Benack's Village

Osheakkebe, also known as Stephen Benack, was an ogimaa, or leader, whose village stood near here from 1834 to 1848. Born circa 1780 of Potawatomi and French-Canadian heritage, he resisted the United States’ taking of lands long inhabited by Indians and sided with Great Britain in the War of 1812. He and allied Indian leaders signed a peace treaty in 1815 at Spring Wells near Detroit. From 1817 to 1832, Indian leaders traded tribal lands in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin to the U.S. for annuities, reserves, and land rights. By treaty, Benack secured 2000 acres including his village, which remained despite U.S. forced removal of Indians from Indiana in the 1830s and 1840s. Benack died in 1855 and was buried at the University of Notre Dame.

Indiana · United States