Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay

Marble bust of Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay in the US Senate by Francis Vincenti
Ojibwa leader
Personal details
Known for	Negotiated cession of ten million acres, including the headwaters of the Mississippi
Nickname(s)	"Flat Mouth" (Gueule Platte)

Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay (or Aish-Ke-Vo-Go-Zhe, from Eshkibagikoonzhe, "[bird] having a leaf-green bill" in Anishinaabe language; also known as "Flat Mouth" (Gueule Platte), a nickname given by French fur traders) was a powerful Ojibwe chief who traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1855, along with Beshekee and other Ojibwa leaders, to negotiate the cession of ten million acres (40,000 km²) including the headwaters of the Mississippi in northern Minnesota.

“Tell him I blame him for the children we have lost, for the sickness we have suffered, and for the hunger we have endured. The fault rests on his shoulders.” —Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe speaking of Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey.

References

• Schenck, Theresa M. William W. Warren: The Life, Letters, and Times of an Ojibwe Leader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8032-4327-9.