Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

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PIONEER HISTORY OF INGIIAM COUNTY

and many a hearty meal has the old Indian received from the
early settlers of Lansing.
"In his palmy days I should think his greatest height never
exceeded five feet four inches. He was lithe, wiry, active, intelligent, and possessed undoubted bravery. He was not, however,
an eloquent speaker, either in council or private conversation,
always mumbling his words and speaking with some hesitation.
"Previous to the breaking up of his band, in 1837-38, his usual
dress consisted of a blanket-coat, with belt, steel pipe-hatchet, a
tomahawk, and a heavy, long English hunting knife stuck in his
belt in front, with a large bone handle prominent outside the
sheath. He had his face painted with vermillion on his cheeks
and forehead and over his eyes. A shawl wound round his head,
turban fashion, together with the leggins usually worn by Indians,
which during his life he never discarded.
"None of his biographers have ever attempted to fix the date
of his birth, contenting themselves with the general conviction
that he was one hundred years old. I differ with them for these
reasons, namely: being physically endowed with a strong constitution, naturally brave and impetuous, and inured to Indian life,
we are led to believe that he entered the warpath early in life and
his first introduction to our notice is in 1796. I reason from this
that he was born about 1775, in which case he lived about 83
years.
"He died at his wigwam, a few miles from Lansing, and was
buried December 5, 1858, at Shim-ni-con, an Indian settlement in
Ionia county. His coffin was rude in the extreme, and in it were
placed a pipe, tobacco, a hunting knife, bird's wings, provision,
etc.
"He surrendered his chieftainship a few years previous to his
death to his son John, but never forgot that he was Okemos, once
the chief of a powerful tribe of the Chippewas, and the nephew
of Pontiac."
Okemos was respected and well treated by everyone, and old
residents who knew this old Indian personally are proud to tell of
the times they saw him, and the things they heard him say.
Those who claim to know say that his real name was "O-ge-mah,"
but he always called himself Okemos, and the little village of