Anishinaabe Way: Lives, Words and Stories of Ojibwe People

Francis Drouillard is a Grand Portage tribal member and a life-long hunter and fisherman. He is also my dad. I rode the back roads with him in his truck this fall, during the 2014 deer season. He shares his opinion on the current moose crisis and tells the story of a moose
hunting expedition gone wrong.

(Photo by Staci Lola Drouillard)

Fond du Lac tribal elder Ray "Skip" Sandman ran as the 2014 Green Party candidate for U.S. Congress in Minnesota's 8th District. I spoke with him during the campaign about why he decided to run for office, what issues are important to him, and the value of standing up for what you believe in. Skip received 4.3% of the vote on election day.

Walking With Our Sisters is a traveling, commemorative art installation
created to honor the missing and murdered indigenous women of Canada
and the United States. I recently attended the exhibit's closing
ceremony at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in Ontario, and spoke to one of
the co-organizers, Kara Louttit. The Installation is currently enroute
to Saskatoon, SK, and is scheduled to tour sites throughout Canada and
into the United States through the year 2019. For more information,
visit www.walkingwithoursisters.ca

(Photo courtesy of Kara Louttit)
 

Briand Morrison is an accomplished jazz, rock and blues guitar player who lives on the Grand Portage Reservation in far Northern Minnesota. In this segment, he talks about his jazz guitar roots, the importance of practicing scales and what he has learned about artistic integrity from his parents, the well-known painters George Morrison and Hazel Belvo.
 

Gloria Martineau is a member of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa. In this segment she shares stories about summertime in Grand Marais, Mabel's Cafe and the local bear population.

(Photo by Staci Drouillard)
 

Red Lake tribal member Ira Jourdain is the father of four children. He works with Native fathers and their families on issues such as
employment, housing and transportation at the Division of Indian Work in Minneapolis. He is also running for a seat on the Minneapolis Board of Education. In this segment, he talks about some of the issues faced by urban Native American students and parents and discusses some of the differences between Native American and mainstream views of education.
 

Carl Gawboy is a self described "geo-mythologist" who is the co-author of two books with Ron Morton, "Talking Rocks," which was published in 2000 and a new book titled "Talking Sky." He is also an artist and illustrator, whose work is a part of the "Native Skywatchers" exhibit, currently on view at the Duluth Art Institute.

In this interview he discusses the connection between the ancient pictographs in the BWCAW and the Ojibwe Constellation Map.
 

Winona LaDuke is an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band
Anishinaabeg. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation, and is
the mother of three children. She is also the Executive Director of
Honor the Earth, where she works on a national level to advocate, raise
public support, and create funding for frontline native environmental
groups.

On a recent visit to Grand Portage she shared this story about heritage
corn seeds and the need to protect native seeds, heritage crops and the
traditions and knowledge of our indigenous and land-based communities.
 

The Harvest Educational Learning Project (HELP) is located in the
Penokee Range in Northern Wisconsin, at the site of the proposed Gogebic
Taconite Mine. In early March, organizers of the project were getting
ready for the birch and maple syrup season. Jennifer and Larry Ackley
and Paul DeMain invited me into one of the wigwams at the winter village
and shared more about the project's mission. More information about HELP
is available on the "Citizens Concerned about the Proposed Penokee Mine"
Facebook page.

Photo:  Paul DeMain and Larry Ackley at the entrance to the Harvest
Educational Learning Project.  Photo by Staci Drouillard.

The students in Ms. Livingston's 3rd Grade at Sawtooth Elementary School in Grand Marais are designing their own shoulder bags, which are in the Ojibwe tradition of beaded bandolier bags.

The class recently hosted two very special guests, Grand Portage elder Delma Grandlouis and Grand Portage bead artist Marcie McIntire. Marcie talked about the design and construction of bandolier bags and brought in two of her hand beaded bandolier bags for the children to see. In addition, Delma Grandlouis brought in a container of colorful trade beads that has been in her family for 200 years.

(Photo by Lorelei Livingston)