HOFFMAN] 



DIVISIONS OF THE TRIBE 45 



council or treaty with another tribe or with a civilized nation, his ser- 

 vices as orator and diplomat were demanded in behalf of the tribe. 

 The incumbent of such an office was not eligible for, nor in line of, pro- 

 motion to the office of either war chief or grand chief, although such an 

 accession could be accomplished at the desire of the tribal council, or 

 by the tribe itself, in the event of the legitimate heir being a minor or 

 an idiot, or in case there was no direct heir, or perhaps even when the 

 incumbent had gained a following in the tribe sufficiently influential 

 and powerful to insure him safety in his promotion. 



From the following genealogies of the two lines of chiefs, the so-called 

 Oarron family and the Osh'kosh family, it will be observed that the 

 former gained their hold on the affairs of the tribe during the last cen- 

 tury, although the ancestors of the present chief, Nio'pet, are the legit- 

 imate heirs, from botli traditional and historical evidence, to the office 

 of grand chief, an office which has always been one of the prerogatives 

 of the Owa'sse doda'mi, or Bear totem. 



Tsheka'tshake'mau— or Sheka'tshokwe'mau " Old Chief," or " The 

 Old King," as he is generally designated in literature — was chief in 17(53, 

 when Carron, a French half-blood trader, was his spokesman, and subse- 

 quently became his successor (see Carron's genealogy). A number of the 

 headmen of the tribe, as well as descendants of Carron, affirm that he 

 was the offspring of a French Canadian father and an Abnaki woman. 

 Be this as it may, they all acknowledge that Tsheka/tshake'niau was 

 chief when Carron appeared at Green bay. 



The late Mr Draper, in his compilation of historical data relative to 

 the settlements at Green bay, says: 



Cha-kau-cho-ka-ma sickened ami died, while temporarily at Prairie du Chien 

 with some of his family, about 1821; he was then nearly blind, and I think he was 

 at least one hundred years old. He was a man of good sense, but no public speaker, 

 and was highly esteemed by his nation. His certificate as Grand Chief of the 

 Menomonees, given him by Gov. Haldimand, of Canada, August 17, 1778, which 

 has been preserved by his family, is now in the Cabinet of the Historical Society. 1 



It is believed that Tsheka'tshake'mau was about a hundred years of 

 age at the time of his death, but for this impression no reliable data 

 are at hand. The name of " Old Chief" was without doubt applied to 

 this man late in life, and as the above-mentioned diploma bears the 

 name of Chawanou (Sha'wano), ''Southerner," it is probable that he 

 may have been so named in his earlier life, or that, perhaps, the Cana- 

 dian authorities may have so designated him at the time of naming him 

 chief of the Meuomini, because he came from a more southerly tribe. 

 A facsimile of his cortificate as grand chief of the Menomini is pre- 

 sented herewith as plate III. 



The genealogy of the Oshkosh family is as follows: 

 1. Tsheka'tshake'mau, " Old Chief," head of the Owa'sse doda'mi, 

 married (name of wife unknown) and had issue. 

 (2) I. A'kwine'mi. 



1 Coll. Hist. Soc. of Wisconsin, vol. iii, p. 226. note. 



