Jean
Baptiste
Assiginack
Born about in Michigan
Ancestors 
Son of Unnamed Father Wa-Ka-Zoo
and [mother unknown]
Husband of
Giwedinokwe Anishnawbek
— married
before 1788 [location unknown]
Husband of
Theresa Catherine (Kebeshkamokwe) Assiginack
— married
before 1824 [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Amable Assiginack, Samson Assiginack, Francis Assiginack, Isaac Assiginack and Benjamin Assiginack
Died
at about age 96
in Manitowaning, Manitoulin, Ontario, Canada
Profile last modified
| Created 10 May 2011
This page has been accessed 2,909 times.
Jean was Ojibwe.
Biography
Jean Assiginack is Notable.
Unsure of parentage, also listed as perhaps son of Signeauk aka Lalouneau.
" As-si-ke-nack / Sikenac / Assiginak / Siggenak / Le Tourneau / Blackbird [born at Wawgawnawkezee, 1768; died at Manitowaning, Manitoulin Island, November 3, 1866], brother of Apawkausegun; Siggenak / Le Tourneau was an 18th century Pottawatomie chief at Milwaukee, he left there in 1789 to visit Makinac; Assiginac attended the Sulpician Mission School at Oka, Québec where he was baptised as Jean-Baptiste; As-si- ke-nack, Odawa/Pottawatomie war chief / interpreter; "a great drunk in his youth"; father of Odawa teacher Francis Assikinack [1824-1863];
possibly took part in the capture of Michilimakinac in 1812; Blackbird, northern Ojibwa chief, spoke for 14 hours on July 18, 1812 at Michilimakinac while urging support for the English; he commanded the Indian forces that attacked the column abandoning Fort Dearborn [Chicago] August 15, 1812, and accepted the surrender of the US commander, Captain Heald; leader of Odawa warriors in July 1813 on the Niagara Peninsula after the Battle of Beaver Dams, and participated in skirmishes there; probably took part in the capture of Prairie du Chien in 1814; became assistant to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs; Chief Assegemach was sent to proclaim peace to the tribes on the eastern side of Lake Michigan on May 8, 1815; Assenach was employed as an interpreter at Drummond Island on December 16, 1815, Assigenach was still employed there in 1819;
Sheginark / Black Bird, Ojibwa chief, signed the US peace treaty at the Miami Rapids, September 29, 1817; Assiginac moved to Manitoulin Island around 1836; chief orator and interpreter at the Manitoulin Island council of August 1, 1837; became a Roman Catholic catechist; J.B Assiginack supported and signed Surrender #94, for Manitoulin Island, October 6, 1862 (Canada 1891 vol. I: 23, 236-237; US 1837: 216; Armstrong, J.: 17; Berton 1980: 194-195; Clifton 1975: 13, 41; Clifton, Cornell and McClurken: 55; Horsman: 116; Jameson: 500, 502; McClurken: 5-6, 19, 30; Petrone: 27, 73; Schmalz: 114-115; Sugden: 203; Canadian Encyclopedia vol. II: 1341; DCB vol. VII: 821, vol. IX: 9-10; MPHSC vol. XV: 712, 713n, 714n, vol. XVI: 246, 292, 332, 394, 649, 675).
'Brother, I have listened with a good deal of attention to the wish of our father. If the Big Knives, after they kill people of our colour, leave them without hacking them to pieces, we will follow their example. They have themselves to blame. The way they treat our killed, and the remains of those that are in their graves in the west, makes our people mad when they meet the Big Knives. Whenever they get any of our people into their hands they cut them like meat into small pieces. We thought the white people were Christians. They ought to show us a better example.' -Ten Mile Creek, July 18, 1813 (Schmalz: 115). "[1]
Sources
- ↑ REF: Deeds/Nations., defunct site
- Wikipedia
- http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=95603&p=624368
- http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/assiginack_jean_baptiste_9E.html
- https://www.manitoulin.ca/assiginack-historical-figure-new-biography/?fbclid=IwAR3RLEYHNRFnfBKe2sGQ8JfGw3kvEre4z54L1H1XMjA-UJHGvDtyzVSJaDs
- http://activehistory.ca/2014/11/jean-baptiste-assiginack-the-starling-aka-blackbird/
- https://www.manitoulin.ca/alan-corbiere-gives-historical-talk-francis-assiginack/
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120217415/jean-baptiste-assiginack
Memories: 1
Enter a personal reminiscence or story.
Login to add a memory.
Is Jean your ancestor? Please don't go away!
Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
the profile manager, or
ask our community of genealogists a question.
Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jean by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Jean:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jean by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Jean:
-
~0.39%
Lisa (Mehan) Perry
:
23andMe
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Comments: 2
Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
The footnote (page 301) has very interesting information provided by his great-nephew, Louis Odgik (Odjick?), through Assiginack's nephew, Michel Bemunukinang. I haven't researched this yet, but Louis, Odjick, L'Arbre Croche, Oka and the War of 1812 all are part of the Odjick/Chevalier family history. My Francois Odjick (who was Algonquin/Nipissing) had a son named Louis and a father named Michel, but Michel was Iroquois. Regardless, here is the link:
Famous Algonquins : Algic legends / Hamilton. [Toronto? : s.n.], 1899 (Toronto : Murray Print. Co.): https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.07388/27
I was a close friend of the late Joseph Assiginack of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I have lost track of his only son. It is so long ago, I am not sure if his name was Robert. I know Joseph was descended from the redoubtable Chief from the Manitoulin Island. I hope this important name is still in existence.
Jean is 21 degrees from Emeril Lagasse, 24 degrees from Nigella Lawson, 27 degrees from Maggie Beer, 49 degrees from Mary Hunnings, 30 degrees from Joop Braakhekke, 29 degrees from Michael Chow, 24 degrees from Ree Drummond, 27 degrees from Paul Hollywood, 25 degrees from Matty Matheson, 26 degrees from Martha Stewart, 31 degrees from Danny Trejo and 30 degrees from Molly Yeh on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
A > Assiginack > Jean Baptiste Assiginack
Categories: Battle of Beaver Dams | Siege of Prairie du Chien, 1814 | British Indian Department, BNA | Michilimackinac | Potawatomi | Ottawa | Indian Nation, War of 1812 | American Northwest, War of 1812 | Niagara Frontier, War of 1812 | Ojibwe | Canada, Notables | Notables
pp. 300-1.
Assikinack is the name of the next of the Black-Bird warriors to whom we refer. It signifies the Black-Bird with red wings, and sometimes appears as Assignac, Siginoc or Sackanough. Macinac was captured on June 2nd, 1763, when Sacs and Chippewas attacked and massecred the unwary garrison. Assikinack was there as a boy with his mother. He was again under Shinguacongse at Macinac when it was captured by the British in 1812...
Mr. F. Lamorandiere, of Cape Croker, writes, "I personally knew J.B. Assikinack, who was an old man when I was a boy of 10 years. He was one of the greatest orators of his time, born a leader of men, quick in action and quick to learn. He was a chief both by birth and the choice of his people. Was born in Michigan: Grande Traverse, L'arbre Croche, Sagewong and St Joseph, all claim his birth." The Black-Bird's name appears in the relation of many border skirmishes and in some important events during the war, but whether Makadebenessi or his cousin be referred to in each case it is now impossible to determine as they were both active British partisans.
The war over, Assikinack continued his allegiance to Britain, became Indian interpreter on the Manitoulin Islands, where he lived until his death on November 2nd, 1866, at the age of ninety-eight years. He was present as party or witness to several of the important treaties made with Algonquins by the British or Canadian Governments. He had in his youth been addicted to intemperance, but after settling down to peaceful pursuits entirely overcame this vice. He also renounced heathenism for Christianity, and used his great eloquence to persuade his people to follow the ways of virtue. On his baptism into the Roman Catholic faith he assumed the Christian names Jean Baptiste. His good influence and example were widely felt and most valuable throughout the regions of the Georgian Bay and North Shore.(s)