As long as 10,000 years ago, Natives from the Ojibwe, the Odawa (Ottawa) and Potawatomi nations were directed by a vision of
The Sacred Megis Shell, to move from the Atlantic region, beside the St. Lawrence Valley, to the Great Lakes region. They were directed in visions to migrate towards abundance; to a final destination identifiable in that it was where "food grows on water". The natives of
the Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe, became the dominant nation of the area around Lake Superior. Although they were a semi-nomadic people, usually living in small bands, they followed seasonal paths to traditional hunting, fishing and gathering grounds. Lake Superior, or Gitchi Gummi (big water), and the surrounding land were bountiful sources of food. Lake Superior's waters yielded
lake trout,
whitefish and sturgeon. The greatest gathering place for the natives each year was
the rapids at the mouth of Lake Superior, where the water was alive with whitefish. Here was truly an abundance of food and
the island surrounded by the rapids, where they harvested and dried the fish, became the heart of the Ojibwe nation.
