Burt Lake Band Memorial Walk
Starting point Saint Mary's Indian Cemetery, Chickagami Trail, Brutus, MI, 49716 Map
Public Welcome
On October 15, 1900 the Cheboiganing Band (now the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians) were forced out of their homes on Burt Lake and their cabins torched, burning the village to the ground. The land, which was granted to the tribe via treaty, was never returned to the tribe. This is event is known as the Burt Lake Burn-Out. There is now an annual memorial hike that commemorates this horrific event.
St. Mary's Cemetery remains on Colonial Point as a primary physical marker of the original village/community and is the meeting point for the walk. Meet Wild Ones Amy Lipson at the cemetery to participate in the memorial hike.
If you want to learn more about the Burt Lake Burn-Out, there is a book about it titled “A Cloud Over the Land” written by Richard D. Wiles and Deborah Richmond, tribal historians.