Historical accounts relinquish unity

Observer Staff

7/5/2005 12:00:00 AM

Gathering to pay homage and celebrate the thread that runs through all of life, a diverse mass congregated to enjoy music, dancing, food and friendship on the ancestral grounds of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

Sacred traditions were found in this coming together of people during the third annual Chi-Asin Powwow in Chesaning from June 17-19.

Educational workshops and cultural sharing offered in the Talking Circle bestowed guidance to reunion participants as they were enlightened with "The Spirits Around Us" and other memories reminisced.

The pre-contact era was a time of living from Mother Earth's bounty. Fishing, hunting and wooded land was plentiful. Our ancestor's population, through archaeological evidence is said to have been estimated at 40 million. European contact brought disease such as smallpox to the ancestors. Europeans had been exposed to the micro-organisms for centuries, but our ancestors had no immunity to this disease. The population diminished and entire villages/nations were wiped out from the devastating disease.

Clashes between Tribes and early settlers proved to be disastrous. Land set apart for our ancestors known as Chi Asin (The Big Rock) would soon have squatters infringe upon it. A Chesaning Historical Society member recalled her grandfather telling her about squatters who put up log homes on Chi Asin. Our ancestors were forced to watch their land mass disappear.

Through much persuasion, General Lewis Cass with the help of an interpreter, took lands belonging to the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa. Our chief speaker was O-ge-maw-ke-ke-to. He was absolutely opposed to treaties. Here are some of his words to Cass, "You do not know our wishes. Our people wonder what has brought you so far away from your homes. Your young men have invited us to come and light the council fire. We are here to smoke the pipe of peace, but not to sell our lands."

On Sept. 24, 1819, our ancestors and the U.S. government entered into a treaty. The treaty rook Michigan land away from our ancestors and placed it into the hands of the federal government. Article 2 lists the tracts of land reserved for several bands of Chippewa Indians. Item No. 11 of Article 2 reads: One tract of 10,000 acres, on the Shiawassee River, at a place called The Big Rock. Chi Asin was the result of the treaty.

Originally, there were two very large rocks in Chesaning. One stood on the banks of the Shiawassee River in town and the other marked the boundary of the Chi Asin reservation to the west of Chesaning.

Our ancestors, traveling by canoe, used the Shiawassee River as a popular trade route from Chesaning to Saginaw. Along the banks of the flowing Shiawassee River are the remains of a massive boulder. Next to the remains of the rock stands an extremely large tree. Our ancestors used the rock as a marker while traveling. The Chi Asin (Big Rock) was also a place of spirituality. Our ancestors would meet at the rock to pray to the Creator and hold council.

In 1842 the rock was blasted with dynamite and destroyed to build a dam for a gristmill. The place of spirituality was destroyed, but the blood memory remains. Small pieces of the large rock still remain and circle the trunk a centuries-old tree. Today, the peaceful wooded area is now a park enjoyed by Natives and non-Natives alike.

The other Chis Asin, which was the reservation boundary rock to the west of Chesaning, stands in an elementary school playground. Though the rock remains where our ancestors once lived, it is covered with graffiti and has had many chunks of its exterior removed for token souvenirs.

-Information provided from the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways