Note 2 — Front matter

(page page 2).—The etymology of Michilimackinac (now abbreviated to Mackinac) is generally given as “great turtle,” and is supposed to refer to the shape of the island. The Ottawa chief, A. J. Blackbird, in his History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan (Ypsilanti, Mich., 1887), pp. 19, 20, gives a far different derivation; he traces the name back to “Mishinemackinong,” the dwelling-place of the Mishinemackinawgo, a small tribe, early allies of the Ottawas, but practically annihilated by the Iroquois, during one of the North-western raids of the latter.