Description
About INDIANTOWN: An Ojibwe Village Becomes A Farm Community by Author Roselynn Ederer
This Indiantown book won the prestigious Michigan Historical Society Award! There is considerable amount of Michigan history in this book. The book covers all Michigan inhabitants from the Paleo-Indian Life about 10,000 B.C to the Woodland Life from 600 B.C. to A.D. 1600s when the Anishinabek—Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatimie—arrived in Michigan. Their lands were ceded to the U.S. Government in the Treaty of 1819. A group of Ojibwe settled near the Cheboyganing Creek when the U.S. Government granted land after 1850 to Chief Noc-a-chick-a-me, Medicine Man John Me-Squon-da, and Luke Ne-te-mop. It is in present-day Saginaw County, next to Bay and Tuscola Counties.
Several German immigrants from the same German state arrived during the late 1860s and worked in the Zilwaukee sawmills. When the Native Americans began selling their swamp land around Cheboyganing Creek in the 1870s, these German immigrants bought up the land, cleared it, began farming, and built a German Catholic community. Succeeding generations continued to farm and make improvements. Their industriousness, honesty, and good morals were passed from one generation to another. Indiantown became a part of the “Heartland of America”. It was communities like Indiantown that built America. American society is changing today just like Indiantown’s society is also changing.
Book Excerpt:
A band of Chippewa Indians lived along both sides of the Cheboyganing Creek for more than a century. The united States Government granted several acres of swampland after 1850 to local Indians-Chief Noc-a-chick-a-me, who signed the Treaty of 1819, Medicine Man John Me-Squon-da, and Luke Ne-te-mp, who lived to be 120 years old. Noc-a-chick-a-me’s son-in-law, David Shoppenagons, and King of Crow Island Frank Allore bought land from the Chippewa Indians. Their descendants began selling off their ancestors swampland in the 1870’s. Several German immigrants who arrived in the 1860s worked in the Zilwaukee sawmills, lived frugally, and saved their wages. They bought up the swampland and began farming. Eventually the settlement become a predominant of German Catholic community. The swampland became some of Buena Vista Township’s most fertile farmland. The community was called Indiantown. A thriving community exists today.
From Indiantown’s earliest and later settlers, there are thousands of descendants—grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins. They can be found all over Michigan and the United States and may be particularly interested in their ancestral genealogy. This book would also appeal to historical museums, and those history buffs who are interested in Michigan and Indian history.
The 288-page soft cover 8.5 x 11 book has 385 black and white images and an index. There are 24 chapters, each with its own Bibliography and Footnotes. The book cover front is artist painted based on a drawing by an Indiantown resident. The back cover has a painted version of the Cheboyganing Creek with black and white photos from the text.
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