Bmadzewen (life) and our existence are in tune with the environment. We interact with our world in concurrent cycles of four, understanding that physical and spiritual realms are always in motion. Our sacred medicines, lifecycles, directional powers, and the creation and destruction of world progress on this principle. Governing our ancient world was the season. Each season warranted and prohibited …
For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes have harvested cranberries in dgwaget. Our word for cranberry, bokmen, describes how the fruit grows on low hanging vines near the water of swamps and bogs. The highly nutritious and antioxidant rich berries were used by our ancestors as seasonal fare, medicinal teas, natural dye and ornamentation. Today, Wisconsin is …
Daniel Bourassa was the son of French-Canadian fur trader Rene Bourassa and Anne Chevalier. He was born on October 8, 1752 on Mackinac Island, Canada. After the French and Indian War, Daniel and his family moved to Fort Detroit. With the British now controlling the fur trade in the region, more lucrative opportunities became available. At the age of 34, …
Born June 22, 1780, Daniel II was the son of Daniel Bourassa and Marguerite Bertrand. Descending from a family of fur traders, Daniel took after his father and became an agent for John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. On March 15, 1808, Daniel married a Nishnabe woman named Theotis Pisange. Theotis’ father was Ojibwe and her mother was Odawa, believed …
Joseph Napoleon Bourassa was born March 19, 1810 in Michigan, the eldest child of Daniel Bourassa II and Theotis Pisange. As a youth, Joseph and his brother Jude were enrolled at the school at Carey Mission, under the guidance of Baptist missionaries Reverend Isaac McCoy and Dr. Johnston Lykins. Excellent students, both were invited to attend the Hamilton Literary & …
Jude Bourassa was born April 19, 1814 near the Galien River in southwest Michigan. He was the third son of Daniel Bourassa II and Theotis Pisange. With his older brother Joseph Napoleon, Jude was enrolled at the school at Carey Mission, under the instruction of Baptist missionaries Dr. Johnston Lykins and Reverend Isaac McCoy. An apt pupil, Jude was invited …
Like many French-Canadian settlers with ties to the Potawatomi, the Brunos were once successful fur traders and trappers. Anthony Bruneau was the son of a French settler and an unknown Blackfoot woman from around Browning, Montana. Anthony was born in Canada, and family records indicate the Potawatomi may have adopted him. Anthony married a woman named Julia, and they had …
French fur trader William Burnett settled on the St. Joseph River near Niles, Michigan, after the Revolutionary War. He established two successful trading posts and eventually married Kaukima, daughter of revered Bodéwadmi leader Nanaquiba and sister to Topinabee. Kaukima and William had seven children: James, Abraham, John, Isaac, Jacob, Nancy and Rebecca. Abraham attended Choctaw Academy in Kentucky, which the …
For thousands of years, Native tribes settled the region of present-day Chicago. Chegago is a Potawatomi word that described the area’s smell, commonly thought to be wild onions. The land was secured in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, with the goal of controlling the strategic portage of Lake Michigan to the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. Fort Dearborn Built by Captain …
Chopa was the daughter of Naunongee, respected warrior and leader among the Calumet Potawatomi of southern Lake Michigan. She was also the aunt to famed warriors Mad Sturgeon, White Sturgeon and Clear Day. Upon her marriage to François Chevalier, she took the Christian name of Marianne. Receiving several land grants from the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, the couple settled around …