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Ningiiwekiimin: We Are Returning to Our Land

A United States flag and Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa flag fly next to each other against a clear blue sky.
Renewed connections between the Grand Portage Band and the National Park Service invite celebration.

NPS Photo

Last summer, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa raised their nation's flag on a new pole beside the US flag at Windigo. Band Members and National Park staff celebrated together as they watched the flag unfurl against a brilliant blue sky.

Flying the flag in the park honors the Grand Portage Band's historic and lasting relationship with the island, known to the regional Anishinaabe as "Minong," The Good Place. In 2019, Minong was listed on the National Register as a Traditional Cultural Property of the Grand Portage Band, which means the island is nationally recognized as being associated with the cultural practices, traditions, beliefs, and lifeways of a living community.

But it hasn't always been this way. The relationship between Grand Portagers and Minong has been complicated by federal government intervention. In 1842, the Treaty of La Pointe and subsequent Isle Royale Compact effectively ended the Grand Portage Band's claim to the Minong archipelago. Although treaty rights were retained, the transaction was far from balanced.

Even so, Band members continued to enjoy the island's many bounties. This use is captured through land surveys, historic mining, commercial fishing, and oral history. Through the years, Band members have never lost sight of the island, which is plainly visible from Grand Portage.

Renewed connections between the Grand Portage Band and the National Park Service invite celebration. Indeed, last year's flag raising ceremony is significant. But in many ways, the event simply acknowledges the strong ties to Minong the Grand Portage community has always known.

Anna Deschampe
Interpretation Program Manager, Grand Portage National Monument

Seth DePasqual
Cultural Resource Manager, Isle Royale National Park

Grand Portage National Monument, Isle Royale National Park

Last updated: April 27, 2022