IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church
Nearly 400 years have passed since the first encounter between Indigenous people and the French in the Great Lakes region. Neither culture was ever the same since then. The early exchange was mutually beneficial and cordial. The Native people did not feel threatened by the Europeans nor did the Europeans fear the Indigenous people. Each had a commodity the other needed: trade goods for the Native Americans, fish and fur for the Europeans. The two cultures often blended in intermarriage, for the French presence was primarily fur trappers, missionaries, and soldiers. It was not until a third ingredient was added, the British, that conflict erupted into the French and Indian War. Rochelle Balkam taught history and government at Ypsilanti High School for 36 years. She taught Michigan history at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) for 27 years and at the University of Michigan for 4 years. Rochelle holds an M.A. in history and an M.S. in historic preservation from EMU. She is president of the Michigan One-room Schoolhouse Association, and previously served on the board of the Historical Society of Michigan and as a member of the Washtenaw County Historic District Commission.
