Wayside: "Anishnaabek Aki" - Land of the Anishnaabek

"Anishnaabek Aki" - Land of the Anishnaabek wayside sign on North Manitou Island

Quick Facts

Location:

45° 7' 20.26" N, 85° 58' 40.758" W

Amenities

1 listed

Audio Description

Main Exhibit Text

The Anishinaabek have called North and South Manitou Islands home since time immemorial. These islands have provided food, shelter, medicines, and cultural significance for the Anishinaabek for thousands of years. The islands are just as much home as the villages on the mainlands. In the 1600s, the relationship the Anishinaabek had with their homelands drastically changed with the arrival of Europeans to the Great Lakes. Diseases, wars, and the efforts to remove the Anishinaabek from Michigan continued for centuries. Despite this, the Anishinaabek fought to remain. One decisive event is the Treaty of Washington, 1836. Leaders from Grand Traverse, along with five other Ottawa/Odawa and Chippewa/Ojibway tribes from Northern Michigan, signed this pivotal agreement to avoid removal west and to retain rights to hunt, fish, and gather. These rights are still being exercised by the Odawa and Ojibway, as well as the tribes still living in their “Anishinaabek Aki.”

Background Image Description

The background of this exhibit is an illustrated map of upper Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and the islands along the trade route. The illustration is done in a watercolor style. The land is light brown, and the water is a blue that gets darker towards the shore. In the middle of the illustration are two canoes of Anishinaabek and their trading goods.

The map highlights the Anishinaakek trade route as well as important locations. On the left side is Lake Michigan with Manitou Minnisak (South Manitou Island), Manitou Minnisak (North Manitou Island), Sleeping Bear Dunes, Leelanau Peninsula, Peshawbestown, Waukazooville, Waagosh Minnisak (North and South Fox Island), Nisiwabigong (High Island), Ktigaan Minimizing (Garden Island), Gookoosh Minnis (Hog Island), Amikgogenda (Beaver Island), Zhingwak Ziibing (Charlevoix), Weqwetonsing (Harbor Springs), Aptaiwaing (Good Hart), Ahnumawatikomeg (Cross Village), and Mukwa Ziibing (Petoskey). On the right side is Lake Huron with Michilmackinong (Mackinac Island), Wigobiishminnis (Bois Blanc Island), Bootootgani Minnis (Drummong Island), and Island of the Great Spirit (Manitoulin Island).