Indian Names in Michigan

By Virgil Vogel

Subjects: Michigan and the Great Lakes, Race and Ethnicity, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Cultural Studies
Open Access : 9780472905539, 244 pages, 8 B&W photographs & 3 maps, 6 x 9, July 2025
Paperback : 9780472063659, 244 pages, 8 B&W photographs & 3 maps, 6 x 9, February 1986

This open-access version is made available with the support of Big Ten Academic Alliance member libraries.
See expanded detail +
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12506
Request Desk or Examination Copy | Request Media Review Copy
Recommend to Your Library | Request Accessible Copy
Look Inside

Vogel traces the origin of hundreds of Indian place names

Look Inside

Contents
  Chapter I     Michigan: The Name          1 II     Tribal Names          6 III     Ojibwa Personal Names          27 IV     Ottawa Personal Names          41 V     Potawatomi Personal Names          51 VI     Other Personal Names          63 VII     Names from Literature and Legend          67 VIII     Artificial "Indian" Names          81 IX     Rank, Gender, and Ethnic Names          87 X     Material Culture Names          91 XI     The Spirit World          100 XII     Names from Fauna          104 XIII     Names from Flora          114 XIV     Rivers, Streams, and Lakes          122 XV     Topography and Geology          134 XVI     Descriptive Names          145 XVII     Commemorative Names          152 XVIII     Names Borrowed from Other States          155 XIX     Indian Names from Outside the United States          170 XX     French-Indian Names          176 XXI     Potpourri          183 XXII     Michigan Indians Today          188 Bibliography          193 Index          213 Illustrations          following page 126

Description

Indian Names in Michigan traces the origin of hundreds of place-names given to counties, towns, lakes, rivers, and topographical features of the Great Lakes State. These melodic names that enrich our appreciation for the romantic past of our state record the culture and history of both the American Indian and the white settler. Most of the Indian names borne by Michigan's cities, counties, lakes, and rivers are those of Indian tribes and individuals. Settlers named places not only fro the resident tribes, but also for tribes in the West that they had never seen. Indian Names in Michigan is written for all local history enthusiasts and anyone interested in Indian history and culture

Virgil J. Vogel received his doctorate degree in history from the University of Chicago. For over twenty-five years he studied and wrote about Native American history. In addition to three books, he wrote over seventy articles on Indian history, culture, and medicine.

© 2026, Regents of the University of MichiganBuilt with the U-M Library Design SystemLibrary Privacy StatementThis site is ReaderBound