The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-08-12

NarclSSe Nj. juneau, son OF solomon
juneau, in 1858. The legend under.
meath is:-"Waume gesako (the Wam
pun.) Born 1899, died 1914. Head
chief of the Mixed Manitowoc."
In response to an invitation from the
County Historical Society, Benjamin Y.
Mexico, the youngest of Wampun's ele-
ven children, now residing at keshena
on the Menomineee Indian reservation,
appeared among US in September 1908.
from whom the following particulars
were CLEANED regarding tribal and faml-
ly history and traditions. Wampun
was like all his tribe who could afford
expensive luxury, apoIygamist. lie had
married four wives, two of whom We're
Menominee sisters, and one of these was
Benjamin's mother. By these he raised
seven sons and four daughters. The
only surviving members of this family
are Naquaskim now living on a reserva-
ton near ST. Paul, and Benjamin y.
who was expected to be our guest to-
day. He was born here at the Rapids
in 1S41, is man of intelligence, speaks
good English, and has repeatedly acted
as government Interpreter in the Chip
pewa and Menominee tongues. He is
an ardent Catholic and has never mar
ried.
As to the ancestry Wampuus father
was Chaiconda, who was born and died
at the Rapids. His grandfather Etoige
shak, emigrated with his band from
Canada.
The Chippewa or Oiibwa was and is
to day one of the most numerous and
extended tribes of Indians occupying
Northern Wisconsin, Michigan and Min
sofa, also IA wide expanse of territory to
the North and Northwest in Canada
The Ottawa and Mennminee are closely
allied in language and lineage, but nu-
merically far inferior. During the old
French regime and the stirring times of
the fur trade, the Chippewa tongue may
pV stpii W hdNV bCNh ili' NSt"pAiC'SN
conrt language in common and practical
use among the French and English trad
ers and interpreters, as well rs all the
tribes of the Northwest How and why
this band of Chippewa, numbering in
all perhaps less than a thousand souls,
had separated themselves from kith and
kin, and migrated so much further south
than any other band of this tribe, main.
tanning a seperate tribal existence for
four generations, at the same time main
tanning undisputed supremacy over a
number of surrounding tribes is a mys.
terry which history may never unravel
This band, like all Wisconsin Indians,
| were intense partsans Of the French.
| But in 1863, after the French and Indi-
| an War, when this region was transfer
red to the British, the Indians easily cast
off their allegiance in favor of their new
| friends, and continued to do 40 many
years after 1888, when the North West
| Ty. became part of the United States.
Even after the war of 1915 the British
continued the employment on an exten,
! sive scale of Indians on our frontier, Sc.
curing them to their cause by the liberal
distribution of presents annually, hop
| ing thus to secure their friendship and
services in case of another war as well
as to retain the valuable fur trade.
The most western outpost where such
presents We're distributed was at ST.
| Mary's River, the outlet of Lake Superb
or on American soil, when Indians from
| both sides of the lakes and as far as the
head waters Of the Mississippi River and
Red Lake, gathered to receive them.
To break up this pernicious custom,
our government in 1920 sent an expedi.
| ton under Gen. Lewis Cass, Governor
Of Michigan Territory, among the tribes
on the frontier. However, even rs late
rs 1898 our own Indians in large pum-
bers congregated each spring at the
mouth of the Manitowoc River. Some
ihC iioi I'LL thCy "ouih dlhS
birch bark canoes, or more substantial
| dug outs, capable of holding ten or tif.
| teen persons, over the sandbar that sep
| arated the waters of lake and river, and
| silently vanish to the northward, per.
sumably to receive their anuuties OF
presents. On their return in the fall
they brought back great quantities OF
dried white fish which they caught a,
the Sault.
Chief Wampun was the proud possess
or of a silver medal of the nominal val
ne Of Sl5 90, received from the Canadi
| an government after the close of the wal
of 1915. This medal was often pawned
to the local traders in procuring the ac-
tual necessities of life in times of need,
but invariably scrupulously redeemed
! 1t is to-day the cherished heirloom in
! the possession of the widow of Chaicon.
da, the oldest son and successor of the
chief. The medal seen on the chief
| breast in the portrait is now lost and its
history unknown.
Or. Lyman G. Draper, in his third
| Annual Report Of the Wisconsin Histor.
| ical Society, states that, THE Wampun
acted prominent part in the treaties OF
Butte des Morris in 1927, at Green Bay
in 1898, at Prairie du Chen in 1929 and
at Chicago in 1888, and further states