CMU professor pays tribute to Indigenous Civil War soldiers

Imagine the surprise of Confederate soldiers when they found Bibles left on the field after the Battle of the Wilderness and discovered they were written in the Ojibwe language.

That’s how author and Central Michigan University Professor Michelle K. Cassidy begins her new book, “Michigan’s Company K: Anishinaabe Soldiers, Citizenship, and the Civil War,” which details the history of the First Michigan Sharpshooters’ Indigenous company, or Company K.

The company was made up of approximately 135 Anishinaabe soldiers, recruited from Michigan’s major Native American tribes of the Odawa, Ojibwe and Boodewaadamii.

The author, who teaches courses about Indigenous history and the Civil War at CMU, said it’s important to understand that the company consisted of an all-volunteer force since Indigenous people were exempt from any drafts during the Civil War. Also, unlike Black units, Indigenous soldiers were not always segregated.

Cassidy helps answer the question of why any male of Indigenous heritage would go to war for a country that had stolen Indigenous land, decimated Indigenous populations, violated treaties and was engaged in a war against the Dakota people in Minnesota. In the early 1860s, the United States government waged war against the Dakotas after attacks on settlers. Dakotas were herded into concentration-like camps, and 38 of the leaders were hanged, the largest single-day mass execution in U.S. history.

The author  makes the case that the Native American soldiers were fighting for their own popluations’ survival and not necessarily patriotism. Economic factors also played into the recruitment, along with a desire to protect and expand Indigenous land holdings, which were being contested.

Company K soldiers fought in non-traditional ways that today might be characterized as guerilla warfare, according to the book. One observer at the time pointed out that Native American soldiers fought “behind bushes and trees.”

Indigenous soldiers were soon recognized to be superior at fighting as skirmishers, camouflaging themselves with leaves, mud and twigs and moving stealthily ahead of the main battle force.

The Indigenous forces were referred to as noble savages and warriors who would let out a “war whoop” when firing their weapons. In some parades, they were singled out as warriors and venerated.

In her research, Cassidy also discovered that Methodist and Catholic missionaries, along with Northern abolitionists, assisted in the recruitment of Native American soldiers.

“Many of the soldiers in Company K had an anxiety about the land they occupied and experienced anxiety regarding the ongoing struggle for citizenship,” she said.

She also writes that many were worried about what would happen to Indigenous populations if the South won the war and the country returned to its aggressive policies of relocation.

Cassidy said she became interested in Company K while studying at the University of Michigan.

“I was introduced to the Company when I was looking for a project in a Civil War class,” she said.

Visitors to the Michigan State Capitol may have noticed a bronze sculpture on the front lawn recognizing the First Michigan Sharpshooters Volunteer Regiment, which fought in some of the most ferocious battles of the Civil War. There is no mention of Company K.

For those who want to learn more about Company K and its members, both the Saginaw Chippewa tribe’s Ziibiwing Center in Mount Pleasant and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians’ Eyaawing Museum and Cultural Center in Suttons Bay have exhibits on the company.

November is Native American Heritage Month, and in addition to Cassidy’s book, there are numerous books on Indigenous history worth noting. However, one of the best is Ned Blackhawk’s 2023 book, “The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History,” which is a finalist for this year’s National Book Award for Nonfiction. Winners will be announced Nov. 15.

Ned Blackhawk is the Howard R. Lamar Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University and the faculty coordinator for the Yale Group for the Study of Native America. He has direct ties to Detroit, where he grew up, and he refers to himself as an “urban Indian.”