The Fort and the Odawa
Brenda and I experienced an enjoyable trip to the UP, if somewhat limited by my knees, which appear to be out of warranty. One of the best parts was the opportunity to visit with our good friend Devan, who works as an interpretive guide at Fort Michilimackinac (try to say it fast), at the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The straits, and the fort, have a fascinating history.
When the French began colonizing New France (what is now eastern Canada and the Midwest) they had no idea they were dealing with an established empire. For them, an empire meant warships, armored garrisons, and a king. But though the Anishinaabeg had none of these things, they were a great empire nonetheless, controlling much of the land around the Great Lakes with an intricate network of inter-related families, tribes, and trading partnerships. Two equally sophisticated cultures intersected, attempted to work together, and eventually went to war.
The Odawa Anishinaabeg were traders. Over time they spread west from the Niagara Escarpment to the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. For over a hundred years they controlled the nexus of trade between the east and west at the straits between lakes Michigan and Huron, a place they called Michilimackinac. Beaver, muskrat, deer, fox, and bear skins were traded with the French for cloth, blankets, metal sewing needles and fishhooks, jewelry, and eventually guns and alcohol. The fort was originally built in 1715 by the French to anchor that trade. (Its history with the French and later the British is worthy of another post some day.)
Empires depend on a carefully constructed balance of powers. All empires eventually fall, victims of inevitable disruptions of that balance. The French and Indian war most fundamentally was due to a difference of opinion on who should be allied with whom: the French tried to form partnerships with people who had been the Anishinaabeg’s enemies for centuries, an affront which eventually was too much for them to bear.
But ultimately it was American expansion, supported by the might and power of a new government that viewed indigenous people as nothing more than an impediment to the land they coveted, that destroyed the last vestiges of the empire. The Odawa (by then commonly spelled Ottawa) were scattered in many directions, some as far west as Oklahoma.
In the latter part of the 20th Century, the United States began to make small progress in restoring, at least symbolically, some of the sovereign independence of indigenous people. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians obtained about two hundred acres north of Manistee, Michigan, where Odawa hunting and fishing camps had been 250 years ago and which had, for a time, been their reservation land in the 19th century. Right at the southern terminus of highway M-22 they have built a casino / hotel in a handsome lodge style, including an event center that attracts entertainment acts who are either going up or coming back down through their 2000 seat venue phases.
The Farmhouse sits about two miles north of the Little River Nation on a bluff that surely was an Odawa campsite in centuries past, though I suspect it would take great luck to find artifacts, considering their itinerant lifestyle. We have seen a few foxes and have an abundance of deer (but so far no bears). Muskrats and beavers still ply the marshy areas near the lakeshore, and we have started to see bald eagles in the spring. The Little River tribe is working on a project to grow more native wild rice. We have part ownership of four acres of Portage Lake shoreline, some of which frequently floods, and I have started to explore the idea of establishing a small patch of wild rice in that area.
I feel pride in sharing this priceless resource with such an ancient and accomplished people. I want to be a good neighbor for the Little River tribe, whatever that turns out to be. And I respect their restored autonomy. For sure I never drive even one mile over the speed limit when crossing their land! I have much to learn and am eager to learn it.