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Marameg Indian History
Marameg (from Man-um-aiq, Chippewa for 'catfish:'-
Verwyst). Evidently a band or division of the Chippewa, which seems to
have been, at the dawn of the history of the upper lake region, in the
process of disintegration. The first notice of them is that given by
Dablon in the Jesuit Relation of 1670, at which time they resided on Lake
Superior, apparently along the east half of the north shore. They were
then in close union with the Sauteurs, or
Chippewa of Sault Ste Marie. Dablon, speaking of the Chippewa of the
Sault, says: "These are united with three other nations, who are more than
550 persons, to whom they granted like rights of their native country. .
These are the Noquets who are spread along the south side of Lake
Superior, where they are the originals; and the Outchibous with the
Marameg of the north side of the same lake, which they regard as their
proper country." Here the Chippewa of the north side of the lake are
distinguished from those of Sault Ste Marie to the same extent as are the
Marameg and Noquet. The Chippewa settlement at the Sault, where the
fishing was excellent, seems to have drawn thither the other divisions, as
this gave them strength and control of the food supply. The early notices
of the Marameg and Noquet appear to indicate that these two tribes became
absorbed by the Chippewa and their tribal or subtribal distinction lost,
but there are reasons (see Noquet and Menominee) for believing that these
two peoples were identical. Tailhan, in his notes on Perrot's Mémoire,
assumes without question that the two tribes were incorporated with the
Chippewa of the Sault, who were distinguished by the name
Pahouitigouchirini. The Marameg are mentioned under the name Malamechs in
the Proces-verbal of the Prise de Possession in 1671 as present at the
conference on that occasion. According to Shea they are mentioned in the
MS. Jesuit Relation of 1672-73 as being near the Mascoutin, who were then
on Fox river, Wis.
If, as supposed, the people of this tribe are those
referred to by La Chesnaye (Margry, vi, 6) under the name "Malanas ou gens
de la Barbue," they must have resided in 1697, in part at least, at
Shaugawaumikong (the present Bayfield, Wis.), on the south shore of Lake
Superior. The attempt to identify them with the "Miamis of Maramek"
mentioned in a document of 1695 (N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., ix, 619) as
residing on Maramec (Kalamazoo) river, in Michigan, is certainly
erroneous.
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opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or NationsFree
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