The Native Americans’ first impression of Mackinac—that the Island looked like a turtle sitting in the water—influenced my design for Turtles Around Town.  My turtle is decorated with many natural images found on Mackinac such as rock formations, a fairy ring of mushrooms, ponds, birds, fish, wildflowers, trees, and animals (and their tracks). One side of Michili-map-inac depicts the sunset to the west. The other side shows a moon rising on a starry night.

The constellations Orion and the Big Dipper, as well as a compass rose on the turtle's head and neck (with French fleur-de-lis), help orient the viewer.  Flags represent the British and American influence; tracks, roads, and trails trace a network of human and animal interactions over generations on the island.

On his belly is a quote from Fur Trader Alexander Henry (because my father would have insisted):

"We ascended the mountain accordingly. It is this mountain that constitutes this high land, in the middle of the island, of which I have spoken before, as of a figure considered as resembling a turtle, and therefore called michilimackinac." (1763)