March-August 2012

Meet key historical figures from Odawa, French and British history. Watch a movie based on a French soldier's journal during the time of the French and Indian War (1750-1761), and tour an authentic wigwam at The Odawa Warriors' Journey exhibit at Pellston Regional Airport.

The exhibit, a project of the Emmet County Historical Commission, is open daily free of charge from 8am-6pm at Pellston Regional Airport. Signs in the airport direct visitors to the Trophy Room, where the exhibit components are arranged, including interpretive display boards, a self-guided cellphone tour and life-size figures telling their own stories from the time period.

Emmet County received a $15,000 Michigan Humanities Council grant to help fund this project. Collaborating with the development of the exhibit and lending of artifacts are Mackinac State Historic Parks, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the National Park Service, through Fort Necessity. The Odawa Warriors' Journey had been on display at Fort Necessity, in Penn., from July 2010 to July 2011.

The exhibit details the journey of Odawa warriors from Emmet County to Farmington, PA, to join the fight for Native sovereignty. The Pennsylvania battle in the summer of 1754 was the opening action of the French and Indian War. At least 20 Odawas (Ottawas), known as the Anishinaabe, were among those who traveled about 630 miles to this battle against George Washington.

The local exhibit committee further expanded the journey by tying in key figures and events in the Mackinaw region to the national actions going on at time, through the use of a special movie and characters like Patrick McGulpin, the namesake family of McGulpin Point Lighthouse just west of downtown Mackinaw City, and Charles Langlade, a prominent Odawa leader who impacted numerous battles and events here and nationally.

The Pellston display will be open until August 2012.