10 Amazing Stories of Great Lakes Native American History and Lore

The many Indian trails of Michigan outline the highways and roads we use every day. Chances are you were on a trail 1000's of years old today.

The routes that the native Michigan tribes made and utilized for thousands of years cover the same ground that the Michigan Department of Transportation has paved and we are using today as we cross the state to visit friends in Chicago, visit the wineries in Traverse City or watch the Thanksgiving parade in downtown Detroit.

Michigan Indian Chief Standing Oak ruled the tribe of Chippewa, living near Kilmanagh between the Sebewaing river and Shebeon creek.

Michigan’s Thumb was recognized as a rich hunting and fishing grounds hundreds of years before Europeans explored and settled in Michigan. As a result, the Thumb was a strategic area that was to be held for the resources and a control point for access to the upper Great Lakes. Michigan Indian Tribes fought and held the area from the Tittabawassee River down to the Detroit straights with the area changing hands many times over history.

A photo journey of the famous Saginaw Trail. Starting in Detroit and winding its way up Woodward Avenue and Dixie Highway through Flint and Saginaw Michigan.

The Michigan Indian Trails of the Upper Thumb was part of the region's first superhighway along Lake Huron, used for commerce and trade.

If you live or are in Michigan’s Upper Thumb long enough you will encounter unimproved roads and trails. One such system of Michigan Indian Trails was well known and established by Native Americans for over 1000 years.

The Saginaw Trail is the oldest and most traveled route in the Indian trail system in Michigan. Starting from the Straits of Detroit to Saginaw.

Of all the named Indian trails in Michigan, the Saginaw Trail is the oldest and indeed the most traveled in the trail system. Originating from the Straits of Detroit, this Sauk trail heads north-west through Pontiac, Flint, and supposedly terminating in Saginaw. Saginaw was a significant native population and cultural center in Michigan, with over 109 Chippewa Indian villages recorded.

American Indians have lived in Southeast Michigan for thousands of years. Their villages, hunting camps, and trail systems are all around us. It is just a matter of trying to locate them. In this video, the Historical Research Group starts the project, Part 1, to search for the Indian Trails that crossed Redford Township, Michigan. Burhan Husain narrates this initial video on the subject.

The native American Indian Trails in Michigan were part of the Great Trail network, a trade route that extended hundreds of miles to the eastern seaboard. Amazingly, many of Michigan's major Indian trails were not made by the natives but ranging bison herds.

The major trails in lower Michigan tended to link Indian settlements near Mackinac, Detroit, Saginaw and St. Joseph. These were primarily used as trade and seasonal migration routes. This triangle of trails was augmented by the water trails that were heavily used across the Great Lakes region.

The Great Sauk Trail is a major Native American route that ran between Detroit, Chicago and terminated at Rock Island on the Mississippi river. Originally created by migrating bison, the trail was only about a foot wide but also a foot deep as eons of travelers walked along with it single file. It was used over a thousand years. Starting near Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Marshall, Battle Creek, and finishing out of Michigan by way of Coldwater, Sturgis, and White Pigeon.

The St Joseph Indian Trail was an ancient route that traversed the southern portion of Michigan. Originating at the mouth of the St Joseph River. It continued eastward terminating near Ann Arbor and connecting with the other major trail systems along the Straights of Detroit.

Shore Indian Trail was a critical link for Detroit in 1700's struggle between the French and the British, vital in the War of 1812, and Michigan's 1st road. The trail begins from the rapids of the Maumee River to Toledo, then closely along the shore through Monroe and Brownstown to Detroit. From Detroit, it continues northward along the Detroit and St. Claire Rivers, past Fort. Joseph, (Fort Gratiot), and into the Thumb. There is some debate if it continued to the spiritually significant location of White Rock and further north to Pointe Aux Barques.