The Mining and Lumber Industries of 19th Century Michigan; Their Impacts on the Anishinaabe People, Untouched Land, and Role in Immigration
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Authors
Main, Grace
Issue Date
2025-04-03
Type
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Description
Michigan is a state of many industries, but in the 1800s on the edge of the Industrial
Revolution, no businesses surpassed that of the lumber and mining industries. The state
as we now know it used to be covered in virgin, old growth forests which have now been
diminished with few and far apart due to the booming lumber industry off the 1880s when
Michigan accounted for ¼ of the nation's lumber production; and the UP mineral region
became the lead producer of both copper and iron ore at this time, with boomtowns and
mines sprouting throughout the area.
While these industries may have been good for Michigan’s long-term economy, it came at
the expense of Indigenous people living near and around these sought after areas. Cases
like the Kawbawgam case with the Jackson Mining Company, the Treaty of LaPointe, and
The Dawes Act of 1887 all took advantage of Anishinaabe populations and their land
without fair compensation.
With that said, my research this semester focuses on learning more about these long-term
repercussions of the mining and lumbering industries on present day Indigenous nations in
Michigan. My goal is to interview tribal members of each of the 12 federally recognized
Indigenous tribes in the state to gain more insight on the part of history that has been told
by the white perspectives, and to read and research more on the effects of these
industries.