Go see this important exhibit
On the 2nd Avenue bridge over the Thunder Bay River, you can find a small plaque commemorating the Sept. 24, 1819 signing of the Treaty of Saginaw, an agreement between Michigan’s American Indian tribes and Lewis Cass, then the governor of the territory of Michigan, for how northern Michigan land would be handled.
The river marked an important boundary line in the treaty.
To commemorate the occasion and the important role Indian tribes played in the history of our region, Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan is opening a new exhibit, “Native Treaties: Shared Rights.”
The permanent exhibit is part of a revamp the museum’s exhibits on American Indians, which had focused primarily on prehistoric Michigan and less on the role Indians played throughout the building of Alpena into the 19th and 20th centuries.
Many of the places we live or visit every day are named for Indian chiefs who lived on our area, including
∫ Chief Mich-e-ke-wis, who gave us the name of our waterfront park on U.S.-23 and was the son of Madjeckewiss, responsible for the attack at Fort Michilimackinac.
∫ Chief Negwegon, for whom the state park in Alcona County is named after, and
∫ Chief Shing-Gass-ba-W’OSin, for whom Ossineke is named.
We encourage you to visit the exhibit to learn about those and other important figures in our history, which can help you understand why we are what we are today.
(THE ALPENA NEWS)