| Garden Island (michigan) |
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HISTORY Garden Island's maximum length, from northwest to southeast, is approximately five miles (8 km). Historically, it was inhabited by Native Americans. A high proportion of the Ottawa and Ojibwa of the Beaver Island archipelago had concentrated themselves on Garden Island by 1847, where they could support themselves as Fishermen and escape interference from the encroaching white Americans. The Natives also planted Corn and Squash on the ''Garden Island''. This Native settlement shrank during the early 1900s as most of its members moved away. The last Garden Island resident, Peter Monatou, died in the 1940s. Most of the Old-growth timber on Garden Island was cut and sawn by a short-lived Sawmill that operated on the island in 1912-1913. A small town, now a true ghost town, was built near the mill and named ''Success, Michigan''. TERRAIN Garden Island is surrounded by relatively cool, shallow water, making the area ideal for sport and commercial Fishing . The island itself is relatively low and spotted with many Pond s and Wetland s. RELIGION Garden Island is a place of great spiritual significance to many Native Americans of the Great Lakes , especially but not limited to the Ottawa and the Ojibwe. Although the island is currently uninhabited, a Native cemetery on the island continues in active use and contains more than 3,500 burials, most of them unmarked. The island is well known as a place to gather some of the herbs and wetland plants used in the Native medicine and spiritual ceremonies of the Great Lakes. |
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