Chief Wawasee

Part 2, by Jo Ann Merkle Vrable, Feature Writer, Warsaw Times Union

The other Miami chieftain was Waw-wa-esse, or Wawasee, often contracted into Wawbee. In the mid-1830’s, Wawasee’s village was situated near the southeast corner of Lake Wabee, approximately two and one-half miles southeast of Milford including the eastern shores of Lake Wabee. Chief Wawasee was a minor leader but a brother of Flat-Belly. Like his brother, Wawasee was big and strong. This chief dressed up for special occasions by wearing a large silver ring that hung from the cartilage of his nose. He sometimes substituted a fish bone for the ring, according to James W. Armstrong in The History of Leesburg and Plain Township Indiana published by the Leesburg Journal.

To learn more about the bust of Chief Wawasee, click HERE