John Aisance
| John Aisance Aisance |
|
|---|---|
| Born | c.1790 Upper Canada, now Ontario |
| Died | 1847 near Penetanguishene, Upper Canada, now Ontario |
| Nationality | Chippewa |
| Relatives | John (son) |
John Aisance (Ojibwe name Aisance) was a chief among the Chippewas of Lakes Huron and Simcoe and leader of the Otter clan of that people from at least 1815 until his death in 1847. He participated in the Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Purchase in 1815, served the provincial government during the Upper Canada Rebellion, and was the first and founding chief of the Beausoleil First Nation.
Aisance's father, also called Aisance, preceded him as chief and clan leader. Their identical names have created confusion and debate among historians. The family's principal territorial interests seem to have lain in Penetanguishene and the surrounding area. It was the elder Aisance, apparently, whose name is recorded among the five Ojibwe chiefs who authorized the surrender of the area to the provincial government in the Penetanguishene Bay Purchase in 1798. In 1815, the younger Aisance participated alongside two other chiefs, including Musquakie, the future head chief, in authorizing the Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Purchase, surrendering 250,000 acres of territory extending from the Penetanguishene area to the north shore of Kempenfelt Bay (present-day North Simcoe).
In 1817, Musquakie succeeded his father Yellow Head as head chief of the Chippewas of Lakes Huron and Simcoe. The next year, he four other chiefs authorized the Lake Simcoe–Nottawasaga Purchase, surrendering 1,600,000 acres of territory west of Lake Simcoe to the government. Aisance was not involved in this purchase—the Otter clan was represented instead by Muskigonce—which left the Ojibwe with virtually no territory of their own, although they reserved the right to continue to range and hunt across the land they had relinquished.
In 1828, the Ojibwe reportedly "expressed a strong desire to be admitted to Christianity, and to adopt the habits of civilized life". When they converted to Methodism later that year, Aisance, the foremost of Musquakie's subordinate chiefs, set an example by dismissing two of his three wives. Presumably it was now that he adopted the Christian name John. In 1830, the Ojibwe were induced by Lieutenant Governor John Colborne to settle permanently in two purpose-built villages, one at Atherley Narrows between Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching, where Musquakie settled with a part of his people, and the other at Gissinausebing, or Coldwater, where Aisance settled with the remainder of the Ojibwe. The house built for him there by the government was the only frame house in a village otherwise made up of log houses, in recognition of his chiefly status.
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