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Chief Otusson
The Thumb of Michigan
By Mark R. Putnam
The Onottoway Sebewaing River:
The River of the Enchanted or Magical Fur
http://ipoetry.us/
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Native American People hunting elk along the Cass River.
The stream was early on also known as the Onottoway Sebewaing, Mattawan, and Upper
Huron River.
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Chief Otusson
The Thumb of Michigan
This poetic narrative is told in the words of Chief Otusson himself as if he were telling the
story.
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The Wakishegan or Upper Huron
The history of the Thumb of Michigan in part denotes me Chief Otusson.
My wigwam, my lodge, is located on the river called by some about 1800 the Wakishegan.
The Wakishegan River is likewise known to many as the Onottoway Sebewaing, the Mattawan,
and the Upper Huron.
I am a part of the Native American band called the Wakisos.
I will relate to you a description of this land and its wonder depose.
The name of Wakishegan expectedly means it sparkles, gleams, or glitters.
In the Chippewa or Anishinabe language "wakeshka" means glossy or shiny. 1
Into Michigan’s Saginaw River empty three great shining rivers:
The Tittabawassee—it is the rolling, twisting, and turning sparkling stream;
The Shiawassee—it is the straight ahead sparkling stream;
And the Wakishegan is the river that is bright as light and shiny.
These rivers enter the Saginaw River at Green Point.
Three rivers at Green Point meet or ad joint.
I know all the rivers of the Saginaw Valley very well.
However on the Wakishegan, I mostly sojourn or dwell.
The Chippewa and Ottawa people are my kindred the kinsfolks of me Chief Otusson.
My name Otusson means the platform, bench, bed, or bank in the lodge.
I am a sovereign and leader over a great woodland and fen.
Just a few miles above Green Point on the Wakishegan River, I reside or lodge.
1
A Dictionary of the Ojibway Language by Frederic Baraga, pg. 398.
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Tesssi-aki and the Flat County
The Algonquin People the Chippewa and Ottawa called thesurrounding land “Tessakamiga” and
even “Tesse-aki”.
The French of Canada in the 1700’s called the realm Le Pays Plat.
In the late 1700’s, the English called it the Flat Country.
These names all mean the ground that is even, level, or flat.
I, Chief Otusson, live in the Flat Country, Tuscola, the land east of the Saginaw River and south
of the Saginaw Bay.
To Lake Huron the land reaches even to that way.
This land is likewise the land of the enchanted peltry or fur.
Many castor, or bronze beaver, fill the streams, swamps, and ponds that pour to the
Wakishegan River.
Before 1850 this grand woodland was known as Sanilac County.
Sanilac will soon in a short time be divided into Sanilac, Huron, and Tuscola County.
In the Anishinabe language the word “tessenagan” means flat dish.
The root of this word is "essi" that means clam and shell.
Tuscola ias the land that is even like a platter and dish.
Tucola is bountiful and plentiful.
It is the region of the woodland mushroom and morel.
The rivers here also hold the sturgeon, bass, pike, and other very valued fish.
This land Tuscola is the likewise the land of the hawk, pigeon, heron, duck, crane, and goose.
It is the land of the sugar maple tree, the corn field, and the woodland berry.
The interior sandy hills are noted for the majestic cork pine tree.
In the woodlands roam the black bear, martin, lynx, mink, raccoon, deer, elk, and moose.
Here also grow as well the large oak, hemlock, and spruce.
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Before 1761 the French called Michigan's Thumb Le Pays Plat.
This French name means the Land Flat.
Native People the Anishinabe called it Tessakamiga.
It likewise means where the even land spreads out.
Tessakamiga is the best of land with the best of fate . . . without doubt.
The white people called it Tuscola.
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The Thumb of Michigan, the Flat Country, forms a peninsula, a cape, or point of land.
Long, wide, and spread out, I is for the most part even and flat.
It extends out like an Indian blanket or mat.
It is composed of both lowland and highland and woodland and wetland.
North of the Thumb of Michigan, Tuscola, is Saginaw Bay.
This land is a bountiful and fruitful in many a way.
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Tessakamiga, Tuscola, is the Land of the Beaver
the Land of Its Magical Fur
Tessakamiga, Tuscola, is the heart of Michigan’s beaver hunting ground.
Here the magical fleece of the beaver is found.
Beaver inhabit many of the indigenous ponds with their dams and lodges.
The beaver had lived here for ages.
Along the Thumb of Michigan, along its eastern shore, is Lake Huron.
Lake Huron empties into the St. Claire River.
The St. Claire River pours into Lake St. Clair at the south end of the region.
This is the ground of the pricey peltry.
Exceptional hunting and trapping is found in the Flat County.
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The Upper and Lower Nottaway River are also
called the Upper and Lower Huron River
My home is on the Wakishegan.
It is as well called the Onottoway Sebewaing.
The Onottoway Sebewaing is the center of Thumb of Michigan region.
To the south over a ridge and into Lake St. Clair, similarly decants the river of good hunting.
Sebewaing means river of fur.
In English the good hunting river is called the Belle River.
The French call it Rio Belle Chasse.
It is the place of the hunter’s chase.
Below Rio Belle Chasse into Lake St. Clair empties the Lower Nottawasippee.
Nottawasippee is Anishinabe for the “Adder or Rattlesnake River”.2
The Lower Nottawasippee is moreover christened the Lower Huron and Clinton River.
There is a parallel meaning between Onottoway Sebewaing and Nottawasippee.
Both names contain “nottawa”, which means the rattlesnake or the adder.
In Anishinabe “sebe”and “sippee” means river in either case.
“Waining” means fur or peltry place.
These two rivers are the “Adder River” and “Adder River at the Fur Place”.
These two rivers were likewise called the Lower Huron and the Upper Huron.
In both places once live the Native People the Huron.
A passage originates near the mouth of the Lower Huron or the Nottawasippee.
The passage runs north and terminates at the Saginaw Bay.
It terminates at the outlet of the river now called Maquanicassee.
This trail, the Ridge Trail, is the in the Thumb of Michigan is the central pathway.
At the mouth of the Nottawasippee is the village called High Bank.3
2
3
Historical collections, Volume 6 by Michigan State Historical Society, Michigan Historical Commission, pg. 361.
Historical collections, Volume 6 by Michigan State Historical Society, Michigan Historical Commission, pg. 361.
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Along the trail to Quanicassee on the Onottaway Sebewaing, is another village also called High
Bank.4
The rivers the Onottoway Sebwaing and Nottawasippee have similar names.
Both rivers also have Native villages with comparable names.
In Anishinabe “ishpadina means high bank.
This is corrupted into English here as Podunk.
There is an Upper and Lower High Bank.
Upper High Bank is called by white people Podunk.
The Ridge Trail ran between the two rivers and each village.
Between the two rivers and towns there was likewise a common passage.
4
A Look in Your Own Backyard by Dorr N. Wilse, Sr., pg. 5.
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La Pierre and the North Branch of the Flint River
Ridge Trail starts near the mouth of the Nottawasippee at Lake St. Clair.
The Ridge Trail progresses north along the Nottawasippee to where it forks at what white
people call Rochester.
Ridge Trail then runs due north toward the place we know as La Pierre.
Above La Pierre Ridge Trail dips passed the “Bawanagsibe” or Flint River.
Here in the trail there is a separation or branch.
One branch goes northwest to Matotiswaning, my village.
At this place the North Branch of the Flint River white people are forming a town called North
Branch.
Ridge Trail goes northward to the Nottoway Sebewaing and Podunk Village.
It is located on the upper branch of the Flint River.
The trail leads then northwest to Maquanicassee or the Black Bear River.
At La Pierre, water flows to Lake St. Clair to the southeast.
At La Pierre, water also flows west into the North and South Branches of the Flint River.
At la Pierre to the east water flows to the Belle Chasse and even the Black River.
Ridge Trail branches to the north to North Branch and then goes on to the northeast.
To North Branch a trail leads onward to the Great Marsh near Lake Huron.
The Great Marsh is at the high point of the Thumb of Michigan.
Above the North Branch of the Flint River, water flows north to the Onottoway Sebewaing.
Water of the Onottoway Sebewaing flows to the Saginaw River.
To Saginaw Bay flows the water above and north bank of the Onottoway Sebewaing.
Just above Podunk flowing to the bay is the Sebewaing River.
Sebewaing means the river at the fur place.
Onottoway Sebewaing means the rattlesnake river at the fur place.
Sebewaing is likewise baptized as Wiscoggin.
Magical fur or Mattawan [Manadawain] is another name for the Onottoway Sebewaing.
These are the rivers of the enchanted peltries.
These are the rivers where trapping and hunting is done with simplicity and ease.
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The Thumb of Michigan’s Great Marsh Land that is
Swampy and Harsh
The northeast spur of the Ridge Trail ascends to the northeast and the Great Marsh.
North of the swamp water flows northwest to Saginaw Bay by way of the the Pinnebog, Pigeon,
and Bird River.
The Black River in the eastern part of the Thumb of Michigan flows south and arises in the
Great Marsh.
West of the Great Marsh water drains to the Mattawan or Cass River.
Willow River flows north also from the Great Marsh and empties into Lake Huron.
Many of rivers in Thumb of Michigan originate in the Great March or Fen.
Back from the shores of Lake Huron Saginaw Bay, the fruitful bounties of Tessakamiga, Tuscola,
lay.
In the interior rises the Ridge and many a stream or land passageway.
The ground north of Detroit was called early on Teuschagronde.
Teuschagronde means where there are beaver dams athwart many.
In the Thumb of Michigan internal travel is done mostly by a river and pathway trail.
Corridors traversed by foot stem from Ridge Trail.
In the Indian trade, the Thumb of Michigan was the great beaver hunting ground.
Great qualities and quantities of beaver and other fur being animals here have been found.
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The Onottoway Sebewaing and the Village of
Matotiswaning
Otusson Village is a few miles above the mouth of the Onottoway Sebewaing.
My village, on this river, is known as Matotiswaning.
You may note the ending to these place names are the similar.
“Wain” means fur.
Matotiswaning is the place of the trading of our mystic pelts.
Sebewaing means river of pelts.
In Anishinabe our ending “wain” means peltry or fur.
Mattawan is a contraction of “mandawain” and means enchanted fur.
The Mattawan River was the place of the fleece that is wonderful.
Here is abounds the fleece that is composed as a fairy-tale and beautiful.
Onottaway Sebewaing has a similar meaning.
From Matotiswaning, my village, our Native People go out hunting, trapping, and fishing.
Saginaw Trail is our path that leads northwest from Detroit to Flint.
Matotiswaning is on Saginaw Trail above Flint.
From Matotiswaning the trail goes westward and onward to Saginaw.
At Matotiswaning another a second trail runs north and east of Saginaw.
This is the Cheyboygoning path.
It lies just above the great swamp’s wrath.
From Matotiswaning and running eastward deep into the Thumb of Michigan is the Mattawan
Trail.
It goes along the Mattawan River to headwater.
The Mattawan Trail passes the place of flooding or what white people call Vassar.
The pathway is on the high ground and is healthy and hale.
Eastward the Mattawan Trail runs
The pathway goes near Mattawan River to Podunk or High Bank.
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The Elk Land in the Highland
The trail between Podunk and Maquanicasse may be called the Maquanicassee Trail.
Podunk is the place for corn, squash, and bean planting.
Along the Maquanicasse Trail one will see quail.
The Mattawan Trail goes on northeast along the river to the Elk Land and its large game
hunting.
Here we hunt great majestic elk or stag deer.
North of the Mattawan River, these royal deer are found in the highland not far from the
Mattawan River.
The upper Mattawan River is a vast hunting and trapping ground.
There also the gigantic moose are found.
Here one will find in the outflowing streams the magical fleece.
Food here is in large quantity.
The number of animals here seemed not to cease.
This is the large game hunting country.
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The Furs Are Along and Back From the Rivers
The highest reaches of the Mattawan River produced the best of furs.
In New York “Matteawan” means good peltries or furs.
In New Jersey “Matawan” means the chanted or enraptured coat with coziness.
In Anishinabe “madawa” or “madaan” is the tool used for skin or fur scraping.
The Thumb of Michigan holds the rivers called Sebewaing.
They were the rivers that give the feeling of warmth and gladness.
The Onottoway Sebewaing or Mattawan River is more than a place of coats of good quality.
It was the place of fairy-tale peltry.
In Chippewa "mamanda" means wonderful or delightful.
“Mamanda” means it goes above all and is admirable.
"Mamanda-waian" is the long phrase for Mattawan.
It is the coat or fleece that is without exception or omission.
My Village is likewise called Matotiswaning.
It is located at the Mattawan River and Saginaw Trail’s junction.
Matotiswaning is the stop for trading.
Here goods were offered up for sale and auction.
Matotiswaning is where there is a “very short bend in the river”.
The bend is shaped like a horseshoe.
We call it Skop-ti-qua-nou.
It bends-short-like hoof” is “jashawabisse-takos-oskanjinn”
The location was a talisman.
It was a place of the lucky charm.
It was a blessed location.
Here in general people were in a place away from detriment or harm.
By 1819 a trading post was at the Short Bend in the River and fared by Henri Ariel Campau.
An ancient village and trading site, it was bound for accomplishment.
I had been an idea place for exchange long ago.
Today, the place is still a setting for achievement.
Matotiswaning on was located on a hill composed of gravel and sand.
Forest all around also held majestic cork pine that were tall and grand.
Chief Otusson was held in high regard.
He was a versifier.
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He was a poetaster.
In the end he was unsparing bard.
He lived on the river that was shiny.
The river that sparkled with luster and gloss.
For fish, game, and wild grain, he was seldom at loss.
He was a good spirit and acted wisely.
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This is a cutting from the 1836 Farmer Map of Michigan.
Near the center is the Reservation of Chief Otusson.
(Courtesy of Michigan State University Library)
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Cheboygoning: The Great Rice Gathering
The northern prairie above Matotiswaning in spring was wet, dark, and dank.
West of Matotiswaning ran part of the Saginaw Trail.
West of Matotiswaning the Saginaw Trail ran along the river’s northern high bank.
A short distance west, the trail forks to the northwest and also to the north.
The land above Matotiswaning is fertile and rich and has a trail that is well worn with people
going back and forth.
The trail going north is the Cheboygoning Trail.
Cheboygoning Trail leads to Cheboygoning Creek and a level marsh or wetland.
Cheboygoning means “The Great Rice Gathering”.
Here Native People knocked wild rice into their canoes with a stick by thrashing.
The Cheybogoning Trail goes north following the creek to Indian Town and Crow Island.
It goes on to the mouth of the Saginaw River.
The Reservatoins of the Riley and Chief Nabobask are located near the outlet to the river.
and the Saginaw Bay.
It ended at the Village of Chief Nabobask.
There were many villages on Saginaw River nearby at different times from Green Point to
Saginaw Bay.
On Saginaw River, Native People lived at times in large numbers and engaged in many a task.
In the spring Chief Otusson’s clan would go to “Sisibakwatokan”, or the sugar-camp or bush.
There they gathered sap from maple trees and boiled it in copper kettles making sugar.
In late spring at their gardens, they planted squash, potatoes, and corn.
To these camps the trails were well worn.
They harvested their garden’s crop during mid to late summer.
From garden items they made mash or mush.
During summer they also gathered rice from Cheboygoning Creek.
At Matotiswaning Village everything was hospitable and welcoming.
Everyone lived in good quarters and lodging.
They had time to discuss life’s events and their lives to critique.
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The above cutting is from the 1855 Farmer Map of Michigan and shows Otusson’s Village as
Frankenmuth, Michigan.
Cheboygoning meant the great rice gathering location.
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Ka-pay-shaw-wink: The Center of the Valley Where
People Gather or Link
The lower portion of the Mattawan River is more thickly populated then the upper portion.
However, Native People bring flint nodules down from the upper Mattawan River.
These into arrow points and other tools, they fashion.
The Flint River parallels the Mattawan River.
Both are very populated and arise from the western and central part of Michigan’s Thumb.
Less populated are the headwaters of the interior of the Thumb.
Likewise quite populated is the lower part of the Tittabawassee River.
Native Indians easily travel by canoe up and down the streams.
When they have less to cart or carry, they use the trails that run above, between, or along the
streams.
The Saginaw Valley is the most populated part of Michigan where Native people have their
sway.
The Saginaw and the Mattawan River each is a golden passage way.
Native people exist in a land that is rich, fruitful, and copious.
In the Saginaw Region the Native Population is numerous.
Aquatic life such as wild rice, fish, shell fish, and turtles fill each river, stream, and pond.
This is an environment in which many people are doting or fond.
Once a year soon after the sugar-camp, to Ka-pay-shaw-wink come many of the Native People
of the area.
They come to celebrate at this great camping ground.
Also spelled “Gabeshiwn” it means the encampment and is likewise known to white people as
Saginaw.
Many inveterate Indian feuds reach an injurious termination at this the great camping ground.
They engage in a grand jubilee.
It lasts one or two weeks’ in duration.
It is the year’s greatest celebration.
Here all are made merry.
We engage in dances, games, and feats of strength.
We celebrated at great length.
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The Fruits of the Forest are Plentiful: They are
Bountiful
The forests of the Thumb of Michigan flourish with all sorts of game.
Maple sugar, nut, and wild berry trees are numerous.
Native people as well cultivate hundreds of acres of corn that is often magnanimous.
The region supports a great number of people and is held in much fame.
Nearly all the Indian tails led to Ka-pay-shaw-wink or Saginaw.
These trails led away into the Thumb, to Detroit, to Lake Michigan, and even to Mackinaw.
Canoe travel is possible in every direction.
There is a great portage between the Shiawassee and Grand River.
The portage connects Eastern and Western Mitchi-gami or Michigan.
Native people prefer travel by water.
There is also a good portage between the Tittabawassee and Muskegon River.
The affable topography produces many Indian villages in the Thumb of Michigan.
The Native trails in the Thumb of Michigan mostly travel the elevated ground.
They avoid the swamps or bogs.
The marshes are however good for hunting and trapping.
They are often where fish, game, and furs are found.
Time after time the trails run high above the bogs
They run above the wetland beaver, muskrats, and frogs.
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Black Bear River or Maquanicasse and the Creek of
the Lady
North and west of Matotiswaning lay Cheboygon stream.
Above or north of that place of rice gathering is Maquanicassee River.
[The later stream will in the future be called Quanicassee River.]
Maquanicassee means the Black Bear stream.
Along the Saginaw Bay east of Maquanicassee is Lady’s Creek.
Next to the northeast and along the Saginaw Bay empties Wiscoggin Creek.
The area between is called “boygoning” or the rice gathering region.
An extension of Cheygoning, this was the great rice place in the Thumb of Michigan.
Here there are in reality two Lady’s Creeks known in Anishibabe as “Quanekussee”.
Wiscogging is also known as Sebewaing that means the stream of fur or peltry.
The location between Maquanicasse and Sebewaing in its entirety called “Boygon”.
Boygon means the rice gathering region.
It is a wet prairie were wild rice grows and is harvested with a canoe and stick.
Here the reeds besides grow thick.
In Anishinabe to trash or flay is “baawan”.
The rice gathering region extends from Cheyboygon to Boygon.
There are the great and lesser rice gathering regions.
Here the best of meals are gathered in summer and fall seasons.
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Sucker and White Creeks and Their Mystiques
Twenty miles above Otusson’s Village runs the Sucker Creek.
If is filled with an air of mystery and that people seek.
Just above Ishpadina or Podunk, it pours into the Mattawan River.
It is an admirable stream or place in which to spear the Sucker fish.
Sucker spearing is done on many indigenous creeks and on the Mattawan River.
The local fish are meals that everyone will relish.
Black Bear Creek or Maquanicassee is also a very popular place during the spring fish run.
Fishing for suckers and pike is easy, enjoyable, and fun.
In the Anishinabe language sucker is called “namebin”.
Sucker, pike, and other valuable fish are speared and smoked during the early spring.
The headwaters of Sucker Creek contain Cat Lake or the lake of the Michigan Cougar.
Here is also found the elk and other deer.
White Creek is above Sucker Creek and also pours into the Mattawan or Onottowasebewaing.
It got its name from is white water.
Like other streams in and near the Thumb of Michigan, it is crystal and clear.
It likewise is also a good stream for fishing and hunting.
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Summer and Winter Camps Had Different
Functions and Occupations
To the summer camping ground Native people go in the late spring or warm season.5
Here by streams and clear lakes or ponds we hunt and fish.
In early summer in the fertile soil of burnt openings, we plant maize and other crops that are
enriched with a fish.
In the fall valuable garden crops are gathered by the women.
The frosts and storms of November bare news of the approach of winter.
We then return to our comfortable villages where the forest is denser.
In the thick forest there is sanctuary from the cold of winter.
During the cold months in the refuge of the warmer woods, we take haven.
From there young men go out to the winter hunting and trapping ground.
This winter practice is throughout the Thumb of Michigan very common.
In the upper region of rivers and streams, animals for food and fur abound.
During winter even walking in the depths of the swamps is easy.
Here hunting and trapping following the animal’s tracks is also stress-free.
With the approach of spring everyone goes to the spring sugar camp or bush.
Here we pitch camp and spend a few weeks boiling maple tree sap in copper kettles to make
sugar.
Afterward to the summer camps we push.
These camps were often along a lake or river.
There we once more hunt, fish, and plant.
Maize, beans, pumpkins, and other Native crops we cultivate of plant.
5
History of Livingston County, pg. 10.
Page 25 of 51
Lower High Bank and Upper High Bank
Podunk was a wonderful spot with a relaxed pace.
Here often is found the Native wigwam fireplace.
Near Podunk along Sucker Creek elk and other large game are found.
Podunk is an incredible planting, hunting, trapping, and fishing place or ground.
Below the mouth of Sucker Creek the Ridge Trail and High Bank of Podunk is nearby.
The earth at Podunk is much elevated and away from mosquitoes and bogs that are also fairly
close by.
During the winter months when the mosquitoes and black flies were gone, bogs are good
places for hunting and trapping.
In this area are maple trees that were good for making maple sugar.
Berries and nuts are here for the gathering.
The spot called Podunk with Sucker Creek nearby is the best site for a village on upper on the
Upper Mattawan River.
Many fields of Indian corn and potatoes by Native people are planted.
Indeed the area around Podunk is called by white people the Indian Fields.
Crops grow with very large and surplus yields.
Native people throughout the year here have camped.
Podunk on the Mattawan River or Onottowasebewaing may be called the Upper High Banks.
This is the Upper Ishadina or Podunk Village.
There is another High Banks on the Nottowasibbee near Lake St. Clair with its own village.
The later may be called the Lower High Banks.
Page 26 of 51
Maquanicasee and Quanicasee
Black Bear Creek or Maquanicassee is a place for spearing fish such as the gar and sucker.
Black Bear Creek is likewise an abundant place for the hunter and trapper.
At the mouth of the Black Bear Creek, or in Anishinabe “Makwa-sibi”, is a camp ground.6
On may likely see a black bear along the stream, which happens commonly and is frequent.
Muskrat, beaver, mink, and martin are also found in or near its slow current.
At the camp as elsewhere may also be seen the Native hunting dog or hound.
Squaw Creek runs northwest around a low knoll into Saginaw Bay.
In this place a great swamp of wet prairie lay.
Northeast of Makwa-sibi, or Black Bear Creek, is the Quan-a-cus-see, or Squaw Creek.
Between the both places is a marsh in which Native People collect and gather food.
An Indian village once laid halfway between the bay and the headwater of Squaw Creek.
Native women go out here to collect rice and other grains, shell fish, and small fish in
multitude.
Adjoining the creek on the sandbar that parallels the bay are acorns, nuts, and berries.
The region is a wet prairie with few large trees.
Quan-a-cus-see is in Anishinabe would be “Ikkwe-nijo-Sibbi”.
The phrase is translated the Lady’s Creek.
“Ikkwe” means lady.
“Nio” means two.
Sibii” means river or creek.
Actually concerning the Lady’s Creek there are two.
There is a gentle sand knoll from the Wiscoggin Creek or Sebewaing that runs southeast to
Maquanicassee.
Our feet over time on this oak knoll has made out, drawn-out, or imprinted trail.
Except by canoe in the spring, we avoid the wet prairie.
One does not deviate much from the shoreline trail.
The natural growth of the wooded portion of the area is hickory, elm, beech, maple, basswood
and varieties of oak.
Walking in many places in the wet prairie away from the trail, one’s feet would get wet or soak.
6
History of Saginaw County by Truman B. Fox, Pg. 15.
Page 27 of 51
The Creek Wiscoggin was Known as the Sebewaing
Wiscoggin Creek was the home of the muskrat and beaver lodge.
Wiscoggin was the place of the small animal lodge.
North of Podunk are the headwaters of Wiscoggin Creek
Wiscoggin means the place of the small beaver of muskrat lodge if we correctly speak.
In Anishinabe their lodge is called “wiskons”.
At Wiscoggin Creek are found furs that was dark brown and bronze.
Wiscoggin Creek flows from Podunk’s Ridge northward to the Saginaw Bay.
Along Wiscoggin Creek scampers a well-used Indian pathway.
There are no permanent villages on Wiscoggin.
It is only a hunting, fishing, and trapping location.
Wiscoggin is surrounded by a wide wet prairie, wetland, or fen.
While there is here a pathway, travel near Point into the Saginaw Bay with a canoe was often
done.
At the outlet of Wiscoggin Creek on the Saginaw Bay is a great marsh with a sandy point.
The projection is called Fish Point.
With bows, spears, and nets here we fish.
The meals made a hale and hearty dish.
Geese and ducks during the spring and fall fill the air.
During these times, where is more than enough food to share.
Wiscoggin is also called the Sebewaing.
It should not be confused with Rio Du Fil.
That later the white people called the Thread River and on occasion likewise the Sebewaing.
Wiscoggin Creek is the true Sebewaing as on the white man map shows it still.
This is Farmer’s Map of 1855.]
[This is likely after Chief Otusson was alive.]
As to the meaning of Sebewaing, the ending “wain” in Anishinabe means “fur”.
This word is used in the names Mattawan [the Cass River], Matotiswaing [Otusson’s Village],
and Onottowaysebewaing [also the Cass River].
Sebewaing means the River of Fur.
“sebii” means river.
Page 28 of 51
The Elk Lands or the Highlands
The Elk Lands contained at different times three villages or camping grounds.
Here the bulge of the massive elk resonates or sounds.
The Elk Lands are located in the highlands.
They are north of the forks of the Onottoway or Mattawan River.
There were three villages here at one time or another.
Down to the banks of the Onottoway elk were found or located.
For hunting elk this was a place that was very celebrated.
Page 29 of 51
The above Cutting is from the 1855 Farmer Map of Michigan: at the mouth of Sucker Creek
was an Indian Village [Podunk] in Tuscola County. (Courtesy Michigan State University
Library)
Page 30 of 51
Rio du Fil and the Auchville
The river or creek northwest of Wiscoggin, which was first called Sebewaing, is the Rio du Fill.
Rio du Fill is French and means the River of Thread.
The Rio du Fill [now called the Sebewaing River] was the stream that was twisted like a thread.
The Rio du Fill contains the town of Auchville.
The next creek northeast of Wiscoggin Creek, or Sebewaing, is also on the Saginaw Bay
Shoreline Indian Trail.
It is called Rio du Fil or the Thread River.
The Thread River twists and winds like a thread into a wide arc or semicircle.7
Toward Saginaw Bay it flows first south, west, and then northwest from its headwater.
There was once a Native village at the mouth of the Thread River
In the Elk Lands one finds the Thread River’s source.
The Thread River flows slowly in a curve and winds without much momentum or force.
Along the shore of Saginaw Bay grow large oak trees whose branches gently turn in the breeze.
The sandy beach was once burnt over and is now covered with many of these noble trees.
The knoll along the shoreline serves as a natural pathway.
Above Thread River [later called Sebewaing] summer camps or villages are numerous along the
Saginaw Bay.
The Thread River twists and curves with wiggle or wag.
The Thread River is bent or twisted like a string in a cloth or rag.
Here were there was an ancient village.
Native people lived here for many an age.
While the white man calls the river on occasion the Sebewaing that is not its original name.
Many of the Rivers of Tuscola or Tessi-aki often use the ending “wain” of “waing”.
The suffix “wain” means pelt of fur all the same.
The main river now the Cass was once known both as the Mattawan and Onottoway
Sebewaing,
Which is to say the Rattlesnake River of Fur”.
Sebewaing means river of fur.
Chief Otusson’s Village on the Onottoway Sebewaing is called Matotiswaining!
It means the magnificent fur.
7
Huron County Centennial History 1859-1959.
Page 31 of 51
Shebeon and the Island of Stone
Shebeon Creek was the place of concealment or hiding.
Northeast of Sebewaing River and emptying into the Saginaw Bay is Shebeon Creek.
Shebeon was the place of the hidden passageway.
Shebeon Creek flows north from the interior of Michigan’s Thumb with very slight sway.
Native camps here at times reached a peak.
The outlet of Shebeon Creek into Saginaw Bay is just south of North and Stone Island.
The district around Shebeon creek was a rich and fertile land.
At the mouth of Shebeon Creek once were two Native Villages at one time of another.
The spot was later called the “Fair Haven”.
An Indian Mission was built here in 1845 for the Chippewa Indian.
It was afterward moved to Sebewaing a few years later.
The local tribe was said to consist of about 300 Native People.
Rev. J. J. Auch established the mission on Sheboyonk Creek on at a spot that was beautiful.
The Mission was located on the "Middle Ground”.
The local Native people were peaceful and hospitable.
Extensive and abounding with game was their hunting ground.
Small patches of corn and potatoes they would also cultivate or till.
With their furs they bartered for the white man’s clothing when they had the occasion.
The local Native clan became devoted to “Kije-manito”, the Great Spirit, or the God of the white
man.
The Shebeon people were governed by much-loved chief Soe-a-che-wah-o-sah of Shebeon
River.
His name may be written “Mogisse-gisiss- wasseias” that means the rising sun that is brilliant.
Chief Brilliant Rising Sun was to have had dazzling red hair.
The Shebeon people bought land at Shebeon from the government in 1847 and sold it in 1856
to settlers.
Shebeon women often made baskets that they sold in the white villages to settlers.
The men hunted, trapped, and fished.
When the wigwams were nearby, the Shebeon children the local schools attended.
Page 32 of 51
A great village of the Ottawa in the 1700’s likely lived here.
The Shebeon Creek was the Ottawa’s permanent camping ground throughout the year.
In the early 1800’s Edward Pettit a well known trapper had a trading post at Shebeon.
Chief Otusson of the Upper Huron or Onottoway River may have traveled as far as Shebeon.
Page 33 of 51
The above is a cutting from the 1855 Farmer Map of Michigan showing the northwest
shoreline of the Thumb of Michigan. (Courtesy of Michigan State University Library)
Page 34 of 51
The Pigeon, Pinnebog, and Bird Rivers—Aviary
Rivers
Northeast of Shebeon Creek were the Pigeon, Pinnebog, and Bird Rivers.
The Pigeon and Pigeon River empty northward into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron.
Pigeon in Chippewa and Ottawa is “omini”.
Pigeon River was named for the many wild pigeons that once nested in the region.
This was an area of abundance and plenty.
Near the mouth of Pigeon River were two villages.
They likely had been there for ages.
Saginaw Bay at the mouth of the Pigeon River teemed with fish.
In the woods roamed moose, deer, elk, bear, wolf, wild cat, lynx.
Along the Shebeon, Pigeon and Pinnebog River was the beaver, otter, muskrat and mink.
The district seems to have everything the hunter and fisher could wish.
Wild berries, seeds, and insects furnished daily food for birds such as the pigeon
The sky at one time was darkened by great flocks of wild pigeon.
When the pigeons passed by people would knock them down with a long pole.
The wild Pigeon none the less is no extinct on the Pigeon River.
Also common in thefall were flocks of wild turkeys in the woods would stroll.
The great place for birds was the Pigeon and Pinnebog [or Partridge] River.
The Pinnebog River lies northeast of the Pigeon River.
“Pinna Sibi” in Chippewa and Ottawa means Partridge River.
It is likely that the ending of Pinnebog is simply an English extension.
It likely means simply the moor or bog.
The region for birds of all types was a haven.
Sometimes the skies they would almost seem to blacken or clog.
A small tribe of Indians made their home on the banks of the Pinnebog River.8
The Pinnebog seems also in the early1800s to have been called by the English Sugar River.
Finally above the Pinnebog River near the tip of Michigan’s Thumb is the Bird River.
Near the Pinnebog River there were four Indian Villages.
Their occupation may have been at different times or historical stages.
8
Huron County Centennial History 1859-1959.
Page 35 of 51
The Thumb of Michigan Rivers and Pathways—the
Passageways
The woodlands of the Center of Michigan’s Thumb Podunk were the land of great white pine
trees that were bounteous and copious.
Coming in from Quanicassee and from Wiscoggin to the Ridge or Podunk were two pathways.
They led to Podunk, the Onottoway River, and Sucker Creek.
At Podunk the white pine trees were so tall and plentiful that the sunshade was dark even
during the days.
The woods were silent and would almost not make a noise or speak.
At Podunk a path also came in from the west from Matotiswaning.
A path also came in from the east from the Elk Land that was excellent for large game hunting.
The four trails met at Podunk to form one that went southward to the place of the stone or the
Flint River.
The Ispadnang, Ridge, or Podunk Trail led south to what the French would call La Pierre.
The Ridge lead southward from Podunk was the highest ground in the center of Michigan’s
Thumb.
The Podunk Trial was the high ground.
Near both side of the Ridge Trail wetland was to be found.
The adjoining land was also somewhat high but often swampy and still.
Podunk Trail ran directly southward along a gentle interior ridge or hill.
Hemlock mostly grew near the lowlands.
A large quantity of scattering or white pine filled the dry graveled highlands.
The high ground often held elk while swamps held the moose and wetland game.
The ponds along the way were a chance to fish and served as a reframe.
The Podunk Trial ultimately led to the ridge or High Banks along the Lower Huron River.
I was also called the Nottawasippee River.
Page 36 of 51
Pays Peles: Michigan's Thumb near the Baye of Saguinam. Pays Peles means the country of
peltries that lay within Michigan’s Thumb.
Page 37 of 51
The beauty of Otusson’s realm would one’s awareness overwhelm.
Trees on the highlands of the Nottoway River in some sections were wind-fallen.
The landscape was a picture of great destruction.
During great storms they were blown to the ground.
They would have created a booming sound.
Scattering cork or white pine trees along the Onottoway River grew on the highlands.
Tamarack and hemlock grew on the ground that dipped into lowlands.
Native People traversed the gravel hills.
In doing so they avoided swamps that may have brought on chills.
Along the shore of Saginaw Bay and shores around Michigan’s Thumb the Flat Country had soil
that was fertile.
In the center were knolls and ridges that were gravel.
Michigan’s Thumb was the stage on which Matotiswaning was its central player.
Forests held weasel, mink, raccoon, and chipmunk.
Also at its center was the Village of Podunk.
The Onottoway River was the river that was bright and clear.
It was realm of Otusson's or his people’s kingdom.
It was Michigan's Thumb.
The Onottoway River was the central element transportation.
Not far from White Rock and Lake Huron, the Onottoway River descends from a peat bog or
great swamp.
Its ancient inhabitants were a clan of the Huron the Ariatoeronon.
Over the trails along the river both Native and European people would tromp.
At a peak in the landscape west of White Rock the Onottoway River would arise.
The richness of its land is really a great surprise.
Page 38 of 51
White Rock and the People of the Rock
The Ariatoeronon were likely the Rock People.
They lived in the vicinity of White Rock.
There was an Indian trail that went southwest from White Rock.
It led to the Black River and then went along the stream southward.
Going west up the White Rock River one may portage and to west go to the Onottoway River.
Also, one may portage and go south to the Black River.
The Great Marsh at the headwater of the Onottoway and Black River had an Indian name.
The Chippewa and Ottawa called it “kitchi-maskig” that had a meaning that was the same.
The Black was called by the Anishinaabe the black water
The French used the phrase La Riviere Noire.
Great stands of Eastern hemlock stood in the ravines and dominated the virgin forest of the
river.
The eastern shore of Lake Huron along Michigan’s Thumb was a land of the Indian drum.
Near the Nottoway River from Podunk to Bark Shanty Point [Port Sanilac] there was not a
village.
At the headwaters of the river the land was but swamp and good only for hunting and trapping.
At a distance to the south along the Lake Huron shoreline was an Aamijiwanaang village.
To the north along the shore from Bark Shanty was White rock a place of dancing and
celebrating.
Page 39 of 51
The Willow River and the Black River
From the great peat bog west of White Rock also springs the Black River.
In the language of the local Native People it was Makatewigamisibi, which also means Black
River.
There near the outlet of Lake Huron and the Black River lived the Aamijiwanaang people.
Their name means "at the spawning stream.
They were originally from across the St. Clair River from Sarnia.
***************
***************
***********
To the northwest above White Rock and going near the tip of Michgan’s Thumb was Willow
Creek.
It was by the Chippewa and Ottawa called Wet-to-bee-wok.9
An Indian village [Huron City today] was located near the mouth of the creek.
It was the first village above the camping place White Rock.
An Indian basket in Chippewa and Ottawa is called a “watabimakak”.10
A box is “mkak”.
“Watabi” means the [willow] tree root.
Hence Wet-to-bee-wok likely means where there are the roots for basket making in the woods.
Willow baskets are made from osier or a withy a long flexible willow shoot.
Willow Creek was the place in which Native people made basket goods.
The prefix “watabi” then means willow root while the suffix ““waki” means woods.
9
Pioneer History of Huron County, Michigan by Florence McKinnon Gwinn, pg. 9.
A Dictionary of the Ojibway Language by Frederic Baraga, pg. 404.
10
Page 40 of 51
The above cutting of the eastern shoreline of the Thumb of Michigan was taken from the 1855
Farmer Map of Michigan. (Courtesy of Michigan State University)
Page 41 of 51
Native Villages of the Ages
The villages in the southern part of Michigan’s Thumb were somewhat numerous but not as
numerous as in the Saginaw Valley.
From Podunk the Ridge Trail went southward toward the Le Pierre.
Before reaching that spot the trail divided.
One southern branch ran to the Belle Chasse River.
Another trial went on to south where another branching occurred.
At this later spot a trail went back to the Northwest to a point just west of Matotiswaning
where it forded the Onottoway River.
From the fording place [now the village of Tuscola] It went on to Cheboygoning Creek and on
the mouth of the Saginaw River.
Near these two forks in the trail were three Native villages and the Native wigwam.
They were near the north branch of the Flint River.
The Native huts stood below majestic cork pine that caused the air to be dark, still, and calm.
The spot called Le Pierre was on the South Branch of the Flint River.
Here nights were full of rest.
Here were the forests of Michigan at their best.
The first Native Village was at a branch of the Flint River or Indian River and Squaw Lake.
The second and third were farther south near Crystal Creek.
Southwest of Le Pierre were two more camps near Nepessing Lake.
The Native People were nomadic.
Near Lapeer were at least two camping sites
Nepessing Lake was a district that was a favorite place for hunting.11
Numerous trails led in many a direction.
One led to the Saginaw trail .
The Indians had a village near Nepessing Lake.
They also had a camping ground on the south bank of Flint River.
Nearby they cultivated corn on an opening that gave to the locality the name of the Indian
garden.
They had sugar-bushes too where they tapped the maple-trees and manufactured maple-sugar.
11
History of Genesee County, Michigan, pg. 406.
Page 42 of 51
The Podunk Trail went southward to the High Banks of the Lower Huron or Nottawasippee
River.
From just west of Nepessing Lake the Ridge Trail went south and [near Lake Orion] to another
Squaw Lake.
The Ridge Trail then went southeast and followed the Lower Nottawasippee [Clinton] River.
Halfway to Lake St. Clair were ridges that had Indian villages [now called Rochester] where the
trail makes more than one divide or break.
To the northeast were two Native villages on the way to the Indian Town on the North Branch
of the Nottawasippee River.
Indian Town had two Indian communities.
At the forks were at time three different Native communities.
At the fork in the Ridge Trail two branches go northwest and southwest to the Saginaw Trail.
Those routes lead to Flint and Detroit in that order.
Here the Native paths were strong and not frail
A fourth trail led to the Detroit River.
Following the Nottawasippee River and passing a village the Ridge Tail ended on Lake St. Claire
and the High Banks.
On last village along the trail was High Banks.
There were river tails running down along the Detroit River.
The same trail went up passed the Salt, Belle Chasse, Swan, and Pine River and then went along
the Clair River.
There had been two villages near the mouth of Salt Creek.
Another one was at Swan Creek.
Near the headwater of the North Branch of the Onottoway River there were two villages
[Almont] in a camping ground.
Also at the headwater of the Belle River [Capac] two more villages were found.
From Swan Creek the shoreline path went north to the Aamijiwanaang village at the outlet of
Lake Huron.
From there were no villages along the Lake Huron shore until [Port Sanilac or] Bark Shanty
Point.
However there was a village a few miles up the Black River [at what is now Ruby].
The interior part of Michigan’s Thumb did not contain any Indian villages between the Elk Land,
Willow Creek, and the lower Black River.
Page 43 of 51
The above is a cutting from the 1836 Farmer Map of Michigan.
Page 44 of 51
The Concluding Thought—What This Poem
Brought
Tang of cork pine fills the air.
Piquant are the elevated hills of the interior.
A pong breaches the air from Matotiswaning to the Elkland and the shores of Lake Huron.
This is a stunning region.
The waters are sparkling blue.
Everything seems to new.
The massive white pine ascend lofty, expansive, and wide.
Groves of huge white pine skirt the ridges and many a river bank.
Native people the ridges back and forth walked in rank.
The rivers in transport they plied.
On fertile lands in many areas, they grow potatoes, corn, and squash.
They dress and mark themselves with panache.
The region is a place that is most bountiful.
It holds many bear, lynx, mink, martin, raccoon, muskrat, and beaver.
The Native and white trapper employ their hunting and trapping each winter.
In spring canoes and packs on ponies would be full.
In the low and level spots the land is wet and sodden.
The grand marsh ground is not often trodden.
The hills are good and healthful.
The ridges, the high banks, the land in general is hearty.
This is a place of wigwams and hostelry.
Camps above the ponds allow respite in this land of bounty.
The Thumb of Michigan is the land of beaver hunting or Teuschagronde.
Land and water here are the best.
It is a country that is for many people a great pursuit or quest.
Late spring and summer Native People lived at river’s mouth near Lake Huron’s shore.
It is a great fishing retreat.
Each spring Native fishing is entice into a fleet.
In winter fishing is also done near the shore.
They fished through the clear ice.
The Lake is the fisherman's paradise.
Page 45 of 51
***********************************************************
During winter often were traversed the interior passageway.
They came in from Lake Huron and the Saginaw Bay.
There places for their Wigwams were often in the soaring woods of the white pine.
These sites were held in high esteem.
The inland trails often led to hunting and fishing grounds that were productive with furs that
were superior or very fine.
The trails often began along the mouth of a river or stream.
Time and again the trails lead to the knolls or highland.
The hill forest had majestic white cork pine trees.
Their light and tall bodies soared and waved in the breeze.
The Native person regularly made a dugout from its buoyant wood when trapping the upland.
In the cork pine pirogue or dugout canoe, they then floated down a river.
They float with their cache of furs or food with the assistance river.
Trading post where typically located near a large Native village that was frequently at the
mouth of a river.
The dugout or pirogue made of cork pine transport many furs down each River.
Winter camps more often than not were on the high banks where majestic cork pine rolled in
the breeze.
High out of reach their grand branches would wave, weave, and dance.
They would skip and dip as the tops of the trees would twist, strut, and wheeze.
The cork pine made a huge impression in their immense size and stance.
These grandiose cork pine Native People called the "zhingwaak",
The upper reaches of the interior waterways were possessed by the beaver and its dam or lock.
Here the haughty pine trees filled the sky.
At their feet or nearby were rivers and its streams that would fill with sturgeon.
The rivers and streams also contained in season the pike, bass, and walleye.
This was Michigan’s Thumb the land of Chief Otusson.
Page 46 of 51
A Second Additional Thought—About What this
Poem has Brought
Page 47 of 51
The Tuscola Court House mural show and Indian Chief meeting with General Lewis Cass who
may have been Chief Otusson.
Chief Otusson was the Native leader of the Mattawan or Cass River: It was also called the
Onottoway and Upper Huron.
Page 48 of 51
Matotiswaning was the Native village of Chief Otusson that laid below the Onottoway River
portage.
Matotiswaning was at a great river bend.
For enumerable years there was here many a Native village.
To the Saginaw River from Matotiswaning it was easy to descend.
The lower and smaller bend in the Cass River was called by Native People Skop-ti-qua-nou.
Its translation meant the short turn shaped like a horseshoe.
In the early 1800's, the upper and larger bend was home to Henri Ariel Campeau’s trading post.
The Campeau trading post was on the Saginaw Tail.
On the Mattawan River trading was done here the most.
The American Fur Company had their trading post hat was at the lower bend in and the river
and also on the Saginaw Trail.
The Native people of the Onottoway River understood the value of the district’s enchanted or
magical fur.
He knew well every woodland trail in Michigan’s thumb and each Mattawan River.
They were acquainted with the majestic green forest filled with the tall white or cork pine.
Each knew the animals and their dens that were hidden away from the sunshine.
They were familiar with the woodland flowers yellow, red, white, lavender, and blue.
They understand the value of each rushing stream and its quiet beauty that was fresh,
unsullied, and new.
That time is now gone by.
It was a time left here with poem that acknowledges its significance with a grateful and thankful
sigh.
Page 49 of 51
Page 50 of 51
One Post Thought
Indian personal names of the Cass River:
Mo-kish-e-no-qua was an early mystic maiden warrior of the Upper Huron or Cass River.
Her name likely meant moccasin lady or simply shoemaker.
Another early Native person of the Saginaw River Valley who ventured here includes Chief
Naomi.
Naomi was chief of the Flint River band of Native American’s, and his name likely meant
sturgeon.
He was a leader of much in south eastern Michigan.
Meno-cum-se-qua was the sister of Chief Naomi.
She married first James Van Slyke Riley or Kassegans.
Cache of valuables or hidden treasure may have been the gist of the name Kassegans.
The name Menocumsequa seems to mean good lady or possibly spring lady.
Chief Mash-ke-yosh [Mark Joshua] later was also a member of the Onottoway or Upper Huron
River.
He resided where Caro and Wahjamega now stand.
His name seems to mean stag or elk.
Omashkos in Chippewa/Ottawa means elk.
Perhaps more so his name meant the carver or marker.
This is what I understand.
Page 51 of 51