L'Arbre Croche

L'Arbre Croche Waganagisi
Region
Etymology: crooked tree
L'Arbre Croche
Coordinates: 45°37′35″N 85°4′12″W / 45.62639°N 85.07000°W / 45.62639; -85.07000 (site of a historical marker in the center of what was the L'Arbre Croche region)
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Emmet County

L'Arbre Croche, known by the Odawa people as Waganagisi, was a large Odawa settlement in Northern Michigan.^[1] The French called it L'Arbre Croche for the large crooked tree that marked the center of the settlement and was visible for many miles. It covered the region from Harbor Springs to Cross Village in present-day Emmet County, Michigan.^[2]

The Odawa moved with Jesuit missionaries to the L'Arbre Croche area in 1741. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the L'Arbre Croche community was closely affiliated with the French, British, and Americans stationed at the trading post and military garrison at Fort Michilimackinac and Fort Mackinac. The Odawa supplied furs, canoes, and food for the fur trade. They were particularly interdependent with the French, who established missions and churches in the community.

During the 1750s and 1760s, a smallpox outbreak devastated several indigenous communities in the region. An oral account from Odawa tribal leader and historian Andrew Blackbird claimed that the outbreak had "entirely depopulated and laid waste" to L'Arbre Croche. After the 1763 Treaty of Paris, the French vacated the region, and the British took control over Fort Michilimackinac.

Nissowaquet and the community's warriors sided with the British during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and participated in several expeditions. After the area became part of the Michigan Territory (1805–1837), Native Americans lost much of their land. In 1836, the Odawa gave up land across most of the Eastern Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula when they signed the Treaty of Washington. Chief Joseph Nowimashkote initiated a plan for the Odawa to buy back their land at Cross Village, also called La Croix in the 19th century. The village of Harbor Springs—established with a church, manse, a school, and the country's first temperance society—became the center of the L'Arbre Croche community in the early 19th century.

L'Arbre Croche is also known as the present Catholic community encompassing four churches, one of which is the St. Ignatius Church of Middle Village.^[3]