Native Americans

Indians have lived here for thousands of years. These primitive people lived at a survival level using tools made from stone, wood, bone and antlers.. They hunted, fished, gathered food and materials from the wilderness they lived in. Some planted crops. They were intelligent but did not develop a writing system. Their culture was mainly hunting and warfare. It is fascinating to study about them.

As the glaciers melted plants returned and the animals moved further North.  As the animals moved North ancient man who lived by hunting followed.  At that time there was a land bridge between Asia and Alaska.  It is believed that that is how man got to North America.  These "Indians" are referred to by archaeologists as "Paleo-Indian People".  It is believed that they were in Michigan about 12,000 years ago.  They followed the herds of animals which they depended on for food and clothing. Later they were primitive hunters living in a boreal lakeshore environment later with spruce forest cover.  They made stone tools from chert.  They also made tools from bone and antlers.

These people were followed by a "Late-Paleo-Indian Culture".  Who hunted deer, wolf, muskrat, black bear, turtles, birds, bison, and fish.

The Archaic Indian Culture existed in Michigan from 7000 to 2000 BC.  Their culture adapted to life in a deciduous forest, but near lakes and rivers.  They hunted, fished and gathered wild edible plants such as berries and nuts.  They brewed vitamin rich teas from leaves of junipers, hemlock trees and other plants.*  There is some evidence that the climate was changing and they had to adapt. They learned to grind granite stone and polish it into tools with which they could make wooden tools, bowls and dugout canoes.

The Late Archaic Indian culture existed in Michigan approximately from 3000 BC to 2000 BC and had a much more diffuse economy.  They used acorns, pines, beech, walnut, butternuts, hickory, and grapes.  'Their meat was mainly muskrats and fish.  This people had contacts with others that mined copper in the upper peninsula, and they traded with others in what is now Mexico.  What caused their sudden mysterious disappearance is unknown.

The Early Woodland period (1,000 to 300 B.C.) was a period of "firsts." According to the Michigan Historical Library who state “People planted the first gardens, made the first pottery, and built the first burial mounds.”  Their rough pottery was used to cook and prepare food.  So by this time they had mastered the use of fire.

 Around 300 B.C. to A.D. 500, called The Middle Woodland Period Hopewell peoples moved into Michigan from the south.* They built large, complex burial mounds which sometimes contained as many as 20 persons. The mounds were built over tombs in which as many as 20 people might be buried.  Since they did not have shovels they carried dirt to the site in containers and piled it up.  “Oftentimes, people were buried with interesting and unusual objects from far-away places. These objects included such things as copper beads from the shores of Lake Superior, cups made of shell from the Gulf of Mexico and fresh-water pearls from the Mississippi River valley.”*

Over 1000 mounds have been recorded in Michigan.  At least one was in Warren.  There are movies of the exploration of this mound.  Mound Road was named after a big mound, (now destroyed), that was discovered near that road. Many other Indian peoples, other than the mound builders, buried their dead in mounds.  Sometimes they made these mounds in the outline shape of animals.  Some mounds had enclosures in them which were like rooms.  Others were large such one at the one at the mouth of the Clinton which had a circular enclosure that contained three acres.  The Indians believed in an after life and buried with their dead things they thought they would use.  Macomb County had at least 8 Indian villages, 4 burying grounds, 8 circular enclosures, and 1 rectangular enclosure.  There were also at least 28 mounds.  There actually were more mounds but they were already destroyed by pot hunters and farmers.  Even stranger were the mysterious earth work forts and shaped earth designs with 18 inch tall inner and outer designer walls that are called “gardens” which took on geometric patterns.  We still do not know what they were used for.  See books by Hinsdale and Hubbard. The Hopewell used tobacco and carved beautiful stone pipes, often in the shapes of animals.*

The Late Woodland Indians (A.D. 500 to 1,650) were the ones who first had a true agricultural base.  They planted corn, squash, melons, and beans.  They also were gatherers of berries and nuts, rice and other wild edibles and they hunted mainly hunted deer, elk and small mammals.  They also were good fishers sometimes using fish nets.  They tapped sugar maple trees for sap and made maple sugar.

The Indians that the Frenchmen found here were living in the new Stone Age.  That is they had learned to use stone as tools such as hammers, axes and arrowheads.  These Indians were in two large groups The Iroquois, and the Algonquians.  The Warren area was part of the hunting-gathering grounds of the above peoples.  Many times in the past this area was part of a no-man's land between warring groups.  Many innocent people were needlessly slaughtered over the centuries.  Many also died of injuries, disease, lack of food and exposure in winter.  The Indian population of Michigan probably never exceeded 30,000.

 THE INDIANS OF WARREN

As was mentioned above the area of Warren was the hunting grounds-gathering grounds and either no-mans land or battle grounds of many Indian tribes the two most recent and largest groups of which were the Algonquians and the Iroquois.

The Algonquians depended on gathering, fishing, hunting and agriculture.  They lived in wigwams which were shelters made from bent saplings covered with bark or skins.  For the most part they lived further north but our area was part of their range.

The Iroquois were more advanced than the Algonquians.  They lived in long shelters made of young trees stood in two rows bent toward each other tied in the center then covered with bark.  Several families lived in each shelter.  They often built a stockade around their villages for protection.  They gathered, hunted, fished, grew corn, pumpkin and vegetables.

Our area appears to have been mainly inhabited by the Hurons also known as the Wyandottes who were from the 1600s on at war with other Iroquois especially with those to the South.  The Clinton River was originally called the Huron River because of these Indians. 

They had a village where Detroit is now.  The name Huron comes from the French word for boar "hure" as the Hurons kept their black hair short and bristly like a boar's hair.  They hunted deer, bear, muskrats, beaver, birds and fish. When the French arrived in the early seventeenth century, the Huron

were at the height of their power. The Huron population varies, but as many as thirty thousand people lived in

about twenty-five villages. Michigan History magazine stated “The Huron were sedentary, living in large villages with a high degree of community Raids from the Iroquoian tribes in New York destroyed the Huron. Survivors were adopted into other tribes or became refugees.”

 Indian Life

Indians lived in families.  Most of their daily activities centered on getting food clothing and shelter.  The men hunted and or farmed and the woman and children prepared the food and did most of the other tasks.  In Michigan hunting gathering and fishing provided them more food than farming.

Marriage was for survival not love at ages 12-15 for the girls and 15-20 for the men.  The relatives chose the partners.  The boy’s family usually gave presents to the bride’s family.  The young couple then moved in with relatives.  This was called extended family. Everyone shared the daily work and raising of children.  If the woman died her family would probably be expected to give her husband another unmarried daughter to replace her.  Most Indian families were small because many babies died young.  Indian children did not go to school they helped with the work thereby learning how things were done.  To be recognized as a man the teenage boy usually had to prove that he could live along in the wilderness.  Family groups were often larger than the extended familiar.  Families with a common ancestor were part of a clan.  Members of the clan helped each other.  When an Indian was, hungry s/he just went to the local wilderness for food.  A pointed stick would spear fish and the bow provided venison.  The wilderness provided many wild plants for food some of which were really good to eat such as wild berries and nuts Maple sap was sweet and could be used to make maple sugar.  Tea was made from sassafras and wintergreen.  The oak tree provided acorns from which flour was made.  Meat was preserved by drying it.  Trail snacks were made from dried foods such as pemmican which consisted of dried meats grease and berries.  Most North American animals are edible so if a deer wasn’t found there were rabbits, squirrels possums raccoon, beaver etc.  The main crops were corn, beans and squash.  Wild rice grows here also.

Clothing consisted of all natural materials such as animal skins which had been tanned.  For men deerskin shirts leggings and breechcloths were most common and for woman simple aprons or skirts.  Bird feathers were often used for decoration.  The beads and wampum came mostly from trading. Wampum consists of beads of polished shells strung in strands, belts, or sashes and used Indians as money, ceremonial pledges, and ornaments.

Shelters consisted of branches covered with barks skins and leaves.  The Iroquois had large rectangular dwellings called long houses which several families shared.  Their tools consisted of shaped stones, clubs, spears, bows, arrows, hooks, traps nets, chemicals and hand tools of bone or shell.  Often the villages had tall stake fences around them called palisades for protection against enemies.

Wars occurred frequently.  Many tribes opposed fighting and others were so poor that they had to spend all of their time searching for food.  Settlers kept taking their land.

In the late 1500’s five tribes the Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Seneca formed the Iroquois nation under Chief Hiawatha.  Indians believed in spirits.  Complicated ceremonies were common.  They also wore ugly masks during disease curing rituals.

Why did the Indians do dances and wear ugly masks?

What Indian tribes lived in South East Michigan?

Bloody Invasions

The Hurons told many tales of invasions by tribes from the North such as the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawatomies.  Many of them were slaughtered by the other Iroquois during the cruel Indian wars from 1600-1820.  The French set the Algonquians and Hurons against the English and Iroquois.  The English set the Iroquois against the French, Americans and Hurons.  The Dutch furnished muskets and the English furnished scalping knives, guns and bought scalps.  Thousands of innocent settlers were killed as well as neutral Indians.  Some of those killed may well have been some of the first settlers in this area.  The area of Warren was covered with thick forest of Oak, Beech, Maple, Black Walnut, Pine and other trees.  Bear Creek and Red Run had pure water then.  However it may have been named Red Run because occasions of the blood in the water resulting from children and families who lived on the banks of this creek being needlessly butchered by killers.  This happened because there was no “Rule of Law”, rather it was rule of brute force.

Explorers found that Warren and Center Line were covered with thick forests and damp areas.  Parts of the year they were damp and other times they were dry.

If all of the above time was on a regular clock face, the last fraction of the last second would be when mankind appeared in Michigan several thousand years ago.  I rediscovered a mound that was built by them while working on hiking merit badge as a scout.  American Indians spoke hundreds of different languages. There were countless tribes over time, most of which are unknown.. This area was a hunting ground and home for thousands of years, long before our direct ancestors came over on boats from Europe.  The Indians did not have written laws.  Tribes had traditions they sometimes followed but varied from them at the whim of the ruling chief or warrior.  Most of the time they were kind.  Some prepared for war.  Some practiced war.  They had to in order to survive against other war-like people.  They practiced slavery and extreme cruelty at times including torture.  On the other hand they often lived in harmony with others and with nature.  The Indians have interesting traditions.  They got to know nature by living in it and using it.  They got to know the local plants and what they were good for.  Some like cattails were good for many things such as food, mats, baskets, bedding, baby diapers, and fire starters.  These peoples did not write or read.  They kept their history as oral traditions in the form of stories told at campfires.  Their dances tell stories and are a wonder to behold.

If you go back several hundred years you will see that most of our ancestors also were in tribes and lived like the Indians did.  There are interesting books about their way of life in the Library. You can still visit a real Indian pow-wow, see their dances and talk to real Indians. For more information the Indians have an office in Center Line

For more info contact South Eastern Michigan Indians 26641 Lawrence Street Centerline, Michigan 48015 Phone: (810) 756-1350 E-mail: semii@mail.com  POW WOWS are held almost year round.

 What did we learn from the Indians?

First we learned from them where things were like the lakes, streams and other resources.  Then we learned the use of corn, potatoes, tobacco, squash, beans, pumpkins, melons, maple sap, maple sugar, tobacco and uses for many other native plants.  We learned how to make birch bark canoes, shelters, hunting and fishing techniques and that people can live off of the land without modern conveniences.  We learned that primitive man can be very intelligent very kind or very cruel.  They could also do things we couldn’t like make fires by twirling a stick and going for days on next to no food.

What did the Indians learn from the White Man.

They learned that the white man would take over their land by moving in, making treaties with promises then breaking those promises.  The Indians were promised lands by sacred treaty then the white man would come in with armies and modern weapons and kill or remove the Indians from the land that was already by law given to the Indians.  In other words the Indians learned that the white man did not keep his word and was just out after the Indians land.  Finally the Indians learned that no matter what they did the white man was going to take over their land.  Indian culture was totally destroyed.  And Europeans brought diseases such as measles, smallpox and tuberculosis the Indians had no resistance at all to, So thousands of them died.

To the early pioneers the Indians could be friend or foe.  Some Indians such as the Delawares were Christians and were very friendly and kind.  Others like the roving bands of paid scalpers hired by the English would butcher an entire family just for the scalps.  There was much needless violence practiced by the English, French, American settlers and Indians.  We must learn that there are better ways to settle disputes than brute force.