Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish (also spelled with various transliterations as Mashipinashiwish, Me-chee-pee-nai-she-insh, Mash-i-pi-wish , Mitch-e-pe-nain-she-wish, or Mat-che-pee-na-che-wish) was a hereditary chief of a

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

group in what is now Michigan. The Potawatomi are one of the peoples of the

Council of Three Fires The Council of Three Fires (in oj, label=Anishinaabe, Niswi-mishkodewinan, also known as the People of the Three Fires; the Three Fires Confederacy; or the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians) is a long-standing Anishina ...

; the others are the

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 ...

and the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, all Algonquian-language speakers.

Life

Post-American Revolution activities

Listed by the United States by English name of Bad Bird and as a Chippewa (Ojibwe), the chief made his sign on the

Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples, ...

, in 1795, which ended the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...

after the defeat of the

Western Confederacy The Northwestern Confederacy, or Northwestern Indian Confederacy, was a loose confederacy of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States created after the American Revolutionary War. Formally, the confederacy referred to it ...

. (The Chippewa were closely allied with the Potawatomi and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

in the

). This treaty was signed by chiefs of those three tribes and others that had been part of the

. The bands ceded considerable territory in present-day Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, allowing settlement by European Americans in what the U.S. called the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

, an area north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi. The

1821 Treaty of Chicago The Treaty of Chicago may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in the settlement that became Chicago, Illinois between the United States and the Odaawaa (anglicized Ottawa), Ojibwe (anglicized Chippewa), and Bodéwadmi (anglicized P ...

, which Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish signed on August 29, 1821, there listed as an Ottawa, reserved a three mile-square tract for an Indian village at the head of the

Kalamazoo River The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch.U.S. Geologica ...

(spelled then as ''Kekalamazoo''). The present-day city of

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

developed at this site. Bad Bird was identified as signing the US

Treaty with the Potawatomi During the first half of the 19th century, several treaties were concluded between the United States of America and the Native American tribe of the Potawatomi. These treaties concerned the cession of lands by the tribe, and were part of a l ...

, of September 19, 1827, by which he ceded the Kalamazoo tract reserved for the Indian village to the U.S. He did not sign the 1828 Treaty with the Potawatomi, which ceded additional land in southwest Michigan to the U.S. He did sign the 1832 U.S. Treaty with the Potawatomi, which also ceded additional land in the area. The ''

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; french: Dictionnaire biographique du Canada) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a ...

'' estimates that Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish (Bad Bird) was born about 1735 and died about 1805. It does not attest to his signing the treaties from 1821 to 1832 with the United States. The dates suggest that perhaps a younger man of the same name signed these treaties. The

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

in the United States known as the

Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people in Michigan named for a 19th-century Ojibwe chief. They were formerly known as the Gun Lake Band of Grand River Ottawa Indi ...

of Pottawatomi (formerly known as the

Gun Lake Band The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people in Michigan named for a 19th-century Ojibwe chief. They were formerly known as the Gun Lake Band of Grand River Ottawa Indi ...

) is based in Dorr, Michigan in

Allegan County Allegan County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 120,502. The county seat is Allegan. The name was coined by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to sound like a Native American word. Alle ...

. They renamed their tribe after this chief, as its members trace their descent from him and his wife.

References

Native American leaders Native Americans of the Northwest Indian War Potawatomi people People from Michigan 1730s births 1800s deaths Indigenous people of Pontiac's War {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub