The Saginaw Valley Collection 7 
trated on the preceding page, and may be seen in the case. This 
outcrops in a nearly circular line cut by the head waters of the 
Cass, Shiawassee and Tittabawassee and intersecting Saginaw 
Bay near Point Lookout and Bay Port. 
When white men first visited this region, it was inhabited by 
the Ojibwa Indians. The name of this tribe is variously spelled, 
as Chippewa, Otchipwe, etc. Their descendants preserve tra- 
ditions that the Sauk or Sac Indians formerly occupied the valley 
and were driven out by the Ojibwa and their allies, while the Sac 
and Fox Indians of Iowa, for their part, have traditions to the 
same effect. A collection from these Ojibwa Indians is shown 
W. Orchard, Photo. 
SLATE TABLETS POSSIBLY ORNAMENTS. 
About g Natural Size. 
in another part of the Museum (Hall No. 106, on the ground 
floor). They were found subsisting on a variety of natural 
products, chief among which were wild rice, maple sugar, squash, 
corn, wild fruits and game. 
The prehistoric villages were located along the streams, be- 
cause of the importance of water, wild rice, fish and the land 
animals which frequented the river banks for food or visited 
them for water. Furthermore, the canoe was an easier means 
of transportation than the trail, and even trails were more easily 
formed along the ridges parallel to the rivers or along the banks 
than elsewhere. The outcrops of chert and pipestone also are 
