“Indian Camp” is set in a Native American camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the early 20th century. “Camp” is a shorthand for an encampment, or a rural community in the woods made up of a cluster of families and homes. Hemingway establishes the setting early in the story when he describes Nick, his father, and Uncle George docking on shore and walking through the woods up to the camp:
They walked up from the beach through a meadow that was soaking wet with dew, following the young Indian who carried a lantern. Then they went into the woods and followed a trail that led to the logging road that ran back into the hills. It was much lighter on the logging road as the timber was cut away on both sides.
Here Hemingway hints that, in addition to a Native American camp existing in the area, logging camps were also present. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has a long history of loggers cutting down trees for timber. It is likely that Hemingway is pulling from his own experience in and knowledge of Northern Michigan here.
At this point in the history of the United States, Native people had faced generations of colonial oppression and, as a result, some did not trust white Americans. This history of racial tension is apparent in the story—though Nick’s father travels to help the Indian woman who has been in labor for two days, he does not treat her or the other Native people with whom he interacts as equals. It’s possible that, in having the Indian woman’s husband kill himself after the white men arrive to help, Hemingway is suggesting that he could not bear to see his wife's life in the hands of people he did not trust.
