The deed he bought that vanished when Michigan became a state, costing his home cover art

The deed he bought that vanished when Michigan became a state, costing his home

The deed he bought that vanished when Michigan became a state, costing his home

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An Odawa man buys 440 acres from the U.S. government and calls it home - then Michigan becomes a state and the deed is ignored; what did it cost him?

The deed he bought that vanished when Michigan became a state, costing his home

In this episode, we trace the life of Biidaasige from his birth on the Manistee River through marriage, war, and decades of negotiation between Indigenous and American worlds. The episode follows his legal purchase of 440 acres, his expectations for its protection, and the changes that unfolded when Michigan achieved statehood - what does that loss reveal about the era?

Person: Biidaasige (Ignatius Petosega)
Location: Little Traverse Bay / Manistee River northern shore, Michigan
Date: 1837 (Michigan statehood) and 1808-1820s life events
Event: Purchase of 440 acres from the United States government
Topic: Deed accepted by federal government then ignored after statehood

- Born around 1787 on the northern banks of the Manistee River to a French fur trader father and an Odawa mother, living between two worlds.
- Married Kewaykabawikwa circa 1808, planted apple trees that outlasted both spouses, and maintained family and village ties on Odawa land.
- Fought alongside Tecumseh in the War of 1812, aligning with a confederacy resisting U.S. land expansion and witnessing its collapse.
- Baptized Ignatius Petosega by Jesuit missionaries in the 1820s, keeping missionary relationships as practical social and political networks.
- Purchased 440 acres of Little Traverse Bay shoreline from the U.S. government with a formal deed, only to have that legal protection ignored after Michigan became a state.

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