Ozaawindib

Biography Ozaawindib was likely born in the mid to late seventeen hundreds. Ozaawindib's father was Wiishkobak ("Sweet" or "Le Sucre", recorded as "Wesh-ko-bug"), a chief of the Leech Lake Pillagers. By 1800, the Pillagers, including Ozaawindib, lived on Gaa-Miskwaawaakokaag near Leech Lake - terrain earlier inhabited by the Dakota people, who engaged in warfare with migrating Ojibwe. Finally accepting that the courtship had failed, Ozaawindib became the third wife of Chief Wenji-dotaagan.

Alexander Henry reported from his Pembina Post in 1797 that when Ozaawindib was drunk, "he was not merely a nuisance but a bothersome man." By 1800, Ozaawindib and Wenji-dotaagan were listed by Henry as part of his crew, with Henry recalling Ozawiindib as having been "the best runner among the Saulteurs [Ojibwe]", famous for a heroic feat during a fight with the Dakota.

In June 1832, Ozaawindib and another Ojibwe from Gaa-Miskwaawaakokaag were traveling to the fort at Sault Ste. Marie to inform the Indian agent, Henry Schoolcraft, about a war party from Leech Lake, departing to pursue the Dakota. They met with Schoolcraft, accompanied by an expedition of men, near Fond du Lac. Schoolcraft convinced Ozaawindib to serve as his guide back to Gaa-Miskwaawaakokaag. Ozaawindib guided Schoolcraft and his men to Gaa-Miskwaawaakokaag and then to Omashkoozo-Zaaga’igan (Elk-Lake), renamed by Schoolcraft to Lake Itasca. After visiting the source of the Mississippi River, the expedition returned to the Ojibwe village on Gaa-Miskwaawaakokaag. On July 16th, 1832, Schoolcraft called a formal council, where he presented Ozaawindib with a medal. According to Schoolcraft, there was no ogimaa (hereditary chief) present in the village, but Ozaawindib was “the principal man in the band.” Schoolcraft did not mention the aayaakwe status or any gender nonconformity from Ozaawindib.

Legacy Ozaawindib is remembered in place names such as Lake Plantagenet (Ozaawindibe-zaaga'igan) and Schoolcraft River (Ozaawindibe-ziibi) in the Anishinaabe language, and as Yellow Head Point of Lake Itasca in English.

Explanatory notes