A Solemn Anniversary for Kalamazoo
On October 10, 1840, Potawatomi people in the Kalamazoo area were forced out of this area by decree of the US government. The adminstration of Andrew Jackson ordered that all the native people who lived in the eastern half of the United States be removed to some place west of the Mississippi River.
Europeans, along with an African-American family, began to settle in Kalamazoo County around 1830. It appears that the native people who already lived here were helpful to the new settlers.
The Americans had agreed many times that this land was the land of the native people and promised in treaties not to encroach upon it. But the US government pressed the local people in treaty after treaty to reduce the land reserved for their use.
Finally the government agreed that an area 3 miles on each side, in what is now the City of Kalamazoo, would be reserved for the use of the native people already living here. The village on the banks of the Kalamazoo River where Portage Creek and the river come together(where Veterans Memorial bridge is now, at the intersection of E. Michigan and King Highway)was called the village of Match-e-be-nash-e-wish, the village leader.
By 1840 it must have been clear to everyone that many elements of the old way of life for the native people in this area was over. There were still about 7,000 Potawatomi people living here, but they were learning to accommodate the settlers and adjust to their new circumstances. Disease, and war after war, had already weakened the people and changed the conditions of their lives.
They didn't have to be sent away. But they were. According to Tom Dietz of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, about 700 to 2,000 native residents were forced to leave the area on foot under the supervision of the US army. They were gathered together in a field just north of where our train station is now and began their forced march down Burdick Street.
One-third of the local people hid from the cavalry and avoided the forced march. Another third fled to Ontario.
On October 10, we may recognize a solemn anniversary. Our city was founded on an act of ethnic cleansing. It was harsh and inhuman.
It was also unnecessary. It could have been otherwise.
Europeans, along with an African-American family, began to settle in Kalamazoo County around 1830. It appears that the native people who already lived here were helpful to the new settlers.
The Americans had agreed many times that this land was the land of the native people and promised in treaties not to encroach upon it. But the US government pressed the local people in treaty after treaty to reduce the land reserved for their use.
Finally the government agreed that an area 3 miles on each side, in what is now the City of Kalamazoo, would be reserved for the use of the native people already living here. The village on the banks of the Kalamazoo River where Portage Creek and the river come together(where Veterans Memorial bridge is now, at the intersection of E. Michigan and King Highway)was called the village of Match-e-be-nash-e-wish, the village leader.
By 1840 it must have been clear to everyone that many elements of the old way of life for the native people in this area was over. There were still about 7,000 Potawatomi people living here, but they were learning to accommodate the settlers and adjust to their new circumstances. Disease, and war after war, had already weakened the people and changed the conditions of their lives.
They didn't have to be sent away. But they were. According to Tom Dietz of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, about 700 to 2,000 native residents were forced to leave the area on foot under the supervision of the US army. They were gathered together in a field just north of where our train station is now and began their forced march down Burdick Street.
One-third of the local people hid from the cavalry and avoided the forced march. Another third fled to Ontario.
On October 10, we may recognize a solemn anniversary. Our city was founded on an act of ethnic cleansing. It was harsh and inhuman.
It was also unnecessary. It could have been otherwise.
posted by Rick Stravers at 8:46 PM
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