Book review: Bear Island: The War at Sugar Point

Reviewed by Karl Hele

Bear Island: The War at Sugar Point by Anishinaabe scholar and storyteller Gerald Vizenor is storytelling through epic poetry of the last Indian War in Minnesota. In 1898, the United States 3rd Infantry attempted to arrest chief and Midewiwin healer, Hole in the Day, along with several other men who had earlier aided the chief’s escape from custody.

The single-day battle that formed the war took place at Hole in the Day’s home and garden. Shooting began when a stacked rifle accidentally discharged; 19 Anishinaabeg warriors returned fire on 77 men of the 3rd Infantry, resulting in six deaths. No Anishinaabeg died in the battle. Weaver’s forward places the 3rd US Infantry within its colonial context of engaging in American battles of empire building in the Old Northwest, when it was known as the 1st American Regiment, to its activities in the Spanish-American War, quashing rebellions in the Philippines to spearheading the recent invasion of Iraq.

Vizenor’s introduction nicely sets the context of the epic poem by highlighting the history of the Leech Lake Ojibwa, Hole in the Day, and other people of the band pejoratively labelled as “the Pillagers.” The epic poem itself lyrically explores the earlier meetings of the Pillagers with the French, conflicts with the Dakota, and refusals to aid the British in 1812. It also explores dealings with US speculators, lumber thieves, and settlers before reaching the events of that day in October 1898 – “Indian agents/protect the grafters/over native rights/greedy timber barrons/with empty eyes …”

The poem progresses to name those who fought for the Anishinaabeg, Hole in the Day’s collection of spent US cartridges made into a victory necklace, and the wounded and dead US soldiers. Nicely noted within the epic poem is that the entire conflict fought by the 3rd Infantry was entirely made up by “federal mercenaries/rightly shamed/by native resistance/return to walker/and broadcast/false stories/disguised as justice …” Simply, the war while an Anishinaabeg victory was senseless, needlessly costing men their lives.

Vizenor is restoring the War at Sugar Point to remind both the Anishinaabeg and Settlers of the events in 1898, to bring the conflict back into the public consciousness, and more importantly, to remind everyone that the last battle of the various Indian Wars did not take place at Wounded Knee.

I highly recommend reading this epic poem by Vizenor. It brings to life the land, the spirits, and events leading up to and taking place in 1898.  It is an excellent way to restory and remember an important event in the collective Anishinaabeg past.

Gerald Vizenor. Foreward by Jace Weaver. Bear Island: The War at Sugar Point. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780816646999