Bayaaswaa I was an Ojibwe Chief of a village on the south shore of Lake Superior, located about 40 miles west of La Pointe, Wisconsin, in the late 17th century.
According to William Whipple Warren, based on oral history, he was known for his prowess and wise counsel. His time as chief coincided with the ongoing Dakota-Ojibwe War. One day, Bayaaswaa returned from a day's hunting, he found his villagers massacred by the Meskwaki, also known as the Fox. Bayaaswaa tracked the Meskwaki, finding that they had taken two captives: an old man that was tortured to death and his son, Bayaaswaa II, who was going to be tortured. Warren then states:
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