Gichi-namebini Ziibing: A Native America Garden and Village
Just northwest of Kona Hills Campground is the modern day Carp River and what has been identified in a 2021 research assistance project as Village 3, “Gichi-Naame-Ziibing.”
The village of Gichi-namebini Ziibing was located along the river and featured a garden site, chi-gete-gitigaan, that sustained generations. This river, garden, and village are thought to be a central point for at least 7 Native American villages in the central Upper Peninsula.
Today, the garden site lies partially within restricted land near the Marquette Branch Prison, a modern institution which contrasts sharply with the past use and history of this area. This juxtaposition between sustenance-providing gardens (both food and medicine) and the modern day Prison Industrial Complex invites reflection on how land use can either preserve life or inhibit it and obscure history.
The Michigan Department of Corrections obtained these lands via a donation from the Marquette Businessmen's Association following state authorization in 1885, and the prison officially began operations in 1889. There is evidence to suggest a prison garden was maintained in the early years, though only ornamental in nature.
Image from a 1950’s vintage postcard. Ektachrome by Michael Lazarov
