Whether your ancestors are Scandinavian or Ojibwe, life along the North Shore was never easy. In the late 1930’s when the local economy shifted from extractive industry to tourism, the Anishinaabe people living at Grand Marais and on the Gunflint Trail adapted to the times, relying on trapping, fishing, guiding, picking berries and making souvenirs to sell to the growing number of North Shore visitors. Based on research and elder interviews in Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe, local historian and author Staci Drouillard, will share stories, photos and analysis of the groundbreaking ways Anishinaabe people paved the way for our modern, local economy.
Staci Lola Drouillard (pronounced: Drew-lard) lives and works in her hometown of Grand Marais, on the North Shore of Lake Superior. A Grand Portage tribal descendent, she
began interviewing Chippewa City elders in 1987 for the book Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe (U of MN Press, 2019).
The book was awarded the Hamlin Garland Prize for Popular History in 2020, and was the winner of the 2020 NE MN Book Award for non-fiction. It was also selected as a MN Book Award finalist.
The presentation is free and family friendly – donations are always appreciated.
Masks will be mandatory during the indoor presentation.
