With the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, the Anish'na'abe and other tribes ceded to the United States their land east of the Wabash and Miami Rivers. First recorded in the northern Lake Huron area, by 1680 the culturally related Anish'na'abe tribes were identified as the Ojibwa (Chippewa), who had also occupied lower Michigan; the Adwada (Ottawa), who had also moved to northern and western Michigan; and the Pottawatomi, who were expanding south along the western shore of Lake Michigan.

 

Chief Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish (also known as Bad Bird) represented these tribes during the treaty proceedings. Although Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish was originally from the Michilimackinac area, he spoke on behalf of the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawatomi, which were much further south. This is because at the time of Treaty of Greenville, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish was associated with the villages along the Kalamazoo River.

 

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish and other Pottawatomi bands continued to live along the Kalamazoo River after the Treaty of Greenville. Soon after the end of the War of 1812, during which the majority of the Pottawatomi bands allied with the British, several Michigan Pottawatomi bands were involved in another treaty. This treaty was signed on September 8, 1815 at Spring Wells, near Detroit. Although Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish was not a signer, this treaty restored to the tribes all the possessions, rights, and privileges they were entitled to under the Treaty of Greenville and all subsequent treaties of which they had been parties.

 

The marker for the southeast corner of the 1821 Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Reservation will be located on the northern part of the grounds of Millwood Elementary School (part of Kalamazoo Public Schools). The original corner of the 1821 Reservation was located where present-day Sheridan Street meets Portage Road, approximately 30 yards from today's marker.

 

Select the "+" in the red cirlce on this page and the camera option to view oral histories from Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Tribal Councillors and band elders.

 

Tell us what you think of this new history and how we presented it - SURVEY.

 

This project is funded in part by the Michigan Humanities Council in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities.