Assassination of Hole in the Day

Chapter 1

9 1 The Nature of Ojibwe Leadership Fear of the nation’s censure acted as a mighty band, binding all in one social, honourable compact. They would not as brutes be whipped into duty. They would as men be persuaded to the right. —George Copway1 T he assassination in 1868 of Mississippi Ojibwe chief Bagone-­ giizhig the Younger, one of history’s best-­ known Ojibwe leaders , was one of the most intriguing stories of the nineteenth century. Many people had motive and the triggermen were known. But the conspiracy was a well-­ kept secret. Although Bagone-­ giizhig’s untimely death created a stir in newspapers throughout the United States, the details of his legendary life and death have remained shrouded in a maze of inconclusive military reports and letters and Indian oral tradition. Most historians have found the records obtuse, inaccessible, and unreliable. Ojibwe leadership was transformed in the nineteenth century in part because of Bagone-­ giizhig and his father. Bagone-­ giizhig’s contested rise to power defied the accepted Ojibwe definitions of political leadership, which were hereditary and clan-­ based. Under Bagone-­ giizhig’s leadership, political connections to outside groups including the Americans and the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires of the Sioux), especially the Dakota, grew in importance.2 Profound changes occurred when the clan system no longer served as the primary credential for political leadership and when the once clearly divided realms of civil and military leadership blurred and blended. In addition, both Bagone-­ giizhigs defied the established custom wherein chiefs represented specific communities, not geographical 10  Assassination of Hole in the Day regions. Furthermore, under their leadership American-­Ojibwe di­ plo­ macy morphed from one-­ way American intervention in Ojibwe affairs. It became a complex two-­ way dynamic wherein chiefs also intervened in American affairs, inserting themselves into the government ’s negotiations with other groups of Indians over whom they had no formal claim of leadership. The Meaning of a Name Bagone-­ giizhig is a powerful name carried by at least four prominent nineteenth-­ century Ojibwe leaders: one from Red Lake, Minnesota, who was present for diplomacy at the time of the Nelson Act of 1889; one from Leech Lake, who played a leading role in the country’s last battle with an Indian nation, at Sugar Point, Minnesota, in 1898;3 and the father and son chiefs of the Mississippi Ojibwe in central Minnesota . The younger chief, known as Hole in the Day the Younger, Hole in the Day II, or Bagone-­ giizhig II (with numerous alternative spellings ), left an indelible mark on the Mississippi Band from 1847 to 1868. While both chiefs Bagone-­ giizhig were well known by American leaders and citizens, interviews with Melvin Eagle, grandson of Mille Lacs chief Migizi, suggest that the younger was better known among the Ojibwe as well, though not necessarily better loved.4 The meaning of the name Bagone-­ giizhig is mysterious. The root word, giizhig, means both “sky” and “day.” The word for white cedar tree,giizhik,soundssimilartogiizhig.Theprefixbagone-­pertainstoan aperture or hole, but it can also denote the process of opening or creating a hole. Several words in Ojibwe contain the morpheme bagone-­ , such as bagonebiisaa (the lake opens up [ice recedes]), bagone’an (to drill a hole in something), and bagoneyaa (there is a hole).5 Because of the diverse meanings of bagone-­and giizhig and the guarded nature of Ojibwe naming protocol, the name has many interpretations , but there is general agreement that Bagone-­ giizhig means “Hole in the Day” or “Hole in the Sky.” Explanations for that translation differ greatly. Some argue that it refers to an opening in the clouds where the sun shines through or even to an eclipse, while others say it refers to an opening in the sky through which the Great Spirit watches over the Indian people or an opening in the clouds or sky where the smoke and prayers from a pipe ceremony ascend to the Great Spirit.6 It is unknown if Bagone-­ giizhig the Elder received Crow Wing St. Paul Fort Snelling St. Cloud Fort Ripley Minneapolis La Pointe M I N N E S O T A IOWA D A K O TA S O U T H WISCONSIN N O R T H D A K O T A C A N A D A Lower Red Lake Mille Lacs Lake Sandy Lake Leech Lake Gull Lake Lake Superior Lake...