The Indians of the Western Great Lakes, 1615–1760

Here is the colorful story of the Huron, Miami, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Chippewa tribes in the years before contact with the white man changed their centuries-old way of life. The book is based on the letters and journals of European traders, missionaries, and officials who visited them between 1615 and 1760. They tell how the Indians hunted and fished, trapped, and raised crops. They descibe Indian marriages and births, games, feasts and celebrations, dances, dress, religion, music, and legends. The Indians of the Western Great Lakes is the most complete and authentic study of its kind—a unique contribution to social science as well as a fascinating account of the rich variety of Indian life. Publishers Abstract

This unique and valuable publication is a compilation of ethnographic information summarized from “documents relating to the Indians of Michigan and the Great Lakes region during the contact period’’ examined by the author in the archives of a half dozen Canadian and American cities. “To the manuscript material gathered has been added the published material of the same period.” This period is 1615-1760. The tribal groups represented are the Huron, Miami, Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa. Review by A. Irving Hallowell