Gabriel Rodriguez will be the guest speaker at the May 21 CIHS lecture series event. (Submitted photo)

CATAWBA ISLAND – A 45-minute speech sponsored by the Catawba Island Historical Society will be presented at 6 p.m. on Wednesday May 21, at the Catawba Island Township Community Hall. The hall is located at 3307 Northwest Catawba Road. The event is free to the public.

Gabriel Rodriguez will present “Indian Removal Act of 1830 impact on Ohio Indigenous Peoples.” Rodriguez recently received his Master of Arts degree in history from Bowling Green State University. His studies entailed extensive research about the 17th and 18th century Great Lakes Borderlands and the Native American tribes that lived here.

“Ohio was an intersection through which many Native Americans passed,” Rodriguez said. “Tribes like the Iroquois, Erie and Ottawa are frequently associated with the northwest part of the state, but their activity was predominately in the 1700s and early 1800s. Other tribes established their presence later in the nineteenth century. They were the ones most significantly impacted by the Indian Removal Act.”

The Federal Government essentially coerced most eastern tribes of Indians to leave their homes and move to reservations west of the Mississippi River. The Wyandotte living in Ohio were an exception. They had been better assimilated into the frontier society and were not forced to leave. The decision they made to go to Kansas from the home they had established around Upper Sandusky was of their own choosing.

“When people think of the Indian Removal Act, they most often link it to events like the Trail of Tears relocation of tribes from the southern U.S.,” Rodriguez said. “My remarks will be tailored to fill in gaps with facts and anecdotes about Ohio Indians and their reservation experiences.”

The Catawba Island Historical Society has sponsored a cultural lecture series since its creation in 2017. It also founded and operates Catawba Museum at Union Chapel. More information is available about both at www.catawbaislandhistoricalsociety.com.