The Tragedy of the Siskiwit was an event that took place in the pre-contact history of 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 ...

and

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...

(Fox) Indian nations in present-day

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. As part of an ongoing series of conflicts between the two nations, a chief's son was kidnapped, and both groups had their camps destroyed.

Background

The Ojibwe occupied

Madeline Island ''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series a ...

as early as the 15th century, but were prevented from expanding onto mainland present-day Wisconsin by the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

. The Meskwaki arrived in the 17th century, pushed west by the disturbances caused in their homelands by the

French and Iroquois Wars The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...

. During this time period, the Ojibwe, Dakota and Meskwaki all competed for control of northern Wisconsin.

The story

William Whipple Warren William Whipple Warren (May 27, 1825 – June 1, 1853) was a historian, interpreter, and legislator in the Minnesota Territory. The son of Lyman Marcus Warren, an American fur trader and Mary Cadotte, the Ojibwe-Metis daughter of fur trader M ...

dates the Tragedy of the Siskiwit to the time between 1612 and 1671.The date of the Tragedy of the Siskiwit, implied by William Whipple Warren to be between 1612 and 1671, seems questionable. The younger ''Bayaaswaa'' was the father of Broken Tooth who was a child in 1763—therefore it would be impossible (or at least very improbable) that the younger ''Bayaaswaa'' was a boy before 1671. However, it is also stated that a branch of the younger ''Bayaaswaa''′s war party led by ''Waa-miigisagoo'' founded the village of ''Wayekwaa-gichigamiing'' ( Fond du Lac) where Sieur du Lhut met with the Anishinaabe in 1679 (which would make Warren's dates possible). Though centered at La Pointe on Madeline Island, the Ojibwe maintained seasonal camps along the south shore of Lake Superior. One such camp was at Siskiwit Bay near present-day

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

Bayfield County, Wisconsin Bayfield County is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population is 16,220. Its county seat is Washburn. The county was created in 1845 and organized in 1850. The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior C ...

. Warren calls the bay in question Kah-puk-wi-e-kah, located forty miles west of La Pointe. The Ojibwe spring camp at the Siskiwit was attacked by the Meskwaki while Chief ''Bayaaswaa'' was away hunting. Upon his return, the chief found all the people had been killed except for his young son and an old man. The two captives were brought to the Meskwaki camp to be tortured and executed. ''Bayaaswaa'' followed the group, watched as the old man was killed and saw his son being readied to burn. The father, seeing it as the only way to save his son, offered himself in exchange. The Meskwaki, moved by the old man's actions released the son. In one version of the story, ''Bayaaswaa'' went to his death fighting and had to be taken down by several men. The son, meanwhile, returned to the main body of Ojibwe at La Pointe and began to raise a war expedition composed of Ojibwes from bands all around Lake Superior. This large force marched against the Meskwaki, destroyed six villages and pushed the Meskwaki further inland.

Aftermath

The son, after the defeat of the Meskwaki, became a respected leader and took his father's name ''Bayaaswaa''. ''Bayaaswaa'' the younger led several wars against the Dakota that allowed the Ojibwe to move into present-day

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Among his other accomplishments was the abolition of torture among the Great Lakes tribes. Immediately after the expedition to avenge the elder ''Bayaaswaa'', a small part of the war party under the leadership of ''Waa-miigisagoo'' founded an Ojibwe village at Fond du Lac. The Tragedy of the Siskiwit was a major event in the Ojibwe penetration of mainland Wisconsin. This and other conflicts between the two tribes would not end until the early 18th century, when the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

supported their Native allies in two wars of extermination with the Meskwaki that drove them out of northern Wisconsin and decimated their numbers to the point where they had to seek refuge with the Sauk Nation.

Accounts

Knowledge of the event comes from the oral history of the Red Cliff and Bad River Ojibwe bands, and two written accounts from the 1850s.

describes the tragedy in his 1851 ''History of the Ojibway People''. In an 1859 account by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

adventurer

Johann Georg Kohl Johann Georg Kohl (28 April 1808, in Bremen – 28 October 1878) was a German travel writer, historian, and geographer. Life Son of a wine merchant, he attended a gymnasium in Bremen, and then studied law at the universities of Göttingen, Hei ...

the author describes having the story related to him by a descendant of the men involved through the reading of

birch bark scrolls ''Wiigwaasabak'' (in Anishinaabe syllabics: , plural: ''wiigwaasabakoon'' ) are birch bark scrolls, on which the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) people of North America wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes, also known as a "written language." ...

. A historical marker in

Cornucopia, Wisconsin Cornucopia is an unincorporated census-designated place in the town of Bell in northern Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on Lake Superior at the northern end of the Bayfield Peninsula. It is along Wisconsin Highway 13 an ...

commemorates the tragedy.

Notes

References