This week I had a chance to glimpse some of the immense cultural riches of the Ojibwe people who along with other Native American people have occupied this area for thousands of years. And you can check them out too, if you want.

Fond du Lac Tribal Center, near Cloquet

The Fond du Lac Cultural Center and Museum has a CANOE CAM, with live shots of people assembling a wiigwaasi-jimaan aka birch bark canoe. They have been building the canoe using traditional materials and methods. Here’s a picture ^^ of volunteers using thread made of specially processed ojibik or what we call “root” to hold the thing together. For those that didn’t know, JJ Astor has been in the news again lately, and he’s a guy who used the European obsession with silly hats and Native American and French traders to build the financial center of New York City and transform the world’s economy, and for better or worse, that would not have happened without these canoes, or the Native American people who built them. I also got a picture from inside the museum of a fully completed slightly wider “ricing canoe” that they did last year.

Ojibwe Immersion Camp

In an embarrassment of riches, I also visited the Ojibwe Immersion Camp at Kiwenz Campground in Sawyer, MN.

From Kiwenz Campground

Don’t bother trying to find it on google, but there are signs if you follow HWY 210 West from the Carlton/Black Bear exit and turn north at the Sawyer Store. Also, if you click the image I have roughly mapped the location in Picasa. There are several fluent Ojibwe speakers there and people have been learning to build drums, flutes, and traditional pottery all in the Ojibwe language. I stumbled upon a group being led by Rick Gresczyk who taught several songs I that already knew the tune for like “Oh, Susannah” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” only with Ojibwe translations from his booklet “Ambe, Ojibwemodaa Endaayang!” (Come on Let’s Talk Ojibwe at Home).

Both of these activities are very free, but they will be busy, too. If you go to the immersion camp I encourage you to bring a gift of some food to share or loose tobacco, or something that you think would be useful. Oh, and bring a camp type chair to sit on, too. Also, be careful how you use your electronic devices and always ask permission before taking any photographs.

Enjoy – Miigwech Nika, aka Wildgoose