Artist Statement
Long before county lines or survey grids, this land was organized through Indigenous systems of movements and memory. Trails connected villages, rivers, and burial grounds marking their ancestral presence. The arrival of colonists did not simply introduce a new population, but it also meant theft and robbery. Through treaties such as the 1807 Treaty of Detroit, vast stretches of southeast Michigan were transferred to the U.S. government and became federally controlled. This cleared the way for surveys, speculation, public schools, and colonial settlement. Lines were drawn, parcels named, and native homelands were reclassified as colonial property.
The creation of Washtenaw County rests on the process of Indigenous land dispossession, as Native lands were redefined through colonial law and Indigenous communities were forced to move from their ancestral homelands to make way for colonists. As we commemorate the County’s Bicentennial, we reflect on the roots of our community through the lens of Native history, recognizing both the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the enduring impacts of this history on the land we share today.