Indian Dormitory

The Indian Dormitory is a Federal-style structure built at U.S. government expense on Mackinac Island, Michigan in 1838. It was a pioneering response to what Americans of European ancestry viewed as a problem of "homelessness" among Native Americans.

Henry Schoolcraft, Indian Agent

The Indian Dormitory is a surviving fragment of the assimilationist vision of Mackinac Island's executive functionary in charge of Native American affairs, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. Along with most other observant Americans of all races, Schoolcraft noticed in the early 1800s that the culture of most Native Americans centered on the hunting and gathering of food, activities which were less productive in terms of food production than agriculture.

Schoolcraft believed that Native Americans could be persuaded to cede much of their hunting lands to the U.S. federal government, and that the government could reinvest some of the proceeds to be earned from reselling these lands to teach farming techniques to the "Indians." Other income from land sales could be used to support Native American families during the transitional period.

As the Indian Agent in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and later on Mackinac Island, Schoolcraft had seen that many of the Native Americans who came by foot or canoe to visit his agency could not bring with them what appeared to be adequate shelter from the European point of view.

Treaty of Washington, 1836

As the Mackinac Island Indian Agent, Schoolcraft was able to persuade many Native Americans of Michigan Territory, especially members of the Ojibwa and Ottawa tribes, to sell most of the northern Lower Peninsula and eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the federal government. The exchange was sealed in the 1836 Treaty of Washington.

In exchange for the vast tract of land sold, the federal government promised to pay an annuity to affected Native Americans, provide training in farming and allied crafts, such as blacksmithing, and build a dormitory structure on Mackinac Island to which recognized Native Americans with tribal standing could come for shelter when doing business on Mackinac Island with the Indian Agency.

In fulfillment of this promise, the Indian Dormitory was built in 1838.

Island schoolhouse

After the expiration of the annuity schedule laid out in the 1836 treaty, Native Americans stopped coming to Mackinac Island in large numbers and the Indian Dormitory ceased to be of service in its original function. In 1867, the building became a public school for the children of Mackinac Island of all ethnic groups. Serving as a schoolhouse in 1867-1960, the "Thomas W. Ferry School" provided classroom space to one of the most ethnically diverse populations in Michigan.

By 1960, the wooden building could not meet the standards of school safety required by law, and with growing interest in Mackinac Island history the building was again refitted.

Hiawatha-themed museum

Although Henry R. Schoolcraft's role in American frontier history could be criticized by a later generation as racist, Schoolcraft had a strong interest in the Ojibwa religion, mythology, and culture that it was his official job to try to supplant. Schoolcraft collected local stories and tales for publication in books published in the East.

The Massachusetts poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow studied Schoolcraft's works for themes and inspiration for his epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha. To Americans of European ancestry, this Romantic poem and its title character were authentic windows into the spiritual life of the "American Indian." In homage to this poem and its sentimental view of Ojibwa culture, the Mackinac Island State Park renovated the Indian Dormitory in 1964-1965 to serve as a museum of Native American culture and Hiawatha imagery.

An unsentimental reality

The Indian Dormitory served as a Hiawatha-themed museum of Native American culture in 1966-2002. In summer 2003, the State Park closed the structure indefinitely. Budget cuts had reduced available interpretive personnel, the museum's sentimental view of Native American culture was no longer considered appropriate, and the museum was not fully accessible to persons with disabilities.

The Indian Dormitory continues to be preserved as part of Mackinac Island State Park. It has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.