Making Myth Podcast
We’ve all heard the phrase “reality is stranger than fiction” but does the same thing apply when we look at the past? The Making Myth podcast hopes to untangle fact from history, myth, legend and speak to how we assign meaning to our lives.
Join us on the journey as we transcend through the past and emerge with new understandings.
Making Myth Podcast
#25: Equaysayway – An Ojibwe Woman in Two Worlds
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Love what you hear? Send us fan mail!
On July 10, 1799, Equaysayway, an Ojibwe woman, received the baptismal name Madeline Cadotte. As part of the Crane clan, Equaysayway represented the powerful connections to fur-rich lands on the Great Lakes. Her skills as an Indigenous woman were invaluable to the fur trade, so much so that experienced fur traders sometimes blamed missions gone wrong on women not being present.
Equaysayway married her husband, Michel Cadotte, in the tradition of à la façon du pays, meaning "according to the custom of the country." The couple married without religious ceremony and were a power couple until the very end. As a mother, Equaysayway instructed her children in Ojibwe language and customs, ensuring her legacy persisted long after she was gone.
Today, Madeline Island on Lake Superior is named after her.
Come along with us as we cover Equaysayway's part in building a fur trade enterprise, representing her Ojibwe kin, and defining life in two worlds through history and astrology!
Sources
Articles:
- “1827 Deed for Old La Pointe” by Amorin Mello
- “She’s on a mission to keep her Ojibwe heritage and family history alive” by Audrey Korte, October 12, 2022 (https://www.startribune.com/on-a-mission-to-keep-her-ojibwe-heritage-and-family-history-alive/600214979)
Digital Media:
- Madeline Island: A Documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bYWVJIePUY)
- Marge Hebring talks about history of the Ojibwe and the Cadottes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVjmG18eFb4)
Books:
- Brule River Forest and Lake Superior by Jane Grimsrud
- The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior by Robert Silbernagel
- Exploring Ojibwe Spirituality by Mark Anthony Reynolds
- History of the Ojibway People by William W. Warren, 1984 edition
- Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community by Brenda J. Child
- Many tender ties: women in the fur trade by Sylvia Van Kirk
Websites:
- Madeline Equaysayway Cadotte (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12715657/madeline-cadotte)
- Madeline Island Chamber of Commerce (https://www.madelineisland.com/)
- Madeline Island Museum: About Us (https://madelineislandmuseum.wisconsinhistory.org/explore/#About_Us)
- Michel Cadotte | The Canadian Encyclopedia (https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michel-cadotte)
- Ojibwe People's Dictionary (https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/)
- Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/red-cliff-band-of-lake-superior-chippewa/)
Support Us!
Patreon: patreon.com/MakingMythPodcast
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/makingmythpodcast