La Pointe Indian Cemetery
a.k.a. Old LaPointe Indian Burial Grounds
S. Old Main St., La Pointe, WIThe LaPointe Indian Cemetery was established in 1836 as part of a Catholic mission which was built on Madeline Island in 1835. Father Frederic Baraga, a missionary priest who arrived on the Island in 1835, ordered the creation of the cemetery at a location approximately one hundred feet north of the mission. The mission was completely destroyed by fire in 1901 after having been rebuilt in previous years.
The cemetery received burials from 1836 through 1948. In the latter year, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians authorized the last burial in order to grant Mrs. Julia Newago's wish that she be buried near her husband. After about 1910 very few burials in the cemetery occurred due to lack of space. Future burials there are not expected.
Only Catholics are buried in the cemetery due to their religious affiliation; however, no explanation has been found for the fact that only people having at least some Indian blood are buried there.
The LaPointe Indian Cemetery is unique in Wisconsin and is thought to be the only cemetery with a significant number of original grave houses in the nation. The cemetery is a rare example of an organized burial ground of the time of the Chippewa transition to Christianity. It appears to be the oldest and most significant identifiable cemetery with direct ties to the settlement of the northern great lakes area.
Madeline Island was probably discovered in 1618 by Champlain, who must have encountered Chippewa Indians who had inhabited the Island since about 1490. Around 1620 the Chippewas evidently left the island due to superstitions but returned in 1671 to find the Island being settled by the French.
From the settlement of Madeline Island until January 1973, the cemetery was controlled by the Catholic Church. In 1973, the Diocese of Superior gave the property to the United States to be held in trust for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The cemetery is now in the jurisdiction of the Great Lakes Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Ashland, Wisconsin, and is governed by the Bad River Tribal Council.
The LaPointe Indian Cemetery has gained historic significance over the years by serving as a link between the present and past people and events. The cemetery, through tombstone inscriptions, relates the circumstances of birth, life, culture, and death of people important in the past development and history of northern Wisconsin and surrounding regions.
In the cemetery lie the remains of early explorers and settlers, and Indian Chiefs and leaders whose past deeds still influence current events of the region through treaties signed generations ago.
The cemetery contains the remains of Michel Cadotte, one of the most significant settlers and businessmen of the area; and those of Chief Great Buffalo, a principal chief of the Chippewas.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.