On this date in 1798, Pembina fur trader Chaboillez of the North West Company noted that “the Old Coutre Oreille” and her son set off for her cache. He gave her incentive gifts “to encourage her to return.” He likely identified the Odawa leader Net-No-Kwa and her adopted son, John Tanner, “The White Indian,” who was abducted in Kentucky as a child by Ojibwe men from Michigan.
In 1812, Lord Selkirk sent settlers to Canada. Tanner hunted bison to supply them for the winter. Cuthbert Grant of the North West Company attempted to recruit Tanner to join Métis rebels in attacking the Hudson’s Bay Company. Tanner refused to take sides. But after Selkirk’s men captured Fort William at Thunder Bay, Tanner guided them to Winnipeg and helped recapture Fort Douglas.
Selkirk became interested in Tanner’s story, gave him a small pension, and sent letters to Tanner’s relatives in Kentucky. Selkirk believed Major Stephen Long, who had returned from his Rocky Mountain Expedition via the Red River, could help Tanner find employment and reunite with his family of origin.
Tanner already had several children from his Native marriages. Major Long told Tanner he could do nothing for him, assuming he was a worthless man hiding among the Natives. Tanner finally showed him papers from Governor Clark and other influential men who attested to his character and background.
Edwin James, surgeon and botanist for the Long Expedition, arranged Tanner’s position as U.S. interpreter at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He worked closely with Tanner, who was illiterate, to write his biography. The book was a popular success and remains an important historical document incorporating Native cultural perspectives, including humor. Tanner was a keen firsthand observer of the natural world, people, places, seasonal activity, and significant events in U.S., Canadian, and tribal history.
Tanner’s reunion with his remaining relatives in Kentucky was a joyful event, but he could not stay. After returning to Michigan, he was blamed for the murder of Mr. Schoolcraft and vanished into the wilderness. Lieutenant Tilden at the Army post later confessed to the crime. Years later, a skeleton found in a bog was identified as Tanner by an Ojibwe man named Gourneau, who recognized his personal effects.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- Indiana University, 1959: Ethnohistory: Genesis of a Fur Trade Band: Journal of Charles Jean Baptiste Chaboillez, 1797-1798.Harold Hickerson, Editor.
- Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, 1952. Edwin James, Editor. A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, (U.S. interpreter at the Saut de Ste. Marie) ) During Thirty Years Residence among the Indians in the Interior of North America.
- John T. Fierst, Scholarly Editing: The Annual of the Association for Documentary Editing. 2012, Volume 33. A "Succession of Little Occurrences": Scholarly Editing and the Organization of Time in John Tanner's Narrative. https://scholarlyediting.org/2012/essays/essay.fierst.html
- Manitoba Historical Society: John Tanner Life Sketch. George Bryce, Sketch of the life of John Tanner, a famous Manitoba scout: A border type: A paper read before the Society, April 26, 1888. Winnipeg: Manitoba Free Press Print, 1888.
- George Woodcock, “TANNER, JOHN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed December 10, 2025, https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tanner_john_7E.html.
- The Northern Expeditions of Stephen H. Long: The Journals of 1817 and 1823 and Related Documents, edited by Lucile M. Kane, June D. Holmquist, and Carolyn Gilman (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1978).
- Netnokwa
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tanner_(captive)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
