Types
Cleland, Charles E.
February 2 1936—
Place of Birth: Kane, PA
Place of Principal Residence: Charlevoix, MI
Biography
Charles E. Cleland was born to Margaret and Charles Cleland in Kane, PA on February 2, 1936. Cleland has degrees from Denison University, Arkansas University, and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1965. Starting in 1964, Cleland served as a professor of anthropology at Michigan State University, retiring in 2000. For all his education in community studies, anthropology, and Great Lakes history, Cleland remains devoted to letting the Ojiibwa Indians speak for themselves in his book published in 2000 The Place of the Pike (Gnoozhekaaning): a History of the Bay Mills Indian Community, relating the history, social conditions, and governmental relations of the Ojibwa Indians. The same work was selected for the 2001 “Read Michigan” List by the state of Michigan. Using oral accounts from tribal elders and photographs from the tribe’s archives, Cleland communicates the identity of the Bay Mills community using their own stories and heroes rather than the framework of federal Indian policy or academic and economic theories. Cleland has also contributed to the world of scholarship in the field of archaeology, a contribution acknowledged by the collection An Upper Great Lakes Archaeological Odyssey: Essays in Honor of Charles E. Cleland. Included essays cover both the geography and subject matter Cleland himself did, traversing from Illinois to Ontario and the Great Lakes inland shore fishery to the fur trade archeology of Fort Michilimakinac. Cleland aims, in his own words, to “make the details of the historic past interesting and accessible to the sophisticated lay public,” and his scholarly works coupled with the striking photograph collections and tribal stories have hooked both colleagues and Michigan citizens into realizing the stories and realities of their land’s people and past. Cleland lives in Charlevoix, MI and has four children: Elizabeth, Joshua, Elena, and Katherine.
Selected Works
- Rites of Conquest: The Culture and History of Michigan’s Native People (1992)
- The Place of the Pike (Gnoozhekaaning): a History of the Bay Mills Indian Community (2000)
Critical Reception
Fellow scholars such as John Robert Halsey of the Michigan Historical Society write, “Cleland is arguably one of the most important figures in American archaeology in the latter third of the twentieth century…his testimony as an expert witness in Native American land claims and fishing rights have made him a lightning rod for controversy inside and outside archaeology. The results of his activities have affected the practice of archaeology, the working lives of natural resource managers, and the activities of sport fishermen.”
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Cleland is an author who not only lives in Michigan but also is deeply aware of the past and people of the land itself. With thirty-five years of research and his current work in anthropology at Michigan State University, he brings a wealth of knowledge to his works about the Native Americans in Michigan and offers careful and complete analyses of the culture and history Michigan’s native people.