Document généré le 23 sept. 2021 11:23 Ontario History Chief of this River Zhaawni-binesi and the Chenail Ecarté lands Rick Fehr, Janet Macbeth et Summer Sands Macbeth Volume 111, numéro 1, spring 2019 Résumé de l'article Les descriptions de la colonisation européenne du Canada excluent largement la URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1059964ar présence des peuples indigènes des territoires contestés. Dans cet article, nous DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/1059964ar allons explorer une communauté Anishinaabeg et un chef régional du début du XIXe siècle dans le Haut-Canada jusqu’à présent restés obscurs. Il s’agit de la Aller au sommaire du numéro communauté connue sous le nom de Chenail Ecarté et du chef Zhaawni-binesi. Grâce aux sources principales, les auteurs vont explorer l’histoire de cette communauté, son déplacement, ainsi que le rôle joué par le Chef Zhaawni-binesi Éditeur(s) dans la guerre de 1812 et dans la vie communale. Les auteurs vont aussi suivre la route du déplacement de la communauté face à l’empiètement des colons. Cet The Ontario Historical Society article vise à accroître les connaissances et l’appréciation de l’histoire autochtone du Sud-Ouest de l’Ontario. ISSN 0030-2953 (imprimé) 2371-4654 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Fehr, R., Macbeth, J. & Sands Macbeth, S. (2019). Chief of this River: Zhaawni-binesi and the Chenail Ecarté lands. Ontario History, 111(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.7202/1059964ar Copyright © The Ontario Historical Society, 2019 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ 19 ChiefZhaawni-binesi andof the this Chenail RiverEcarté lands by Rick Fehr, Janet Macbeth, and Summer Sands Macbeth he marginalization of the Anishi- Ecarté land, both Indigenous and non- naabeg1 population on the Che- Indigenous people living in the region nail Ecarté treaty land coincides can better appreciate Anishinaabeg biog- Twith the Crown’s desire to settle Europe- raphy on a land that is often celebrated an immigrants on arable farmland in the for its European settler heritage and his- early nineteenth century. Chief Zhaaw- tory. This is a significant point as it high- ni-binesi’s life was bound with the events lights the fact that the Anishinaabeg have that happened on the Chenail Ecarté as never left the Chenail Ecarté homeland. the settler population pushed the Anishi- Even though local settlers now know the naabeg to neighbouring Walpole Island tract in question as the town of Wallace- and to Sarnia, on the St. Clair River. Our burg and Sombra Township, Ojibwe and intent is to give Zhaawni-binesi’s legacy Odawa peoples still call it home. This new dimension and to dispel the obscu- paper charts the period of Anishinaabeg rity that many Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and self-determination on the Chenail Ecarté Odawa historical figures face. As Anishi- treaty land beginning in 1796 and its naabe historian Alan Corbiere says, the erosion through the rise of settler occu- Anishinaabeg made up the majority of pation following the creation of the Bal- combatants during the War of 1812. Yet, doon settlement in 1804. they do not receive anywhere near the level of attention as General Brock, Te- Clarification of Zhaawni- 2 cumseh, John Norton, or Laura Secord. binesi’s Name The effect of this obscurity erases the -An ishinaabeg from the popular conscious- n the spring of 1804, two land sur- ness.3 By connecting Zhaawni-binesi Iveyors, Thomas Smith and Augustus to the War of 1812 and to the Chenail Jones, travelled to the Chenail Ecarté 1 Anishinaabeg refers collectively to the Council of Three Fires: The Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa, and Potawatomi. 2 Alan Corbiere, “Anishnaabeg in the War of 1812: More than Tecumseh and his Indians,” Active His- tory, 10 September 2014, < http://activehistory.ca/2014/09/anishnaabeg-in-the-war-of-1812-more-than- tecumseh-and-his-indians/> Accessed on 23 July 2017. 3 Corbiere, “Anishnaabeg in the War of 1812…” 4 Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Thomas Douglas 5th Earl of Selkirk fonds, R9790-0-8-E : Ontario History / Volume CXI, No. 1 / Spring 2019 OH inside pages spring 2019.indd 19 2019-02-05 10:06:57 PM 20 ONTARIO HISTORY constant rains and flood waters prevented its Abstract completion. Approxi- The narratives of European settlement in Canada have largely ex- mately one-third of the cluded the presence of Indigenous peoples on contested lands. This Scottish Highland set- article offers an exploration of an Anishinaabeg community and 5 a regional chief in early nineteenth century Upper Canada. The tlers died within a year. community known as the Chenail Ecarté land, and Chief Zhaaw- The settlement was built ni-binesi, have become historically obscure. Through the use of pri- at the intersection of the mary documents the authors explore the community’s history, its Sydenham River and relocation, and Chief Zhaawni-binesi’s role in the War of 1812 and in community life. Ultimately, the paper charts the relocation Chenail Ecarté River of the community in the face of mounting settler encroachment. drainage basin. The sur- The discussion attempts to increase knowledge and appreciation of veyors headed north of Indigenous history in Southwestern Ontario. Baldoon (see Image 1) to Résumé: Les descriptions de la colonisation européenne du Can- the Chenail Ecarté land, ada excluent largement la présence des peuples indigènes des ter- which had been entered ritoires contestés. Dans cet article, nous allons explorer une com- into a treaty with the An- munauté Anishinaabeg et un chef régional du début du XIXe ishinaabeg in 1796. The siècle dans le Haut-Canada jusqu’à présent restés obscurs. Il s’agit de la communauté connue sous le nom de Chenail Ecarté et du treaty covered a twelve- chef Zhaawni-binesi. Grâce aux sources principales, les auteurs square-mile section of vont explorer l’histoire de cette communauté, son déplacement, land which included the ainsi que le rôle joué par le Chef Zhaawni-binesi dans la guerre de southern portion of the 1812 et dans la vie communale. Les auteurs vont aussi suivre la Sydenham River,6 close route du déplacement de la communauté face à l’empiètement des colons. Cet article vise à accroître les connaissances et l’appréciation to its mouth where it fed de l’histoire autochtone du Sud-Ouest de l’Ontario. the Chenail Ecarté; it included the forks of the Sydenham, the east and lands in Upper Canada.4 Their job was north branches, and the St. Clair River simply to find dry land. The need for dry bordered the treaty land on the west. land underscored the disaster that would The treaty continued the spirit of mu- strike the nearby Scottish settlement of tual military alliance building enshrined Baldoon in the following months. That in the 1764 Treaty of Niagara, between year, as the settlement was being built, the Crown and Indigenous allies in the 14,836, Survey of the Chenail Ecarté by Thomas Smith and Augustus Jones. 5 Two well-known studies of Baldoon detail the community’s rise and ultimate collapse, they are A.E.D. MacKenzie’s Baldoon, Phelps Publishing Co., 1978, and Fred Coyne Hamil and Terry Jones, “Lord Selkirk’s Work in Upper Canada: The Story of Baldoon,”Ontario History, 58:1 (1965), 1-12. Much of the primary source material charting the collapse is in the manuscript collections of Lord Selkirk, the settle- ment founder (LAC, Thomas Douglas 5th Earl of Selkirk fonds, R9790-0-8-E), and Alexander McDonell, the farm manager (LAC, MacDonell of Colachie family papers, R4029-0-2-E). 6 Jongquakamik in Nishnaabemwin, and at the time known as Bear Creek, for the regional Chippewa OH inside pages spring 2019.indd 20 2019-02-05 10:06:57 PM chief of this river 21 Image 1: Map of the Baldoon settlement and southern portion of Chenail Ecarté treaty land. Maps used in this article are for illustrative purposes only. Great Lakes region and Ohio valley.7 at the time. The second name on the list At the time, at least three Anishi- is “Shawanibinisi—Yellow Bird.”8 Zhaaw- naabeg villages were on the Chenail Ecar- ni-binesi9 is a more appropriate spelling té land: an Odawa village on the Chenail in contemporary Nishnaabemwin or- Ecarté River, an Ojibwe village on the St. thography. As the name of this individ- Clair River, and a village at the forks of the ual was recorded, either Smith or Jones north and east branches of the Sydenham likely misheard the first part of the name. River. When Smith and Jones arrived at Zhaawni refers to south while Zaawaa the forks of the river, they thought to re- refers to yellow, hence “Yellow Bird” in- cord a census of the Ojibwe living there stead of “Southern Bird.” This simple mis- Chief Kitsche Maqua (fl. 1780 - 1803), primarily on the east branch of the Sydenham River. Kitsche Ma- qua was known to have signed documents with a beaver doodem. 7 John Borrows, “Wampum at Niagara, The Royal Proclamation, Canadian Legal History, and Self- Government,” in Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in Canada, ed. Michael Asch. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997.