The Treaty of Saginaw was signed on Sept. 24, 1819. To commemorate this historical event, the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan will be opening a new exhibit, “Native Treaties: Shared Rights.”

The exhibit was created by the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, with the assistance of project partners, the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, and CMU’s Office of Native American Programs. Funding for this exhibit was provided by the George and Edith Cook Family Besser Museum Fund held at the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan.

“The Besser Museum’s 1923 Percy Ives painting, ‘Treaty of Saginaw,’ will also be on display,” said Christine Witulski, executive director of Besser Museum. “The painting depicts the 1819 meeting in Saginaw between Lewis Cass and thousands of Anishinabe representatives from Ojibway, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes. Cass, then Governor of Northwest Territories, was commissioned by the United States to enter negotiations for a 6-million-acre tract of land in the lower eastern part of Michigan along the shores the Lake Huron. The northern boundary line of the Treaty of Saginaw followed the Thunder Bay River from the head in Montmorency County to the mouth at Thunder Bay in Alpena. Today, a plaque at the Second Avenue Bridge signifies this treaty boundary.”

She continued to explain the history of the Thunder Bay River.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley The above plaque is mounted on the Second Avenue bridge overlooking the Thunder Bay River in Alpena. It commemorates the Treaty of Saginaw, signed 200 years ago on Sept. 24.

“Before the logging boom arrived in the 1800s, the undisturbed Thunder Bay River was a gathering place for Native Americans to harvest fish, maple sugar, berries, birch bark, and other sustenance,” Witulski explained. “The roar of the fast-moving river cascading over three miles of rapids before nearing the mouth at Lake Huron would have thundered across the bay. The river’s drastic drop in elevation between where the 4-Mile Dam and the Ninth Street Dam are today would have created some of the best whitewater rapids east of the Mississippi. These rapids offered perfect spawning grounds for several species including large sturgeon. The dams that accompanied the logging industry would forever change the topography and ecology of the Thunder Bay River.”

Witulski said the new exhibit will be permanent, and that plans are underway for completely updating the entire Native American gallery at the museum.

“The addition of the Native Treaty exhibit is a small part of a larger project the Besser Museum is engaged in to transform the Native American gallery,” Witulski said. “The goal is to piece together stories of the Native American families who lived in this region and of their cultural lifeways. Currently, the Besser Museum’s Native American exhibit focuses mainly on the prehistoric and very early historic stories as told through the stone tools made and used by indigenous peoples. Since 1970, the Besser Museum has housed a large collection of artifacts acquired from Gerald and Robert Haltiner. Little has changed in the exhibit over the past 50 years, and much of the story is missing.Visitors often ask ‘What tribes lived in this area?’ ‘What is the history of the Native Americans in this area?’ and ‘Are there Native Americans still living in the area?’ These are some of the questions the new exhibit will answer and remind visitors that there are two sovereign nations occupying this country.”

“The new exhibit will touch on aspects of indigenous knowledge and lifeways that have sustained the Annishanabe culture in their native lands,” Witulski continued. “Narratives will include historic time periods of Paleo, Archaic and Woodland; European conquests, westward advancements, land grabs, treaties, relocation, reservations, boarding schools, to current tribal service areas and educational programs.”

She said many agencies and historians have been involved in the process of compiling and planning the updated gallery, which has been going on for the past three to four years.

“It is important for the exhibit to be interpreted from the Native American perspective and in their authentic voice,” Witulski said. “To achieve this goal, the Besser Museum is consulting with United Tribes of Michigan Executive Director Frank Ettawageshik, a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. Frank also serves as the chairman of the United League of Indigenous Nations Governing Board, and the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians Federal Recognition Task Force. Frank’s 40 years of public service includes participation in several nonprofit agencies including the Association on American Indian Affairs, the Michigan Indian Education Council, Historical Society of Michigan, and the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, among others.”

The Besser Museum is also consulting with: Eric Hemenway, Cultural Preservation Department, Little Traverse Band of Odawa Indians; Shannon Martin, director, and William Johnson, cultural resource curator, Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe; Jonnie J. Sam, tribal historic preservation director, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians; and Colleen Medicine, director of language and culture, Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

The Besser Museum has also been working with professional genealogist, Matt McCormack from Newline Genealogy LLC. McCormack is conducting research on Native American families from around Northeast Michigan, funded by the George and Edith Cook Family Besser Museum Fund.

“The Cook family wanted to ensure the cultural heritage of their Native American neighbors was being preserved for posterity,” Witulski said. “The research started with the late Edith Bondie from Hubbard Lake. Edith, neighbors to the Cooks, was well known in the community for her black ash baskets, often demonstrating her basket-making talents at the Besser Museum. Edith’s family includes father Issaac Pashagoba, grandfather Jim Pashagoba, and several siblings. Sister Edna Pashagoba married Joseph Joseph. Their son David Joseph has contributed to the research, helping locate other Native American relatives from this region.”

Other Northeast Michigan Native American families identified in the research so far include the Clouds Joseph, Otto, Nahgahgon, Sampson, James, Silas and Greensky. The museum will also have a section featuring Native American Chiefs with well-known names in our region including:  

¯ Chief Sah-Con-Ah-Ka-To, who lived on one of the small islands around Island Park. The first encounter with the Chippewa leader Sahgonahkato occurred in 1840 when D.D. Oliver was surveying Alpena County.

¯ Chief Mich-e-ke-wis, son of Madjeckewiss, who was responsible for the attack at Fort Michilimackinac. Our city park is named after Mich-e-ke-wis.

¯ Chief Negwegon, whom the state park in Alcona County is named after.

¯ Chief Shing-Gass-ba-W’OSin, for whom Ossineke is named, as is the playground Shing-Ga-Ba-Shores. Oscoda resident Jonathan Schirmer is a direct descendent of Chief Shing-Gass-ba-W’Osin.

¯ Chief Blue Cloud, who is more recent and lived in the Mikado area.

Anyone with information about Native Americans from our area is encouraged to contact the museum at 989-356-2202. For more information and video interviews of Anishinaabe, visit www.bessermuseum.org/anishinaabe-way.

Besser Museum has been working with a professional museum exhibit design firm, Good Design Group, to design the conceptual exhibit space.

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5691.