Jean-Baptiste Assiginack (1768 - 3 November 1866) was an

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...

leader in the early 19th-century. He was also known as "Blackbird," a literal translation of his name in the Anishinaabe language.

Early Life and War of 1812

Assiginack is thought to have been at what is now

Harbor Springs, Michigan Harbor Springs is a city and resort community in Emmet County, Michigan. The population was 1,194 in the 2010 census. Harbor Springs is in a sheltered bay on the north shore of the Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan. The Little Traverse Lig ...

. Early in life he studied at a Sulpician school at the mission of

Oka Oka or OKA may refer to: Cars * Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ * OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA Military * 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mor ...

in Lower Canada where he became a Catholic. He seems to have fought with the British at

Michilimackinac Michilimackinac ( ) is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire regio ...

and Praries du Chien during the War of 1812. In July 1813, Assiginack and Captain Matthew Elliott led a band of Ottawas to the

Niagara peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

. There they added to the British infantry and fought in the Beaver Dams battle. Possibly, Assiginack was subsequently honored with medals for his role in the war. Starting in 1815 he was an interpreter for the British Government on

Drummond Island Drummond may refer to: Places Antarctica * Drummond Peak, King Edward VII Land * Drummond Glacier, Graham Land Canada * Drummond (electoral district), a Quebec federal riding * Drummond (provincial electoral district), Quebec * Drummond ...

After the War of 1812

After the war, in 1815, the Indian Department at

hired Assiginack as an interpreter. There he met Captain Thomas Gummersall Anderson, and a long friendship grew between the two men. Assiginack's command of several Indian dialects proved a crucial asset for the Indian Department’s operations in the northern Great Lakes area. Starting in 1827 he returned to Harbor Springs to work as a Catholic missionary, hoping a priest would soon join him, but had to carry out the efforts of Catholicizing the local Ojibwe population all on his own. After the 1828 transfer of Drummon Island to the United States Assiginack lead a large number of Ojibwe to relocate to

Penetanguishene Penetanguishene , sometimes shortened to Penetang, is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeasterly tip of Georgian Bay. Incorporated on February 22, 1882, this bilingual ( French and English) community has a populat ...

. In 1832 he relocated to Coldwater, Ontario. He had continued his Catholic evangelizing activities, and at Coldwater convinced the prominent Chippewa leader

John Aisance John Aisance (Ojibwe name Aisance) was a chief among the Chippewas of Lakes Huron and Simcoe and leader of the Otter clan of that people from at least 1815 until his death in 1847. He participated in the Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Purchase in 1815, ...

to switch from being a Methodist to being a Catholic.

Move to Manitoulin Island

In 1836, Assiginack took part in the foundation of a new pan-Indigenous community on

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...

. Assiginack remained an important among the diverse communities that resettled here, and he was especially prominent among the Ojibwe who settled in the area around

Manitowaning Assiginack () is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on Manitoulin Island. An Ontario Historical Plaque was built on the grounds of the Assiginack Museum by the province to commemorate the Manitoulin Treaties' role in Ontario' ...

. Over the following years, Assiginack remained committed to the old alliance with the British and he generally supported various British treaties over the coming years. In 1862 he was the leading spokesman for the British treaty while one of his sons, Edowishkosh, was a leading spokesman for the opposition faction based around

Wikwemikong The Wiikwemkoong First Nation is a First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory (nicknamed Wiky, previously named Wikwemikong) is the First Nation reserve in the northeast of Manitoulin Island in Manit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assiginack, Jean-Baptiste 1768 births 1866 deaths British Indian Department Ojibwe people Odawa people Converts to Roman Catholicism People from Harbor Springs, Michigan Native American people from Michigan