This document provides an overview of Michigan's geography, early history, and native peoples. It notes that Michigan is located in the Midwest region known as the East North Central area within the Great Lakes region. The document then discusses Michigan's early inhabitants, including Paleo-Indians who migrated over 12,000 years ago, and subsequent Archaic and Woodland period native cultures like the Mound Builders who constructed ceremonial burial mounds between 300 BC to 500 AD and traded with other groups.
5. What Region is Michigan Located In?
• Midwest
• Mideast
• East North Central – according to Dept. of
Commerce
• Great Lakes – Many college regional's are called the
Great Lakes Region
• Eastern – As in the Detroit Pistons Conference and
the Eastern Time Zone
• Central – As in the Detroit Lions Conference
• Mid-American – as in the Mid-American
Conference (MAC)
6. Today’s Plan
• Jumpstart Assignment
– What does this picture tell you about Michigan’s first
people? (Write your answer in
your notebook)
• Notes: Michigan’s Early
People
• Assignment: The Early
Residents
7. Michigan – What’s with the name?
• Comes from two native Algonquian words:
–Michi – meaning “great or big”
–Gama – meaning “lake”
• The term first came into use by the French in
1681 in reference to Lac de Michigami or (Lake
Michigan)
• Michigania was actually first the proposed
name for a territory in present day northern
Wisconsin and the southwest Upper Peninsula.
8. Native Peoples of Michigan
• The First Natives of Michigan were known as
Paleo-Indians who are believed to have
migrated from Russia
in 12000 B.C.
9. Historical Periods
• Archaic Period – 8000 B.C. – 1000 B.C. - glaciers
recede to the north giving rise to hardwood
forests in the south
• Woodland Period – 1000 B.C. – A.D. 1650 –
Agriculture begins to flourish
10. The Mound Builders
300 B.C. – A.D. 500
• Built conical mounds for
ceremonies and funerals.
• Traded with natives from the west.
Archaeologists know they traded because of the
artifacts left behind were similar to those in
other parts of Michigan and the Rocky
Mountains.
