Native Americans

Native Americans. Where The Rivers Meet. The Odawa were the people living in the Lowell area when white settlers arrived. They would have said they were Anishinabe, meaning the first people or the original people. The area was heavily forested with an abundance of wild animals such as bear, wolves, deer, mink, otter, beaver, coyote and skunk. The rivers were the highways; canoes were the vehicles. There were also footpaths which were about 18 inches wide., Flat River Odawa were seasonal people and moved at least three times a year. In the summer the whole band of up to 400 people lived in Segwun, the area of Lowell on the south bank of the Grand River. They farmed where the fairgrounds are now, From October through January smaller family groups moved up the Flat River to hunting and trapping camps. From February to April they lived at their maple sugar camps and each family tapped 800 to 1500 trees., A series of treaties moved the local Odawa off their land to make way for new settlers. Cobmoosa, The Great Walker, was a Headman present at the signing of these treaties. He helped the local tribes be permitted to move to reservations in northern Michigan rather than being ordered to go to Oklahoma., Timeline , 1778 , British Governor of Detroit called on Odawa of Grand River to help stop General George Rogers Clark's advance through Illinois during the American Revolution, locals refused , 1807 , Tecumseh tried to unite the tribes, locals refused , 1821 , Treaty of 1821 opened land to settlement south of the Grand River , 1835 , Smallpox epidemic wiped out 1/3 of the Native population along the Grand River , 1836 , Treaty of Washington opened land to settlement north of the Grand River , 1850 , Michigan Constitution granted Native American's citizenship and right to vote if they would renounce their tribal affiliation , 1855 , Treaty of 1855 ended the threat of removal from Michigan; Reservations were set up in Mason and Oceana Counties, given 5 years to choose land , 1857 , Lowell area Odawa leave for Oceana County (Pentwater area), Hooker closes trading post , 1862 , Cobmoosa leaves Lowell for Oceana County, Segonse, or Rodney Negake was born in Cobmoosa’s village (Lowell) in 1847. He was baptized and christened Rodney Lewis Negake in honor of Rodney and Lewis Robinson, early settlers. At 10 years old, he moved to the reservation on Oceana Count with the entire Indian band., This is an artist’s view of life in a Michigan Odawa village. You can see that their wigwams (houses) were wagonogans, domed shaped houses made of a red willow frame covered with birch bark., Cobmoosa House Now located at 803 N. Washington Street, Lowell. (Private Residence), Cobmoosa is wearing the suit of clothes given to him by the US government, when he arrived in Washington with Rix Robinson and the delegation of Headmen to negotiate the Treaty of 1836., Indian bracelet given to Clarinda Robinson. Clarinda attended the first school in Lowell (1838). Her friends were Odawa as well as settlers., Map of Native Settlements , There were three locations of Odawa summer villages in this area. Each village represented a different time period and was identified by the name of the "Chief". However, the Headmen of the village were not really the boss. Ottawa political power traveled from the bottom up.