 Kechewaishke was born around 1759 at La Pointe on Madeline Island ("Mooningwanekaaning") in the Shagawamikong region.Now part of Wisconsin, La Pointe was a key Ojibwa village and trading center for the empire of New France, which was fighting the Seven Years' War against Great Britain at the time of Kechewaishke's birth.Throughout the 18th century, the Ojibwa spread out from La Pointe into lands conquered from the Dakota people, and settled several village sites.