Menominee, city, United States

Menominee (mənŏm`ənē), city (1990 pop. 9,398), seat of Menominee co., N Mich., W Upper Peninsula, on Green Bay at the mouth of the Menominee River; inc. 1883. It is a distribution center for upper Michigan and N Wisconsin. Metal, paper, and wood products and machinery are manufactured. Of interest is the "mystery ship," raised (1969) from the bottom of Green Bay, where it sank in 1864. A bridge connects Menominee with Marinette, Wis.

Menominee, indigenous people of North America

Menominee (mənŏm`ənē), indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arrival in the New World in the late 15th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Also called the Menomini, they were a sedentary people who chiefly subsisted on the gathering of wild rice; the Algonquian name for wild rice is manomin. In c.1634, when they were visited by the missionary Jean Nicolet, the Menominee were living at the mouth of the Menominee River in Wisconsin and Michigan. From 1671 until 1854 they inhabited settlements that extended from the Menominee River S to the Fox River and bordered the western shore of Green Bay. Although some of the Menominee supported the British in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, they were generally peaceful toward the American settlers. The Menominee were, however, bitter enemies of the neighboring Algonquian tribes, who waged constant warfare to drive the Menominee out of the rich wild-rice area. In 1854 the Menominee were settled on a reservation (Menominee Reservation) on the Wolf River, in N central Wisconsin. The tribe owns one of the largest sawmills in the Midwest and operates a casino. In 1990 there were some 8,000 Menominee in the United States.

Bibliography

See F. Keesing, The Menomini Indians of Wisconsin (1939, repr. 1971); L. Spindler, Menomini Women and Culture Change (1962).

Menominee, river, United States

Menominee, river, 118 mi (190 km) long, formed by the union of the Brule and the Michigamme rivers above Iron Mountain, W Upper Peninsula, N Mich., and flowing SE into Green Bay at Menominee. It passes through a once plentiful iron-ore region and forms part of the Wisconsin-Michigan line.

Menominee

also spelled Menomini

North American Indian people who live mostly in northeastern Wisconsin, U.S., in a small portion of their traditional territory along the Menominee River at the present-day Wisconsin-Michigan border. Their language is a member of the Algonquian language family. At the time of first contact, the Menominee lived in villages of dome-shaped houses and collected wild plants, fished, and hunted to obtain food. Originally organized into clans, their social organization changed as a result of the fur trade, for which they scattered in mobile bands. In 1852 the U.S. government moved most of the tribe to a reservation in Wisconsin. In 1961 the government terminated federal status for the tribe; federal recognition resumed in 1973. Population estimates indicated more than 9,500 individuals of Menominee descent in the early 21st century.