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An Animal's Tale of Michigan: Pontiac's Rebellion
An Animal's Tale of Michigan: Pontiac's Rebellion
An Animal's Tale of Michigan: Pontiac's Rebellion
Photograph and Ditital Image © Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Not for reproduction or publication.
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Object number1989/90.54.5

An Animal's Tale of Michigan: Pontiac's Rebellion

Artist (American, 1963 - 2022)
Date1987
Mediumwatercolor and ink on paper
Dimensionsimage: 8 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (21.6 × 16.5 cm)
sheet: 11 7/8 × 8 7/8 in. (30.2 × 22.5 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LinePermanent Collection Fund for the Artreach Study Collection
Label TextLongtime Kalamazoo resident Todd Zimmerman created An Animal’s Tale of Michigan for the KIA’s outreach program in 1994. He envisioned the project as an entertaining introduction to Michigan history for children. The series’ 36 panels highlight the state’s historic industries (from fur trading to car manufacturing), famous figures (including Tecumseh and Henry Schoolcraft), landmark structures (such as the Soo Locks and Lake Michigan lighthouses), and cultural contributions (like fine art and Motown music). One panel alludes to Pontiac’s Rebellion, the 1760s conflict named after an Odawa chief who helped lead Indigenous nations in a widespread uprising against British rule in the wake of the redcoats’ victory in the French and Indian War. Unlike their French predecessors, who had crafted a complex network of alliances with the Great Lakes region’s Native nations, the British treated its Indigenous peoples as conquered subjects, ignoring their customs and allowing colonists to freely settle throughout the region. The Rebellion ended in stalemate but forced the British to reconsider their policies.