Chief Buffalo (Ojibwe: Ke-che-waish-ke/Gichi-weshkiinh – "Great-renewer" or Peezhickee/Bizhiki – "Buffalo"; also French, Le Boeuf) (1759? – September 7, 1855) was a major Ojibwa leader, born at La Pointe in Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, in what is now northern Wisconsin, USA.
Recognized as the principal chief of the Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwa)Although the original term Ojibwe, also spelled as "Ojibwa," is now preferred to its English corruption "Chippewa," Chippewa has historically been the dominant English usage in the United States, was used in treaties with the United States, and remains part of the official name of many tribal groups: Lake Superior Chippewa, Red Cliff Chippewa, etc. for nearly a half-century until his death in 1855, he led his nation into a treaty relationship with the United States Government. He signed treaties in 1825, 1826, 1837, 1842, 1847, and 1854. He was instrumental in resisting the United States' efforts to remove the Ojibwa to western areas and secured permanent Indian reservations for his people near Lake Superior in what is now Wisconsin.
Background
Political structure of the Lake Superior Ojibwa
Kechewaishke was born around 1759 at La Pointe on Madeline Island (Mooningwanekaaning) in the Shagawamikong region. Now part of Wisconsin, La Pointe was a key Ojibwa village and trading center for the empire of New France, which was fighting the Seven Years' War against Great Britain at the time of Kechewaishke's birth.Loew, 20-21. Throughout the 18th century, the Ojibwa spread out from La Pointe into lands conquered from the Dakota people, and settled several village sites. These bands in the western Lake Superior and Mississippi River regions regarded La Pointe as their "ancient capital" and spiritual center. It had also become a center of trade.Loew, 56-58.
Traditional Ojibwa government and society centers around kinship clans, each symbolized by animal doodem.Loew, 8. Each doodem had a traditional responsibility within the tribe. Kechewaishke, or Buffalo as he was known to Europeans, belonged to the Loon clan.Warren, 11. There is some confusion over which doodem Buffalo belonged to. Based on oral accounts of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, the Wisconsin Historical Society claims Buffalo and other chiefs in Wisconsin sent a letter or "Symbolic Petition of Chippewa Chiefs" to Washington, DC, shortly before or after the Sandy Lake Tragedy on January 28, 1849, and that Buffalo was represented by an image of a crane rather than a loon. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, the US Indian Agent for the area, collected and published the petition in 1851. He claimed that it was sent in 1849 by Ojibwa leaders around the headwaters of the Wisconsin River, and did not include Buffalo or chiefs from La Pointe.
The Loon Clan was said to have been rising in prominence in the mid-18th-century due to the efforts of Andaigweos (Ojibwe: Aandegwiiyaas, "Crow's Meat"), Kechewaishke's grandfather. Andaigweos was born in the Shagawamikong region, son to a man described as "a Canadian Indian" (i.e. a Saulteaux from Sault Ste. Marie, a key Ojibwa village at Lake Superior's eastern end). At the time of first French contact in the mid-17th century, men of the Crane doodem held the positions of hereditary peace chiefs of Ojibwa communities at both Sault Ste. Marie and La Pointe. Andaigweos was a skilled orator and favorite of the French officials and voyageurs. In that period, leaders of the Cranes were concerned more with internal matters. By the 19th century, it was Kechewaishke's clan, the Loons, that was recognized as the principal chiefs at La Pointe.Morse, 367Schoolcraft (American Indians), 261.
Although the Loons were afforded respect as principal peace chiefs, this status was not permanent. The Cranes, led in Kechewaishke's time by his sub-chief Tagwagane, maintained that they were the hereditary chiefs. They said the Loons' status as spokesmen hinged upon recognition by the Cranes. A chief's power in Ojibwa society was based on persuasion and consensus, holding only as long as the community of elders, including the women, chose to respect and follow the chief's lead.Warren, 87-89
Personal life
Sources conflict as to the identity of Kechewaishke's father, who may also have been named Andaigweos. He appears to have been a descendant or relative of the famous war chief Waubojeeg.Schoolcraft (1851), 195. Buffalo's obituary, based on the memoirs of his adopted white son, Benjamin G. Armstrong, said that Andaigweos was his father.
But, contemporary historians and ethnographers William Whipple Warren and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft both described Ou-daig-weos as the grandfather of Buffalo. Some accounts claim that Buffalo was the son of chief Waubojeeg, and a brother of Ozhaguscodaywayquay. She later married the British fur-trader John Johnston and was known as Susan Johnston. Their daughter Jane Johnston married Henry Schoolcraft and informed him about much in Ojibwe society. Schoolcraft describes Ou-daig-weos and Waubojeeg as being of the "same lineage," but does not say that Buffalo was the son of Waubojeeg. Modern sources may also be confused by the fact that Waubojeeg had a son named Weshki (New), whose name is similar to Gichi-weshkiinh (Great renewer). When he was about 10, Kechewaishke and his parents moved from La Pointe to the vicinity of what is now Buffalo, New York, and lived there until about he was about 12. The family relocated to the Mackinac Island area for a while before returning to La Pointe. In his youth, Kechewaishke was admired as a skilled hunter and athlete.Morse, 368.
Like many Anishinaabe people, Kechewaishke was also known by another Ojibwa name, Peshickee (Bizhiki: "the Buffalo"). This has caused confusion in records of his life, in part because both names were very similar to those of other prominent contemporaries. Bizhiki was the name of a chief from the St. Croix Band, and also of a warrior of the Pillager Chippewa Band (Beshekee). Additionally, a leading member of the Caribou doodem and a son of Waubojeeg, in the Sault Ste. Marie area, was known by the name Waishikey (Weshki). Scholars have mistakenly attributed aspects of the lives of all three of these men to Kechewaishke.See ref.3. According to the U.S. Senate website and Holzhueter (1973, 1986), Chief Buffalo returned to Washington, D.C. in February 1855 as part of a delegation of 16 Ojibwa Indians from Wisconsin and Minnesota. But, it is likely that the Leech Lake Chief known as Beshekee was the man involved. These sources also say that Chief Buffalo had his likeness modeled in clay and was carved from life in a marble bust, from which a bronze copy was later made. These pieces are part of the Capitol art collection. If Great Chief Buffalo made this trip to Washington in 1855, he would have been 95 or 96 years of age. But the sculptures portray a powerfully built and still vigorous man, one looking much younger than this advanced chronological age.
Kechewaishke had five wives and numerous children, many of whom became prominent Ojibwa leaders in the reservation era. He practiced the Midewiwin religion, but converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed.Morse, 365-69.
Views on international relations Few details of Kechewaishke's early life are known. He appears to have been favored by British traders and decorated by British authorities,Schoolcraft (Personal Memories), 103. but few Ojibwa from Lake Superior fought in the American Revolution or the War of 1812, and there is no record of his participation.
When Tecumseh's War broke out, Kechewaishke and a number of other young warriors from the La Pointe area abandoned the Midewiwin for a time to follow the teachings of the Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa. While en route to Prophetstown to join the attack on the Americans, they were stopped by Michel Cadotte, the respected Métis fur trader from La Pointe. Cadotte convinced Kechewaishke and the others that it would be fruitless to fight the Americans.Warren, 324.
After that incident, Kechewaishke is recorded as using only peaceful tactics in his relations with the United States, though he often opposed US Indian policy. He also drew a contrast between himself and his contemporaries Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay and Hole in the Day, two Ojibwa chiefs from present-day Minnesota, who carried out a long war against the Dakota Sioux people.Armstrong, 196-98.
Although Armstrong records Kechewaishke winning a large victory over the Dakota in the 1842 Battle of the Brule, 20th-century historians have cast doubt on his account. That year Kechewaishke was recorded as saying he "never took a scalp in his life, though he had taken prisoners whom he fed and well-treated."Morse, 367. Overall, he seems to have supported efforts at peace between the Ojibwa and Dakota.
Kechewaishke not only inherited the status afforded his family, but also had skills praised in his grandfather Andaigweos. Noted for his abilities in hunting and battle, he was recognized as chief by his people because of his speaking and oratorical skills, which were highly valued in his culture. By the time the Ojibwa of Wisconsin and Minnesota started treaty negotiations with the US Government, Kechewaishke was recognized as one of the primary spokesmen for all the bands, not just for the Ojibwa from La Pointe.
Treaties of 1825 and 1826
In 1825, Kechewaishke was one of 41 Ojibwa leaders to sign the First Treaty of Prairie du Chien, with his name recorded as "Gitspee Waishkee" or La Boeuf. He is listed third after Shingabawossin, who was recognized as head of the Crane doodem at Sault Ste. Marie, and therefore of the whole Ojibwa nation, which was a loose confederacy of bands. Second in the list was chief "Gitspee Jiuaba". The treaty, which the US Government advanced as a pretext to end hostilities between the Dakota and their neighbors, required all American Indian tribes and bands in and around Wisconsin and Iowa to delineate where their territories began and ended. Although the treaty did not state this goal, the US used information it acquired to negotiate to gain Indian lands and remove the nations westward.Loew, 58-59Warren 47
A year later, the US and Ojibwa signed the Treaty of Fond du Lac at a meeting at Lake Superior's western edge. The signatories were listed by band, and Kechewaishke, recorded as Peezhickee, signed as the first chief from La Pointe. The treaty, mainly dealing with mineral rights for Ojibwa lands in what is now Michigan, had little immediate effect but foreshadowed future treaties. Kechewaishke did not speak on the copper issue. He praised the US officials for their ability to keep their young people under their control, and asked for whiskey to accomplish the same ends among the younger members of his band. When the agent presented him with a silver medal as a symbol of his chieftainship, Kechewaishke said that his power was based in his clan and reputation, and not from anything received from the U.S. government.Schoolcraft (1834), 21.
Shortly after the treaties were signed, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, acting in his capacity as US Indian agent, visited La Pointe. He reprimanded Kechewaishke for not stopping the continuing sporadic warfare between the Ojibwa and Dakota. Kechewaishke replied that he was unable to stop the young men of Lac Courte Oreilles, St. Croix, Lac du Flambeau or other bands beyond La Pointe from fighting the Dakota. Historians take this to mean that while he was regarded as the head spokesman of the Ojibwa in Wisconsin, he could not control the day-to-day affairs of all the bands, which were highly decentralized, particularly with respect to warfare. Kechewaishke also said that, unlike the British before the War of 1812, the U.S. government had not done enough to maintain peace among the tribes.Schoolcraft (1834), 271.
Treaties of 1837 and 1842