By Ann Cathcart, Chair, American Indian Committee
Linda LeGarde Grover, an award-winning Minnesota author and UMD professor emerita of Indian Studies, as well as an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, spoke at the spring State DAR Conference about her Anishinaabe culture. When asked about needs in that community, she mentioned the need for socks. A mission to collect donations was initiated.
New socks were collected from four Minnesota DAR chapters: Anthony Wayne, Lake Minnetonka, Fort Snelling, and Greysalon Daughters of Liberty, where Linda is a member. On a frigid December day, dedicated members of three chapters met Linda in Duluth at ‘Onigamiising’ – Ojibwe for ‘Place of the Small Portage’. We began the day with a smudging ceremony at that specific location, a few yards from the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge. This is also the site of a DAR marker placed in 1939 commemorating the crossing of the ‘LITTLE PORTAGE ON MINNESOTA POINT’ by Daniel de Gresolon Sieur du Lhut in 1679. We then delivered 475 pairs of socks, handmade baby blankets, and various other warm clothing items to Linda’s office in the Department of American Indian Studies at UMD for later distribution to several Ojibwe tribal offices.
After lunch, we spent time appreciating the inaugural exhibition of the George Morrison Center for Indigenous Art, “Dreaming Our Futures,” now showing at UMD’s Tweed Museum. The final stop on the itinerary was Denfeld High School, where we met the principal for a guided tour of their historic auditorium. It was interesting to learn that the school has a $9 million endowment for scholarships, one of the few in the US. Eight of us gathered for a farewell dinner at the historic Pickwick Restaurant at the end of the day and it was agreed that a fun time was had by all.
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