Benjamin G. Armstrong (July 4, 1820 – August 1, 1900) was the son-in-law of Kechewaishke also known as Chief Buffalo, the principal chief of the Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwa) and a literate white interpreter. He wrote a petition that Buffalo delivered to the President of the United States not to have the Ojibwa removed from their homes. He served as an interpreter and advocate for Native American visitors to the White House and sat before President Fillmore and President Lincoln in this role.[1] To reward him, when he signed the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe a year before he died, Kechewaishke added this provision:
I hereby select a tract of land one mile square, the exact boundary of which may be defined when the surveys are made, lying on the west shore of St. Louis Bay, Minnesota Territory, immediately above and adjoining Minnesota Point, and I direct that patents be issued for the same, according to the above-recited provision, to Shaw-bwaw-skung, or Benjamin Armstrong.[2]
Armstrong's land, known as the Buffalo Tract, comprised part of today's downtown Duluth and sits on the corner of Lake Superior. Part of it, the former Lake Place Park, is now known as Gichi-Ode' Akiing or in Ojibwe, "a grand heart place."[3] Armstrong's ownership survived a U.S. Supreme Court case.[2]
He authored the book Early Life Among the Indians: Reminiscences from the Life of Benj. G. Armstrong in 1892[4] which documented life in the Lake Superior area in the 1800s and was cited in federal court[5] in a ground-breaking decision on tribal rights and treaty protections.[6]
He died on August 1, 1900.
References
edit- ^ Armstrong, Benjamin G. (2016-11-15). Early Life Among the Indians. Books. ISBN 9781519052636. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Prentice v. Stearns, 113 U.S. 435 (1885)". Justia. March 2, 1885. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ "Gichi-Ode' Akiing (Lake Place Park)". City of Duluth. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
- ^ "Benjamin G. Armstrong's 1892 reminiscences: Capturing history and making history". Chief Buffalo. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ Satz, Ronald; Apfelbeck, Laura. Chippewa Treaty Rights: The Reserved Rights of Wisconsin's Chippewa Indians .
- ^ Armstrong, Benjamin G. "Early life among the Indians [microform] : reminiscences from the life of Benj. G. Armstrong : treaties of 1835, 1837, 1842 and 1854 : habits and customs of the Red Men of the forest : incidents, biographical sketches, battles, &c". Retrieved 15 April 2018.