Borders and Boundaries
The Great Lakes and Michigan’s waterways have been politically contested since European expansion into the Midwest. Unlike the Europeans, Indigenous peoples charted their environments through movement and residence. Native territories brushed up against each other, creating areas of shared and contested domination. The region itself functioned as a multi-imperial zone of encounter, but perhaps, more importantly, the way that Tribal communities negotiated the space represented a landscape negotiated by movement rather than hard boundaries. Julianna Barr reminds us that Euro-American maps of the region virtually erased all native geography and replaced such boundaries with "wilderness."
The Great Lakes region or borderlands was home to hundred of thousands of Aboriginal Nations living both in direct proximity to the lakes, their watersheds, or rivers or those who regularly used the region. This region has individually and collectively been divided and claimed by European powers since the 1600s. Cartographer F. L. Guffefeld's map details many of the Tribal communties living around the Great Lakes at the time. Europeans creating the maps sought to legitimize their own territorial claims and disenfranchise those who already occupied the land. In the early period of contact, it was Europeans and Euro-Americans operating from outposts and footholds. Early descriptions of the areas specify these regions as hubs of culture and trade rather than delineated boundaries. If boundaries were discussed at all, they tended to reference Tribal nations rather than imperial rivalries. French descriptions of the Straits of Mackinac, Sault Ste. Marie and Detroit focus less on the boundaries and more on hubs of culture within spaces of shared residence. Because of the abundant fish, the Ojibwa and the Ottawa had long congregated at this site in the summer for fishing and for religious and social ceremonies.
Early in the 1600s, the French recognized the advantages of Sault Ste. Marie, in particular, as a trade center, and so did the English who followed the French in exploiting the place as a prime spot to conduct the fur trade. Father Allouez’ Journey to Superior illustrated the lack of political boundaries. The lake [Superior] was “the resort of twelve or fifteen distinct nations—coming, some from the north, others from the south, still others from the west; and they all betake themselves either to the best parts of the shore for fishing, or to the islands, which are scattered in great numbers all over the lake. These peoples' motive in repairing hither is partly to obtain food by fishing, and partly to transact their petty trading with one another, when they meet” (105). Jesuit Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix wrote extensively about the Great Lakes region. The settlement at Sault Ste. Marie fascinated him since the inhabitants were called “Saulters.” He made no mention of rivalries, only that the important strait between Lake Huron and Superior had inhabitants who used the water extensively for travel and trade. The trading post at Michilimackinac served more as a hub than a boundary between peoples. Situated between three great lakes (Huron, Michigan, and Superior by portage), the positioning of the French post serviced many different people. Writing about Michilimackinac, Charlevoix commented that Tribal communities revered the island and that there was no place in the world with better fishing. Governor Antoine La Monthe Cadillac remarked that the position of Michilimackinac had a distinct advantage because “all tribes from the south are obliged to pass” when participating in trade and that “[n]one of them can pass without being observed” as the island represented the “centre of the whole of this farther colony” (4-5).
Louis Armand de Lom d'Arce baron de Lahontan described Michilimackinac as “certainly a place of great importance” since the “Iroquese dare not venture with their sorry Canows, to cross the Streight of the Illinese (Michigan) Lake; besides that the Lake of the Hurons is too rought for such slender Boats" (145-9). Perhaps more importantly, he described the Sault Ste. Marie as a “great Thoroughfare for the Courers de Bois that trade with the Northern People, who usually repair to the brinks of that Lake in the Summer” rather than a boundary between nations (152-3). Peter Pond and Alexander Henry made similar assertions about the post. Peter Pond was a fur trader who intermingled with both Europeans and Tribal communities. He commented that rather than seeing a political site, traders treated the garrison as a meeting point in which they “asembled yearley to arang thare afairs for the Insewing Winter” (28). Another fur trader, Alexander Henry, remarked that, “Michilimackinac is the place of deposit, and point of departure, between the upper countries and the lower” but nothing of a boundary between the Indigenous nations nor the French (41).
John Long described the northern lake region in terms of natural barriers. In his Voyages and Travels, Long described Michilimackinac's position on the straits as the most material barrier. He commented that: "The strait is about three leagues long, and one broad, and half a league distant from the mouth of the Illinois. This is perhaps the most material of all the barriers, and of the greatest importance to the commercial interest of this country, as it intercepts all the trade of the Indians of the upper country from Hudson Bay to Lake Superior, and affords protection to various tribes of savages, who constantly resort to it to receive presents from the commanding officer, and from whence traders who go to the Northwest, take their departure for the Grand Portage, or grand carrying place, which is nine miles in length, before they enter on the waters communicating with the Northwest" (22-23). Rather than a boundary between nations, the Straits themselves provided a watery barrier where communication between took place for trade.
Detroit was described in a similar fashion to Michilimackinac. Founded in 1701 by Antoine La Monthe Cadillac, the settlement on the river had been a subject of great import and discussion. Charlevoix also made pointed comments about the trading post at Detroit: “Before arriving at the fort (Detroit), which is on the left side, a league below Belle Isle one finds on the same side two rather large villages that are very close to each other. The first is inhabited by some Tionontati Hurons, the same who after having wandered place to place for a long time first settled at Sault Sainte Marie and then at Michilimackinac. The second is inhabited by some Potawatomis. On the right, a little farther up, there is a third, of the Ottowas, inseparable companions of the Hurons since the Iroquois forced them both to abandon their land...For a long time, the location—even more than the beauty—of Detroit has made it wished that a large settlement be made there.” He also commented that only those opposed to its construction focused on imperial rivalry and the proximity of the English trading company (5). While Charlevoix skirted around imperial rivalry, Cadillac did not. He knew that a new post had to be built between Lake Erie and Huron to stop the English expansion into the Great Lakes region. The Detroit River was the best place because it was the natural passageway for lake country trade.
Bellin, Carte des lacs du Canada (1744)
The contemporary impact of the international border on communities, border control, and local residents who pursue interests and define themselves against these notions is best understood as a borderland. There are significant differences in the nature and extent of the border from the 17th century through to the present. Local residents often treat it as an artificial construct because for centuries it operated as a zone of interaction rather than separation. Consequently, the Great Lakes Basin serves as an important reminder about the constraints and complexities of imposing boundaries on water.
