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  Chief Edward Assinins1808-1876 Until 1843, Edward Assinins was a member of the L’Anse Band of Ojibwa Indians living at what is today - Zeba on the east side of the bay. (Information about his early years has not yet surfaced.)  In 1843 he met Fr. Frederic Baraga and moved to the other side of Keweenaw Bay to start a new mission. Assinins worked long hours to help Frederic Baraga compile the Ojibwa Grammar and Dictionary as well as other Indian Prayer Books. He was a friend to Bishop Baraga for 25 years, to Fr. Terhorst for 15 years, and a long time friend to Chief Kawbawgam. During his lifetime, Assinins attended the signing of historical treaties affecting the L’Anse Indians. His name is pronounced Aw –sin- nees and is more properly spelled Assinnes according to the deed. He had a wife named Anna but they apparently had no children. Assinins was the first convert to be baptized at Fr. Baraga’s Catholic Indian Mission. He died March 4, 1876 and is buried in an unmarked grave at the historic cemetery nearby. In the 1890s, the mission had grown and when a post office was established there, the mission needed a name. Fr. Terhorst suggested Assinins, after a great chief and so it was done. |
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