Native AmericansMain Ideas Before anyone "discovered" America, people already lived here! These people are Native Americans.
Hopewell Indians were some of the first Native people to live in Michigan. We know this because they were Mound Builders. Archaeologists dug up some of the mounds and realized that the mounds were like graveyards, where they buried their dead. Also in the mounds were weapons, pottery, jewels, and even pearls. How did they get pearls? (1) Later, three Anishinaabeg tribes of Native Americans known as the Three Fires moved into Michigan from where Canada is today. These three tribes were friends, they had an alliance. The Ojibway tribe moved into the upper peninsula. The Ottawa tribe moved to the western side of the lower peninsula. The Potawatomi moved to the eastern side of the lower peninsula (including where we live!). Each of these tribes were known for something special. The Ojibway tribe was called the "Older Brother," and was the largest, with over 10,000 people! The Ottawa tribe was called the "Middle Brother," and was known for using their canoes to travel and trade. The Potawatomi tribe was called the "Younger Brother," and was known for their farming and grew corn, beans, and squash (read more here). All the Three Fires tribes lived in wigwams, which were made of sapling trees covered in tree bark. Why didn't they live in brick houses like us? (2) The Three Fires lived happily together in peace until two new tribes moved into Michigan. These two tribes, the Huron and the Iroquois, did not get along. They began fighting over the land in the Mackinaw area. The powerful Iroquois, who had many more people, won the land and the Huron tribe had to leave and move back down to Eastern Michigan, Canada, and New York. To protect themselves, the Huron built stockades - large fences made of logs with pointed edges - around their villages. Who do you think they were protecting themselves from? (3)
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Ruins of ancient mounds
A wigwam made from saplings and bark
An American Indian. What do you suppose her clothes are made out of?
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Photo Credits:
500 Tours, "Cahokia Mounds" Educational Use
Pilgram Path Tours, Wigwam, Educational Use
McGraw-Hill Education, American Indian, Educational Use