Celebrating 250 Years of American Art along the Tunnel of Trees
As the founders were signing the Declaration of Independence and forming the Constitution in Philadelphia in the 1770s and 80s, the land surrounding what we now call the Tunnel of Trees was home to the Odawa band of Anishnaabek people. Now, this group is officially recognized as the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. (King)
The Odawa called this region Waganakising, which translates to “Land of the Crooked Tree,” so-called for the large bent tree once used as a landmark. Historical Waganakising followed Lake Michigan’s coastline and inland for some miles, from modern-day Harbor Springs to Wilderness State Park. The location of the original tree has been lost, but tradition places it at Middle Village, near the Saint Ignatius Catholic Church and King House, at modern-day Good Hart’s southern end. (Cardinal) By 1742, Middle Village replaced Mackinaw as the population center for the Odawa. That same decade saw the first Jesuit priests’ missions to Waganakising. (King)
The name “Odawa” is believed to be derived from an Anishinaabe word that means “to trade.” (Beck). Around the turn of the 18th century, the Odawa held a trade monopoly in the region, first exchanging between tribes, then primarily trading furs to French settlers in exchange for European-made goods. (Brebner). Because of this position of cultural exchange, many Odawa words for other tribes and places took hold in the vocabularies of French and British explorers.
Birchbark and Quillwork
In lieu of clay for pottery, northern Michigan tribes made boxes and vessels from panels of birchbark, sewn together with thread from processed tree roots. These wiigwaasi-makakoon were near water-tight, and were used to store soluble foods (like maple sugar) and important birch-bark documents, or could be used as cooking vessels hung above a cook fire (though this practice faded away with the arrival of European-made metal cookware). (Densmore).
Like many tribes whose territories overlapped the natural habitat of porcupines, the Odawa practiced a form of art called quillwork. The process involves flattening quills of porcupines, dyed or left natural, and stitching them onto a makakoon, originally as a means to label its contents. With four distinct styles—crossed quill, open-faced, spider web, and solid quill—the art became more decorative than functional, often with cultural and religious significance. (Cardinal)
The Odawa traded quills to Plains Indians like the Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Lakota, and Arapaho, who used quillwork prominently to adorn coats, moccasins, belts, bags, cradles, and in hair pieces called hair drops. (Cole, Hansen)
As trade with Europeans grew throughout the 1700s and 1800s, quilled birchbark boxes became a vital source of income for the Odawa people of northern Michigan, and remains a popular form of art. As quillwork master Yvonne Walker Keshick noted, this craft helped sustain families for generations (Keshick). During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration established the Michigan Indian Handicraft Project, which encouraged quillwork production in the region from its headquarters in Cross Village.(King). In 1981, Agnes Mann Shenanaquet received a prestigious Smithsonian Institution rating for her exquisite quillwork, cementing its place in Native American artistic heritage. (Cardinal)
Struggles and Change: The Shifting Landscape
Although the Treaty of 1783 granted Michigan to the United States, Odawa land rights were recognized by law. However, through treaties, negotiations, and unfair taxation, much of their territory was taken. By the early 19th century, the Odawa sought ways to protect their life in northern Michigan, sending leaders to Washington, D.C. in 1836, to cede 16 million acres of land in exchange for rights to hunt, fish, retain reservations, and ease transition into American society. A permanent home at Waganakising was agreed to at the Treaty of Detroit in 1855. Despite their efforts, nearly 90% of their land was lost to non-Native settlers.
During this period, the Odawa established a European-style settlement in Harbor Springs, including a Jesuit school led by Roman Catholic missionaries. Meanwhile, American settlers from the East and South began moving into the area, transforming the landscape. (King)
A Poet Among the Trees
Among the early settlers was Ivan Swift, a poet and painter who fell in love with the Tunnel of Trees. His first poems were written in Good Hart around 1904. In 1915, he founded an artist colony known as “Chippewa Cove Woods” near Good Hart, modeling the venture after the Roycroft community in Western New York state. Swift captured the region’s beauty through words and paintings, reflecting his deep admiration for this scenic route. In the poem “The Trail Road,” Swift wrote,
But half the good of my road
Is more than half we see
And Indians and old men
And ghosts of men agree
The road that leads the trail way
Is something to remind
And they who travel straight roads
Will leave their roads behind
Swift published and bound his books on his press in Harbor Springs. Swift’s brother gives his name to the Little Traverse Conservancy’s Thorn Swift Nature Preserve.
Modern Day Tunnel of Trees
State Scenic Byway M-119 follows the coastline of Waganakising from Harbor Springs to Cross Village. The region is home to numerous artists, studios, and galleries, and its natural grandeur continues to inspire. Institutions like the Harbor Springs Historical Museum, the King House, and the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the region.
Since 2013, the Good Hart Artist Residency has played an active role in promoting art in the Land of the Crooked Tree, inviting visual artists, composers, and writers from around the world to reside in Good Hart for up to 3 weeks, being nurtured by the land and water, while giving back to the community through workshops, lectures, and performances.
In September 2025, Writer-in-Residence Rebecca Nagle utilized her time in Good Hart to begin work on her next podcast, which intends to highlight the role Native Americans played in the early days of the republic and in the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
References
Bagnall, K. (2024, July 31). Ivan Swift and the Mackinackers. Harbor Springs Historical Society Youtube . https://youtu.be/8EVkFw7F_sc?si=3MJbgIPE8IgbKCTv
Beck, David (2002). Siege and Survival: History of the Menominee Indians, 1634–1856, p. 27. University of Nebraska Press.
Brebner, John Bartlet (1966). The Explorers of North America: 1492–1806. Cleveland, Ohio: The World Publishing Company.
Cardinal, J., & Cobb, C. (2012). The Place Where the Crooked Tree Stood: A history of L’Arbre Croche. The Crooked Tree Book Company, LLC.
Catholic Communities of L’Arbor Croche. (2025). “St. Ignatius.” https://www.cclcparishes.org/st-ignatius-church.html
Cole, Christina; Herald, Susan (2010). “The History and Analysis of Pre-Aniline Native American Quillwork Dyes”. Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings
Densmore, Frances (1928). Strength of the Earth: The Classic Guide to Ojibwe Uses of Native Plants. Minnesota Historical Society.
Hansen, Emma I. Memory and Vision: Arts, Cultures, and Lives of Plains Indian People. Cody, WY: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 2007.
Hemenway, E. (2021). From Waganakising L’Arbre Croche. In Around Lake Michigan: American Indians 1820-1850 (pp. 16–27). Michigan State University Press.
Keshick, Y. W. (2021). A Word from . In Around Lake Michigan: American Indians 1820-1850 (pp. 29–33). Michigan State University Press.
King House Association (2024). “In the Land of the Crooked Tree: A timeline for the history of Middle Village.” https://www.kinghouseassociation.org/timeline
Swift, Ivan. (1906). Fagots of Cedar (p.21). The Lofts Chippewa Cove Woods, Good Hart, MI.