The Ojibwe called their land Mishi-Anishinaabaki (), or Greater Anishinaabe Land. Since Anishinaabe was a collective term for the Ojibwe, Odawa & Potowatomi/ Nishnabe, who formed a governed confederacy known as the Three Council Fires, most of the Algonquian peoples around Lake Superior referred to their lands as 'something Anishinaabaki.' This most likely confused the French, who chose to simply translate the 'Mishi' part as "Superior." Although the Anishinaabeg (plural) didn't have a true, organized government (They would usually elect temporary leaders called Ogidamoo in the moment. ), the sacred site of their council fire, where they would conduct important political business, was known as Michilimackinac. Today, it's known as Mackinac Island. The Mascouten are supposedly so named for calling their original homeland of southern Michigan "Maskoutenich," or "The Treeless Land," for the Erie Plains region.