“Anishnaabek Aki” (Land of the Anishnaabek)
The Anishinaabek have called this area home since time immemorial. These lands provided food, shelter, medicines, and cultural significance for the Anishinaabek for thousands of years.
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.”
“Abi Maa Pii” (At Home Here)
During the 1800s, the various communities of Ottawa/Odawa in Northern Michigan had to make difficult choices in order to stay in their ancestral homelands. Federal Indian removal policies were meant to move them west of the Mississippi River. The growing number of Euro-American settlers wanted their lands. Diseases were devastating all tribal populations. Yet despite these immense obstacles, the Odawa maintained a place at home here. Several Odawa and Chippewa/Ojibway chiefs made the decision to make Grand Traverse Bay their permanent home in the first half of the 1800s. Among them was the band of Waukazoo.
Originally from Waganakising, (Little Traverse Bay) Waukazoo first chose Black Lake, near Holland, Michigan, as his community’s home. When he passed away, his sons, Joseph and Peter, took leadership. Life was hard at Black Lake. Waukazoo’s band suffered great losses from diseases. White settlers began to press for lands. In 1849, Peter Waukazoo and his community decided to return home to the Leelanau Peninsula. On their departure north, they loaded their canoes and boats with their families and goods. In several of these vessels were their ancestors. They reburied their kin immediately upon returning north and establishing their homes. Today, the descendants of Waukazoo’s band and other prominent leaders like Aghosa and Peshaby help make up the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
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Daga Anishinaabemodaa! (Let's Speak Anishinaabemowin!)
Article Series: Odawa Homelands
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 Following the American Revolution, hostility grew between native tribes and white settlers on the western frontier. The U.S. government sent officials and soldiers to try and maintain an awkward peace, but aggressive policies threatened native peoples’ autonomy and independence. Native resistance turned into an alliance with the British.  Immediately the Michigan tribes had to enter into treaty negotiations with the United States in order to stay in their homelands. For the tribes, this meant ceding away millions of acres of ancestral homelands to avoid removal to Kansas and Oklahoma.  Although the conclusion of the War of 1812 brought little change in the life of most American citizens, for American Indians it was disastrous. The loss of influential tribal chiefs and millions of acres of territory left tribal communities weakened and at the mercy of American expansionism.  Boarding Schools left a dark legacy over many tribes in North America. Indian children faced assimilation, abuse, discrimination and ethnocide on a scale never seen. Regardless of the efforts to “civilize” Indian children, the spirit of the tribes would not be broken.
Article Series: Anishinaabek and the War of 1812
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 The years between the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 were not peaceful. Tensions between Native populations and the newly-created Americans kept mounting and several conflicts arose.  The decision for a tribal warrior to strike out on the war path was a decision that rested entirely with the individual. It was an exercise in complete freedom of the warrior. He had no obligation to fight for his tribe, villages or family.  While warriors had complete freedom to make their own decisions about if and how they would engage in a battle, tribal communities had considerable influence in the warrior’s choices.  Within any tribal community, the decision to fight was solely up to the discretion of the individual warrior. No war chief had the ability to make any warrior fight for him or his chosen cause. This was true for the many, different tribes that fought in the War of 1812. Boarding Schools left a dark legacy over many tribes in North America. Indian children faced assimilation, abuse, discrimination and ethnocide on a scale never seen. Regardless of the efforts to “civilize” Indian children, the spirit of the tribes would not be broken.  The impacts the War of 1812 had on tribes were simply devastating. Afterwards, the United States was firmly established as the preeminent power in North America, growing in size and power each passing year. With a military force at its disposal and an expanding need for land, tribal nations knew: accept the terms given by the United States, or face annihilation.  Burial traditions vary from tribe to tribe, but one constant remains among them: caretaking of the dead is something all tribes consider sacred.
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