The son of the French explorer and fur trader Antoine Carre (Neaatooshing) and his wife, daughter of an Odawa chief, Biidassige was born along the northern banks of the Kalamazoo River.
At the age of 21, Biidassige married Kewaykabawikwa, the daughter of Pokozeegun, an Ottawa chieftain from the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
With the arrival of Jesuit Catholic missionaries in the area during the early 19th century, Biidassige was befriended by the new men, who would attempt to convert him to Catholicism.
[3] However, when the Jesuits learned that this school was operated by Protestants, they asked Biidassige to withdraw his sons, under threat of excommunication, which he refused.
Biidassige thought by purchasing this land he could provide a refuge for people who wanted to maintain their tribal existence without foreign interference.
In addition, Chief Biidassige was a combatant in the War of 1812, supporting Tecumseh's effort to force the removal of all foreign influences.
When Michigan became a state in 1837, the federal government did not acknowledge any relationship with Chief Biidassige or his purchase of 440 acres, which included most of the downtown area of present-day Petoskey.
Choosing to declare further independence from the Jesuits, Biidassige became actively involved with the Presbyterians, and he and his children became regular attendees at the services.
[6] A type of fossil colonial coral, dating back to the Devonian period, was later discovered on his land and named after him as the Petoskey stone.