry The French were joined by Charles de Langlade with 166 Saulteaux warriors plus 157 Mississauga Ojibwa against the fort.[49]
1758 Battle of Carillon was a major British defeat to the French and their Indian allies including the Ojibwa.
1759 Chief Ma-mon-ga-ze-da or Big Foot, with his Grand Portage warriors joined the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham defending Quebec.[49] The French noted his efforts with a medal and a flag. The French had two medals he could have received. The King Louis XV Peace Medal may have been the choice for his support of France. He had a son that follwed in his footsteps as a War Chief, Wau-bo-jeeg.
1759 Battle of Fort Niagara. In 1828 Schoolcraft recorded that Wau-bo-jeeg received a broad wampum belt and gorget from Sir William Johnson for this battle. p.371 https://turtletalk.blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/chieftianship-among-michigan-indians.pdf
1761 Chief Minweweh (the One with the Silver Tongue) at Fort Michilimackinac made his noted declaration of loyality to the French King to Alexander Henry the elder.[50] The French called him Le Grand Sauteux. Images show Minavavana as being heavily tattooed. Chief Wawatam, adopted the fur trader Alexander Henry as a brother. The importance of the Great Serpent to the Ojibwa was recorded when Henry attempted to kill a rattlesnake and the Ojibwa stopped him and gave reverence to the snake calling it "Grandfather". A thundersorm soon followed indicating the offense taken by the snake. The Ojibwa nearly killed Henry to placate the the serpent's displeasure.[51]
1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was created to protect lands of Native Americans west of the of the Appalachian Mountains. It established strict rules for the purchase and surrender of native lands with the Crown.
ca. 1763 Le Grand Saulteur or Minweweh established a village in the area of what is now Chicago.
1763 Lt. Gorrels, of the 60th Regiment of Foot, observed that the Nadowessioux were always at war with the Ojibwas.
Pontiac's War (1763-1765)
Because his mother was Chippewa Pontiac had Chippewa support. Chief Seckas of the Chippewas of the Thames River led 170 warriors to join his siege force at Fort Detroit. They were also present at the Battle of Bloody Run where the British were successfully repulsed. Chief Madjeckewiss or Bad Bird was there too.
1763 Jume: Battle of Fort Michilimackinac. Chiefs Madjeckewiss and Minweweh, of the Mackinac Island and Sault tribes, captured the British fort killing the garrison. Victory ritualistic cannablism was reported afterwards.[52][37]: p.158, 176.
1863 July: Chief Kinonchamek, the son of Minweweh took Pontiac to task, in his father's name for the unnecessary killing of British at Michilimackinac and allowing them to be eaten. He also criticised Pontiac for allowing his warriors to steal provisions from French settlers, who had always been friends of the Indians, during the seige of Detroit. "Indian Chiefs of Michigan, Emerson Greenman, 1961, p.223"
1764 Treaty of Niagara was not about land cessations, it was a nation to nation treaty concerning recognition between the British Crown and various First Nations including the:
- Algonquin & Nipissing
- Represented by Wabikackeck or White Hawk
- Chipeweigh
- Represented by Shownannicaboa, Kagaisse, & Sowwongibbey
- Mississauga
- Represented by Wabbicommicott, Weynakibio, & Estawabey
- The Crown gave medals to some of the chiefs, it is not documented if they all received one.
1764 Patrick Sinclair built Fort Sinclair. Serving with him was Chief Animikans/Nimekance who the British would give a Brigader General's uniform before his sercie was done. The Chief is listed in the history of St. Clair County, Michigan and Sarnia First Nation.
ca.1765 Groups of Chippewa and Potawatomi moved south from St. Joseph to the Sangamon and Illinois rivers.
1766 A few canoes arrived at Chagouamigon Bay with word the Chippeways had gone to war against the Sioux. Two weeks later a flotilla of 40 canoes arrived with word that 400 Chippewa had gone against 600 Sioux and won. The Chippewa were lead by Chief Wau-bo-jeeg No.2. The location of this battle is thought to have been on the St. Croix River. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Ojibway_Nation/Neill/Chapter_2#cite_note-1
1767 Two groups of Chippewa joined the Potawatomi in raids on the Ohio River Maimi tribe.
1767 Sir William Johnson, British Supt. Indian afffairs on the northern district, wrote General Gage "that there was little to be gained attempting peace between the Sioux and the Chippeweighs".
ca.1768 Chief Biauswah (II) led a war party from Fond-du-Lac that removed the Sioux from Sandy Lake, Cass Lake, Winnepeg Lake, and Leech Lake.[53] The Battle of Crow Wing was another Chippewa victory, that William Warren reported as a fierce battle.
1768 Chief Big Foot traveled to meet Sir WIilliam Johnson to request a trader be sent to La Pointe, as there was none. Johnson presented him a broad wampum belt of peace that was warmly received and a trading post was established.
1768 Chief Waub-o-jeeg No.I visited Sir William Johnson in New York. Sir Johnson shared that visit in a letter: "Since I wrote the chief of the Chippewaes, one of the most powerful nations, to the westward, arrived. As he is a man of much influence, and can bring some thousands into the field, I took particular notice of him,
1769 Sir William Johnson wrote to Lord Hillsbourgh, a minister to the King, "that Sioux Chippeweigh relations were more violent." p.69 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/590be125ff7c502a07752a5b/t/5b148fe6758d46f985102638/1528074224864/Neill%2C+Edward+Duffield%2C+Minnesota+Explorers+and+Pioneers+from+A.D.+1659+to+A.D.+1858.pdf
1769 The Chippewa, Ottawa,and Potawatomi visited the Spanish in St. Louis who they informed that they were from the St. Joseph and Illinois rivers to the north.
1769 Ottawa Chief Pontiac was murdered by a member of the Illiniwek Confederation. After which the Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Kickapoo sought revenge for the killing. Pontiac's mother was Chippewa. This led to the legend of Starved Rock and Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. In 1941-42 Fay E. Davis painted a mural of the legend: "The Illini and Potawatomi Struggle at Starved Rock" for the
Oglesby, Illinois Post Office.
ca 1770-90 The Chippewa destroyed a Cheyenne village on the Sheyenne River near what is now Lisbon, North Dakota. It referred to as the Biesterfeldt Site. A Chippewa Chief's oral history to David Thompson in 1879 reported this battle. In 1863 General Sibley's expedition passed the historic site when Sibley camped on the river. Northern Cheyenne Reservation Timeline, Northern Cheyenne Tribe 2017. https://mhs.mt.gov/education/IEFA/NorthernCheyenneTimeline.pdf
1770 Chief Minweweh’s band was attacked by the Fox near Michilimackinac and the chief was killed.
1772 Battle of Pickawillany Charles Michel dLanglade lead a war party of 250 Ottawa and Chippewa warriors who torched the village and killed the Maimi Chief Memeskia or "La Demoiselle" and an English trader. After which they ate the Chief and Englishman near present-day Piqua, Ohio.
1774 The British extended the boundary of Quebec Province to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers as well as a large portion of the HBC's Rupert's land in tthe Red River valley of the north.
1775 The British schooner Chippewa was lost at Long Point, Ontario. The Council of Three Fires came to see the British as more respectful then the land hungry Americans and would side with them in the conflicts to come.
1775 The fist historical mention of the "Pillager" band was recorded by Alexander Henry Sr. at Rat Portage. He refused to sell run because he was told the men that wanted it were "Pillager". They possibly had a reputation that concerned him. History of the Ojibway Nation, Chapter 2, Neill, p. 446
1775 Alexander Henry Sr. reported encountering Ojibway at the Big Forks of the Rainy River, the confluence of the two rivers16 miles west of International Falls, MN.
1776-8 Jonathan Carver with Captain James Tute explored the upper Mississippi basin in hopes of finding the Northwest Passage. Carver's account of the St Croix River from the Namekagon confluence to the St. Croix's headwaters he named the "Coppermine Branch,"for the number of copper nuggets on it's banks. He noted the Chippewa accurately called the St. Croix headwaters "the Moschettoe (mosquito) country". On his map Carver labeled the Chippewa and Red Cedar Rivers "The Roads to War" (for the Chippewa and Nadowassie tribes). He labeled another Nadowassie Road to War by the Red Lake Nation. He had more Moschettoe up there too.
1778-79 According to his journal, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton, was joined by 60 Ottawa and Ojibwe warriors to retake the fur trading post of Fort Sackville / Fort Vincennes, Indiana, from the Americans, in December 1778. They were joined by 200 Miami, Potawatomi, and Shawnee warriors. That post was established by Sieur Charles Juchereau with 34 Canadiens. October, 1702. He was the first Lieutenant-General of the Royal Jurisdiction of the Provostship of Montreal.
1780 Battle of St. Louis in Upper Spanish Louisiana. Chief Matchekewis of the Gun-Lake band lead the entire indigenous force.[54] He is depicted in the Missiouri State Capitol. Jean Baptiste Cadot, of Nipissing decendent, was with the native force.
1782 Colonel Crawford's Defeat. The forty four "Lake Indians" who joined Captain William Caldwell at the Battle of the Sandusky were Chippewa warriors of Sarnia, Lake Huron.
1783 "There wasn't a Sioux village above St. Anthony Falls or east of the Mississippi." History_of_the_Ojibway_Nation/Neill/Chapter_2, p.450
1783 Battle of St. Croix Falls, was a Chief Waubojeeg victory over the Sauk-Fox and Sioux. That year Mohawk Chief Thayendanegea formed the Northwestern Confederacy which included the Three Fires Nations.
Treaty of Paris (1783) officially ended the War of Independence in the British colonies.
1784-1804 There was a canoe yard a Grand Portage producing 70 canoes per year.
1785 Treaty of Fort McIntosh was signed by numerous tribes including the Chippewa at what is today Beaver, Pennslvania. It was the first treaty the Chippewa signed with the United States Government.
1785-95 Northwest Indian War Thayendanegea aka Joseph Brant said that "Native lands were held in common by all tribes, and so no land could be ceded without the consent of the Confederacy".[55]
1786 Mississauga Chief Nawachjekezhegwabe “the sloping sky” aka Joseph or John Sawyer, b. 1786 in Genesee country of western New York State.
1787 Delaware became the first state in the Union.
1787 "In July of 1787 the British government arranged a treaty of peace signed by the Sioux, Chippewa and Winnebago. Among the Chippewa bands signing the treaty wsre those from Sandy Lake, Lake "Vinnibigoshish" and Leech Lake."
Indian Claims Commission, Docket 18-B p.788 file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/p17279coll10_510%20(1).pdf
1787 Northwest Ordinance: “the utmost good faith shall always be observed towards Indians; their land and property shall never be taken from them without their consent.”
1788 The lower Chippewa Valley was a no-man's land for the Lac-Courte-Oreilles.[56]
1789 The Chippewa signed the Treaty of Fort Harmar but, it failed to address the main grievance of the unauthorized settlement of Indian lands.[57] Today the treaty site is in Marietta, Ohio.
1789 & 93 Alexander Mackenzie's journals state the lands east of the Red River are "Algonquin", the name he used for the Sauteaux or Chippewa. He also wrote the Algonquin's had a large "station" on Lake Winnipeg.
1790s The Pembina band developed the Red River cart.[58]
1790 Indian Trade and Intercourse Act stipulated that "no purchase, grant, lease, or other conveyance of Indian lands would be valid unless made by treaty or convention entered into under the authority of the United States".
1791 Fort Chippewa was built on Chippewa Creek near the south Niagara portage.
1791 The Battle of the Wabash. The U.S. forces faced the Northwestern Confederacy that included the Ojibwa during the Northwest Indian War. It was "the most decisive defeat and largest victory by Native Americans.[59]
1793 "The Three Fires" held a council with the Six Nations and renewed friendship with them.
1794 The Battle of Fort Recovery Ohio. The Western Confederacy of Shawnee, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Lenape, and Chippewa battled the garrison.
1794 The Battle of Fallen Timbers was an American victory that ended the war near what today is Toledo, Ohio.
1794 The Jay Treaty allowed American Indians, specifically those born in Canada, to freely cross the border between the United States and Canada for trade and other purposes. This included the right to travel, reside, work, study, and even retire in the other country. To exercise these rights, individuals generally needed to prove at least 50% American Indian blood quantum.
1794 Trader Duncan M'Gillivray reported Cree and Ojibwa at Nipiwin. He also reported Sotos (Sioux) between Nepawi (Nipawin) and Sturgeon River who had had a "quarrel" with the people of the lower department (Chippewa/Salteur) the previous fall. The Journal of Duncan M'Gillivray (1794-5), Edited by A. S. Morton, p.20 (Toronto, 1929),
1795 The Greenville Treaty concluded the Northwest Indian War, but American encroachment quickly voided the agreement.[57] The Chippewa signed this treaty in what is today Greenville, Ohio. Chippewa Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish, otherwise Bad Bird, signed the Treaty.
*The Chiefs that signed were given a medal. Pictogram signitures on the treaty https://digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/299800/
ca. 1795 William W. Warren recounts in Chapter 29 “The Pillagers” a Pillager battle with the Dacotah at Battle Lake, Minnesota. The Pillagers named it "Ish-quon-e-de-win-ing" (Where But Few Survived) It was a Dacotah victory.
1795 SHAH-WUN-DAIS (“sultry heat” or John Sunday), Mississauge Chief, was born near the Black River in central New York.
1796 Deputy Superintendent-General Alexander McKee of the British
Indian Department was reported to have told the people of Walpole Island:
" Remain my children, do not desert the abode to which I brought you. I never shall let anyone molest you. Should any persons corne to ask from you a part of these lands, tum from them with distrust and deny them their request. Never for a moment heed their voice and at your dying day instruct your sons to get theirs, teach them as generation succeeds generation to reserve intact their inheritance and poverty shall be unknown to them."
As recounted by Chief Beyigishigneshkam. Walpole Island First Nation remains unceded land today. Collectionscanada.gc.ca https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ40477.pdf
1796 The Chippewa take Red Lake and drive the Sioux out.
1797 Northwest Fur Co. trader Daniel Williams Harmon wrote that the Chippeways fired upon his traders ib the Winnipeg River between Lac du Bonnet and Rainy Lake.
1798 With the determination that the Grand Portage trading site was "American" land the Northwest Co. decided to move it's Grand Portage operations north to "British" soil. They picked Kaminstikwa off Thunder Bay 60 miles north. "To get approval to use the site they went to the Chipeway Chiefs and elders of the "Kichecaminngue" (Gitchee gamme or Lake Superior) Indians at Grand Portage for permission. That indicates the Ojibwe at both locations are historically of the same band" and that the nation was split by the international border. Today Kaminstikwa is part of the Fort William First Nation, seperate from the Grand Portage band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
p.86-7 https://npshistory.com/publications/grpo/white-2005.pdf On the larger scale it links the Fort William First Nation with all the Lake Superior bands in Wisconsin plus the Fond du Lac in Minnesota and the Lac Vieux Desert Band in Michigan.
1798 David Thompson hired by the Northwest Co. arrived at the village of Chief She-she-she-pus-kut at Red Lake.
1798 At Sandy Lake D. Thompson learned the Chippewa had lost 40 to the Sioux, Sauks, and Menomonees a half a days journey to the west. wiki/History_of_the_Ojibway_Nation/Neill/Chapter_2, p.452
Late 1700s Sioux Lookout, Ontario gained it's name from Lac Seul First Nation oral history. A Saulteaux lookout on the hill spotted a Sioux war party that lead to a Saulteaux victory at Pelican Lake. It is claimed that the Sioux never again ventured into their lands. The band adopted the sole survivor, a boy.
1800 Trader Daniel Harmon wrote the Chippeway were living at Grand Portage, in the area of the Narrows on Lake Winnipeg and at Little Lake Winnipeg (Winnipegosis). He also reported that they were trading at post on the Red Deer River and fishing at Lake Bourbon (Cedar Lake). That places them 460 km northwest of Winnipeg in 1800.
1800 The Chippewas were about to go to war with the U.S. over the "Line Question" in the Red River valley. Sir Alex MacKenzie of the Northwest Co. asked J.B. Cadot Jr., running the Grand Forks trading post, to deal with their concerns. Cadot's mother was Nipissing and he was successful.
1801-2 A Mississauga-French dictionary was created by Laurent Quetton de St. George. The original manuscript is held by the Toronto Public Library.
1802 Pegius "Robe Noir" "Grand Orielle" refused a request by agents of the of the Northwest Company to attack the Hudson Bay Colony.
1804 Lewis and Clark are in the oral history of both the Mille Lacs and Fond-du-Lac bands for giving them Chiefs medals. How exactly that happened is not recorded. However, the Fond-du-Lac medal is in the Lewis and Clark journals: for a 3rd chief of a "foreign nation".
ca. 1804-6 Daniel Harmon reported Saulteaux Chippewa trading at Fort Montagne à la Bosse , Elbow Fort (Bird Mountain), and Fort Qu Appelle.
1806 Battle of Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa victory that removed the Sioux from the contested rice beds in North Central Wisconsin with hundreds of casualties.
1808 Battle at Pembina. Chief Ase-anse (Little-Shell 1) defeated a superior force of Sioux. That same day the Sioux attacked the Chippewa at Long Prairie and ownership of the Red River Valley to them. In 1811 Lake Windigoostigon was given it's name.[60]
1811 Chief Okemos was at the Battle of Tippencanoe, Indiana.
1812 The Battle of Chippewa. Despite the name, no Chippewa fought at the battle during the War of 1812. They were sympathetic with the British due the American encroachment on their lands.[61]
1812 During the War of 1812 the British native force, lead by Tescumsah, numbered 8,410 according to one Ojibwa historian. They estimate the 7,410 of that number were Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potowatomi which made the Anishinaabe the main British force. https://earlycanadianhistory.ca/2017/01/23/anishnaabeg-in-the-war-of-1812-more-than-tecumseh-and-his-indians/ According to AI the Caldwell First Nation or Chippewas of Point Pelee were supporters of the British as were the Chippewas of the River Thames, the Chippewas of the Nawash, the Chippewas of Stoney and Kettle Point, and the Chippewas of Lakes Simcoe and Huron.
1812 During the War men of Ojibwe or Chippewa descent could be found in many Canadian militias: Corps of Canadian Voyageurs, Caldwell's Western Rangers, Mississippi Volunteers, and the Michigan Fencibles. The French Ojibwa Cadotte family was important to the British Indian Dept. and it's role of fostering indigenious support.
War Chief Niibaakhom or "Thunder at night" of the Manitoulin Island M'Chigeeng First Nation war exploits are maintained in oral history for the War of 1812.[62]
1812 During the War the Chippewa in what would become Wisconsin did not take an active role. According to a to a 1918 issue of White Earth Tomahawk that was likely due to Chief Keeshkemun of the Lac du Flambeau band. John Askin Jr. of the North West Co. requested his support. His reply was to put on a George Washington (sword) he had been given by an American officer. The British demanded his George Washington medal saying they would replace it with one of the King. Chief Keeshkemun responded: "ENGLISHMAN, THE HEART OF THE LONG KNIFE (GEORGE WASHINGTON) HAS ENTERED MY BOSUM. YOU CAN NOT TAKE IT WITHOUT TAKING MY LIFE." The British realized that they would not prevail so they lavished the Chief with goods requesting that he remain neutral. He accepted the goods and is believed to have used his influence to keep the Wisconsin and Minnesota bands out of the war. The Grand Portage sent warriors to support the British.
The Tomahawk (White Earth), July 4, 1918, p.1 Library of Congress
1812 June 18: War Declared!
The Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River bands were staunch supporters of the British both before and after.
1812 It is generally believed that Keesh-ke-mun was responsible for keeping the Wisconsin and Minnesota bands out of the war. That may have been true for the leaders. Individual Wisconsin warriors were recruited by the fur trader Robert Dickenson. He received a Confidential Communication” from Major-General Isaac Brock requesting his assistance in recruiting his "native friends" to support the Crown. The day the Americans declared war Dickenson wrote the General he had 250-300 "friends" recruited. His location was recorded as being in the wilderness west of Lake Michigan, specifically at a portage between two rivers. That could have been Wau-wau-onah Portage or Namekagon Portage. Either one could have produced the "Chippewa friends" he immediately led to the capture of Michilimackinac. Afterwards Dickson was appointed agent & superintendent for the Indians of the western nations. Those nations were the Chippewa, Sioux, Winnebago, and Menomonee. In 1813 he brought about 1,400 warriors from those tribes to Fort Malden (Amherstburg, Ont.) for the Ohio operations. He also provided the 200 Chippewa that took part in the capture of the American schooners Tigress and Scorpion in 1814.
Michigan A History of the Wolverine State, Willis F. Dunbar, Revised Edition George S. May, 1995, p. 150.
https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/dickson_robert_6E.html
In 1910 the BIA refused to pay annuities to 1,224 Michigan men or their decendants that had fought in the war for the British and were living at Walpole Island. (see newspaper clipping in the gallery)
A question that is not asked about the War of 1812 is what would have happened if the Wisconsin and Minnesota Chippewa had not sat the war out and has picked a side?
July 17: Fort Micihilimackinac was captured by the British and 393 Chippewa recruited by Askin Jr., acting British Indian Supt. at St. Joseph.
- Garden River
- Batchewana Bay
- Whitefish River
- Manitoulin & Cockburn Islands, Zhiibaahaasing
- Serpant River
- Wikiwemikong
- Whitefish Lake, Atikameksheng
- Sagamok
- Thessalon
- Manitoulin Island , Aundeck-Omni-Kaning
- Manitoulin Island, Sheguisndah
August 4: Battle of Maguaga
August 5: Battle of Brownstown. Tecunseh's multli-nation force, including the Chippewa were outnumbered 8/1. They inflected significant casualities while taking almost none.
August 16: The Battle of Fort Detroit was won by Chief Shingwaukonse leading seven hundred warriors. For that, he and Chief Okemos received the Military General Service Medal. Shingwaukonse later received the Queen Victoria Peace Medal. The Saginaw Chippewa led by Chief Shin-ga-bo-wassin were also there, as was Chief Sekahos, with the River Thames Chippewa and Chief Oshawana with his Walpole warriors. Pat-an-a-quot-a-wee-be (Driving Cloud) a war-chief is identifed for being there. He was with George Catlin in London later. The total Chippewa involved is put at 600. There were two incidents of cannibalism reported.[63]
- Chippewas of the Thames
- Chippewas of Kettle and Stoney Point
- Caldwell or the Chippewas of Pelee Point
- Nekima Levy Armstrong
October 13: Battle of Queenston Heights
- Mississaugas of New Credit
1812 According to AI the elder Chief Hole-in-the-Day (Bugonaygeshig) supported the Americans during the war of 1812 in what was then Illinois territory.
1813 January 22: The Battle of Frenchtown, aka the Battle of the River Raisin or the River Raisin Massacre was two battles, two days apart in Michigan. Oshawana with his warriors was there. The first battle the British lost. The second cost the Americans 397 dead and 547 taken captive. Wounded that could not walk or keep up were killed.
- Chippewas of the Thames
- Chippewas of Kettle and Stoney Point
- Caldwell or the Chippewas of Pelee Point
- Walpole Island
April 28-May 9: Siege of Fort Meigs. Chief Oshawana and Chief Okemos were there.
- Chippewas of the Thames
- Chippewas of Kettle and Stoney Point
- Caldwell or the Chippewas of Pelee Point
- Walpole Island
- Chippewas of Georgina Island
May 3: At the Siege of Fort Meigs "Dudley's Massacre" or "Dudley's Defeat" tookplace. American Col. Dudley was part of the force sent to releive Fort Meigs. Of the 866 men he had only 150 got off the battlefield with the Native Americans. The prisoners taken were escorted by the Native Americans to Fort Maimi. In transit captives were made to "run the gauntlet". At Fort Maimi there were Chippewa and Potowatomi that had not been at the battle that attacked the prisoners. Tecumseh happened to be close and stopped the slaughter.
April 27: The Battle of York saw the Mississaugas along side the British against the Americans. They were the first to engage when the Americans landed.
- Mississaugas of New Credit
- Lake Simcoe , Beasoleil
- Chippewas of Rama
- Chippewas of Georgina Island
May 25-7: Battle of Fort George in Upper Canada Chief Wabechechake of the Batchewana First Nation was killed. It was and American victory.
August 3-4: At the Battle of Fort Stephenson, aka Battle of Lower Sandusky. Chief Okemos suffered a saber slash across his forehead that was a badge of battle honour the rest of his life.
1813 The Provincial Commissariat Voyageurs took over for the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs providing supplies to the western posts. They had 400 men many of mixed native heiritage.
September 10: The U.S. captured the British HMS Chippeway (1812).and made her the first USS Chippewa. She was built in 1810 as the schooner Chippewa.
- Mississaugas of New Credit
- Lake Simcoe , Beasoleil
October 5: At the Battle of the River Thames Chippewa Chief Oshawana was Tecumseh’s head warrior.[65] With Tecumseh's death he became the head indigenous warrior of southwestern Upper Canada stoutly supporting the British. One oral story has that he moved Tecumseh's remains to the Walpole Island Reserve.(some dispute) A variation of that story has that he ordered his warriors to move Tecumseh's remains. Chief Oshawana was at the Battle of Frenchtown, Battle of Fort Detroit, and Siege of Fort Meigs. Sub chief Sassaba, brother of Chief Shin-ga-bo-wassin, was with Tecunseh's force at the Battle of the River Thames also.
- Chippewas of the Thames
- Chippewaas of Kettle and Stoney Point
- Caldwell or the Chippewas of Pelee Point
- Walpole Island
1814 March 4: The Battle of Longwoods
July 17: Battle of Prairie du Chien, the British commander at Fort Mackinac learned that the Americans were constructing a fort at Prairie du Chien. He immediately organized a force to put an end to it comprised of 150 British troops and 4-500 Native Americans. While the only native Americans at Macninac would have been Ojibwe or Chippewa they generally do not get credit for being part of the British force that took the Fort Prairie du Chien.
- Mackinac Chippewa
- Metis Voyageurs
- Santee Dacotah
- Menominee
- Winnebago (Ho-Chunk)
July 25: Battle of Lundy's Lane, The Mississaugas of New Credit were there.
July 26-Aug. 4: At Fort Mackinac the Americans were repulsed by a mixed force that included the Chippewa.
September 3: The Battle at Nottawasaga the Ojibwa were part of the defense force that met the Americans.
September 3 & 6: American gunboats USS Tigress and USS Scorpion were captured. Oral history has 200 Odawa and Ojibwa warriors, in 19 canoes, were involved in the surprise attack on Lake Huron. Offical accounts only acknowledge their presence giving the credit to 60 British in 4 boats.The outcome gave the British control of the Great Lakes.
1814 The U.S. Navy ordered the second USS Chippewa, but it was not completed. The third USS Chippewa ran aground and sank in the Bahamas.[64]
1814 Chief Orkopokeda of the Ojibways of Lake Superior at Nipigon led 40 warriors to the Sault to fight for the British.
1814 War ends with the Treaty of Ghent.
Article IX:
"The United States of America undertakes to terminate, immediately after the ratification of this Treaty, hostilities against all Indian tribes or nations with whom they might have been at war at the time of such ratification and to surrender - to such tribes or nations, respectively, all the possessions, rights and privileges which they might have enjoyed or to which they would have been entitled in 1811, before the hostilities. It being understood, always, that said tribes and nations will agree to renounce all hostilities against the United States of America, their citizens and their subjects, as soon as the ratification of the present treaty has been notified to said tribes and nations, which will cease hostilities Consequently.
( terms proposed by the British and accepted by the U.S. )
1793-1814 In 1847 the British awarded 96 Military General Service Medals to Indigenous warriors for their military service between 1793 and 1814. It was not an automatic award, the man had to request one for one of three specific battles. Immediately following the war, the British Army awarded flags and the Indian Department issued "King George III medals" dated 1814, as symbolic acts of gratitude and recognition to the Crown's native allies. To celebrate the bicentenial of the War of 1812, Canada minted new Queen Elzabeth II medals for the respective First Nations. New flags were issued as well.
1814 Pemmican Proclamation: The Governor of Assiniboia, Miles MacDonell, issued to the peoples of the Red River area a proclamation which became known as the Pemmican Proclamation. It was issued to stop exportation of pemmican from the Red River district. Nearly ever source states this was directed at the Métis people with no mention of the Saultaeaux or Ojibwa whose land it was.
1814-16 Fort Mississauga was built on the shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River. It was named for the Mississauga people.
1815 The British constructed two armed schooners to maintain their interests on the Great Lakes. One was named the HMS Tescumseth the other for an Ojibway Chief, the HMS Newash.