Contest for the Island

Contest for the Island. . , Mackinac Island is no stranger to hostility, and many have fought for its highly strategic location in the Great Lakes. Some of these battles occurred before Europeans arrived in North America, while others were an integral part of American history. , , Odawa historian Andrew Blackbird related that Mackinac Island was once inhabited by a tribe allied with the Odawa on neighboring Manitoulin Island. This tribe had powerful enemies in the Iroquois nation of New York. During a winter raid, Iroquois warriors attacked this tribe, leaving only two survivors. According to Blackbird, the Odawa named the island in memory of their fallen allies, the Mishimackinong. , , War returned between 1640 and 1701, when the Iroquois began a massive offensive against western Great Lakes tribes. They first targeted the Huron, who fled west around 1650. The Huron and Odawa settled on Mackinac Island, but were later pushed as far west as Minnesota. , , By 1670, Odawa and Ojibway war parties regained control of the Straits of Mackinac, driving the Iroquois east. By the late 1690s, Odawa and Ojibway war parties attacked Iroquois villages in New York. In 1701 the Great Peace Treaty of Montreal, which involved the Odawa, Ojibway, the French, and several other tribes, ended the conflict. , , Reverse , Continued from other side , A century after the Great Peace of Montreal, war again visited Mackinac Island during the War of 18 12. Native warriors fought the Americans alongside their British allies, capturing the island at the beginning of the war. Shingwaukonse (the Little Pine), and Ojibway war chief from Bowating (Sault Ste. Marie), served as the principal leader of Anishnaabek warriors in the bloodless capture of Fort Mackinac on July 17, 1812. Native warriors were again a decisive factor in August 1814, helping defeat an American attempt to recapture the island. , , Fifteen years after the War of 18 12 ended, the Anishnaabek engaged in a different type of war: the fight against the removal policy of the 1830s. Many of the warriors who took up arms to protect their lands would use their intellect in this next battle. , , Top image caption: Several hundred Anishnaabek warriors joined British and Canadian soldiers to capture Fort Mackinac in July 1812, one of the first engagements of the War of 18 12. , , Middle image caption: These Odawa men, painted by Josiah Jebb around 1814, may have participated in the capture of Mackinac Island in 1812. , , Bottom image caption: Anishnaabek and other Native warriors proved decisive during the Battle of Mackinac Island on August 4, 1814, ambushing the advancing Americans and supporting a British counterattack.