Account of the Indians' Roving Disposition, Their Feasts and Their
Customs--Saluting Arbor Croche Every Spring of the Year--How the
Catholic Religion was Introduced Among the Ottawas--The Missions--
Signing of the Treaty, March 8, 1836.
I will again return to my narrative respecting how the Ottawas used to
live and travel to and fro in the State of Michigan, and how they came
to join the Catholic religion at Arbor Croche. Early in the spring we
used to come down this beautiful stream of water (Muskegon River) in
our long bark canoes, loaded with sugar, furs, deer skins, prepared
venison for summer use, bear's oil, and bear meat prepared in oil, deer
tallow, and sometimes a lot of honey, etc. On reaching the mouth of
this river we halted for five or six days, when all the other Indians
gathered, as was customary, expressly to feast for the dead. All the
Indians and children used to go around among the camps and salute one
another with the words, "Ne-baw-baw-tche-baw-yew," that is to say, "I
am or we are going around as spirits," feasting and throwing food into
the fire--as they believe the spirits of the dead take the victuals and
eat as they are consumed in the fire.
After the feast of the dead, we would all start for Arbor Croche, our
summer resort, to plant our corn and other vegetables. At the crossing
of Little Traverse Bay at the point called "Ki-tche-ossening," that is
to say, "on the big rock," all the Indians waited until all the canoes
arrived, after which they would all start together in crossing the bay.
When about half way across they would begin to salute Arbor Croche by
shooting with guns, holding them close to the water in order that the
sound might reach to each side of the bay, to be heard by those few who
always made their winter quarters around Little Traverse Bay. Arriving
at Arbor Croche, where our big wigwam would be waiting for us--of which
I have spoken in previous chapters--the very first thing my parents
would do would be to go and examine their stores of corn and beans.
After all the Indians arrived and had settled down, they would again
have a prolonged merriment and another feasting of the dead and peace
offerings. Grand medicine dances, fire dances, and many other jubilant
performances my people would have before they would go to work again to
plant their corn. I distinctly remember the time, and I have seen my
brothers and myself dancing around the fires in our great wigwam, which
had two fireplaces inside of it.
About in 1824, there was an Indian came from Montreal whose name was
Andowish, and who formerly belonged to Arbor Croche. He was among the
Stockbridge Indians somewhere near Montreal, and this tribe speak a
dialect of the Ottawa and Chippewa languages, and most of them by this
time had joined the Catholic church. So Andowish, by their influence,
also joined the Catholic religion out there with the Stockbridge
Indians. Coming back to Arbor Croche, where he formerly belonged, he
began to teach some of his own relatives the faith of the Catholic
religion, which some of them were very ready to receive, but he could
not baptize them. Therefore, parties of Indians went to Mackinac
Island, headed by the principal chief of the Seven Mile Point band of
Indians, whose name was A-paw-kau-se-gun, to see some of their half-
breed relations at the island, relating to them how they felt with
regard to Christianity, and asking advice as to what they should do in
the matter. These half-breed relatives promised they would do all they
could to cause the priest to come up to Arbor Croche and baptize all
those Indians who felt disposed to receive the religion. Therefore in
1825 Rev. Father Baden, an old priest, came up with his interpreters
and landed at Seven Mile Point, and baptized quite a number of grown
folks, and a great many children were taken into the Catholic religion.
At this time, I was also baptized by Rev. Father Baden; I was small,
but I distinctly remember having the water poured over my head and
putting some salt in my mouth, and changing my name from Pe-ness-wi-
qua-am to Amable. The mission was then established at Seven Mile Point,
where a church was built with poles and covered with cedar bark. This
was the very way that the first religion was introduced among the
Ottawas, although everybody supposes that some white people or
missionary societies brought the Christian religion among the Ottawa
tribes of Indians at Arbor Croche.
My uncle, Au-se-go-nock, had before this joined the Catholic religion.
He was living at that time at Drummond's Island with the British
people, where all the Ottawas and Chippewas used to go every summer to
receive presents from the British Government. And when he learned that
his people had joined the Catholic faith, he left his home at
Drummond's Island and came to Arbor Croche expressly to act as
missionary in the absence of the priest. Every Sunday he preached to
his people and taught them how to pray to God and to the Virgin Mary
and all the saints and angels in heaven. At that time printed books
containing prayers and hymns in the Stockbridge Indian language, which
is a dialect of the Ottawa and Chippewa languages, were brought from
Montreal, and could be quite intelligently understood by the Ottawas.
By this time many Indians began to be stationary; they did not go
south, as heretofore, but remained and made their winter quarters at
Arbor Croche.
About 1827, after several councils, it was determined to remove the
Mission from Seven Mile Point to Little Traverse, and a French priest
whose name was Dejan arrived expressly to remain there and carry on the
new mission established at Little Traverse. A log church was built at
the new mission, which stood very near where the present church is now
standing, and a log school house was built just where the Star Hotel
now stands, and also a log house for the priest to live in, which is
standing to this day nearest the church, but it has been covered with
siding boards since. In the fall of 1827, my father left his subjects
at Arbor Croche proper, now Middle Village, in charge of his brother,
Kaw-me-no-te-a, which means Good-heart, as he was persuaded by other
chiefs to come and establish himself where the mission was and send his
children to school. There were only three Indian log houses at that
time in Little Traverse, one belonging to my uncle, Au-se-ge-nock, one
for Joseph Au-saw-gon, my father's messenger, and another to Peter Sho-
min. But we and all other Indians lived in wigwams, and all the Indians
were dressed in Indian style. Rev. Mr. Dejan brought with him one
Frenchman from Detroit named Joseph Letorenue as school teacher, and
two girls from Mackinac Island as domestic servants, and an old nun,
whose real name I never learned, and knew only as "Sister." She was
exceedingly kind to Indian children and we all liked her very much. The
log school house was used as a dwelling as well as a school house, as
all the boys and girls who attended school were kept there continually,
same as boarding school. The larger boys and girls were taught
household duties and to cook for the scholars. The children were kept
quite clean. The French teacher took very great pains to teach them
good manners, and they were taught no other but the French language. In
the spring of the year each family of Indians contributed one large
mocok [Footnote: A kind of box made of birch bark.] of sugar which
weighed from eighty to one hundred pounds, which Priest Dejan would
empty into barrels, and then go down to Detroit with it to buy dry
goods, returning with cloth with which to clothe his Indian children.
Rev. Mr. Dejan did not say mass on week days, only on Sundays. He
visited the Indians a good deal during the week days, purposely to
instruct them in the manners and customs of the white man, ordering
things generally how to be done, and how the women should do towards
their domestic callings, not to work out of doors, and to take good
care of what belonged to their household. Mr. Dejan was a great friend
of Col. Boyd, Indian Agent at Mackinac, and in the second year of the
school, Mr. Boyd's two sons, James and George, wintered with the priest
at the mission, and were very great friends to the Indians.
In two years schooling the children progressed very much, both in
reading the French language, and in learning the manners and customs of
the white man. But, alas, this was carried on only two years. There was
some trouble between Rev. Mr. Dejan and Bishop Reese of Detroit,
consequently Mr. Dejan was removed from the mission, and Rev. Mr.
Baraga was put in instead in the year 1830. He promised to do the same
as his predecessor in regard to carrying on the Indian school at Little
Traverse; but he did not. He did not give as good care to the children
as his predecessor, and he did not teach them anything but Indian and
the catechism. He, however, made and published a prayer book in the
Ottawa language and a short Bible History. Before two years the
boarding school was out of existence at Little Traverse, and Mr. Baraga
went away to Lake Superior, where some time afterwards he was made
Bishop. After he was in the Lake Superior country he published some
more books, such as Odjebwe dictionary and Odjebwe grammar, which were
very hard to understand to one unacquainted with the Indian language,
and he also made a new catechism. Father Simon succeeded Mr. Baraga,
and did about the same thing with regard to educating the Indian
youths, as did also Father Pierce after Simon, and many others from
time to time up to this day.
The Indians were very strict in their religion at this time. They did
not allow any drunkenness in their village, nor allow any one to bring
intoxicating liquors within the Harbor. If any person, white or Indian,
brought any liquor into the Harbor, by the barrel or in small
quantities, and it came to the knowledge of the old chief, Au-paw-ko-
si-gan, who was the war chief, but was acting as principal chief at
Little Traverse, he would call out his men to go and search for the
liquor, and if found he would order him men to spill the whisky on the
ground by knocking the head of a barrel with an ax, telling them not to
bring any more whisky into the Harbor, or wherever the Ottawas are,
along the coast of Arbor Croche. This was the end of it, there being no
law suit for the whisky.
They used to observe many holidays, particularly Christmas, New Years
and Corpus Christi. At the New Year's eve, every one of the Indians
used to go around visiting the principal men of the tribe, shooting
their guns close to their doors after screaming three times, "Happy New
Year," then bang, bang, altogether, blowing their tin horns and beating
their drums, etc. Early on the New Year's morning, they would go around
among their neighbors expressly to shake hands one with another, with
the words of salutation, "Bozhoo," children and all. This practice was
kept up for a long time, or until the white people came and
intermingled with the tribes.
I thought my people were very happy in those days, when they were all
by themselves and possessed a wide spread of land, and no one to
quarrel with them as to where they should make their gardens, or take
timber, or make sugar. And fishes of all kinds were so plentiful in the
Harbor. A hook anywheres in the bay, and at any time of the year, would
catch Mackinaw trout, many as one would want. And if a net were set
anywheres in the harbor on shallow water, in the morning it would be
loaded with fishes of all kinds. Truly this was a beautiful location
for the mission. Every big council of the Indians was transacted in the
village of Little Traverse.
I will mention one or two more things which it might be interesting to
my readers to know. Up to 1835 and some time afterwards, there was a
very large double cedar tree, which appeared to have been stuck
together while they were growing, but were two separate trees of the
same size and height growing very close together, standing very near
the edge of the water, and leaning very much towards the bay, almost
like a staircase projecting far out into the bay. Under the roots of
these trees issued a perpetual spring of water, which is now called Mr.
Carlow's Spring, near the present depot. In the fall of 1835, I was
clear at the top of those trees, with my little chums, watching our
people as they were about going off in a long bark canoe, and, as we
understood, they were going to Washington to see the Great Father, the
President of the United States, to tell him to have mercy on the Ottawa
and Chippewa Indians in Michigan, not to take all the land away from
them. I saw some of our old Indian women weeping as they watched our
principal men going off in the canoe. I suppose they were feeling bad
on account of not knowing their future destinies respecting their
possession of the land. After they all got in the canoe, just as they
were going to start, they all took off their hats, crossed themselves
and repeated the Lord's prayer; at the end of the prayer, they crossed
themselves again, and then away they went towards the Harbor Point. We
watched them until they disappeared in rounding the point.
March 28th, 1836, a treaty was signed at Washington, not with the free
will of the Indians, but by compulsion. That same year we received the
first annuity at Mackinac Island, our trading post, $10 cash per head,
beside dry goods and provisions. There was a stipulation expressed in
the 7th clause of the 4th article of said treaty, that there was to be
given to the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan $150,000 worth of
dry goods until all was paid out. There is said to have been paid out
on the first payment in 1836, about $10,000, which would then leave a
balance of $140,000. At this time the Ottawas and Chippewas held a big
council and concluded to ask the Government for cash instead of dry
goods; because they saw that there was a great deal of waste in
distributing the goods among them, as there were lots of remnants, and
much of it left after distribution which they never knew what became
of. Therefore their belief respecting it was that the Government
officials had appropriated to themselves some of these dry goods and
given away freely to their white friends and relatives. After
conclusion of the council, they came before the Indian agent, Hon. H.
Schoolcraft, and presented their views and their request in this
matter. He told them that he could not give them any conclusive reply
upon this subject, but that he would make known their wishes to their
Great Father at Washington, and would inform them thereafter. That was
the last of it. In the next payment there were neither goods nor money
instead, as they requested, and no reply ever came to this day. It was
also stipulated that at the expiration of twenty-one years, $20,000 was
to be given to the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, that is, one year after
the expiration of the payment of their annuities. And where are those
lawful promises gone to now? Alas! when we inquire of them to the head
department they refer us to the third article of the Treaty of 1855,
where it is worded, "That the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians hereby
release and discharge the United States from all liability on account
of former treaty stipulations, either land or money," etc. But this
part of the stipulation was never explained to them at the Council of
Detroit, as they would never have consented to it, and would not have
signed the contract. We did not know anything about it, but some time
after we saw it with our own eyes, printed in the pamphlet form of the
contract, where our names had been already subscribed to it. Then it
was too late to make any remedy in the matter.