This rectangular black ash basket, called a gokpenagen, has a twilled bottom and various narrow weavers dyed red. A sweetgrass rim is bound to the basket using splints, and the handle is made of hickory. This basket was possibly created for tourists and made by an Indigenous person from the Great Lakes area in the early 1940s. It was purchased by the donor in Rockford, Michigan, at a second-hand store.  

Long before Europeans came to Michigan, Grand Rapids was the site of a Native American village. Native American villages along the Grand River would have looked very different from our present city of Grand Rapids. The First People of this Place program will discuss three Native American tribes of the Great Lakes region--Odawa (Ottawa), Ojibwe (Chippewa) and Bode'wadmi (Potawatomi). Together, these peoples form the tribes of the Three Fires and are collectively called the Anishinabek. Students will be introduced to traditional life ways, the respected role of elders, and storytelling. Program activities allow students to learn history firsthand by handling artifacts, participating in traditional children’s games, and listening to Anishinabe stories.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to explain who the first inhabitants of Michigan were and how long humans have inhabited Michigan.
• Students will be able to describe how the clothing, food, shelter, and technology of Michigan’s Native Americans have evolved through time.
• Students will analyze examples of traditional and modern Anishinabe culture present in exhibit areas and in primary sources.

Curriculum Connections:

• Michigan K-12 Social Studies Standards: H1 The World in Temporal Terms Historical Habits of Mind, H2 Living and Working Together in Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago, H3 The History of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region, G2 Places and Regions, G4 Human Systems, G5 Environment and Society, P1 Reading and Communication, P2 Inquiry Research and Analysis
• ELA Common Core Standards for Reading
• NGSS Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations