Encampment at Pequodenonge

Encampment at Pequodenonge. . , For centuries, Native Americans came to the Straits of Mackinac every summer to fish, trade with one another, and hold inter-tribal councils. They called this place Pe-quod-e-monge, or the headlands. The local Anishnaabek, from the Odawa and Ojibwa tribes, were joined by members of the Pottawatomi, Menominee, Ho-Chunk, and other tribes from around the western Great Lakes. After 1715, these summer visits also included interactions with European priests, soldiers, and traders. By the 1770s, Native people visited Michilimackinac to renew friendships, sell furs and corn, purchase supplies, and conduct councils with British authorities. Today, descendants of these early Native inhabitants remain throughout the Straits of Mackinac region., The encampment around you represents the summer home of a small Anishnaabek band visiting Michilimackinac in the 1770s. Summer camps typically included conical lodges called nasaaogans, a frame of wood poles covered with bark or reed mats. The Anishnaabek maintained several lodge frames at their spring, summer, and winter camps, simply removing the bark or reed coverings when they switched campsites.