Manistee is a city in the U.S. state of
Michigan. The population was 6,226 at the
2010 census. It is the
county seat of
Manistee County. The name "Manistee" is from an
Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from
ministigweyaa, "river with islands at its mouth". Other sources claim that it was an Ojibwe term meaning "spirit of the woods".