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The modern Indian tribes of the western Great Lakes region have the largest remaining population of all tribes in the Woodlands area.

Despite changes wrought by contact with Euro-American cultures and societies, Native people in the Great Lakes region have maintained a strong sense of communal life and family organization, and have persevered in many traditional ways of life while simultaneously accommodating themselves to American society and its economy.

The Ojibwe are an Algonkian-speaking tribe and constitute the largest Indian group north of Mexico.

The Ojibwe stretch from present-day Ontario in eastern Canada all the way into Montana. Oral traditions of the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi assert that at one time all three tribes were one people who lived at the Straits of Mackinac. From there, they split off into three different groups. Linguistic, archaeological, and historical evidence suggests that the three tribes do indeed descend from a common ethnic origin.

Some of the Milwaukee Public Museum's great collections are available online.

American Indian Cradles and Cradleboards - The Museum’s collection of cradles, cradleboards, and associated accoutrements includes nearly 200 items.

Barron, Matt

"Lots of action in Wha Ti," Sports Check, News/North, April 28, 2003.

Dogrib Birchbark Canoe – A Heritage Project

Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School in association with the Dogrib Community Services Board, 1997. Published in conjunction with the "Dogrib Birchbark Canoe" project.

Dogrib Community Services Board

Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School Student Registration Guide. n.d. ca.

Great Lakes Indian people depended on the food secured by hunting and trapping, and these foods formed a considerable part of their diet.

Deer and moose were hunted as well as several kinds of fox -- red, the black, and silver gray. Timber wolves, a large prairie wolf, and a smaller prairie wolf that was not considered very good eating were also hunted. The bear was not killed without a special ceremony and apology, for this animal was greatly revered.

Plains ledger art was adopted as a means of historical representation for the Indian peoples of the Great Plains during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Although the Plains Indians had no written language in which to record their history, they did have a long tradition of preserving oral histories pictorially. For centuries, Plains Indian men kept historical records of their tribes, first with petroglyphs and pictographs on rock walls, and then painted on buffalo hides.

The Potawatomi are an Algonkian-speaking tribe which has lived in the Great Lakes region for at least four centuries.

Oral traditions of the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Ottawa assert that at one time all three tribes were one people who lived at the Straits of Mackinac. From there, they split off into three separate groups, and the Potawatomi were "Keepers of the Sacred Fire." As such, they were the leading tribe of the alliance the three Indian nations formed after separating from one another.

Origin Story

In the beginning, Earthmaker sat in space and there was nothing around him. He became conscious and realized there was nothing there. He wondered what he should do, and he began to cry. Tears flowed from his eyes and fell down below him. He looked down and saw something bright: it was his tears which had fallen and formed the oceans, lakes, and streams. Earthmaker thought some more. He realized that if he thought of something, it would simply appear. He thought of light and it became light.