1960’s – Number of Tribal Members Living on Pine Creek Dwindles

1960’s – Number of Tribal Members Living on Pine Creek Dwindles

By 1960, most of the group’s members were no longer living at Pine Creek but had moved to cities in southern Michigan that provided employment opportunities. Continuing a trend to seek off-reservation employment that had begun in the 1940s, more and more of the young adults moved out of the core geographical area centered at Pine Creek. The dispersal resulted from a rapidly increasing birth rate which caused significant population pressure on the limited Pine Creek land.

1950’s – Pattern of Work Off the Pine Creek Reservation Grows

1950’s – Pattern of Work Off the Pine Creek Reservation Grows

After World War II, the pattern of work off the reservation continued to grow.  For many of the NHBP, this period marked the first participation in the urban labor market.  By the end of the War, factory employment and other urban jobs had largely replaced the earlier dependence on seasonal farm work and subsistence farming.