Anishinaabe Settlement
The earliest occupants of the Mackinaw Area, known as the Anishinaabe (or first people), have had to adjust to political, economic and cultural changes resulting from the arrival of Europeans, beginning with the fur trade and followed by population pressures and territorial loss. The challenge over the last 300 years has been to adapt to these new conditions while still maintaining the core values, beliefs and life styles.
The adjustments for the Anishinaabe, the Odawa, the Ojibwe and the Potawatomi (further to the south) were particularly great during the period of Heritage Village (1880-1917) due to the loss of land through imposed treaties with the U.S. Government. This necessitated a greater emphasis on new commercial activities including fishing, agriculture, carpentry, lumbering, handicraft and the re-selling of basic food and medicines harvested from the land of Northern Michigan. The Anishanaabe homes at Heritage Village reflect this continuity, being both part of and apart from the other buildings in the Village.
Two housing styles were used by the Anishanaabe from 1880-1917. The waganogan was the traditional winter family lodge. During this time, the Odawa and Ojibwe were determined to stay in the woodlands of the Great Lakes, and began an adaptation they hoped would allow them to stay alongside the incoming settlers. They began building and living in log houses, like the Detweiler farm house, or plank houses. While traveling, the Anishinaabe continued to use temporary wigwams and conical teepees, originally developed by Indians of the plains.
Lodge or waganogan
New in 2024 is a 2-person traditional winter home paid for by a grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution. The structure would have been built by those working in the camp (often the women). It is 10 feet square, made of maple saplings tied with basswood cambium strips covered with canvas.
Plank House
Typically these houses were 16 by 20 feet and constructed of found materials. The main floor provided living space and a second floor loft was for sleeping. There was an east-facing front door and several windows. The floor, often dirt, had a fire and a simple chimney or smoke hole in the roof that provided heat for cooking and warmth. Some houses had an open “lean-to” addition.
Medicine Wheel
A permanent, traditional physical metaphor for life’s journey, the Medicine wheel encompasses spiritual teachings, traditional medicines and illustrative stories. Within the wheel are representations of the four directions (East, South, West, North), four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter), four elements (Fire, Mother Earth, Water, Air), four human races (Yellow, Red, Black, White), four kingdoms (mineral, vegetable, animal, human). four medicinal plants (Tobacco, Cedar, Sage, Sweetgrass), four human ages (Birth, Youth, Middle Age, Elder) and four human elements (Mind, Body, Emotion, Spirit). It is a spiritual guide to balance throughout life.