Cooley hosts Michigan Notable Books author

By Roberta M. Gubbins Legal News The 2010 Michigan Notable Books program featuring Dr. James M. McClurken, author of "Our People, Our Journey: The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians," was held at Thomas M. Cooley Law School campuses on May 12th and 13th. McClurken discussed his book, which traces the tribe's migration into Michigan's Grand River Valley, its later settlement on reservations in Mason, Muskegon and Oceana counties, the difficult relationship between the tribe and the U.S. government and successful efforts to maintain the tribe's unique cultural identity through the present day. "It took me thirty years to collect the pictures for the book," he said, noting that he visited the families taking pictures and gathering information. The book is a history of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, a Michigan tribe that has survived to the present day despite the expansionist and assimilationist policies that nearly robbed it of an identity in the late nineteenth century. McClurken tells in words and images the story of the Little River Ottawas, their lineage and family. He described the Band's struggles to find land to call its own over several centuries, including the hardships that began with European exploration of what is now the upper Midwest. McClurken explained how the Little River Band was forced, in 1858, onto a reservation on the Pere Marquette and Manistee Rivers where they settled with a number of other Ottawa bands. The very treaty intended to provide the Grand River Ottawas with a permanent reservation "homeland" eventually allowed non-Indians to acquire title to nearly two-thirds of the land within the reservation by 1880. The 2010 Michigan Notable Books list is the Library of Michigan's annual selection of up to 20 recommended books reflecting Michigan's rich cultural heritage, featuring high-quality titles with wide public appeal that are either written by a Michigan resident or about a Michigan-related topic. Published: Tue, May 25, 2010

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