The area of the Waganakising encompasses Middle Village or Ahpitahwaing (in the middle or halfway place). Waganakising has been home to the Odawa for centuries and continues to be a home for the tribe to the present day. To remain here, to stay home, the Odawa had to navigate very turbulent waters.

In the 1800s, the United States Government aimed to eliminate native resistance to white settlement. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 is the most infamously brutal policy of those years. Over one hundred thousand natives were forced off their lands and moved to “Indian Country” in Oklahoma and Kansas. Natives were also forced to adopt “civilized” practices.

The Odawa successfully resisted relocation. The Odawa defended their 1836 treaty rights, purchased land, and accepted “civilized” practices. The Odawa knew that if they could remain in Waganakising, they could provide for their families.

As “civilization” policies permeated every aspect of Odawa life, altering their government, hunting, farming, spirituality, and family structures, the Odawa fought to retain their identity and way of life. Wig-wams gave way to cabins, buckskin leggings to trousers, and English became a common language. By 1850, hundreds of Odawa had left northern Michigan on their own. Many moved to Canada, out of fear of removal west. But the majority of Odawa stayed in Waganakising, fishing, growing food, and caring for their families. The land provided and the ancestors were part of the community.