The Mikwendaagoziwag Memorial honors the memory of over 400 Anishinaabe lives tragically lost in the fall and winter of 1850-1851 during the attempted removal known as the Sandy Lake Tragedy. This dark chapter in history began when the U.S. government hatched an ill-conceived plan to relocate the Ojibwe people from their homelands in Wisconsin and Michigan to Minnesota by requiring them to travel to Sandy Lake for their annuity payments. Thousands of Ojibwe were subjected to dangerous conditions, inadequate provisions, and the harsh onset of winter. Many perished from starvation, exposure, and disease.
