DEMOGR APHICS An estimated 40 million people currently call the Great Lakes region home. Indigenous People arrived in the region around 10,000 years ago. There is documented use of metals and established fishing communities from six thousand years ago. Estimates for the region in the 16 th century place 60,000 to 117,000 inhabiting the shores of the Great Lakes. 53 The early inhabitants grew corn, beans, tobacco, and squash. They settled in scattered villages that relocated as the surrounding area was exhausted, once to twice in a generation. The first European fort was built in 1670, at the Straits of Mackinac although exploration of the region began in the early 1600’s. The fort at Kingston, Ontario was the first fort in the lower Great Lakes and was built only three years after the first fort. Conflicts over the region between the French and British began in 1759 and continued between the British and Americans until 1812. After the conclusion of the War of 1812 settlement of the region began in earnest, to the disadvantage of the indigenous people. While the region has maintained population levels it has not grown at the same rate as the national rates for the United States and Canada. Between 1970-1990 the average growth rate for both countries was 22%. In that same period the region grew less than 1%. The population trends in Canada do differ from that of the US. Ontario grew 31% between 1970-1990. The states surrounding the great lakes saw a population growth of 1.7% in that same period.
53 http://epa.gov/greatlakes/atlas/glat-ch3.html Regional Information