Eric Hemenway

War of 1812 Reenactment at Fort Mackinac

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Yesterday, we traveled to Mackinac Island (Turtle Island) to view the reenactment of the opening “battle” of the War of 1812, where a group of several hundred Indians, British veterans (described as victims of “unconquerable drunkenness”), and French voyageurs (many not wearing any shoes), took the fort from the Americans without a shot. It is true that the terror of seeing hundreds of Indians in the woods outside the fort forced the Americans to surrender quickly.

Eric Hemenway was one of the speakers introducing the event, and as always gave a delightful and informative talk about what the event meant to Michigan Indians.

Here are a few pics: Continue reading →

Michigan Indians in the Civil War, Petersburg National Battlefield

Kate Fort1 Comment

From the National Parks Traveler–Eric Hemenway is quoted extensively on the next page.

H/T Indianz
American Indians in the Civil War? Petersburg National Battlefield is Part of the Story

Submitted by Jim Burnett on December 17, 2010 – 12:34am

The 150th Anniversary of the Civil War is nearly here and a recent event at Petersburg National Battlefield underscored a bit of history that often escapes much notice—the role of American Indians in the conflict.

Estimates of the number of American Indians who fought for either the Union or the Confederacy vary widely; several sources cite numbers ranging from about 6,000 to over 20,000 men. One example occurred at Petersburg, Virginia, and that story has recently received some renewed attention.

Earlier this month, descendents of Company K of the First Michigan Sharpshooters returned to the park to meet with Superintendent Lewis Rogers and his staff and pay homage to their ancestors. Company K consisted entirely of American Indians from Michigan who enlisted in the Union Army.

According to information from the park, “The 1st Michigan Sharpshooters fought valiantly in every major battle in the Petersburg campaign. The American Indians were a memorable presence at the Battle of the Crater, where they were noticed for their composure under adversity. A Union officer described watching a group of them pull their jackets over their faces and sing their death chant when trapped in the crater under Confederate fire. When Petersburg fell in April, 1865, after a nine and half month siege, the First Michigan raised the first United States flag above the city.”

It’s not hard to see how specific details about individual units get lost in the history of the Civil War, and even just at Petersburg. A park publication notes that 800 regiments of nearly 160,000 soldiers served on both sides at Petersburg. That’s a lot of history waiting to be told.

The story of the men of Company K attracted the attention of the park staff as a result of a project at Poplar Grove National Cemetery, which is maintained by Petersburg National Battlefield. The cemetery is the final resting place of over 6,000 Union Civil War soldiers, and the tombstones lie flat on the ground. The park is in the planning stages of a project to replace the stones with new, upright markers that match the original Civil War design, along with other work to rehabilitate the cultural landscape. Studies for the project revealed that some of the men of Company K were buried at Poplar Grove.

“So far, five named Indian graves have been identified, but there are probably more unnamed individuals that have not yet been identified as Indians buried here,” explained Julia Steele, the battlefield’s cultural resources manager. “Of all the amazing stories that occurred here during the war, this is one of the most striking. When we started to research the role of Company K, we were touched by how deeply they were involved in the whole campaign.”

Continue reading →

Cranbrook Repatriation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan is preparing to repatriate 59 ancestors to a group of tribes.

The 13 tribes requested the ancestors in 2008. The museum’s board of directors voted to repatriate the remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

“It is the right thing to do,” Michael Stafford, the Institute’s director, told The Detroit Free Press. “We don’t view these remains as data. We see them as people, with spirits and souls.”

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians is coordinating the process. The band will work with the other tribes on the reburial.

“We see this as a human rights issue,” Eric Hemenway, a repatriation expert for the tribe, told the paper.

Get the Story:

Tribes to finally lay ancestors to rest (The Detroit Free Press 7/21)

Eric Hemenway Column on Cultural Preservation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From the Petoskey News-Review:

My name is Eric Hemenway and I am an Anishnaabe/Odawa from Cross Village. I work in the Archive/Records and Cultural Preservation Department for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians here in Emmet County. I am very fortunate to have such a diverse job that involves cultural preservation for my tribe — but cultural preservation is a very broad term that covers many different areas. One aspect of the Odawa culture that I focus on in my work is the caretaking for our dead. Respecting and honoring our ancestors who have passed on is a fundamental element of our identity as Odawa and has been with our tribe for countless generations. I have the opportunity to carry on this tradition in a unique way by working in my department.

The federal law NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) enables tribes to reclaim human remains and sacred items associated to their respective tribal communities. These remains and items are housed in museums and universities throughout the country. What I do is locate where the remains are, submit claims and if all goes well, retrieve the remains and rebury them. We also submit claims for sacred items affiliated to our tribe. Repatriating remains is a difficult task, but a necessary one, because it ties in with our belief the dead need to be taken care of. This is a new dilemma tribes across the country have to deal with, having their ancestors taken from their final resting places and placed in boxes on shelves, to be examined and documented in manners the tribes deem as inappropriate and disrespectful. But we have the opportunity to get these old ones back and we at LTBB Odawa have made it a priority to do so. It’s sad yet rewarding work. Sad to know the history of how museums acquired these remains and the fact our dead were not given the proper respect as groups, yet rewarding to finally lay them to rest, again, and finally see our beliefs being recognized.

Along with work in NAGPRA, I also take care of several Odawa cemeteries within our reservation boundary. Many of these cemeteries are in very rustic, rural areas. The grass needs to be mowed, dead trees taken out, crossed fixed and replaced. When I first started my job in 2006, I never would have thought I would be working so much with the dead, but that’s my job now. Other people work in the Odawa language, with the youth, elders, education, housing, education, etc. I just happen to work with the ones who have passed on. Hopefully someday all our ancestors will be returned and all the tribes across the country can have that piece of their tribe back. And when that days comes, I am sure my job will change into something else, but in the meantime, there are thousands of Anishnaabe that need to come back home.

Here is Eric’s outstanding blog!