Andrew J. Blackbird

History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan Andrew J. Blackbird

Andrew Jackson Blackbird (ca. 1814 - 1908) was an Ottawa tribe leader and historian. He was author of the 1887 book, History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan. His father was a tribal chief. Blackbird was an interpreter at the Protestant mission in L'Arbre Croche. Even though he was a Christian, he knew the traditional Ottawa religious beliefs well, since he had received an extensive tribal education. Blackbird became a counselor between the United States government and the Ottawa and Ojibwa peoples. His marriage to a white woman facilitated this position. History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan was among the first authoritative accounts of the Ottawa and Chippewa peoples ever published. The book covers historical facts, day-to-day details of how the Ottawa and Ojibwa hunted, fished and trapped before the coming of the whites, and Blackbird explains many of the traditional beliefs and cultural practices of the two tribes. The last section of the book is a basic grammar of the Ottawa and Ojibwa languages.