Indigenous Movement of People

Indigenous Movement of People. . , 5:1 | Introduction – The Great Lakes Basin , The Great Lakes Basin is the home to the largest body of fresh water on earth. Connected by a capillary of rivers and lakes they form a network of transportation systems. The Windsor region is a focal point of the Great Lakes. The surrounding waters support a vast array of economic, historical, cultural, and natural resources. The panels in this series bring together only a few of the many stories. The stories of the lakes are as interconnect[ed] as the rivers, locks and channels, bringing together the many people who live in its watershed. The region served as the heart and soul for the first population and held great importance then as well as today. The water provided a strong transportation system, people traveled from across the continent on pathways and water routes, travelling for days, months and years on land and on the water. The Great Lakes and its people, the way of life – past and present, are integral to the ecology, climate, culture and economy of North America., 5:2 | The Springwell Mounds , Some of the largest human-made structures on the planet are the earthworks structures located in North America. These earthworks spread across North America. The Great Mound at River Rouge found in Detroit at Fort Wayne constructed during the Late Woodland period, measured about ten feet tall and thirty feet in diameter, and more than 1000 years old. Several burial mounds existed near the north bank of the Rouge River, about one half mile from the shores of the Detroit River. Constructed at a time of the Hopewell civilization, a vast civilization of cities and towns stretched across what is now the American mid-west and further south., 5:3 | The Serpent Mound in Ohio , Many of the early cities and towns are now gone, either looted for the valuable artifacts or ploughed-over for agricultural use. Some remain standing. The Serpent Mound in Ohio is one/quarter of a mile long, in the shape of a serpent, with the head of a serpent pointing to the summer solstice., 5:4 | Cahokia Mounds , Cahokia Mounds were first inhabited about 700 AD until 1150 AD. The Cahokia Mounds are now an Illinois state park along the Mississippi river. By volume, the mounds found at Cahokia are four times the size of the Egyptian pyramids., 5:5 | Nindoodem , Nidoodem, or Clan images, are pictographic representations used for cultural and political purposes. These images graphically describe relationships with the known world as Inawemagan – as relatives. The tradition of inscription predates the arrival of Europeans and provides a wealth of knowledge about important historical agreements. Painted of carved images are found on bark scrolls, rock, shell, bone, painted or carved they symbolize the records of specific locations based on extensive ecological knowledge and kinship. Later found on treaty documents with newly arrived Europeans these elements served as political representations equivalent to signatures on paper documents., 5:6 | Wawiiahtanong , Material culture found in the Olde Sandwich district dates back to 10,000 years. The many thousands of items point to a long period of human habitation. The history of the region, up to the present, was and is a hub of activity and a central gathering place for the first people of the area, Olde Sandwich has several significant cultural sites within Wawiiahtanong, revealing a resilient past and present.