Ignatius Petoskey
Neyas Petosega was born in 1787, near the Manistee River. He was born while his family was on a hunting trip and returning home to Wagnakising, Land of the Crooked Tree. Neyas Petosega would later change his name to Ignatius Petosega as a young man. He would marry Kewaykabawikwa, an Odawa woman, at age 22. They would have ten children.
Ignatius would be recognized as a chief for the Odawa in the early 1800s, as evidence of him receiving payment under the 1836 Treaty of Washington D.C. He would eventually move his family across Little Traverse Bay to the Bear River in the late 1840s. Ignatius and his sons would buy land near the Bear River. This land would eventually become known as the town of Petoskey, named after Ignatius. Ignatius would walk on in 1885 at the age of 98.
There are various interpretations of the word Petoskey or Petosega. One is “light coming at you” or “sunrise”. Today, the Petoskey family is one of the many families that are part of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa.
Ignatius would be recognized as a chief for the Odawa in the early 1800s, as evidence of him receiving payment under the 1836 Treaty of Washington D.C. He would eventually move his family across Little Traverse Bay to the Bear River in the late 1840s. Ignatius and his sons would buy land near the Bear River. This land would eventually become known as the town of Petoskey, named after Ignatius. Ignatius would walk on in 1885 at the age of 98.
There are various interpretations of the word Petoskey or Petosega. One is “light coming at you” or “sunrise”. Today, the Petoskey family is one of the many families that are part of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa.
