PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE NATIVE
AMERICANS
Image:
Michigan
Historical
Museum
HOW DID THE GREAT LAKES FORM?
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15,000 years ago, the Laurentide Ice Sheet
covered all of Michigan (maximum extent
was 18,000 years ago)
About this same
time, Indians
were crossing
the Bering Straits
from Asia to
North America
Superior Lobe
Chippewa Lobe
Green Bay Lobe
Saginaw Lobe
Lake Michigan Lobe
Huron-Erie Lobe
PLEISTOCENE ERA
(Wisconsin Period)
The Great Lakes reached final size and shape
2,500 years ago. They are the single
greatest influence on Michigan’s historical
development. They facilitate water travel
but hinder land travel. They provide fish. They affect climate and soils
and thus agriculture. They drive tourism.
GLACIERS CREATED:
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Great Lakes: largest source of freshwater in the
world (20% of world’s water, rest is in ice)
Agriculture: wide variety of fertile soils mainly in
southern Michigan, sandy soil up north
Industry: Towns grow up next to rivers and
lakes.
Minerals: Sand and gravel, salt, limestone,
gypsum, iron, copper
Tourism: Lake and rivers used for recreation,
transportation
THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF MICHIGAN =
PALEO-INDIANS (12,000 BCE – 8,000 BCE)
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18,000 years ago – Laurentide ice
sheet covered all of Michigan, and
erased all evidence of prior
humans living there
11,000 years ago (9,000 BCE) –
first evidence of Paleo-Indians
around what is now Flint, MI
Hunted mastodons and caribou
Occupied southern Michigan as ice
receded
http://seekers.wikia.com/wiki/Caribou
http://exhibits.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/larson/mammut.html
THE OLD COPPER INDIANS (COPPER PEOPLE)
5,000 years ago (3000 BCE = Late Archaic)
 Mined copper by digging shallow pits still visible
today
 Heated copper to make tools and weapons (first
people in Western hemisphere to work with
metals)
 Traded copper with people in New York, Illinois,
and Kentucky
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Native copper from the
Keweenaw Peninsula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_mining_in_Michigan
THE WOODLAND PERIOD (THE WOODLAND INDIANS)
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1,000 BCE to European contact in 1650
Early (1,000 BCE – 1 BCE)
Middle (1 CE – 500 CE)
Late (500 – 1620)
Agriculture begins (squash, sunflowers)
Ceramic pots to store food
Corn introduced around 300 B.C.
Villages became larger
EARLY WOODLAND PERIOD
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1000 BCE – 1 BCE
The existence of pottery marks the
beginning
Hunting and gathering still more
important than agriculture
Maize (corn) becomes most important
crop as permanent settlements start
Extensive burial mounds
Adena culture was in the central Ohio
Valley. They developed an extensive
trading network with Indians in the
Great Lakes for copper.
The Miamisburg Mound is 70 feet
high and was built 2,500 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adena_culture
http://www.jqjacobs.net/archaeo/miamisburg.html
MIDDLE WOODLAND PERIOD
1- 500 CE – Hopewell Indians (the “Mound
Builders”) buried the dead in long, low
mounds together with artifacts
 Over 1,000 mounds have been identified in
Southern Michigan (Mound Road), but only a
few still exist today (Norton Mounds in Grand
Rapids)
Norton Mounds
near Grand
Rapids. There
were 30 mounds
originally, but
only a few now.
http://www.giftbasketsfrommichigan.com/blog/michigan-history/norton-mounds-indian-mounds-in-michigan/
LATE WOODLAND PERIOD
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500 – 1000
Used bow and arrows, which may have
greatly decreased the large animals.
Built defensive walls and ditches
suggesting warfare for scarcer
resources.
Mound building largely ended
Maize, beans and squash became
staple crops
Great Lakes Indians built wigwams (see
next slide)
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Late_Woodland_Cultures?rec=1281
WIGWAMS
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Young green tree saplings 10-15 feet long were
cut down, and then bent by stretching the wood.
The saplings formed a frame about 10-16 feet in
diameter. Bark stripped from trees was used to
cover the frame, creating walls and a roof.
http://www.suttonmass.org/nipmuc/wigwam.html
http://www.iaismuseum.org/village.shtml
COLUMBUS “DISCOVERS” THE NEW WORLD
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1492 – Columbus met the Arawak Indians on the
island of “San Salvador” in the Bahamas
“They are affectionate people and without covetousness
and apt for anything, which I certify. I believe there is no
better people or land in the world. They love their neighbors
as themselves, and have the sweetest speech in the world,
and gentle, and are always smiling.”
“The Indians would make fine servants.
With 50 men we could subjugate them all
and make them do whatever we want.”
http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2012/12/when-native-americans-created-utopia.html
1500S
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http://mrsdexplorersproject.wikispaces.com/Hernando+Cortes
Hernando Cortes brought guns and horses,
conquered the Aztecs in Mexico
Francisco Pizzaro conquered the Incans in
Peru
Spanish and Dutch were dominant in the
South and Southwest U.S.
Sought riches, slaves, and “conversions”
Diseases from Europe (smallpox,
tuberculosis, measles, etc.) reduced Indian
population 50-90%, because they had no
natural immunity.
http://pirates.wikia.com/wiki/Francisco_Pizarro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox
THE FRENCH MEET THE INDIANS
Estimated 100,000 Indians in upper Great
Lakes region in 1600 when French first
made contact (1 million in all of North
America)
 3 Linguistic Groups: Iroquoian (Eastern
Indians) , Algonquian (Woodland Indians),
and Siouan (Plains Indians)

Algonquian
Iroquoian
Siouan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_schemes_for_
indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas
HURONS (AKA WYANDOTS)
Wyandots comes from their tribal name, Wendat, which means
"peninsula people." Some Wyandot people in Oklahoma used the
spelling Wyandotte instead.
Huron was the French name for the Wyandot tribe. It means "wild
boar" in French. The French thought that the Mohawk haircuts
looked like the bristles on a wild boar's neck.
 Population was 45-60,000
 Iroquoian Language, but mostly enemies of the Iroquois
 Lived in Georgian Bay area, but were driven westward by the
Iroquois after the 1649 war
 Sedentary farmers (actually gardeners, with no work animals or
farm equipment), so Europeans believed them to be the most
advanced Indians
 Fished for food and hunted primarily for hides for clothing
 Matrilineal society, so women owned the houses
http://ewesfn.weebly.
com/huroniroquois.ht
ml
THE THREE FIRES
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Call themselves the Anishinaabe (“original
people”)
Chippewas, Ottawas, and Potawatomis (COPs)
Algonquian language, but culturally different
May have lived together in St. Lawrence region
1,000 years ago, but moved to Great Lakes area
before European contact
Lived in small, mobile villages (5-25 families)
relying on hunting and fishing. Gathered wild rice
and grew corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers.
Clan system brought order.
CHIPPEWAS (OJIBWA)
Algonquian language
 Population about 30,000
 Lived around Lake Superior
 Highly nomadic, relied on hunting, fishing,
and gathering
 “Elder brother” of the Three Fires
Confederacy
 Patrilineal society
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http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/chippewa.html
OTTAWAS (OTA’WA’ = “TO TRADE”)
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Algonquian language
Lived in Northern Lake Huron region
Only 3,000 people
Hunted and fished more than farmed
Got along well with the Hurons
Traveled in birch bark canoes acting as
middlemen between Chippewas and Hurons
http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Ottawa.html
Pontiac was the most famous Ottawa chief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_(person)
POTAWATOMIS
(“PEOPLE OF THE PLACE OF THE FIRE”)
http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Potawatomi.html
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Algonquian language
4,000 Indians
Practiced polygamy. Marriage brought together
clans.
Lived in western part of Lower Peninsula
Attacked by Iroquois and “Neutrals” in the east
during early 1600s, so left Michigan for Wisconsin.
In the late 1600s, Potawatomis and Miamis moved
from Wisconsin to northern Indiana and Ohio, and
southern Michigan.
HURONS (WYANDOTS)
Wyandots comes from their tribal name, Wendat, which means
"peninsula people." Some Wyandot people in Oklahoma used the
spelling Wyandotte instead.
Huron was the French name for the Wyandot tribe. It means "wild
boar" in French. The French thought that the Mohawk haircuts
looked like the bristles on a wild boar's neck.
 Population was 45-60,000
 Iroquoian Language, but mostly enemies of the Iroquois
 Lived in Georgian Bay area, but were driven westward by the
Iroquois after the 1649 war
 Sedentary farmers (actually gardeners, with no work animals or
farm equipment), so Europeans believed them to be the most
advanced Indians
 Fished for food and hunted primarily for hides for clothing
 Matrilineal society, so women owned the houses
http://ewesfn.weebly.
com/huroniroquois.ht
ml
http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/MJC/places/littleTurtle.asp
MIAMIS
Little Turtle was the
most famous chief
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Algonquian language
4,500 Indians
Lived in southern Wisconsin
Culturally close to the Sac and Fox Indians
It comes from the Miami-Illinois word Myaamia,
which means "allies." Miami, Florida got its name
from a Tequesta placename, Maymi, which may
have meant "wide lake.“
The Miami Indians had their original home land in
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, but many
moved west to Oklahoma in the mid 1800s.
GENDER ROLES
Women
Men
Hunted
Planted crops
Gathered nuts, fruits
Fished
Made meals
Traded
Made war
http://www.findfast.org/tribes-nativeamericans/facts-about-chippewa-nativeamericans.htm
http://www.firstpeople.us/photographs/Ch
ippewa-Woman-and-Infant-1900.html
Cared for children
Built the wigwam
THE FRENCH “DISCOVER” CANADA
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1535 - Jacques Cartier sails up St. Lawrence River,
certain it was the “Northwest Passage” to India. He
called it the “Country of Canadas”, an Iroquois name
for the two big settlements of Stadacona and
Hochelaga. Found only fool’s gold and quartz
(“Canadian diamonds”), but discovered the Ottawa
River.
Stadacona became Quebec City
Hochelaga became Montreal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier
http://www.emersonkent.com/history_notes/jacques_cartier.htm
http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-de-champlain-9243971
SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
THE “FATHER OF NEW FRANCE”
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- Founded Quebec City in 1608
- Explored Georgian Bay
- Wanted to create permanent
settlements, not just fur trading posts.
1609 – Battle of Ticonderoga – French fight
the Mohawks, part of the Iroquois
Confederacy, who blocked French exploration
of southern Michigan
Lake Champlain
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/chf/elemchamplain/champlainelemclass.html
ETIENNE BRULE
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A young friend of Champlain’s, he lived with Algonquian
Indians for many years, earning the distrust of the
French
Sailed on all the Great Lakes except Lake Michigan
First European in Michigan when he reached the St.
Mary’s River in 1622, two years after the Pilgrims
landed in Plymouth
Both images: http://northshore-thereandback.blogspot.com/2010/12/etienne-brule-superiors-wild-man.html
JEAN NICOLET
First European to sail through the Straits of
Mackinac (past Mackinac Island) and into
Lake Michigan
 Followed northern Lake Michigan until he
reached Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1634
where encountered Winnebago Indians
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Called the “Father of
Wisconsin,” Nicolet met
the Indians in Green Bay
dressed in a colorful silk
robe thinking he landed
in India.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Nicolet
THE ANIMAL THAT BUILT MICHIGAN
http://washingtonhistoryonline.
org/leschi/closeties/furtrading.htm
Easy to kill with
gun, spear, or
arrow, or trapped
http://www.discovering-nature.net/2012/12/24/plain-brownpackages/beaver-tree/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver
http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1566-683024
Not migratory, so once
supply was used up in
an area, trappers had to
move on
North American Beaver (Castor canadensis)
10 million beavers in America at time of European contact, but were
hunted to near extinction
COUREUR DE BOIS (“WOODLANDS RUNNER”)
French-Canadian
woodsman who was
skilled at hunting,
fishing, canoeing and
snowshoeing
Unlicensed fur trader
(bootlegger)
Provided many types of
furs to Europe: bear, elk,
deer, martin, fox, wolf,
lynx, raccoon, but most
important: BEAVER
Convinced Indians to kill
fur-bearing animals so as
to trade with them
Some explored rather
than traded, so adopted
Indian dress and language
to ensure safe passage
Voyageurs were similar,
but were licensed fur
traders. Could travel
100 miles in a single day.
http://www.pathfindertom.com/2010/09/26/les-coureurs-de-bois/
WHITES AND NATIVE AMERICANS
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French felt superior to the “sauvages”
Indians liked the guns, blankets, iron kettles, but did not feel their
culture was inferior
Animism = belief that inanimate objects were sacred
Missionaries did not separate the concept of Christianity and
civilization, so their efforts were largely futile.
Private property vs. communal property
Indian language and Indians names are common for place names
in Michigan, but are sometimes changed considerably (Michigan,
Saginaw, Washtenaw, Kalamazoo, Mackinac, Muskegon, Ottawa,
Chippewa, Gogebic, Topinabee, Pokagon, etc.)
Names of famous Indians (Pontiac, Tecumseh, Osceola)
THE ENGLISH DURING THE 1600S
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English dominated the eastern seaboard, while the French
dominated Canada and the land west of the Appalachians
1607 – Jamestown (Capt. John Smith saved by Pocahontas,
daughter of Chief Powhatan)
1610 – Henry Hudson discovered Hudson Bay in Canada, the
second largest bay in the world other than the Bay of Bengal.
1620 – Pilgrims land in Plymouth - First Thanksgiving in 1621
with Wampanoag Indians
1664 – Seize New Netherlands from the Dutch, and rename it
“New York”
1675 – “King Philip’s War”- Wampanoags and other Eastern
tribes fight British
“Why will you take by force what you may
obtain by love? Why will you destroy us who
supply you with food? What can you get by
war? We are unarmed, and willing to give you
what you ask, if you come in a friendly
manner.”
- Chief Powhatan (to John Smith), 1609
John Rolfe married Chief
Powhatan’s daughter,
Pocahontas. John Rolfe
planted tobacco from the
West Indies, and started
Virginia’s tobacco industry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rolfe
http://jamestowngpcproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/important-historical-people-of-james.html
THE DUTCH DURING THE 1600S
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1609 – Englishman Henry Hudson “discovers”
Manhattan while working for the Dutch East India
Company.
1624 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from the
Lenape Indians for 60 Dutch guilders ($24).
1625 – Build Fort Amsterdam, and call it their
territory New Netherlands.
1652-54 – First Anglo-Dutch war – English won
1665-67 – Second Anglo-Dutch war – Dutch won
1672-74 – Third Anglo-Dutch war – English lost,
but with French support
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hudson
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art58635/In-1624-Peter-Minuit-pays-24-dollarsin-trade-goods
FATHER JACQUES MARQUETTE
(AKA PERE MARQUETTE)
“THE FATHER OF MICHIGAN”
http://www.michigan.org/property/father-marquette-national-memorial/
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Jesuit missionary who founded the first permanent
Michigan settlement in Sault Ste. Marie in 1668,
and St. Ignace in 1671. Third oldest settlement
west of the Appalachians.
Helped Louis Jolliet explore the Mississippi River in
1673.
Louis’ older brother, Adrien Jolliet, became the first
white man to visit the Lower Peninsula when he
paddled down the Detroit River in 1669.
Died in 1675 at age 37 near Ludington.
Grave is now in St. Ignace.
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/amer
ica/canada/history/marquette.htm
Louis Jolliet
http://www.biography.com/people/louis-joliet-20973103
MARQUETTE AND JOLLIET
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/canada/history/marquette.htm
http://www.biography.com/people/louis-joliet-20973103
Discovered the Mississippi River in 1673
and sailed down it hoping to find the Pacific
Ocean. Came within 435 miles of the Gulf of
Mexico.
 1681 map of their voyage showed Lake
Michigan called Lac de Michigami rather
than Lac des Illinois
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THE ENGLISH VS. THE FRENCH
Charles II (r. 1660-1685)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_II_of_England_by_Kneller.jpg
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Louis XIV (r. 1638-1715)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France
Competed for fur trade in North America during the 1600 and
1700s. Charles II charted the Hudson’s Bay Company, which
eventually dominated the fur trade.
English settled in East, farmed, and brought many settlers
over from England
British traders were less generous in trade with Indians, and
wanted their land.
French sparsely settled interior, and tried to control fur trade
by establishing forts and trading posts
French allied with Algonquin Indians, British allied with
Iroquois Indians (Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Mohawks,
Onandagas = Iroquois Confederacy)
THE INDIANS VS. THE WHITE MEN
Hunters and gatherers, not farmers
 Moved from place to place with food supply
 Cannot sell land, which is a public good
 Liked the white man’s goods, but not their
greed for land and natural resources.
 Referred to English king as the “Great White
Father”
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WAR BETWEEN THE HURONS AND IROQUOIS
French relied on the Huron Indians as
middlemen to moves furs from the Great Lakes
area to the St. Lawrence area. War with the
Iroquois disrupted trade in the 1640s.
 The Chippewas aided the Hurons to defeat
Iroquois, so peace was made in 1653, and the
French fur trade was restored.
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REASONS FOR FRENCH EXPLORATION –
“GOD, GOLD, AND GLORY”
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Control the fur trade to provide wealth to fight wars
and build great cities.
Search for gold and silver as the Spanish were
doing in the southwest. Found some copper in
Upper Peninsula, but focused on fur trade
Race for a colonial empire and national glory
relative to Spanish in the West, and British in the
East.
Convert Indians to Christians via Jesuit missionaries
like Father Marquette and Father Claude Allouez,
the most active missionary, who discovered copper
in the U.P.
LOUIS XIV
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Made New France in St. Lawrence River area
a royal colony in 1663
Defeated the Iroquois in 1667, who were
attacking Montreal and Quebec City
Minister of Finance Colbert opposed
settlements in the interior; preferred Indians
to bring furs to New France.
Governor of New France, Louis de Buade de
Frontenac, ignored his orders and built
settlements in the West, including Michigan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_
France
No picture of Frontenac exists
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7365813
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JeanBaptiste_Colbert
ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE
Commissioned by Governor Frontenac, La
Salle built the Griffin (Le Griffon), the first
sailing vessel on the Great Lakes, in 1679
http://nobility.org/2013/01/21/la-salle-claims-mississippi/
Griffin sailed from Niagara Falls to Green Bay, past
Detroit in search of water route to China. He was
Frontenac’s
lost on return trip. May have been lost in a storm, coat of
or boarded by Indians, who burned it.
arms had a
La Salle believed the crew sank it, and made off
griffin on it
with the furs. There is no conclusive evidence, but it (half eagle,
was the first shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
half lion)https://myth-wiki-ology.wikispaces.com/Griffins
Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Griffon
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chateau_Frontenac_Quebec_City.jpg
LA SALLE AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
- In 1679, La Salle founded Fort Miami near modern day
St. Joseph in SW Michigan, the first French outpost in the
Lower Peninsula. Destroyed a year later.
- La Salle was the first white man to explore the
interior of the Lower Peninsula. In 1680, he
travelled on foot from Fort Miami in SW Michigan to
the Detroit River in about 30 days. In total, he hiked
1,000 miles from Fort Miami to Fort Frontenac in
eastern Lake Ontario in 60 days.
- Reached the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1682, named it
Louisiana after King Louis XIV. La Salle, and his benefactor,
Frontenac, sought to reduce monopoly of Montreal merchants by
shipping to France via New Orleans.
- Assassinated by his own men in 1687
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM36FD_Fort_Miami_Historical_Marker_St_Joseph_MI
KING WILLIAM’S WAR 1688-1697
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First of four English-French conflicts in Europe that spilled over to
the New World
English incited and armed the Iroquois to attack French forts. 200
French killed by Iroquois outside of Montreal in 1689.
War with England caused French to reverse policy and build many
forts in New France. King Louis XIV reappointed Frontenac in 1689
as Governor of New France, after he was removed from power in
1682 for using brandy in the fur trade.
In 1690, French built Fort de Buade (Frontenac’s family name) in St.
Ignace, which the traders called Michilimackinac. It was abandoned
in 1701.
In 1691, French built Fort St. Joseph near Niles
Treaty of Ryswick ended war in 1697.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_St._Joseph_(Niles,_Michigan)
ANTOINE DE LA MOTHE CADILLAC
http://historydetroit.com/people/antoine_cadillac.php
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Frontenac sent Cadillac to command at Michilimackinac for
three years (1694-1697), the most important fur trading,
military, and missionary center in the West
Cadillac favored giving alcohol to the Indians, but
missionaries did not. Frontenac backed Cadillac, but the
courts in France backed the Jesuits. In 1696, they ordered
all forts abandoned except one.
Frontenac ignored orders but died in 1698. Cadillac went to
France in 1698, and got the financial backing ($300) of
Count Pontchartrain, Louis XIV’s chief minister, to build a
fort and settlement in Le Detroit, the waterway (“the strait”)
between Lake Huron and Lake Erie