Michel Cadotte
Métis fur trader / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michel Cadotte (July 22, 1764 – July 8, 1837) (also spelled Michael, and the surname as Cadott, Cadeau, and other variations), Kechemeshane in Ojibwe (or Gichi-miishen in the contemporary spelling, meaning "Great Michel") was a Métis fur trader of Ojibwe, Wendat and French-Canadian descent. He dominated the business in the area of the south shore of Lake Superior.
He gained a strategic alliance through marriage to Equawasay, the daughter of the head of the White Crane clan; men from this clan were the hereditary chiefs of the Lake Superior Ojibwe. Cadotte's trading post at La Pointe on Madeline Island was a critical center for the trade between the Lake Superior band and the British and United States trading companies.