| Notes |
- Notes for Biauswa
!NAME: <;,-', Bi-aus-wa (ABT 1720 - BEF 1825) [VR #7]
!GENEALOGY_COMPILED_BY_VIRGINIA_ROGERS: Broken Tooth Genealogy, #7 (after Kohl,
p. 147): son of Matchi-wai-jan (ABT 1700), probably born at La Pointe, WI
!LCCN: E99.C6K713; Kohl, Johann Georg; Kitchi-Gami (Copyright 1860);
1985 Reprint by MN Historical Society
"The French translation of his name is given as 'l'homme qui fait secher;'
the English as 'the man who was dry or needed a drink of water [sic].' From the
Tales of the Four Lakes, Bi-aus-wah was 'generally accepted as the leader of the
first successful attacks on Sandy Lake. He was the principal Chief of the Sandy
Lake village during its first years as capital of the Ojibway Nation. Bi-aus-wa
was even better known, however, for his civil leadership than as a war chief.'
Kohl writes 'Loonfoot said that his grandfather had been a great 'jossakid'
(magician). Once his squaw had been quite paralyzed, nearly dead, but his grand
father had brought her to life with his breath (en soufflant).' There were
several chiefs named Bi-aus-wa ad in some of the histories they have become
confused.
"It was during Bi-aus-wah's time that the fighting between the Chippewa and
the Sioux was at its most intense. The Sioux and the Chippewa had been allies,
at least to some extent, until about 1730. The Sioux occupied the northern part
of Minnesota and the Dakotas. The Chippewa were closer to the French and
English fur traders and acted as middle men. They traded for guns, amunition,
metal pots and pans, etc. then traded with the Sioux for furs. [Add info.]
Until after 1736 the Chippewa did not have a foothold west of Lake Superior.
From the Tales of Four Lakes, \::}; Ke-chi-wa-bi-she-shi meaning 'Great
Marten', 'who was killed near Elk River was said to have fought in nearly 100
battles and been wounded in many of them. He was Bi-aus-wah's most important
war chief and lead every major campaign against the Sioux after the Ojibway had
settled in the Northern lake region of Minnesota.'
"It has been written that Bi-aus-wah had only one son when he died, and that
he substituted himself for his son and was burned at the stake by the Fox
Indians. However I have found ample evidence that the children listed below
were his children. They undoubtedly had different mothers. It was almost
unheard of in those days for a Chippewa man, particularly a Chief, to have only
one wife. They usually fathered fifteen or more children although many died in
childhood.
"Chippewa families tend to be interrelated. It was a common custom for
Chiefs to marry daughters of other Chiefs. Another common practice was the
'Indian ideal marriage' of first cousins, children of a brother and sister."
!NOTE: the "Chiefs" referred to here are Metis were who were endowed, by the
European colonizers, with the rank of Chief; the multiple polygamy and marrying
of relatives are French Metis and Chippewa customs. In the Anishinabe Ojibway
tradition it is considered incest to marry any person known to related by
blood, or to marry another person of the same
Dodem.
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