Kechewaishke
Chief Buffalo was a major Ojibwa leader, born at La Pointe in Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, in what is now northern Wisconsin, USA.
Recognized as the principal chief of the Lake Superior Chippewa for nearly a half-century until his death in 1855, he led his nation into a treaty relationship with the United States Government. He signed treaties in 1825, 1826, 1837, 1842, 1847, and 1854. He was instrumental in resisting the United States' efforts to remove the Ojibwa to western areas and secured permanent Indian reservations for his people near Lake Superior in what is now Wisconsin.
Background
Political structure of the Lake Superior Ojibwa
Kechewaishke was born around 1759 at La Pointe on Madeline Island in the Shagawamikong region. Now part of Wisconsin, La Pointe was a key Ojibwa village and trading center for the empire of New France, which was fighting the Seven Years' War against Great Britain at the time of Kechewaishke's birth. Throughout the 18th century, the Ojibwa spread out from La Pointe into lands conquered from the Dakota people, and settled several village sites. These bands in the western Lake Superior and Mississippi River regions regarded La Pointe as their "ancient capital" and spiritual center. It had also become a center of trade.Traditional Ojibwa government and society centers around kinship clans, each symbolized by animal doodem. Each doodem had a traditional responsibility within the tribe. Kechewaishke, or Buffalo as he was known to Europeans, belonged to the Loon clan.
The Loon Clan was said to have been rising in prominence in the mid-18th-century due to the efforts of Andaigweos, Kechewaishke's grandfather. Andaigweos was born in the Shagawamikong region, son to a man described as "a Canadian Indian". At the time of first French contact in the mid-17th century, men of the Crane doodem held the positions of hereditary peace chiefs of Ojibwa communities at both Sault Ste. Marie and La Pointe. Andaigweos was a skilled orator and favorite of the French officials and voyageurs. In that period, leaders of the Cranes were concerned more with internal matters. By the 19th century, it was Kechewaishke's clan, the Loons, that was recognized as the principal chiefs at La Pointe.
Although the Loons were afforded respect as principal peace chiefs, this status was not permanent. The Cranes, led in Kechewaishke's time by his sub-chief Tagwagane, maintained that they were the hereditary chiefs. They said the Loons' status as spokesmen hinged upon recognition by the Cranes. A chief's power in Ojibwa society was based on persuasion and consensus, holding only as long as the community of elders, including the women, chose to respect and follow the chief's lead.
Image:Chequamegon1755.jpg|The Chequamegon Bay region as shown on a French map around the time of Buffalo's birth. Madeline Island is shown as I. S. Michel.|thumb|left|350px
Personal life
Sources conflict as to the identity of Kechewaishke's father, who may also have been named Andaigweos. He appears to have been a descendant or relative of the famous war chief Waubojeeg. When he was about 10, Kechewaishke and his parents moved from La Pointe to the vicinity of what is now Buffalo, New York, and lived there until about he was about 12. The family relocated to the Mackinac Island area for a while before returning to La Pointe. In his youth, Kechewaishke was admired as a skilled hunter and athlete.Like many Anishinaabe people, Kechewaishke was also known by another Ojibwa name, Peshickee. This has caused confusion in records of his life, in part because both names were very similar to those of other prominent contemporaries. Bizhiki was the name of a chief from the St. Croix Band, and also of a warrior of the Pillager Chippewa Band. Additionally, a leading member of the Caribou doodem and a son of Waubojeeg, in the Sault Ste. Marie area, was known by the name Waishikey. Scholars have mistakenly attributed aspects of the lives of all three of these men to Kechewaishke.
Kechewaishke had five wives and numerous children, many of whom became prominent Ojibwa leaders in the reservation era. He practiced the Midewiwin religion, but converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed.
Views on international relations
Few details of Kechewaishke's early life are known. He appears to have been favored by British traders and decorated by British authorities, but few Ojibwa from Lake Superior fought in the American Revolution or the War of 1812, and there is no record of his participation.When Tecumseh's War broke out, Kechewaishke and a number of other young warriors from the La Pointe area abandoned the Midewiwin for a time to follow the teachings of the Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa. While en route to Prophetstown to join the attack on the Americans, they were stopped by Michel Cadotte, the respected Métis fur trader from La Pointe. Cadotte convinced Kechewaishke and the others that it would be fruitless to fight the Americans.
After that incident, Kechewaishke is recorded as using only peaceful tactics in his relations with the United States, though he often opposed US Indian policy. He also drew a contrast between himself and his contemporaries Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay and Hole in the Day, two Ojibwa chiefs from present-day Minnesota, who carried out a long war against the Dakota Sioux people.
Image:BruleBattle.jpeg|This image of the Battle of the Brule appeared in the 1891 memoirs of Buffalo's adopted son and personal interpreter, Benjamin Armstrong. Armstrong describes being present at this major defensive victory for Buffalo's Ojibwa over a Dakota war party.|thumb|right|300px
Although Armstrong records Kechewaishke winning a large victory over the Dakota in the 1842 Battle of the Brule, 20th-century historians have cast doubt on his account. That year Kechewaishke was recorded as saying he "never took a scalp in his life, though he had taken prisoners whom he fed and well-treated." Overall, he seems to have supported efforts at peace between the Ojibwa and Dakota.
Kechewaishke not only inherited the status afforded his family, but also had skills praised in his grandfather Andaigweos. Noted for his abilities in hunting and battle, he was recognized as chief by his people because of his speaking and oratorical skills, which were highly valued in his culture. By the time the Ojibwa of Wisconsin and Minnesota started treaty negotiations with the US Government, Kechewaishke was recognized as one of the primary spokesmen for all the bands, not just for the Ojibwa from La Pointe.
Treaties of 1825 and 1826
In 1825, Kechewaishke was one of 41 Ojibwa leaders to sign the First Treaty of Prairie du Chien, with his name recorded as "Gitspee Waishkee" or La Boeuf. He is listed third after Shingabawossin, who was recognized as head of the Crane doodem at Sault Ste. Marie, and therefore of the whole Ojibwa nation, which was a loose confederacy of bands. Second in the list was chief "Gitspee Jiuaba". The treaty, which the US Government advanced as a pretext to end hostilities between the Dakota and their neighbors, required all American Indian tribes and bands in and around Wisconsin and Iowa to delineate where their territories began and ended. Although the treaty did not state this goal, the US used information it acquired to negotiate to gain Indian lands and remove the nations westward.A year later, the US and Ojibwa signed the Treaty of Fond du Lac at a meeting at Lake Superior's western edge. The signatories were listed by band, and Kechewaishke, recorded as Peezhickee, signed as the first chief from La Pointe. The treaty, mainly dealing with mineral rights for Ojibwa lands in what is now Michigan, had little immediate effect but foreshadowed future treaties. Kechewaishke did not speak on the copper issue. He praised the US officials for their ability to keep their young people under their control, and asked for whiskey to accomplish the same ends among the younger members of his band. When the agent presented him with a silver medal as a symbol of his chieftainship, Kechewaishke said that his power was based in his clan and reputation, and not from anything received from the U.S. government.
Shortly after the treaties were signed, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, acting in his capacity as US Indian agent, visited La Pointe. He reprimanded Kechewaishke for not stopping the continuing sporadic warfare between the Ojibwa and Dakota. Kechewaishke replied that he was unable to stop the young men of Lac Courte Oreilles, St. Croix, Lac du Flambeau or other bands beyond La Pointe from fighting the Dakota. Historians take this to mean that while he was regarded as the head spokesman of the Ojibwa in Wisconsin, he could not control the day-to-day affairs of all the bands, which were highly decentralized, particularly with respect to warfare. Kechewaishke also said that, unlike the British before the War of 1812, the U.S. government had not done enough to maintain peace among the tribes.
Treaties of 1837 and 1842
In the next decades, there was pressure from Americans who wanted to exploit the mineral and timber resources of Ojibwa country, and the US government sought to acquire control of the territory through treaties. The Treaties of 1837 and 1842 covered La Pointe and territories held by other bands over which Kechewaishke held considerable influence. In both treaties, Americans recognized his position as the principal chief of all the Lake Superior Ojibwa."Pine Tree" treaty
In the Treaty of St. Peters, the government sought the pine timber resources on Ojibwa lands. It intended to float the harvested timber southwest into the Mississippi River. The negotiations took place at Fort Snelling, near present-day Minneapolis. The delegations from Minnesota and the St. Croix area arrived first and began discussions on July 20. The assembled chiefs awaited Kechewaishke's judgment before deciding to approve the treaty. Despite the impatience of the territorial governor, Henry Dodge, the negotiations were delayed for five days as the assembled bands waited for Kechewaishke to arrive. While other chiefs spoke about the terms of mineral rights and annuity amounts, Kechewaishke discussed treatment of mixed-blood traders, saying:Once the terms were agreed to, Kechewaishke marked and was recorded as Pe-zhe-ke, head of the La Pointe delegation. Although he and the other Lake Superior chiefs signed, they were said to be quieter than the Mississippi Chippewa chiefs during the negotiations. Historian Satz says this symbolized disagreement rather than acceptance of the terms of the treaty. Lyman Warren, a trader and interpreter from La Pointe, later complained that the Pillagers had been bribed into selling the lands rightfully belonging to the Wisconsin bands.
Kechewaishke expressed his misgivings over the treaty negotiations in a letter to Governor Dodge, writing:
"The Indians acted like children; they tried to cheat each other and got cheated themselves. When it comes my turn to sell my land, I do not think I shall give it up as they did." Regarding possible future land cessions, he said: "Father I speak for my people, not for myself. I am an old man. My fire is almost out—there is but little smoke. When I sit in my wigwam & smoke my pipe, I think of what has past and what is to come, and it makes my heart shake. When business comes before us, we will try and act like Chiefs. If any thing is to be done, it had better be done straight."