On
the north shore of Elk Lake lies the community of Kewadin. I set out one warm November afternoon to
discover the origins of this community.
Now, there is not much in this little township just around the bend from
Elk Rapids. At one time it had a gas
station, but that is now closed. There
is the Kewadin Indian Mission, a post office, the town hall and The Oasis – a
bar and eatery. Much to many people’s
surprise, the Kewadin Casino is not located in this township, but rather there
are several Kewadin Casinos located in the Upper Penninsula.
I
first drove through the community and around a bit, trying to get the lay of
the land. I spied the town hall, but it
was closed. I thought, well, I’ll stop
in the post office. I asked the clerk on
duty if he knew the story behind Kewadin.
He told me, “No, I’m from Traverse City.
I first came here looking for the casino.” We laughed and then a second clerk came
in. The first clerk asked the second
clerk if she knew the origin of this little burg. She thought it was named after a Chippewa
chief but that was all. I thanked them,
and was turning to leave, when an elderly woman came in to get her mail. The first clerk said, “hey ask her, she
should know.” I introduced myself and
she said she was Mary Ellen Sarasin* and lived next door. She invited me to come over to her house
where she had a book that told about Chief Ke-Way-Din.
I sat
down on a bench just outside the side door.
Ms. Sarasin returned with the book, Milton Township 150 Years Young:
A Collection of Memories. In it she showed me the pages about the life of
Ke-Way-Din who apparently died in 1884.
In this article, it states that Ke-Way-Din means Northwest Wind. However, in a following sketch, it states
that his name means North Wind. Well, I
don’t do well with anomalies so I decided to start my own research on this
fellow who lent his name to the community.
As it
turns out, I have been researching Kewadin on and off for the past two months
and Chief Ke-Way-Din seems to be a rather elusive chief in history. First, there seems to be a question of
whether he was Chippewa or Ottawa.
According to the Milton Township text, he was Chippewa. However, according to Vogel (1986), he was
Ottawa.
The
Milton Township text also states that the community of Kewadin used to be known
as We-qua-ge-mog, which also seems to mean north wind. The question becomes, was this Chief
Ke-Way-Din also known as We-qua-ge-mog, or was that the name of the community
before someone decided to change the name of the community to Kewadin? Possibly
this could account for the discrepancy of the meaning of Chief Ke-Way-Din’s
name as meaning North Wind or Northwest Wind.
It
seems that Chief Ke-Way-Din died on the north shore of Elk Lake, but where did
he come from? Was he born there? What did he do during his lifetime? Possibly this Chief Ke-Way-Din was at the
signing of the Treaty of Fond du Lac (modern day Duluth, Minnesota) in 1826, as
well as one of the signers of the Treaty of Detroit in July 31st of
1855. However, this may not be the same
chief as it seems Kewadin was a rather common name.
So
here I am, left with many more questions than when I started out with. Chief Ke-Way-Din has gotten under my skin and
I will continue to research about him and his life. If anyone reading this blog
has any information or resources to share, I would greatly appreciate it. I
think it is important to keep history alive and as near accurate as
possible. Though you know what they say,
“history depends on who writes it,” and if it’s left up to me, it could become
rather colorful. Just kidding – maybe.
*A very special thank you to Ms. Mary Ellen Sarasin
for taking time out of her day to sit down with me and give me a starting point
for the research of Chief Ke-Way-Din.
Also, I hope I have spelled your name correctly as it is spelled two
different ways in the Milton Township text.
Milton
Township 150 Years Young: A Collection of Memories.
2015. Milton Township.
Vogel, V. 1986. Indian
Names in Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
