Wikipedia
Biauswah (Bayaaswaa in Ojibwe, meaning "The Dry-one") was the name of two different Ojibwa chiefs. The name Bayaaswaa refers to jerkied meat, dried either by smoke or by sun.
- Biauswah (I) is an Ojibwa chief from Wisconsin.
- Biauswah (II) is an Ojibwa chief from Minnesota.
Bayaaswaa (Aan'aawenh (Pintail Duck) doodem) was an Ojibwa 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 regarding Bayaaswaa, he was known for his prowess and wise counsel. Warren continues that when Bayaaswaa returned from a day's hunting, he found his villagers massacred by the Fox. Upon tracking the Fox, he found they had two captives: an old man that was tortured to death and a boy that was just about ready to be tortured. Warren then states:
Bayaaswaa (recorded variously in English as Biauswah, Bajasswa, Byianswa or Biaswah) was the principal Chief of the Sandy Lake Ojibwa, whose village was located at either terminus of the Savanna Portage ( Sandy Lake & opposite the mouth of the East Savanna River) in Minnesota.
According to William Whipple Warren, based on oral history regarding Bayaaswaa, as a child Bayaaswaa was captured by the Fox and whose father Bayaaswaa (I) traded his life for his son's. Bayaaswaa and few other survivors went to Fond du Lac, and the Fond du Lac Band drove the Fox out of northern Wisconsin.
The oral history, Warren continues, recalled a major battle with the Dakota at the mouth of the Crow Wing River. Sixty Ojibwa led by Bayaaswaa engaged three hundred Dakota who they said had destroyed their village at Sandy Lake. Supposedly, the battle lasted for three days. The Ojibwa established their village at Sandy Lake, establishing the Sandy Lake Band, and then ventured to Red Lake and Pembina. Other oral history accounts, however, suggest the Cree aided the Ojibwa against the Dakota. According to Richard Alan Nelson, Bayaaswaa was a jiisakiiwinini (Shaking-tent Seer) and lived to the age of 109.
Bayaaswaa's son Gaa-dawaabide ("Broken Tooth") later becomes Chief of the Sandy Lake Band.
Biauswah Lake in Itasca County, Minnesota, is named after him, as is the Biauswah Bridge, a bridge for the Minnesota State Highway 23 over the St. Louis River out of the Fond du Lac neighbourhood of Duluth, Minnesota.