Lake Maxinkuckee Its Intrigue History & Genealogy Culver, Marshall, Indiana

Nas-wau-kee (Nees-Waugh-Gee, Nees-wau-gee) Indian Village  



Containing two sections North of Maxinkuckee Landing Road. The log cabin for Nees-wau-gee was built by Moses H. Scott. and was erected 1828-32. The location of Nees-wau-gee's log cabin is known as it was recorded as such:

Commencing at the southwest corner of section 22, township 32 north, range 1 east of second principal meridian, thence north 40 chains and 46 links, Nees-wau-gee house 5 chains east, and set quarter section corner which is in center of public road running east and west. Thus starting from the southwest corner of section 22 in the center of the Maxinkuckee Road running east and west and mearsuring 20 rods east, then two rods north to the exact spot where Nees-wau-gee's cabin stood


In The Band Affiliation of Potawatomi Treaty Signatories by Dr. David A. Baerreis pg. 15 is found:

    Nasawauka- The payroll of the Wabash and Elkhart Potawatomi, Sept. 6-8, 1828 lists an "N.swaw.ga" as chief of a village of 35 persons located at "Tipp Lake." The list of provisions provided to the Potawatomi at a council Aug. 2-6, 1828 lists a "Nee-swau-gee" or "Nee-swaw-gee" located "at a Lake on T." The 1829 Potawatomi payroll also lists "Nees-waw- gay" as head of a group of 55 persons located at "Mix-ee-nic-kuck-kee." This suggests that it is Lake Max-inkuckee in southeastern Marshall County which would also be in agreement with "a Lake on Tippecanoe River." While Lake Maxinkuckee would be on the border between the Wabash and Kankakee Bands, since it drains into the Tippecanoe, he is placed with the former group.
Nees-waug-gee entered into a treaty with the United States in 1836 ceding his land to the U. S. government and agreeded to remove his band west of the Missouri river within two years.

In the History of Marshall County Indiana (1908) Daniel Mc Donald pgs. 7-8 is found:
    Next to the Me-no-mi-nee village in importance was the Nees-wau-gee and Quash-qua village on the eastern shore of Lake Maxinkuckee, immediately across the road from the present residence of Peter Spangler. All along- that bank about 1835-36, when the white settlers began to arrive, there was quite a settlement of Indians, mainly under the supervision of Nees-wau-gee. Quash-qua also had some authority over the band, but delegated it mostly to his brother chief, Nees-wau-gee, who ruled his people with mildness, moderation and decorum.

    This was a charming spot, and the Indians who occupied it had the most delightful place to live this side of the land of Paradise. Fishing and hunting could not have been better; there was an abundance of pure spring water; and. all sorts of berries, and wild fruits in abundance in their season grew in the forests near by. Trails led in every direction to other villages in the region for many miles round about, so that the villagers could visit back and forth whenever they felt inclined to do so. Off to the northwest, west and southwest over the lake was presented a picture unexcelled for beauty and grandeur anywhere in this part of the country. It was indeed


"A scene for a painter,
A gleaming and glorified lake,
With it’s framing of forest and prairie,
And its etchings of thicket and brake,
With its grandeur and boldness of headland,
Were the oaks and the tamaracs grow,
A league with the sunlight of heaven,
And the spirit-like shadows below."


Other reservations were grouped about Lake Maxinkuckee (Mog-sin-ke-ki accent on the second syllable 0 or Big stone contry). Of these the largest was that of Aub-be-naun-be's band, southeast of the lake, covering thrity-six sections. Aub-be-naub-be is equivalent to our slang term 'rubbernmeck", for it means "looking backward', as a person or animal looks back over the shoulder when going away from you. East of the lake was the reservation and village of Nas-waw-kee (The Feather Arrow - the word also means "a feather", or "one who feathers arrows")....pg. 235



In the year 1836 these reservations were relinquished to the United States by a series of treaties and most of the Indianas were removed in 1837. The Indians were not very willing to go, and the treaties were the cause much feeling. In Aubbenaubbe's band it resulted in the killing of the old chief by his son Pu-shuk (Falling Down - the name is sometimes written Pau-ko-Shuk (Puk-shuk) was then made chief and statred with the band to the West, but escaped on the way, and came back to his old county, where he dragged out the few remaining years of his wretched existence...pg. 235-6

MAXINKUCKEE Lake in Marshall County. The name has been written in various ways. The Potawatomi pronunciation is Mog-sin'-ke-ki, and the meaning is "Big Stone Country." There were several terminal moraines about the lake, which have made extensive rock bars in it. Many of the bowlders that formerly lay on the shores have been gathered up and used for foundations and retaining walls. Old fishermen claim that there is one enormous bowlder in the south end of the lake that comes within five or six feet of the surface of the water, and is an especially good fishing place; but it is rare that any of them can locate it. pg. 276

NASWAWKEE- Reservation in Marshall County, bordering Lake Maxinknuckee. The hill rising from Maxinkuckee landing is still known as Nas-wae-kee's Hill,


the Government having built him a house there. The common spelling varies from Naswaka to Neeswaughgee, but the Potatwatomi pronunciation is Nas-waw-kee. It means primarouly "a feather", but also "a feathered arrow", or "one who feathers arrows". The portrait of this chief in the Natioan Gallery was marked "Na-swa-ga (The Feathered Arrow)" and that is presumable the meaning intended in his name. pg. 288

True Indian Stories with Glossary of Indiana Indian Names By Jacob Piatt Dunn Secretary of the Indiana Historical Society Sentinel Printing Company Indianapolis, Indiana 1909

Lands ceeded by the Indian tribes by they treaties.