Michel Cadotte

Michel Cadotte(July 22, 1764 – July 8, 1837) (also spelled Michael, and the surname as Cadott, Cadeau, and other variations),KechemeshaneinOjibwe(orGichi-miishenin the contemporary spelling, meaning "Great Michel" ) was aMétisfur traderof Ojibwe, Wendat and French-Canadian descent. He dominated the business in the area of the south shore ofLake Superior.

He gained a strategic alliance through marriage toEquawasay,the daughter of the head of theWhite Crane clan;men from this clan were the hereditary chiefs of theLake Superior Ojibwe.Cadotte's trading post atLa PointeonMadeline Islandwas a critical center for the trade between the Lake Superior band and theBritishandUnited Statestrading companies.

Early life and education

Cadotte was born July 22, 1764, as the second son to aFrench Métisfather and anAnishinaabemother in present-daySault Ste. Marie, Michigan,which had been recently taken over by the British after their victory against France in theSeven Years' War.He had an older brother and they grew up with their mother's Ojibwe people. His fatherJean Baptiste Cadotte, Sr.,became a fur trader for French and later British interests in and around the eastern end of Lake Superior. Michel's paternal great-grandfather was a Frenchman named Mathurin Cadeau, and he had come toLake Superiorin the late 17th century on a French exploratory mission.

Michel's mother was a member of the powerfulOwaazsii(Bullhead) clan of the Anishinaabeg. She is frequently described in historic records as having high status in the region and as being an exceptionally kind person. She was aRoman Catholicconvert whose French name was likely Marianne or Anastasia. His parents sent Michel and his brother John Baptiste Jr. toMontrealfor their education in French Catholic schools.

Cadotte Sr. pressed westward as a trader along the south shore of Lake Superior and set up a trading post onMooningwanekaaning(Madeline Island), inChequamegon Bayin modern-dayWisconsin.The traditional center of the Lake Superior Ojibwe, the island had previously had a French trading post. As Michel Cadotte reached adulthood, he frequently traveled west with his father and older brotherJean Baptiste, Jr.(more often called John Baptiste Cadotte).

Jean Baptiste Sr. retired in 1796 and left his holdings to his sons. John Baptiste Jr. explored westward toFond du Lacand later toRed Lakein present-dayMinnesota.Michel Cadotte settled atLa Pointeon Mooningwanekaaning, then called St. Michel Island.

Marriage and family

At La Pointe, Cadotte married Ikwesewe, the daughter of the head of theWhite Crane clanof theAnishinaabe.This was an advantageous marriage, as the males of the Cranes were selected as the hereditarychiefsof the Lake Superior band. Cadotte became the lead trader on the south shore of Lake Superior, and would remain so for decades. Similarly, the head of the White Crane clan believed it advantageous to have a strong alliance with the fur trader through his daughter's marriage. Ikwesewe and Cadotte had several children. Two of their daughters married American fur traders, the brothers Lyman and Truman Warren.

Career

Working for the BritishNorth West Companyand later theAmerican Fur Company,Cadotte built a trading empire throughout northern Wisconsin. He established outposts at the head of theChippewa River,and atLac Courte Oreilles.Born just after the collapse ofNew Franceafter Great Britain's victory in theSeven Years' War,Cadotte had a career that peaked toward the later decades of the great fur trade. ManyMétistraders,similar to him, were prominent in the Great Lakes area on behalf of British and American companies.

Cadotte and his brother Jean Baptiste were generous and well-liked; they proved instrumental in brokering peace and commerce in the region. Literate and able to speak fluent Ojibwe, English, and French, Cadotte often acted as an intermediary between the Ojibwe and the governments of Canada and the United States. He held considerable political influence; for example, he persuaded most of the Lake Superior Ojibwe to stay out ofTecumseh's Rebellion.

Cadotte retired in 1823 and left his business to his two American sons-in-law, the brothers Lyman and Truman Warren. He died on July 8, 1837, and was buried at La Pointe.

Jean Baptiste Cadotte

His father, Jean Baptiste Cadotte, was an interpreter for the French at Sault Ste. Marie at the time of the British conquest in the Seven Years' War.Alexander Henry the eldermet him and spent the winter of 1762-63 with him and his wife Athanasie, who was of Ojibwa parentage. In 1767 Cadotte and Henry re-founded the post atMichipicoten.

In 1775 Cadotte and Henry took £2,236 worth of goods from Montreal to the region of the new Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) post atCumberland House, Saskatchewan.Cadotte went toFort des Prairieswhile Henry went up theSturgeon-Weir River.

Legacy and honors

• MooningwanekaaningIsland, designatedÎle St. Michelby the French in the 17th century, became more widely known as Michael's Island, after Cadotte, during the 19th and into the early 20th century.
• Since then, the island has become associated with his wifeIkwesewe,who lived into her nineties. Her Catholicsaint's name was Madeline, for whom theislandis named.
• Cadott, WisconsininChippewa County, Wisconsinwas named for him.
• One of the grandsons of the Cadottes,William Whipple Warren,was also born in La Pointe. A native speaker of Ojibwe, he was elected as a legislator fromMinnesota Territoryin 1851. He wrote the first history of the Ojibwe people, combining oral traditions and European-American style of documentation. It was published in 1885 and reprinted in 2009.
• The Cadottes have numerous living descendants throughout Ojibwe Country, especially in theRed Cliffarea.

See also

• Chief Buffalo
• Charles Michel de Langlade
• Pierre Grignon
• Alexander Henry the elder

References

• Warren, William W.History of the Ojibway People1885.

External links

• Michel CadotteatFind a Grave