Photo Copyright: Jennifer Pendergast
Here we are again this week by the shore of a lovely virtual lake. Our guide is our hostess for this gathering of the Friday Fictioneers, the gracious and talented author and artist, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. The challenge for each of us is to write a story with no more than 100 words. It’s supposed to have a beginning, middle, end, and follow the picture prompt provided for the week. This week’s prompt was provided by Jennifer Pendergast. Thanks Jennifer.
My story is about the Native Americans in the U.S. State of Ohio. There are many books on the Native Americans in Ohio. Anyone wanting to know more about the frontier lives of early settlers in Ohio should read the trilogy of author Conrad Richter, The Awakening Land, for which he won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. There are no doubt still many Ohioans today with Native American ancestry.
To read the other stories from group members, just click on the little blue frog in the blue box, after clicking on the link. The link for other stories this week is as follows:
https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2015/09/09/11-september-2015/
Genre: Nonfiction
Word Count: 100 Words
NATIVE AMERICANS IN OHIO by P.S. Joshi
Because of the vast forests, plentiful game, Lake Erie, and many other lakes and rivers, there were many Native Americans in Ohio.
Where I was born and grew up, in Akron, the native people used to portage their canoes from Lake Erie down the rivers. There were the names Portage Trail and Portage Lakes.
Besides Lake Erie, there were some rivers with native names such as the Maumee, Huron, Miami, Manangahela, Cuyahoga, etc.
As a youngster in southwestern Ohio, my dad used to dig up arrowheads for his collection.
There were also the prehistoric Mound Builders whose efforts still exist.
Musings on Life & Experience 
Dear Suzanne,
Thank you for being our tour guide in Ohio. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. You’re very welcome. My dad was quite interested in Native Americans, especially the ones in Ohio. We visited the Mound Builders’ site and other museums. He had books about Native Americans. I read the Conrad Richter trilogy about early Ohio settlers. It was said that Ohio was a “sea of trees” at one time. I’m so pleased you liked the story. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Sounds like you are very knowledgeable about Native Americans in Ohio. Very nice!
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Thanks, Joy. I learned a lot from my Dad. He was very interested in Native Americans, especially the ones on Ohio. He had books about them, and we vistied the Mound Builders’ site and various museums. I was a third generation Ohioan. I’m so happy you liked the story. 🙂 — Suzanne
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That is great that you learned so much about the Native Americans in Ohio!
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I find it especially interesting that there are so many traces left in those names.. the same up in the north of Sweden, where there is always a meaning in the name.. it’s a like a memory so much clearer than those arrowheads.. like a mindmap.
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Thanks, Bjorn. My dad was interested in Native Americans and it made an impression on me. If you live there, you’re so used to those names it’s easy to forget where they came from. When my dad told of it,I could see the Native Americans carrying those canoes and paddling through the waterways. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Love the glimpse of history you’ve given us here
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Thanks, Jennifer. Thank you for the beautiful picture that led to so many good stories. I’m so pleased you liked mine. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Lots of Indian names near where we lived in Cleveland, too. In fact, there are Indian names all over the east.
janet
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Thanks, Janet. I imagine there were Native Americans camped all over the area near Lake Erie as well as the rest of Ohio. There were so many forests,so much game, and so many other waterways. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Are there many of these Native Americans still left in the States?
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According to the internet info I found, if you include native people of Alaska, the total in 2013 was 5.2 million or 2% of the population of the U.S. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Nice bit of history there Suzanne, enjoyed it.
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Thanks, Sandra. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the story. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Interesting piece, Suzanne.
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Thanks, Ceayr. I’m so pleased you enjoyed this piece. 🙂 — Suzanne
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We have a lot of Native names in Canada too. I live about 30 minutes away from a Mohawk reserve called Kahnawake (formerly known as Caugnawaga). Lovely bit of history!
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Thanks, Dale. I’d read there are many Native people in Canada. I’ve also read that the Canadian government treated them much better than the U.S. government. I’m so pleased you liked the piece. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Beautiful glimpse of history and your childhood here Suzanne. Well done.
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Thanks, Ansumani. I’m so glad you liked the story. 🙂 — Suzanne
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This was a trip down memory lane for me since I grew up in Cleveland OH and didn’t move from that area until I divorced in 1995. I loved the baseball team, The Cleveland Indians as well, especially Rocky Calavito(sp). Go Ohio. I still have a niece and nephew living in the Cleveland area.
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Thanks, Susan. I’m glad some were happy memories. We used to get three TV channels in those days. They were all from Cleveland. My dad used to take Mom and me to Cleveland to see the Ice Follies. I still have some good friends in Ohio, but don’t get back often. My kids were raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, and my son still lives there near there. My daughter is now in Chicago.
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interesting tidbit of information.
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Thanks, Plaridel. I’m so happy you enjoyed the piece. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Sounds like there is a lot of history there.
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Thanks, Ali. There’s indeed a lot of history there. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Enjoyed the history lesson, Suzanne. I’ve found a few arrowheads here in Arkansas. I always wonder about the person who made it, how they lived, what they dreamed, etc.
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Thanks, Russell. I probably sounded like the teacher I was for quite a few years. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the piece. I imagine there would be arrowheads in Arkansas and many places in the U.S. My dad even tried making some. He read about them, and used to go to auctions and buy more. He had quite a few besides the ones he collected by digging them up. After his death, we sold all the ones but those he collected as a boy. I gave those to my son. 🙂 — Suzanne
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This is a fascinating piece of your history, I really enjoyed it.
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Thanks, Gah. I’m so happy you enjoyed the piece. During the Ice Age, Ohio was covered by glacial ice. Also, you could go into the woods and find rocks with the impression in them of small creatures that lived in ancient bodies of water. 🙂 — Suzanne
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This sounds great. I don’t know a lot about the first people in the Americas, but I’m interested in early humans … were the Clovis people there?
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Interesting history, makes you want to know more. Also makes me feel crappy I don’t know any of this stuff about my own state!
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Thanks, Perry. I’m so pleased you liked the piece and found it interesting. Just go to a couple of museums. It’s fun to learn that way. There’s always the internet, but that’s just the dry facts. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Suzanne, I’m always fascinated by the history of Native Americans. The “portage” detail is a great one to include in your story. Well done.
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Thanks, Amy. My dad had books about Native Americans. We used to visit museums, and he had a large arrowhead collection. Some he had dug up near his home when he was a boy . Those “portage” names were part of sites in and near Akron. There were rivers connecting throughout Ohio, and some connected directly with Lake Erie which is betwen Canada and Ohio. They used to portage their canoes on the land between the bodies of water as they frequently moved their camps. I’m so pleased you liked the piece. 🙂 — Suzanne
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I liked this trip to history
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Thanks, Ruby. I’m so pleased you liked the story. 🙂 — Suzanne
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I don’t know a lot about the native Americans so this was very interesting. Glad your Dad was so interested and you are passing this on to us.
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Thanks, Irene. There were quite a few Native Americans in North Carolina where we lived for quite a while. Our son still lives there. Quite a few live in the mountains. My dad was interested in their history from the time he was a young boy digging up arrowheads. He was interested in any kind of history. We used to visit museums. I’m very pleased you enjoyed the piece. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Lovely post Suzanne! One side of my family is Cherokee, from north Georgia. If you’ve ever read anything about the Trail of Tears it’s that part of the state. Rich in history. Mega hugs!
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Thanks, Teagan. I’ve read articles about the Trail of Tears. That was one of the darkest parts of the U.S. history. It was shameful, and I think most people who know of it would agree. We lived in North Carolina for some years, and our son is still there. I seem to remember that some of the Cherokees from the Trail of Tears escaped and went to live in the mountains of North Carolina. We visited the Cherokee reservation there some years ago. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the piece. Mega Hugs to you also. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Sounds an interesting place!
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Thanks, Patrick. It is an interesting place. There’s a lot of history there. 🙂 — Suzanne
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