Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

To get started in American Indian Research

Tribal Headquarters
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa 523 Ashmun St. Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783 Phone:11.906.635.6050 Fax: 1.906.632.4959


 * Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Official Website

Brief Timelin
1492:

Before the onslaught of the white invasion, the Chippewas had migrated from the east to the eastern shores of Lake Superior. Exactly when this event happened is unknown. Just before the whites invaded, the Chippewas were already living where Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario are located. It was from that location which is called by the Chippewas Ba-wi-tig, that either a land distribution happened or another unknown event, led to the dispercel of the Chippewas in three directions. One group went south into the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. They are known by several names including Potawatomi, Sac, Saginaw, Sauk, and Swan River and Black River Chippewas. Sac and Sauk, are short for Saginaw. Included as Sac or Sauk, are the Kickapoo and Shawnee. The Fox Tribe is not Algonquian according to William W. Warrens 19th century book "History of the Ojibway People." Another group went north into northern Ontario. They are the Chipewyan and Cree. According to the 1832 Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the Athabascan People or Dene People including the Apache, Chipewyan, and Navajo, are Algonquian or speak Algonquin. Click books.google.com/books this link to read the Edinburgh Encyclopdia. And the other group is the Sault (pronounced as Sioux or Soo) Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan. They colonized the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

1530:

They are commencing a war against the white invaders to the east. Early in the 16th century, the Dutch and French invaded the region between Quebec City and Albany, New York. The Chippewas drove them out and also drove the Indian allies of the whites out.

1629:

White soldiers and their Indian allies launched a massive military campaign against the Chippewas and other Indian Tribes, from Quebec, eastern Ontario, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Large numbers of Chippewas and other Indian Tribes, were driven west of Lake Michigan. From the Montana region, 10,000s of Chippewa soldiers reinforced the Chippewa refugees in northern Wisconsin. By the 1650s, the massive military campaign of the whites and their Indian allies, was crumbling. More Chippewa reinforcements from the Montana region, increased the number of Chippewa soldiers from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico including Florida.

1661:

Around this time the Amikwa Chippewas who lived between the eastern shores of Lake Superior, northern shores of Lake Huron, to the Lake Nipissing region in Ontario, were driven west. They settled along the northern shores of Lake Superior. By the 1670s, many had returned to their original homeland but many followed prophecy and migrated west into Alberta, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California. The Amikwa are also known as the Nez Perce. Amikwa means Beavers in Chippewa. The Beaver Tribe including the Sekani, of British Columbia are Amikwa Chippewas.

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution and By-laws of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, adopted in 1975; included in Tribal Code that includes updates through 2001.
 * Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Official Website
 * Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Wikipedia