How the Pine River Became Charlevoix 1721-1869

Name: How the Pine River Became Charlevoix 1721-1869

Date: July 31, 2021

Time: 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM EDT

Event Description:

The Historical Society is pleased to announce a return to live, in-person events, the second of which (see inside for the first one) will take place on the exact 300th-anniversary date that Jesuit priest, historian, and explorer Father Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix was known to be near this locale. Sent by the French regency government of the boy-king Louis XV to try to find out how far the British had penetrated into North America, Father Charlevoix stayed in Quebec over the winter of 1720-21, then set out in canoes with fellow voyageurs in late spring for the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. They arrived in Mackinac by late July, stopped to take on fresh provisions, then set off to the south on July 29. According to his journal, the group followed the coast until they were stopped by a windstorm on a “nameless island.” Only one offshore island appears between Mackinac and Grand Traverse Bay, and that is Fisherman’s Island south of Charlevoix. There they waited for two days until the storm subsided, and resumed their journey on August 1.

The Charlevoix Cultural Corridor (Charlevoix Public Library, Charlevoix Circle of Arts, and your Historical Society) is planning an event recognizing our namesake that will also be an opportunity to learn more about the area and the Indigenous people who have been inhabiting it for centuries. Father Charlevoix probably saw the smoke from their village campfires along the West Dixon Avenue bluff as he traversed the waters between North and South Points.

CuCo welcomes everyone for an afternoon of special events sharing the remarkable history of our area that stretches over twelve millennia up to the time in 1843 when a beautiful new county named Charlevoix came into being, followed later by an equally beautiful village also officially named so.

Over the course of the afternoon, guests will learn more about the region’s environment and the people whose physical and spiritual home this area has been for centuries. They are the Anishnabek, The Real People. Their predecessors began to come to what they call Zhiingwaak Ziibiing, Pine River, about 3500 years ago. There will be activities for the kids, an exhibit in the library, plus live performances and talks about the Indigenous people and the voyageurs.

Schedule of events: Saturday, July 31 from 12-3:30 pm, Charlevoix Public Library and Children's Garden:

12 pm - Introduction by Jessica Dominic and David Miles

12:15 pm—Fort Michilimackinac Program from Mackinaw City

1:00 pm - Bear River Pow Wow Singing and Dancing Group featuring Raymond and Leroy Shenoskey

1:45 pm - Odawa/Ojibwe storytelling by Larry Denemy

2:15 pm - (Repeat) Introduction by Jessica Dominic and David Miles

2:30 pm - Bear River Pow Wow Singing and Dancing Group

At the Circle of Arts, 11-3 pm, a blacksmith demonstration and children’s crafts

Library Main Entrance: 12- 3:30 pm, Quill Art Demonstration by Yvonne Walker Keshick, NEA National Heritage Fellow

Library Community Room Gallery: Charlevoix Historical Society Exhibit: "How Pine River Became Charlevoix 1721-1869" (runs from early July through early August)

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Location:

Cultural Corridor- Historical Society, Charlevoix Public Library, Charlevoix Circle of Arts

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How the Pine River Became Charlevoix 1721-1869

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