Your Lake -- Grand Portage, Minnesota Part Two

Gateway To Another World

Published in the February 2018 Issue November 2018 Feature Adrienne Williams

Spiritually Significant

As much as the Pigeon River Falls presented a physical line of demarcation between two worlds, the Ojibwe hold a site near Grand Portage in highest spiritual regard. On the north side of Hat Point an aged and twisted cedar perches on a stone ledge overlooking Lake Superior. This is the Manito Geezhigaynce, or little spirit cedar tree.

It’s believed to be one of the few remaining homes to the oldest inhabitants of this land – spirit beings like the maymaygwaysiwuk and the michipichou. These spirit beings ranged from elusive underwater dwellers who paddled stone canoes to wise thunderbirds who roamed the sky and built stone nests on cloudy heights. The Manito is a natural alter and home to a spirit being who takes shape as an eagle. Travelers who manage to cross the cold, angry inland ocean of Lake Superior stop here to send a prayer of thanks to the eagle-spirit and leave a gift at the base of the tree.

The tree itself is 300 years old and when the land was offered up for sale in 1987, a group formed to raise the necessary $100,000 to purchase it. The spot was then gifted to the Grand Portage Band. Visitors from outside the tribe may make a pilgrimage to the tree, but require an escort from the native community to protect their heritage and the sacredness of the site.

Closer to town, a unique partnership formed between the Nature Conservancy, the Tribe, and the State that holds in balance the interest of tourists and travelers with preservation of the native Ojibwe land. The Nature Conservancy and private donations purchased 2.5 miles of land along the river. The State then acquired the land and donated it to the tribe. Currently, the tribe leases the land back to the State for use as a park. The agreement includes provisions that staff positions should be held by those with significant knowledge of Indian culture, preferably knowledge of the Grand Portage Band.

Grand Portage State Park has made the great falls accessible to the public since it opened in 1995, which connects to miles and miles of hiking trails throughout the reservation. Other sites of note include the Grand Portage National Monument, built on reservation land, which features the reconstructed fur trade fort of the 1700's. The original portage trail to historic Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River is also maintained by the National Monument.