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The Burt Lake Burn-Out was a forced relocation of the Burt Lake Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians in northern Michigan's "Tip of the Mitt" region on 15 October 1900. On that day a sheriff and his deputies burned down the band's village at the behest of a local land developer who claimied to have purchased the village land parcels for back taxes.〔"How Michigan Tribe's Land Was Taken Away From Them," ''The Indian School Journal,'' Vol. 14, No. 8, April, 1914〕 The event has been since labeled: "A Bitter Memory," "A Shameful Past," or "Legalized Arson."〔"White Man's Treachery". ''Detroit News,'' 1-12-1969.〕 Professional research by Dr. Richard White, Stanford University, Dr. George Cornell, Michigan State University, and Dr. Alice Littlefied, Central Michigan University, has shown that it was all of these things and was allowed to happen as a result of the state and federal government officials' inclination to either misinterpret, forget, or deny the written treaty language of the 1830s and 1850s, in the agreements between Washington, D.C and the Michigan-based Burt Lake Band of Ottawa Indians.〔White, Dr. Richard. "The Burt Lake Band," Michigan State University, 7-17-1978.〕 == Background == The Tip of the Mitt area of northern Michigan has been categorized by Dr. Charles Cleland (Michigan State University-Professor of Anthropology- Emeritus) as a "prehistoric crossroads", an avenue of travel by water beginning at the Straits of Mackinac, southwest along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and south to Grand Traverse Bay.〔Cleland, Dr. Charles. "Rites of Conquest," University of Michigan Press, 1987〕 This waterway was used by Native Americans as far back as 10,000 years and was the centerpiece of the Woodland Indian "canoe culture" beginning in the mid 1600s. The Ottawa (Odawa) bands of Indians used as their base, what Dr. Cleland refers to as, the "Grand Traverse Corridor." It was the area of origin for the many trade goods they canoed to other Great Lakes-based Indians of the Upper Mid-West Region.〔 The Ottawa were farmers, fishermen and hunters, as well as gatherers, who used the warm months of the year to inhabit various Lake Michigan and inland lake shorelines of the Tip of the Mitt area in lower northern Michigan. It was here that they procured the goods that would later be traded. Unlike the political organization found to exist within Native American societies in other areas of North America, the Ottawa (Odawa) and fellow Chippewa (Ojibwa) people of northern Michigan existed as separate small bands of Indians, some migrating with the change in weather, others living in small (100–200 people) fixed villages.〔 The small Ottawa-Chippewa village along the western shoreline of the inland lake once referred to as Lake Cheboigan, and later, Burt Lake, had its beginnings sometime in the mid to later 1600s. By 1850, the Cheboigan Band of Ottawa and Chippewa at this site on Burt Lake had their home referred to as Indian Village.〔Collins, Newell. "The Sad Story of the Burt Lake Band," ''TOTEM POLE,'' Vol.36, No. 6, 3-5-1956〕 The federal government treaties signed by representative of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa in Washington -1836, and Detroit-1855 (1856), both declared the area of the Indian Village (375 acres) on the Cheboigan (Burt Lake) to be regarded as an "Indian Preserve" or reservation. That was the INTENT of both documents and that fact was passed down from generation to generation by the "Oral Tradition" of the band's elders. When signed, the literacy of the Burt Lake Band signers was such that only a mark was placed on the document, but that was a mark of faith, one that meant there was trust in what was said (what was intended) and agreed to (in 1836 and again in 1855)〔White, Dr.Richard."The Burt Lake Band,"〕 The treaty language was thought by the Native signers to be in perpetuity; however, that did not happen. The area of Indian Point on Burt Lake's western shore has been shown by archaeologists to possess pottery fragments that date back over 500 years. Soil samples reveal that the existence of charcoal deposits existing in the same area due to periodic fires being set to help clear the land for cultivation. These fires were set by Native people historians refer to as the "Chaboiganing Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians," and today referred to as the Burt Lake Band.〔 This land area of the Burt Lake Band was approximately 20 miles inland, due south of the Michigan's Straits of Mackinac, an area of water separating Lake Michigan to the west from Lake Huron to the east. The Burt Lake Band's Indian Point was located on a peninsula of land in Burt Lake that was part of the "Inland Waterway Route." It had been used for centuries by Native people for transportation, and then later by summer tourists for travel throughout the area's interconnecting rives and lakes.〔Powers, Perry F. "(A History of Northern Michigan )," Vol. 1, 1912〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Burt Lake burn-out」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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