The Council of Three Fires
An Economic History of Detroit Pt2: The Indigenous People
The year 1492, for many of us is a catchy rhyme to remember a fact on a history test. For others, 1492 brings the same feelings as 1619, 1941, and 1979. While for many white people, these dates have faded meanings, historical reasons that remain just on the tip of the tongue. But for other people, these dates are seared into their memory with memories of what would occur to their people.
When talking about United States' history, the beginning date is 1776, the signing of the Declaration of Independence. While a significant date in the creation of a new country, this date doesn’t mark the start of history in America. By focusing on this date as the start of American history, we conveniently wash away any peoples' history before that.
A good example is 1619, when the first African slave was brought to America. The Black experience in America started in that year, not in 1776. The start of the American revolution changed nothing for Black people, except to highlight the hypocrisy and irony of “…all men are created equal.”
America falls victim to laziness. Like Poles and Italians, there are Pueblo and Sioux, Bantu and Berbers; America classifies people based on their skin color as their ethnic group. Culturally Russians and French could not be more different, but their skin color makes them white.
For Indigenous Americans, there is no founding date. We only have rough estimates of when people first started to arrive on the Pacific coast. The most common theory we have on early Indigenous peoples' migration to North America is via a land bridge. Around 20,000 years ago an unknown amount of people made their way across the Bering sea over an ice bridge into North America. Thousands of people trekked their way across the North American and into South America and settled the land.
Ancient Indigenous people would have migrated and filled the continent, just like ancient Europeans filling in Europe before them. As they spread and settled, they began to develop distinct cultures and traditions.
The Anishinaabe is a culturally and linguistically related group of First Nations peoples, who lived in the Great Lakes and the surrounding region. They made their clothes from Deerskin, used buckets and spouts to tap for maple syrup, and used snowshoes to travel in the winter. They primarily lived in wigwams or longhouses that would be patched with birchbark over a wooden frame.
Unfortunately, extensive records of Indigenous peoples' history are not expected. We know the accounts of their interactions and conflicts with European settlers, rather than histories of their own. The three specific groups of Anishinaabe people who settled within Michigan are the Ojibwe (or Chippewa), Ottawa, and Potawatomi. These three groups were members of the Council of Three Fires. They had very distinct histories and cultures of their own, and their stories are apart of Detroit's history.
Lifestyles and Culture of the Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabe life and culture were intertwined with the water systems of the Great Lakes. They lived for thousands of years within the forests and on the lakes, creating loving communities and exceptional societies.
Like most cultures, the division of labor was separated by genders. The men would fish and hunt deer, birds, and elk. Women would take care of children and chores that needed to be done. The women also maintained crops like Corn, Squash, and beans while collecting wild rice and berries to supplement their diets.
Children helped with chores within their immediate family and within the community, but there was also time to play with toys or dolls. Older kids would organize into teams for games of lacrosse. However, children were expected to learn from their community members on the roles of responsibility they would eventually take.
Anishinaabe culture valued gift-giving as an essential social practice. Giving gifts was common within ceremonies to signal friendship and mutual support. Gifts were also common within communities that those who had more should give to those with less. A good example would be single young males were expected to give away part of a hunt to a family with many young kids. Anishinaabe culture was very collective and that stability and peace of the group was of most importance.
The Anishinaabe would also mine copper and iron from the deposits, and these raw materials were made into tools or traded with other groups. An essential resource was the maple tree, as it would be tapped for sap. This sap was then processed into maple syrup, a common delicacy for all groups of the Anishinaabe.
The Anishinaabe were also known for trading using the great Birch canoe. They would travel thousands of miles to trade goods with other indigenous groups. The birch canoes were a marvel of creation; they were perfect for traversing the Great Lakes and the inland lakes and rivers. A birch canoe was incredibly stable and easy to control, and the flat bottom meant little friction in the water and would not run aground in shallow water, so cargo could be hauled long distances.
After contact with the Europeans, the fur trade became a dominant economic endeavor for the Anishinaabe. Europeans' high demand for fur meant they would trade precious goods to the Anishinaabe, like guns, beads, and alcohol. This trade was very beneficial to both sides, but would lead to warfare to control the trade. Despite their collective gift-giving and catering, the Anishiannbe did use a currency of shell beads called wampum.
The Ojibwe
The group that occupied Detroit's land is the Ojibwe; they were estimated to be the fifth largest indigenous group living in the United States. Ojibwe were quite a populous group and organized themselves into smaller bands. These bands cooperated with each other but were distinct groups on their own.
The Ojibwe were a highly advanced culture; they used a form of pictorial writing and had advanced knowledge of math and astronomical observations. Within the bands, smaller clans took on specific roles, like a warrior or political clans.
Best estimates believe that the Ojibwe first originated around the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. Due to a mix of tribal warfare and prophecies, the Ojibwe began a slow migration westward. This migration started almost 1,500 years ago and would last many centuries.
The Ojibwe came into contact with French missionariesin the late 17th century. This contact would further the great migration of the Ojibwe, as the continued settling of European Settlers made the Ojibwe nervous. They knew that Europeans would continue to creep, and the Ojibwe would no longer be able to continue their traditions. In Ojibwe Oral tradition, a prophetic vision communicated the need for migration.
Their first stop in-migration was near Montreal, then near Niagara falls. Their migrations were not into unoccupied land. They pushed out their traditional enemies, the Lakota and the Fox. As they migrated west, they became the dominant group within the northern great lakes region. Their third stop was near Detroit, with the fifth and seventh stops became major settlements of Sue St Marie and La Pointe, WI.
Eventually, the Ojibwe came to control nearly all present-day Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota, including most of the Red River area. They also held the entire northern shores of lakes Huron and Superior on the Canadian side and extending westward to the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota.
The Ojibwe were engaged in conflict with other native groups for control of the area. The traditional alliances were with the Potowatimi and Odawa in the Council of Three Fires. The Council of Three Fires would engage in relatively constant warfare against the Iroquois Confederacy to the East and the Dakota and Sioux to the west. It is important to note that Indegiouns People warfare was not like European Warfare; Total war and destruction of your enemy was not common practice. This warfare was primarily over who would control the fur trade with the Europeans.
The Odawa
The Odawa were never a large tribe, numbering around 8,000 before contact. They were known as traders and business people of pre-contact North America. They maintained a vast and extensive trade network with other groups. The Odawa enjoyed a monopoly over all furs that came through Green Bay and Sue St Marie. They were known as the middlemen of trade between the first nations people. In fact, their name of Odawa likely comes from the word Adawe meaning to buy or sell.
They were known as business people, even well before contact with Europeans. A notable story of the Odawa is when they traded European trash they had found to other tribes for an extensive collection of furs. The furs would be exchanged with European Traders, giving the Odawa access to firearms, iron tools, alcohol, and other essential goods. This lucrative trade made warfare a constant practice for the Odawa and other Indegiouns groups around the area.
The Odawa lived primarily in the upper western half of the lower peninsula, between what is now Grand Rapids and Traverse City. Although this was their territory, they were more often paddling birch canoes on lakes facilitating trade. They lived more nomadic lifestyles compared to the other Council of Three Fires nations. Men and women would both spend long series of times away from their homes trading.
The Potawatomi
Before the 17th century, the Potawatomi lived well into the north of modern Canada. They followed a more hunter-gather society role than their cousins. However, the Potawatomi were highly adaptable. Eventually, they would migrate to Wisconsin and lower Michigan, where they would then adopt agricultural processes.
They were occupying the southwest corner of the lower peninsula, the Pottawatomi, where a much more stable group in compassion to the rest of those occupying Michigan. They lived a more sedentary life again compared to the continuing migration and nomadic lifestyles of the Odawa and Ojibwe.
They developed a stronger agricultural tradition, growing the stables of lower Michigan. They also gained quite a reputation for having prestigious medical gardens. They occupied land in Wisconsin, specifically along the Door Peninsula and down the coast of Lake Michigan. The intense atmosphere of the Beaver Wars found the Potawatomi faced against other tribes equipped with guns. They fought bravely, but in the end, they migrated to southwest Michigan to take advantage of the warmer climate.
A rich culture sapped by deceit and lies
While these nations were once proud communities with rich traditions and cultures, they could not compete with European Settlers. Vast tides of immigration and higher birth rates of Europeans pushed their population further west into the First Nations' lands. Eventually, a conflict would arise, and victories for indigenous people were incredibly rare. Forced to sign unfair treaties and relocate, life for indigenous people became harder and harder.
Indigenous people were viewed as an obstacle to manifest destiny rather than as another society sharing the land. Continuing warfare and displacement took their toll on the populations, and they would eventually be forced to live on reservations devoid of opportunities. Unfortunately, life has still not changed for the First Nations people, with a complete lack of opportunities on the reservations trapping them into a cycle of poverty.
The genocide and displacement of American Indegiouns people is a deep stain upon the United States' fabric. Unforuneraly, it is only one of the many stains upon America. It is important to remember these stains, that America is not perfect. But things have not stayed this way. Liberation is an ongoing struggle of the people against the systems of oppression. This struggle for liberty is ongoing atonement for the brutal history that came before.
We are a country that promises to be the shining city on the hill but struggles to achieve that promise. A nation that has declared itself free and prosperous for some, while creating systems of oppression for others. But the American story is a story of liberation, a slow march of progress to the promise of America. And one day, we will achieve that promise.
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