Do you know where I could get information about the Wincot tribe that supposedly lived in the Grand Rapids, MI area 1,000 years or so ago? I was told by an archeologist they existed.
–Submitted by Faye W. Answer: I haven’t heard of a Wincot tribe, and could find no specific references to a Wincot Indian tribe on the Internet. However, that does not mean they did not once exist. As a result of Christopher Columbus and his European counterparts’ conquests, only 1/2 of 1% of all Indigenous people who once lived in North and South America are in existence today. Here are some facts I do know about Indian peoples who lived in the state of Michigan: Approximately 120 different groups of Native Peoples have occupied the Great Lakes basin over the course of history. Other tribes who lived in this geographical area with names that sound vaguely similar to Wincot include: Wawenoks (Abenakies), Winnebago (on S. side of Lake Michigan until 1832), and Wyandots, (also known as Wyandotte or Hurons). Today, there are eleven Indian reservations in Michigan and twelve tribes with federal or state recognition.
