Michigan's Venice

Daniel Harrison's work is so much more than a history of the St. Clair Flats—one of North America's most unique maritime landscapes. It is an explanation of how that landscape developed over centuries and the many ways to consider its shared Indigenous/American/Canadian cultural heritage. The narrative is cleverly constructed, thoroughly researched, and highly readable, packed with gems about the people behind the stories. Michigan's Venice is an outstanding contribution.

~Joel Stone, curator emeritus, Detroit Historical Society

In his groundbreaking book, Daniel Harrison uses archival and archaeological records to explore the transformation of the maritime cultural landscape of the St. Clair Flats, from a period predating European arrival through the twentieth century and the region's demarcation as an international border between the United States and Canada. Within this historical arch, Bkejwanong, an Indigenous reserve located in the heart of the Flats, prevails as a counterweight to Euro-American nation-based efforts to exploit the area's resources and as local Indigenous communities steer an alternative course of development and industrialization.

~Karen Marrero, author of Detroit's Hidden Channels: The Power of French-Indigenous Families in the Eighteenth Century

Michigan's Venice is an excellent contribution to Great Lakes maritime history and the study of maritime cultural landscapes. By combining the archaeological and historical records with firsthand observations of the St. Clair Flats environment, Daniel Harrison has constructed a rich narrative about human–nature relationships in this landscape.

~Ben Ford, author of The Shore Is a Bridge: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Lake Ontario