A chronological history of the Indians of Michigan, from pre-contact times up to the present day (1990s). Contents include: Chapter 1: In The Beginning --- Chapter 2: A Sense Of Time, A Sense Of Place --- Chapter 3: Coming Of The Wemitigoji --- Chapter 4: Foreign Invasion: The Jagonash & The Chemokmon --- Chapter 5: The End Of Power --- Chapter 6: Not The Feelings Of Their Hearts --- Chapter 7: On White Man's Road --- Chapter 8: From Yesterday To Tomorrow

Getting the (nearly) complete history of Michigan's Indians from a sympathetic perspective (i. e., sympathetic to the Indians' side of the story). It's also good for learning about a side of Michigan's history that isn't often taught. I learned absolutely NONE of this in school.

How the author went to the trouble of explaining the Indians' side of things, particularly how they view(ed) matters much differently from Euro-Americans. Many issues that became matters of contention between the two races look as if they could have been avoided, if everyone had understood that both parties simply had different ways of looking at things.

I do wish the book had more information on the pre-contact period, but, seeing as this book is about the HISTORY of Michigan's Indians, it really can't be faulted for not focusing more on their PREhistory.

Move on to the next book in my pile of reading on this subject. Have to keep reading!

More educated about my state's history...as well as shocked by some of the things our government did and continues to do to the native population. While I knew the situation was a dark one, I had no clue about some of the devious acts that had been committed.

Is Charles E. Cleland, retired Professor of Anthropology and Curator of Archaeology & Ethnology at Michigan State University.

If current Michigan students' school lessons are anything like the ones I had, they could learn much from this book, both in regards to Michigan's native population as well as more general Michigan history (from the fur trade period into the 20th century). It's also a good record of the many ways in which relations between different cultures can go so very wrong.

While I personally saw nothing wrong with the tone of the book, some people may take issue with how sympathetic it is toward the Indians. They are presented in an almost entirely positive light in this book.

I bought this book at the bookstore a while back, then shoved it to the bottom of my reading list because it looked dry and boring. In all honesty, I wasn't too interested in learning about Indian history; I was more interested in learning about their traditional culture and beliefs. Not about treaty signings and all that stuff! However, after reading several other books, I came back to this one and found myself a bit more curious, so decided to pick it up at last. And I didn't regret it. It's not QUITE as intriguing as other books I've read, but it's definitely educational, and I found myself constantly surprised by how much I didn't know. And wonder of wonders, I actually found reading about treaty signings and all that stuff to be more interesting than I'd thought. --- All throughout my school education, I never learned ANYTHING about my own home state's history, aside from a brief period spent on learning about the lumber industry. The aboriginal inhabitants of the state, the fur trade and missionaries, Pontiac's rebellion, the War of 1812, even modern Michigan history--we learned not a bit of it. To this day I'm angry about this, and I certainly hope the situation has been remedied by now. So many intriguing things kids could be missing out on! This book would work well as a high school- or college-level textbook for learning not only about Michigan's Indians but Michigan's history as well--since the Indians are such a big part of it.

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Created May 17, 2006 at 9:41am • Submit your own review...